deznic

We had our 1st snow storm in NY on Saturday. I am so disappointed with how my 2009 C300 S 4matic handled I wish I could just give it back. At a point the car started to slide sideways as I had absolutely no control. The A4 ahead of me seemed to be doing just fine though...I have read stories of how the traction kicks in and stabilizes the car....my traction did not turn on once! I have scheduled to have the car looked at. My problem is that, if there is nothing wrong with the car and this is how it drives - then I have a serious issue with this vehicle. Can anyone share any similar experiences?

autockr989

I'm in NJ and had my first experience last weekend as well. Being this is my first 4 wheel drive car. i was very impressed compared to my old VW GTI. In the early part of the storm the car had great traction. Once we had about 8' on the ground it wasn't so good. But what do u expect with that much snow. After all its not an suv or truck. But like i said, with about 4" on the ground it was supurb! I will also mention that driving through the storm, others were stuck or slide into snow banks and curbs, while I was still cruisin

Dr.Brian

If you're really worried about the snow, you need to ditch the all season tires and get snow tires +/- wheels. I grew up in CT driving big RWD sedans to ski in NH and VT on the winter wheels. Snow tires are probably as good as the 4 Matic in my hands. They're worth the investment if you get any snow. The 4matic works well for me, in my experience. The Quattro system should not really be any better after you lose traction. Also, all season tires are worthless in the snow if they have much wear. How many miles on the tires? Even 10000 may be too much for serious snow use.
Good luck,

deznic

3 - 4" sounds just about right....thats when I had no control. autock989, do you have snow tires? Is there anyway that the traction control shut down? i hope to find out tomorrow...

911c4s

+1 on the snow tires. They would make a tremendous difference. For what it's worth there is somewhat of an art to driving an awd in the snow. It's very important to stay on the gas even through an episode of the car getting wiggly on you. It will most likely pull you out of any incident where the car may start losing traction. Many people have a tendency to lift off the gas at that point which will exaggerate the lost of control. Hopefully the traction control will kick in that point as well. You'll pretty much be going from AWD to zero wheel drive in that instance where you lift. Also try dropping into a lower gear. Hope that helps.

autockr989

there are def a couple factors that would play into this.

When i manually shut down the traction control, the tires spun, giving me no movement. I actually dug under the snow and had a hard time getting moving again becuase the tires wouldn't get above it again to pack down the surface. The traction control should kill the throttle not allowing u spin. Soo if you are spinning, then there is something wrong with the traction control, but if you are just creeping along, then its all good, and the bottom surface of the packed snow, just had no grip.

For me, with the traction control on i was creeping along in 8"+ of snow with barely any accelaration, but with the 4" of snow, i was actually able to accelerate nicely. Now i don't mean cruising at 60 mph, but def. hooked. enough to cruise slowly and have traction.

the yellow caution marker in your dash will tell u if the traction control is turning on or not.

spoolIT85

crappy tires FTL...

invest in some decent snow tires (blizzaks or michelin alpines) if you get that much snow. i'm hoping to wear out my all-seasons some more, before i get a dedicated snow tires for next winter.

but, just a note... not all AWD systems are the same. IMHO, audi's quatto & subaru's symmetrical awd system are far better than the 4matic... sad, but true =)

snow simulation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooQRxlChvMw


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7dVFY5CxT0

dlb000

911c4s is right about using snow tires, staying on the gas and shifting to a lower gear to maintain control of your car. I have a '08 C300 4Matic and this is my second winter. It has performed well in the snow. I used it last year in Washington State and this year in D.C. with no problems. Both winters I used factory tires and drove in C mode. My father has a '09, C300 4Matic and operates with non-studded snow tire and gets around fine. Sorry to here your car is not performing to your expectations.

Yuille36

The biggest improvement that you can make in the snow, is having the right tires for the job. There is nothing wrong with your cars, it's your tires. These cars aren't SUV, or it would say ML, GL, GLK but they don't they sat C300 4matic. Don't get it confused. All season radials, are misleading at best, all-season means spring, summer and fall not winter. Real light snow 2-3 inches is fine, but anything deeper then that, and you will having some issues. So do everyone a favor and put the right tires on the car, to get the best out of it. We had 16-18 inches here in Northern Virginia, and guess what I didn't drive the car. I waited until the plows cleared the road surface, before I ever venture out. I've learned that most idiots think that know how to drive on the snow, and they don't know squat. Save yourself allot of heartache and money buy snow tires, and save yourself from a costly accident.

Sportstick

I have a rwd C300 in Michigan...imagine our snow! As for your situation...it's not the car....it's the tires. Get on tirerack.com and order your Blizzak WS60 (not the LM series) today! Easiest thing is to get rims from tire rack as well and they arrive fully mounted and balanced. I have these on both my C and E, and these cars handle extremely well in snow and ice. Keep in mind when you are sliding, you are not "sliding on your 4MATIC".....you are sliding on your poor-for-winter original equipment tires.

kevink2

The C300 sport has 225-45's up front, and wider lower aspect ratios in the rear. The A4, as of 06, was still available with 205-55-16 tires, much better in the snow, and not a good comparison.

kevink2

Symmetrical awd has little to do with traction, a center diff does, and MB has one.

Some of these vids are misleading, like the 2nd one where the subi rocks back to get rear wheel traction, before getting all 4 wheels on the rollers.

peabers

I live in Toronto. We definitely see more snow than NY (but less than Michigan) -- and with the extra horsepower and torque of my C350 -- I've not had any problems in the snow with the 4matic.

It's the tyres!

Chi-Benz

What tires do you have and how many miles?

1st post I see......

FraKctured

]

Yes, not all AWD systems are the same--4Matic is much better than Subaru!!

I've owned two Subarus (1993 and 2000) and neither compared in any way with my two MB 4Matics. Not sure about the Audi because I've never driven one in bad weather conditions.

As everyone else is saying, tires are the answer. Try some extra weight in the trunk (that helped with my RWD C class).

TB5...

been handling very well in the toronto winter lots of ice and some snow... i do have some polaris (inexpensive $180each) winter tires...

noisy in the rain and very noisy in snow... but handles well... so meh.

MB300AMG

Here is a bit of information and a road test of the 4matic system that we have in our cars and which is in the entire Mercedes-Benz lineup. Just in case anyone wanted it that is...

S550 4matic Fourth Generation System
http://www.insideline.com/mercedes-b...50-4matic.html

Benzo 003

Take a look at Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires....just put a set on my ML and cant stop raving about them....very quiet on dry pavement and powered through a foot last week in the Chicagoland area....a whole lot cheaper than Nokian WRG2s, with the same tread pattern. " All Season " too along with meeting the speed and load ratings.

Nuru

Once you get above 6" of snow you will have contact with the bottom of the car, once that happens it can get tough to drive the vehicle in the snow at any speed over 10 mph, as the depth of the snow may be enough to get an axle's wheels to lose contact with the road briefly. Snow tires are definitely the way to better traction, but you should also watch out for the depth of the snow too. These cars do not have the clearance of other high clearance vehicles so the wheels tend to push amounts of snow beneath the car and there is not much clearance for the car bottom at that point.

mirage15

I have both an A4 and C300 4Matic. I will tell you first hand that Quattro feels 100% more stable than the 4matic. Part of this also may be that I still have the *****ty Conti Sports on. They are by far the WORST tire that I have ever had on a car. For those that are complaining about losing traction.. if you still have those tires on.. ditch them and pick up about anything else.

ronmeister

It's just your driving.
I live in ND, so think about this: I am on the stock "all-season" Conti Pro Contacts which grow harder than a rock in the -20 degrees we see and I am down to probably 3/32" of tread and I haven't had an issue to date.

ljn21

We replaced our stock Conti's with Toyo Proxes4 which are listed by Toyo as all-season ultra high performance tires. Dec 9th we had over 14" on snow here in WI and I had to go to work before the plows were out on the roads - car handled like a dream and 1000 times better than the stock Conti's. Would highly recommend this tire.

Aggressive

I live in CT and find that the C300 drive great in the snow. You might slide some when you foots off the gas but when you put you foot back on the gas the car straightens out. I was surprised to see this thread and that you are disappointed with the winter driving in this car. I love it.

ronmeister

Don't go too far now

BenTrovato

Bridgestone Blizzaks, car is like a hummer!