I can't believe I forgot to share this here.

So what happened is I've wanted to shoot the shoreline, and the views of Milwaukee and Chicago from this pier near my house; tonight was very clear with a full moon, so I went out. But while the roads are all clear, salted, and dry, Lake Michigan has apparently had a lot of water blow over the pier from which I wanted to shoot, which froze, thawed, re-froze, and effectively created several sheets of very hard ice with what looked like snow in between. It didn't look bad, but the layers must have built up to 6" - 8" thick and as soon as I drove onto it, I had zero traction. Figured that'd be a problem I'd contend with after I took my pictures. That was at 6:45 PM.

From about 7:15 PM to about 8:30 PM I intermittently tried to find my way clear, with some help from my dad. We didn't actually progress any nearer to dry pavement; we just slowly rotated it 180*, at which point the local tow truck we called showed and pulled me out via a winch. Nice guy; Fred's Towing Winnetka. He had a beastly F550.

It's a C250, rear-wheel drive with all-seasons. And while 4Matic may have helped, the 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class proved a comfortable and relaxing car I wholeheartedly endorse choosing if you anticipate getting stuck in inclimate weather.

Missed the focus, but here she is on ice. I was like this for about half an hour before i swung it another 90*.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975367135/http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975367135/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/lunitic/, on Flickr


V10 F550 tow truck.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975658743/http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975658743/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/lunitic/, on Flickr


In the clear!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975772054/http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975772054/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/lunitic/, on Flickr


The pier.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975655993/http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975655993/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/lunitic/, on Flickr


And one of the first pictures I took. Everything was by moonlight and one lamp at the end of the pier.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975771494/http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975771494/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/lunitic/, on Flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975608815/http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975608815/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/lunitic/, on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975805185/http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunitic/11975805185/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/lunitic/, on Flickr

 

Good to see both you and you car made it out safely.

Get a 4matic next time.

 

You have amazing photography skills!

 

It's not a matter of 4Matic. All four wheels can spin on a large sheet of ice just as easily as two. Get winter tires such as Michelin XIce xi3 or Blizzak WS70. That will make a much larger difference than how many wheels are spinning on ice. And, you won't have to wait for your next car to remedy this problem.

 

Yea you're right , letting some air out of your tires and a 4matic won't help in situation like this .

 

Thank you!


Hard to say if 4Matic would have gotten me out; winter tires would be huge, but either in this case might not have been sufficient to overcome my dumb decision going out onto what was effectively an ice rink. I used to have a B6 A4 quattro, and while newer AWD systems are pretty effective managing torque and wheelspin, I think there's not much to be done if all four wheels are hopelessly spinning on ice.

Certainly was an exciting evening! I'm sure the homes overlooking the lakefront were amused.

 

That much ice? You're screwed no matter what. Your 4Matic won't make enough difference to help.

 

I guess that 4 wheel drive tow truck has magical traction and was able to get to to the rear wheel drive c250 to tow it, but a 4matic would not get out on it's own.

 

Tow truck benefits from weight and tire selection. A tank with two-track drive would likely also be able to escape. Also, consider the weight transfer effect of towing. The heavier the towed vehicle, the less the contributing traction of the two truck's front wheels.

 

I suggest listening to MDMG & Sportstick. They know of what they speak.

It's all about weight over contact patch & coefficient of friction at the contact patch.

The reason wider tyres are not always better. It's the ratio of weight to contact patch that matters plus tyre compounding & tread.

 

You'll also note the use of a tow eye on the car, and the fact that the OP stated that he was towed out via winch.

The tow truck never left solid ground.

 

4matic towing a truck in snow

4matic fun in deep snow

4matic climb up an ice hill.

4matic action on icy snowy roads.

 

They may know what they are speaking about, but I know from experience.

A few weeks back when we had the big blizzard, I put my 4matic to the test in similar icy conditions in a near vacant parking lot and my 4matic pass the test. Yes there were initial wheel spining , but it took patience and feathering of gas starting in second gear but it made it out of the large icy snowy area.

 

I'm very surprised and very much in disagreement with those saying '4matic probably wouldn't have made a big difference'.

You'd be doubling the contact area with which the car could put down its power. In fact, you'd be more than doubling it since there is more weight in the front of the car, and 4matic would allow the power to be planted by the front wheels with that additional weight above them.

There is no way he'd have had any trouble getting out of there if he had 4matic, even on all seasons. It's ice, and it's a level grade. No way he'd have spun all 4 wheels without moving, not in that situation.

As an aside, OP, you could have dumped some kitty litter or similar substance around the rear wheels and made a path of it if necessary to get out easily. Much cheaper than a tow.

 

What "Big Blizzard" did we have?

I live 39 miles south of where you live, and I work 25 miles from where you live. That wasn't snow, and we had no "blizzard". My RWD C250 on summer tires made it through that with no issue or slipping, and that's before sand was added to my trunk.

 

Beautiful pictures adanmtxt1! Thanks for sharing but sorry about your misfortune...

 

1. Yes there was a blizzard , they call it Hercules http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/03/us/winter-weather/

2. You don't know where I live , you say you live 39 miles south of me? How did you come up with that random number ?

3. I was on vacation that week in Philly , PA and that is where I had the fun in the snow.

4. You don't own late model 4matic , so you have no authority to speak about it.

 

nice shots! what you shooting with?

 

That is the loosest definition of "Blizzard" I have ever seen.

That article cites "Blizzard Level" winds twice, and "Blizzard" conditions once... in NORTH DAKOTA.
You're right - I had you mixed up with Mike82212. Regardless, Maryland is not that big of a state. If you were over in Garrett County or the like, I could see you having a rough time with snow. Given that you talk about MB of Annapolis, chances are you are on the eastern side of the state. Regardless, Maryland does not get enough snow to justify AWD.
Your point? They had 9 inches total throughout the storm - not 9 inches on the road at once. Hardly "blizzard level", but unless you are turning your fascia into a snowplow, not something you are driving any car through.
And you don't own a late model RWD C, your point? I've driven plenty of 4Matics in varying weather conditions including snow and ice, and I spent the entire month of January last year in an e90 328i xDrive rental and dealt with it in "snow". My authority comes from my experience.

This whole argument reeks of the hilariously poor way that people in the Mid Atlantic handle inclement weather. It's almost offensive how stupid MD/DC/VA people get when it snows.


Circling back on topic to the OP - nice work on the pics

 

1. Again , your assumption of where I live is wrong.

2. As far as your opinion on owning a 4matic for people living Maryland is unjustified, you don't speak for others. It's good to have that option and if people want to choose it, then so be it. It's their choice, not yours.

3. You should not throw a blanket statement that people in mid Atlantic drive poorly or don't know how to drive in these conditions. There may be some inexperienced drivers , but not all are bad like you make it out to be. I'm not sure what your point is , perhaps you are trying to say you are a superior driver in your rear wheel drive versus an inexperience driver in all wheel drive ?

The only reason why I continue to respond in this thread is to show how absurd your comment that an all wheel drive would not help in the condition that the OP have described. Yes there may be some inexperience drivers that do not know how to handle condition like this , but you can't dismiss that all 4 wheels putting down its power on the surface does not have advantage over 2 wheels .

 

Well then, care to enlighten me/the board? Considering Maryland is 12,400 sq miles (which is relatively tiny...) even if I'm off, I'm not off by that much.

You're damn right that is what I am saying. And the blanket statement fits the area. This link sums it up best
I'm sorry, in that situation, AWD would have been little benefit. If a RWD isn't able to get moving, 4 are going to slip damn near as easily. We're not talking about snow, that the car can chew through to get some sort of momentum. Starting from a dead stop on ice is a completely different ballgame than anything else.

Source: Growing up in an area that actually gets snow and ice, like where the OP had this situation.

 

Yet you continue to dismiss that all wheel drive has no benefit over rear wheel drive in the OP's described condition.

MDMGuy , Let's just agree to disagree because you want to reject the objective reality of the situation and hopefully replace it with your own.

 

Not sure where your first part comes from... I summed it up nicely
We're going to gladly disagree on this, because I'm not going to argue with someone who is being a fool and apparently has a lack of understanding of basic physics.

 

Are you insinuating that I'm a fool ? So you are stooping to this low level now Well, whatever, you know what they say "it takes one to know one" .

I may not be a physicist , but I do know what goes up must come down and forces applied to 4 wheels on a surface will create more traction than 2 wheels and this varies with the coefficient of friction factor.

 

The whole problem here is that we are talking about ice. Half my family still lives in Canada so yes I've experiended ice. Snow is a whole different scenario.

acr2001 is correct. Only gritting could potentially save the day.