Move to California! No rain here!

 

Hi There! Slow the f down thx!

 

Puddles are often deep by the side of the road, but thin out at the center (as long as the road is crowned). As long as you steer as close to the center as possible and keep two wheels out of the puddle, you won't lose directional control. Don't press your luck, though. You will feel the drag of the wheels in the puddle trying to pull you off line.

 

It’s interesting you mention this. Prior to my 2021 C300, I owned a 2015 C300. Often times, in rainy conditions and at speeds as low as 35 MPH (that’s driving on the highways here in South Florida, where they run very straight and rain is incredibly frequent), I would find myself having trouble controlling the car, even in straight lines (all from the far right lane, with traffic passing at double my speed — some even seeming to pass beyond the speed limit of 70 MPH, while still maintaining traction). I would have to slow down from 35 to around 30-25 on an incredibly busy highway to regain control. Something I never experienced in any other vehicle. Though incredibly absurd at first, It became such a common occurrence to me that I almost got accustomed to it. There was one incident where I felt it was so dangerous, I was under the impression they must have improperly mounted my tires, and my service advisor suggested we switch me from the standard continental run-flats to Michelin brand tires. After the switch, I never experienced this issue again — in that vehicle. Fast forward to my 2021 C300, it does still occur so I know to drive extra carefully, often slower than the traffic around me. Today while driving on the highway, there was one patch of road which seemed to be a different material, and I lost traction for a few seconds; Thankfully, I was able to regain it, only to see in the distance a vehicle which wasn’t as fortunate, and made contact with the concrete barrier… another C300! (Similar to the previous 2015 I had, on account of the halogen headlamps). I witnessed many other vehicles pass over that same patch of road at much higher velocities and with no obvious difficulty. (If you are familiar with the roads of South Florida, you know they are designed so water may seep through and drain on the sides, rather than remain on the surface. My vehicle drives well on those, but I know to slow down when crossing bridges or under tolls, where the road surface differs. I don’t notice any other vehicles doing the same, they seem to pass with ease while maintaining their original speed — and I do as well when in other vehicles that aren’t my C-Class. By now, it’s become muscle memory so I no longer experience the same fear I had when I first started driving in such conditions. My 2021 also had the standard Continentals, come time to change the tires, I was informed they didn’t have the Michelins I requested in the sizes I needed so I switched to Pirelli, and it’s been a great improvement since.

 

Tires does play a role that is for sure.

 

I experience very similar symptoms with my 2020 non-4matic c300. My daily commute includes 140 miles of highway with a speed limit of 80mph and it is mostly concrete. I find that anytime it rains, even lightly, this car is all over the place at anything above 40 mph. All of this while other drivers fly by, even the drivers that have adjusted their speed for the conditions which creates a safety issue for me and other drivers. Who knew that driving 40 in an 80 is not safe. None of the numerous other vehicles that I have driven on this route have given me issues. I have tried 4 different models of continental tires, which all have excellent wet traction/hydroplane ratings, but continue to experience this. I will be moving on from continental tires for my next set in hopes that it solves my problem. Luckily, the rain is fairly infrequent in my area.

 

Driving home in the rain, had to slow down to 45 MPH on a 70 MPH highway; I was in the far right lane with other vehicles passing me at regular highway speeds. Same South Florida expressway mentioned in my previous post; saw state trooper lights up ahead so traffic began to slow for a crashed vehicle... a white W205! Right after a small stretch where the road goes from asphalt to concrete for a bridge and even myself at 45 MPH felt the rear begin to slide. Fourth time I've seen a C300 wreck there, same place I made my previous post.

 

Drive a heavier AWD car in the rain, not a light RWD. Or learn to drift like all the kewl kidz in the 90s did. LOL

 

or check tread on rear tires as the shallower the grooves get (tire wearing) the more prone to hydroplaning.

 

I changed them in July of last year, brand new Pirellis; but the strangest thing of all is how I'm restricted to driving low speeds unless I'd like for the car to begin losing grip, when I see vehicles of all manufacturers and sizes flying by as though it's not even raining!

(On Dry Roads)
I had a separate issue after purchasing this car; it veered to the right. I brought it back to the MB of Ft. Lauderdale dealer within a week of purchase and they checked the alignment, said it was off and corrected it. However, it continued to ever so slightly veer to the right. I brought it back, waited hours, advisor came and said mechanic said it was fine. I told them I was not satisfied with that answer and wanted to speak to the mechanic myself, the mechanic came and said he did not test drive the car to actually verify whether this happened or not. Their answer was I probably drove over a pothole, something which hardly exists here as they're always spending money resurfacing roads, hahahaha. I asked them to bring me the keys to a new car as well as the mechanic come along with me so we can see if this is an issue with just my vehicle or with the C Class in general. We went around, he blamed it on the curvature of the roads as he noticed it did veer slightly to the right at higher speeds, so I began driving on the opposite end of the road and what would you know, still veered slightly to the right. He blamed it on no longer being able to adjust camber so they were ready to let me believe I was hallucinating that my car was out of alignment, he finally admitted that he noticed it as well and has known about it and that it's just how it is, so with little other choice I accepted it and went on my merry way. For those unfamiliar, roads here are very straight and flat, of course no road is ever perfectly level but within the first week of driving I developed thumb fatigue from having to hold my steering wheel slightly counter-clockwise when driving with one hand on a straight road to keep my car from veering right, something I've never experienced before but my friends and I laughed about after mentioning "thumb fatigue" to them.


Anyway, not sure what correlation if any this may have with the afforementioned issue but was something else that stood out to me and I was able to recall last night.

 

In my 2001 SLK 320, I was driving on a nice sunny day, so I decided to put the top down.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a sunshower began a torrent of rain.
I noticed, that if I kept highway speed, the windshield deflected almost all the rain up and over the interior.
But I also began to notice that I was beginning to hydroplane when I sped up in attempts to deflect all the rain over the interior.
So there I was in a coffin corner(aviation term) of about 2mph.
Too slow, wet.
Too fast, drifter.
I was finally able to find an overpass, get under it, and close the top.
A couple of notes.
Back in our drivers Ed days we learned that in the first few minutes of rain after a long dry spell, road oil mixes with the water to make the roads extra slippery.
Also, areas of high oil concentration, if encountered when wet, can instantly reduce your traction to zero.
Same for areas of high rubber deposition.
The only safe way to identify potential hydroplaning is to sense and feel for it by approaching from a slower speed.
Inotherwords, you may have to slow down substantially BEFORE you encounter water contamination in order to get the warning signals in advance.

 

IF camber off then possible inner tread worn down while outside looks great.

Crawl under and look from rear at each rear tire or get it on a lift.
For front just turn wheel one way or other and check them.

What size tires? are they wide - wider the more likely to hydroplane then those cars driving past you with skinnier tires.

THey have fixes for out on interent and posted about in this forum about how to change some parts and get adjustable camber front and rear

Might save your bacon - at least tires