MountainStone

Yesterday morning as I was leaving for work the roads were very icy. My ABS engaged as I slid slowly through the stop sign at the end of my street, and the ESP was working overtime as I fishtailed slowly through first gear (all of this at less than 5 MPH). Upon starting my journey home after work I noticed the transmission was in 'W' mode, though I have never voluntarily selected that mode. I suspect the activation of the ABS and ESP at such low wheel speed may have forced selection of winter mode. I am fairly new to the car and I have read a lot of the manual but didn't realize the car was this 'smart.' Am I the only one who was unaware of this feature, or is my car broke?

P.S. On my way today to get new Eagle F1 all-seasons; my worn rear tires certainly weren't helping my low-traction situation

trbo2nr

I didn't know we have a W mode. I thought it was either S or C and is manually selected. Hopefully someone will respond to this as I'd like to know this as well.

Quicktwinturbo

What's W mode??

DarkXerox

C32's (and normal C's) have S and W modes. It's the same thing as S and C modes on 05+ models

rockjock

S=Sport (starts in 1st gear)
W=Winter (starts in 2nd gear)
C55 has an M=Manual....kinda-shift at your own pace

pointman

I have a c32. S or C. No W.

rockjock

C=Comfort-see W

DarkXerox

Yeah I forgot to mention it also starts in the 2nd reverse gear too when in W.

Pointman: That's odd, maybe they changed it in the 2004 models?

JG26_Irish

My 2003 C32 has S (summer) and W(winter) modes. They are manually switched. Last winter, I was caught in snow twice and did my share of slipping and slithering around, including some very slow skids, etc. Never did the trans switch to "W" mode on its own. I had to wake up and do it myself.

I have had it switch in mid summer to W-mode when I sat something heavy on the button.

Irish

MountainStone

I have been unable to repeat the conditions of the ESP engagement since it has warmed up here and the roads are wet but not slippery (no complaints). I am certain I did not select 'W' mode manually; its a puzzle.

On the plus side my new Eagle F1 all-seasons are pretty grippy...

SGTzAMG

yeah, my C32 has S for "Standard, starts the car in 1st gear" and W "Winter, starts the car in 2nd gear" and both cars are manually swithed from one mode to another.

W203Ramos

+1