OP, how fast were you going when you made contact with the tree? I am glad you are okay!

 

From looking at the pictures with snow, my wild guess is that it's colder than 70F where he was driving.

 

Ouch that sucks but glad your ok.

 

Glad you walked away! That surely was a scary moment for you.

Where are you located?

Just my opinions but with an LSD and proper tires you're car would have had a higher chance of survival. Something to consider for the future.

 

first, sorry it happened

but more importantly, MUCH respect for owning up to it...
it's so damn reaffirming these days to see a man take responsibility...too many pussies these days, even apologizing for others, lol
not blaming the car, the road, the weather, the 'other' guy...
imho a person will be a better driver and a better person for stepping up like you did...

the 'snake' will be less likely to bite you next time

what was the temperature?
what tires were on the car? edit, see it was oem Conti's
road looks wet, not icy, doubt tires would have made much of a difference

 

^ thanks.


I took this road 3 times that day. Its an 8 mile road each way... so I drove it 16 miles spirited (mostly in 3rd gear). It was about 42 degees out at time of impact...


The 3rd time I went back through the road I decided to take a specific corner in 2nd gear... no cars around so I thought I would have just a tiny bit of back end fun... welp - bad choice. I had the wheel turned going around the bend and gave it a little juice in 2nd gear to try to have the rear wiggle just a little. Little turned into a lot and that plan got me completely sideways. I was going about 45mph... maybe 50mph. I recovered and got the car straight, but by the time I was straight I was half off the road and the ABS wasn't stopping me on snow.


The car (LDS equipped), tires, etc... all took the first two laps just fine in 3rd. I had good control and felt I could go in between slight under and overstear in 3rd. When I decided to try 2nd, I instantly regretted it.


I learned a lot... Life is good. It takes a big experience to realize the little things in life are what make it. Also, I know sh*t about car control and I shouldn't of been trying to have the slightest amount of 'fun' in wet conditions. Just because I did it in the dry doesn't make me Chris Harris.

 

in second gear you are talking a lot of thrust at the tire with this car
it's no joke and not to be taken lightly

~3000 lbs (force) after losses (2.86 2nd gear x 2.65 fd x 443 lb ft)/1 ft radius x 0.85 (losses)
moving a mass of 4000, accel ~3000/4000 or 0.75 g !
it will move the car around....quickly, if not applied in the right vector
especially if all of it is transferred suddenly to the wheel with traction, reduced coef of friction due to some water, and whoosh!
rotate like a top

 

2nd gear, spirited driving, 40 degree temps, on wet ground, no room for error, surrounded by trees, snow, ?ice, gravel, salt....sounds like a recipe for taking out a tree....on a good note you walked away

 

This is probably the biggest contributor to what happened. If you were on all seasons, you probably would've been fine. Summer performance tires at that temperature would be like driving on hockey pucks.

Glad you're safe. That's all that matters.

 

Refreshing post - kudos. I f'ed up, was dicking around and got bit. Not many others would say that...


Its just a car at the end of the day - they can make more. I just picked up a 507 and have done many track days in my 911. 507 scares the **** out of me...never had a car that when you punch it doing 50mph the *** end goes sideways and the tires claw for traction...this is on a sunny day in the dry.


These cars demand respect - even with all of the nannies in place. Maybe get some track time in or a drivers ed class under your belt - once you push the limits on the track - you don't even think twice about pushing them on the street. I am planning on a track day with the AMG academy and then maybe a drivers ed day in my own car. Just so I know what I am doing.


Anyway glad you are safe - get some track time and get a new C63...enjoy the holidays and forget about it - could have happened to any one of us on this board.

 

coming from an RS4, which was damn near impossible to get loose, I am being very delicate, cautious and deliberate in the C63 until I build up some seat time...and even then this car needs to be driven smoothly and proportionally...not binary/discrete

there is NO IMMUNITY from the laws of physics

 

Exactly!! Same here. Thanks again Op for your honesty.....as your honesty could possibly save someone's life on here. And I am coming from a 600hp machine myself, which was AWD, and does not command the respect as this AMG deserves.

 

What was the temperature?

Below 45 degrees your car will handle better with bricks than it will stock max performance summer tires.

Edit: Nevermind. Saw the temperature.

I'm impressed you were able to drive the car in a spirited fashion at all with those tires in that temperature range.

 

Bingo! With the old S4, winter and snow was just plain fun. One really had to disobey every driving dynamic to get the car to oversteer. We used to have some great fun in "virgin" parking lots after the snow had stopped falling. Wide Open Throttle was just par for the course!


With the new car, I had the opportunity to drive around in the last snowstorm here in NYC Metro (12/14). As I emailed my sales guy, the trick to this car is ESP on, Comfort Mode engaged, <=45% Throttle and Snow Tires.


mdgrwl - glad you are okay! Happy to hear you were able to walk away unscathed....could have been much, much worse.


-C

 

Interesting to see that Tire Rack addresses this in their description of the ContiSportContact 5P: "However, like all summer tires, they are not intended to be driven in near freezing temperatures, through snow or on ice."

People new to max performance tires are often not aware of this, but their change in performance at cold temperature is significant. My experience matches what zibby is saying - grip on almost all sticky tires will fall off dramatically somewhere in the mid-40 degree F range. You've REALLY got to be careful.

 

Glad to see you're ok bud....

Cars are replaeable...forum members aren't

 

Damn man lucky your ok

 

Thank God you're OK!! All material things can be replaced.

 

You're exactly right. I started to experience wheel-hop after I left my 5P's on well into early November (sub-45 degree ambient and road surface temperatures daily). We hadn't seen any snowfall yet so I figured I'd keep them on just a little bit longer.

Control diminished significantly and as soon as I switched to the softer compound found in the Blizzak LM-32s, the rear wheels were once again performing lovely, smoky burn-outs instead of spine-jarring hop-outs.

 

Glad to see you are OK....trees the size of the ones you hit are very unforgiving. The cars crush structure sure did its work in absorbing the impact. Good to have you around to tell us about the crash and to remind us all that we are just human.

 

Glad to see you're ok.
Glad to hear you owned up to your mistake.

 

holy… everyone on this forum has pushed their cars to have a little bit of fun on public roads but damn glad your ok… snow+c63 it will always be a bad time without proper tires

 

Was your ESP on?

 

Sorry to see the car go like that but glad you are doing well.


Question for you... are you planning on getting another C63 now?

 

You know what...the most important thing is you are alive okay?
Forget the car, youll get another one day...its not the most important thing in the world.
It hurts...I understand that but you will get another and everything will be fine!