Driving in snow
Thread Starter
MBworld Guru
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 10,782
Likes: 1,011
NO LONGER ACTIVE
Driving in snow
Living in Alabama, I don't often concern myself with driving in the snow, but we've have a surprise winter storm hit today. I tried to leave the office to get home around 11AM, but roads were gridlocked. I ended up driving 4 miles in about 90 minutes, so I came back and I'm spending the night in my office. During my 90 minute excursion, I went up and down some pretty good hills and I was very impressed with the CLK's performance. Of course one thing that helps is that I just put a new set of Michelin Pilot A/S tired on the rear. But I was making it up and down hills that others, mostly FWD Camrys and such, could not. Anyhow, I'm a lot luckier than others - there are still literally tens of thousands of people stuck on the roads, and kids stuck at schools overnight. Three of us stayed at the office. We can walk to a Target so we grabbed some steaks and beer, cooked the steaks on an indoor electric griddle and we're watching the news show all the stranded drivers. The CLK is parked safely in the parking lot.
Thread Starter
MBworld Guru
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 10,782
Likes: 1,011
NO LONGER ACTIVE
It's still pretty bad here. It's not going above freezing today. I may try to get out in the parking lot later, after the sun has had some time to help, to see haw things work on ice.
BTW, watching the continuous news coverage, they have shown three different CLK cabriolets in their repeating traffic footage. I guess the videographers liked showing convertibles int he snow. One of them seemed to be doing OK, but the other two were parked on the side of the road. Honestly, I think mine only did so well because of the brand new tires.
BTW, watching the continuous news coverage, they have shown three different CLK cabriolets in their repeating traffic footage. I guess the videographers liked showing convertibles int he snow. One of them seemed to be doing OK, but the other two were parked on the side of the road. Honestly, I think mine only did so well because of the brand new tires.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,401
Likes: 312
CLK55 W209, CL63 W216
You haven't seen snow until you have at least 2 feet of snow in your driveway. A good set of tires is like 90% of snow performance.
That being said,I drove the CLK in about 7 inches of snow the other day and I was impressed with the traction control. It's pretty damn good.
That being said,I drove the CLK in about 7 inches of snow the other day and I was impressed with the traction control. It's pretty damn good.
Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 98
Likes: 3
The clk is verry good on snow and ice.
I live in norway, and it has been snowing 2-3 weeks non stop now, and i never had any problems so far. Just a bit skidding, but nothing esp cant handle.
I am driving on 225/40-18 front and 255/35-18 rear nokian hakkapelitta 7 (speed index Q) studded wintertires for Nordic conditions, not some hard wintertires for europe/us conditions. My old w203 always got stuck in snow With Continental wintercontact tires.
A friend of mine moved over to usa, and bought wintertires from norway becouse they are much better on ice and snow he said.
I live in norway, and it has been snowing 2-3 weeks non stop now, and i never had any problems so far. Just a bit skidding, but nothing esp cant handle.
I am driving on 225/40-18 front and 255/35-18 rear nokian hakkapelitta 7 (speed index Q) studded wintertires for Nordic conditions, not some hard wintertires for europe/us conditions. My old w203 always got stuck in snow With Continental wintercontact tires.
A friend of mine moved over to usa, and bought wintertires from norway becouse they are much better on ice and snow he said.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,100
Likes: 4
From: ChiTown
06 Carrera4
As long as you have a good set of winter tires, youre fine. i always have a winter set for my cars. On CLK i had Nokian WRs (technicaly all season, but still decent). One problem i had with CLK is windows freezing up.
W/o a garage moisture from snow and everything else freezes the windows to the seals and wont let windows go down when you try to open the doors. Should you be able to pull it open, you cant close it w/o a huge risk of braking the glass
But driving in snow was never a problem.
W/o a garage moisture from snow and everything else freezes the windows to the seals and wont let windows go down when you try to open the doors. Should you be able to pull it open, you cant close it w/o a huge risk of braking the glass
But driving in snow was never a problem.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 2,109
Likes: 112
2008 CLK550 Cab
Drive mine 365 in Denver unless it's just too deep. I'm old and grew up on rear wheel drive in Ohio. I'm happy to have rear wheel drive again because they are so much more fun in snow and how to drive them is in my bones.
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
MBworld Guru
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 10,782
Likes: 1,011
NO LONGER ACTIVE
I did well today and came home at 3PM. Even on ice, things went well. I agree - 90% is tires and those new Pilot Sport A/Ss are great! That, and using "comfort" mode to start in 2nd with a very light foot on the accelerator and I was fine.
MB World Stories
The Best of Mercedes & AMG
Manual Mercedes? 6 Times Sindelfingen Let Drivers Have All The Fun
Verdad Gallardo
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Verdad Gallardo
8 Classic Boxy Mercedes Designs That Have Aged Like Fine Wine
Verdad Gallardo
Flawlessly Restored Mercedes 190E Evo II Heads to Auction
Verdad Gallardo
Electric Mercedes C-Class Unveiled: 11 Things You Need to Know
Verdad Gallardo
Mercedes EQS Gets A Major Update: Everything You Need to Know
Verdad Gallardo
5 Underrated Mercedes-Benz Models That Don't Get the Love They Deserve
Verdad Gallardo
Mercedes 300D Has Pushed Well Past 1 Million Miles and It Ain't Stopping
Verdad Gallardo
10 Most Reliable Mercedes-Benz Models You Can Buy Used
Verdad Gallardo
Newbie
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
From: New York, NY
2009 CLK 350 Cab
So far so good on my CLK with the stock Continental tires (I believe those are all-season ties, not winter). Here in NYC we don't usually get enough snow to justify Winter tires, and I have another car to drive for the really heavy days. The car was terrible in 3-4 inches last year but seems a lot better now that I leave about 150 pounds of cat litter in the trunk during the winter (plus that should help bail me out in case I get stuck in snow!)
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,200
Likes: 10
2004 CLK320
Next time, I will try put them on my rear seats so the weight would be directly on the rear axle.
Last edited by mis3; Jan 30, 2014 at 10:24 AM.
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
From: Queens/L.I. , NY
CLK350 2007
Being in NYC I drive in the snow often, yes it is a coupe and we all know it is not 4matic , but I must say I have driven in the worst of the worst snow storms and the CLK is truly something special. Besides the occasional slip here and there, which if you are an expert drive you can turn off the ESP off and enjoy, this car is great in all weather conditions. I ride on Continentals contiprocontact which grips nice, but i assume conti DSW probably will ride even better.
, but I must say I have driven in the worst of the worst snow storms and the CLK is truly something special. Besides the occasional slip here and there, which if you are an expert drive you can turn off the ESP off and enjoy, this car is great in all weather conditions. I ride on Continentals contiprocontact which grips nice, but i assume conti DSW probably will ride even better.
Thread Starter
MBworld Guru
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 10,782
Likes: 1,011
NO LONGER ACTIVE
We went to my wife's office today to get her car (she left it in the deck and rode home with a coworker). The ramps on the deck were solid ice. The CLK went right up with no issues. I decided to play a bit on the empty upper level which was still snow and ice covered. With ABS and ESP, it wasn't too exciting, but my wife was scared enough. 
Member
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 165
Likes: 4
2005 CLK 320
I am over in Atlanta and have driven mine in the past couple of days without any great problem. New tires on the rear but the fronts could do with being changed
Thankfully I made it home on Tuesday before it started to lie and freeze.
Spend yesterday comparing stories with co-workers on how long it took them to get home. Thinking of erecting a Top Gear type leader board to post commute times on
Current record holder is a 20 mile trip in 18 hours.
Thankfully I made it home on Tuesday before it started to lie and freeze.
Spend yesterday comparing stories with co-workers on how long it took them to get home. Thinking of erecting a Top Gear type leader board to post commute times on
Current record holder is a 20 mile trip in 18 hours.
Thread Starter
MBworld Guru
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 10,782
Likes: 1,011
NO LONGER ACTIVE
In terms of "miles per hour", we had plenty of people slower than 0.5 miles per hour. From our office to the interstate is just over 2 miles and it was taking about 5 hours to get there. My wife's office is 3.5 miles from home and it took her almost 6 hours.
