First winter drive with the CLS 550 4Matic
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2002
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From: Montana/Alberta
C63 BS, GLA45
First winter drive with the CLS 550 4Matic
Got our first snow tonight, so I took the CLS 550 out for a rip, ESP off, M mode, Sport suspension setting. Tires are Michelin Alpin Sport PA2's.
The good:
- Car accelerates like it's wet roads in a RWD car.
- ESP on has perfect road manners.
- Brakes are easy to modulate and find the bite point right before ABS trigger
The bad:
- ESP can't turn off fully, kicks in at around 10 degree slip angle when oversteering
- When ESP kicks in to correct a slide, I'm already countersteering, and it thinks I want to go in the opposite direction. So it points the car there. Yikes!
- Lots of understeer in the high speed stuff (well high speed for snow, around 50mph), especially off camber turns. Oddly enough ESP never triggers like oversteer, you just go really wide really quick
- Throttle when understeer doesn't induce oversteer at all. Just goes even wider. A few scary moments out there.
- Fun in the slow corners, till it changes gears automatically (even in M), then it slides a lot then ESP kicks in, and see above... the car just aims for the oncoming lane lol.
I was hoping it would be a better drift car than my 911 turbo with an archaic AWD system. Just gotta figure out how to turn that ESP off completely.
Had some go-pro footage, but the snow kicked up and covered the whole camera. Will have to use a different mounting point.
The good:
- Car accelerates like it's wet roads in a RWD car.
- ESP on has perfect road manners.
- Brakes are easy to modulate and find the bite point right before ABS trigger
The bad:
- ESP can't turn off fully, kicks in at around 10 degree slip angle when oversteering
- When ESP kicks in to correct a slide, I'm already countersteering, and it thinks I want to go in the opposite direction. So it points the car there. Yikes!
- Lots of understeer in the high speed stuff (well high speed for snow, around 50mph), especially off camber turns. Oddly enough ESP never triggers like oversteer, you just go really wide really quick
- Throttle when understeer doesn't induce oversteer at all. Just goes even wider. A few scary moments out there.
- Fun in the slow corners, till it changes gears automatically (even in M), then it slides a lot then ESP kicks in, and see above... the car just aims for the oncoming lane lol.
I was hoping it would be a better drift car than my 911 turbo with an archaic AWD system. Just gotta figure out how to turn that ESP off completely.
Had some go-pro footage, but the snow kicked up and covered the whole camera. Will have to use a different mounting point.
Last edited by rage2; Oct 23, 2012 at 01:07 AM.
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CLS 550 4matic
winter tire size
Which wheels do you have....and what sizes did you chose for Michelin winter tires front and rear....
my CLS 550 4matic has wheel package one with 18 inch AMG wheels (Pirelli all season tires)....Michelin tires (winter and summer) are just the best even though they are not listed as possible tire choices for winter tires....not even on Michelin site (only Pilot Super Sport for summer).
Thanks for your help and the nice test report.
RH
my CLS 550 4matic has wheel package one with 18 inch AMG wheels (Pirelli all season tires)....Michelin tires (winter and summer) are just the best even though they are not listed as possible tire choices for winter tires....not even on Michelin site (only Pilot Super Sport for summer).
Thanks for your help and the nice test report.
RH
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,669
Likes: 63
From: Montana/Alberta
C63 BS, GLA45
I have the OEM 18x8.5f 18x9.5r wheels, running 255/40-18 Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2's on all 4 corners. So I went with the factory recommended 18" tire size but not the wheel size. I believe the factory recommends 18x8.5 wheels on all 4 corners, but it's not necessary since 255's fit on 8.5-10" wheel widths.
Hope that helps.
Hope that helps.
