tony

It seems like every time I make a 90 degree turn, I lose traction in the inside rear tire, the traction control kicks in , and I just can't get the car moving fast quickly. Sometimes it scary when I'm trying to beat oncoming traffic and the traction control bogs the engine down. I have new tires and it still does it. I don't have this problem with my other cars, both of which have more horsepower than the E420. Is there a sway bar or different shocks I could add to keep the inside rear tire better planted in corners? Thanks

rob_fed

When I put larger rear tires on my car, it helped with the same slipping situation. Also, my initial selection with low budget Kumhos did not help. Although, the right rear tire tread wear is faster than the left rear.

I have 17X9.5 rear rims.

Excessive slipping and traction control light flashing when I had:

P255/40/17s Kumho 711 - not a good choice for a W210

I went with a Sumitomo HTR+4 all weather tread style next:

P275/40/17s - Every since I had these tire mounted, the traction control light only come on under heavy acceleration, especially around a corner. Meaning, the light hardly comes on.

Your idea of stiffer shocks and/or sway bar would probably help too, I think lowering springs by themselves would reduce the sway and help also.

zam2000

Look like you have too high pressure in your rear tire. Try 32-34 psi.

And check your sway bar

E43

Tony, what type of tires do you have on your car? The easiest way to improve traction is with stickier tires.

tony

I'm on Michelin MXV4 Plus, similar to what came on the car. My tire pressure is set at 34 psi all the way around.

diffuzi0n

it should be 28 front rear 34. I never had this problem wiht my car. There is this turn everyday that i have to take and it is more like 120 degree turn where i have to accelirate quickly. The only time i get into trouble is when its snow in that area.

tony

I find that the car understeers way too much with the fronts inflated less than the rears and it doesn't help the rear traction situation.

The problem as I see it has to do with too much body sway. When I turn hard right or left, the cars weight is shifted to the outside rear tire and the inside rear is totally unloaded resulting in loss of traction.

My gut feeling is the car needs a bigger anti-sway bar in the rear, or shocks with more rebound. Are there any adjustable shocks made for the W210?

diffusiOn: also keep in mind that my car is a bit heavier with the added weight in the front due to the V8 engine which would also cause my car to break loose easier than your E320.

rob_fed

I agree that the weight transfer between going from left to right and right to left is a big factor in breaking traction of the inside wheel. Not sure how many miles on your car??? E420 or E430? Age may be a factor too.

Koni - "sport" are available for the W210 - TireRack.com and others - 5 way adj. - about $100 each

Bilstein seems to be the favorite choice of many - not externally adj. but has many stages of operation.

tony

It's a '97 E420 with around 115K miles. All new bushings, but original shocks. Seems like new shocks would be a good start. Any pros and cons on Bilsteins versus Koni's?

rob_fed

You should probably do a search on the Bilsteins and Konis, but it seems that most use Bilsteins (per my memory). I don't think many owners have messed around with adjustable shocks on their MBZ cars. Lots of posts dealing with various spring pads and spring related data.

E55Cent

I have very little wheel spin with my 275 rears and H&R springs even with 375hp. The car has very little body roll also. I chose the Koni shocks because the price was near the same as Bils but I could adjust the rebound. I have the front set to the softess and the back in the middle. This set up gave me more oversteer, the car had way too much understeer. Also I put more air in the rear for more oversteer and for better tire wear since I have a couple of degrees of negative camber. You could get an AMG or Eibach rear sway bar for less body roll.
Good luck
Mario