MBNUT1

I am impressed with how sure footed and stable my E350 4matic has been the last couple of days. I've driven an A4 quattro for close to 10 years and thought that the 4matic would be inferior in some way, but it has done the job in a most unobtrussive manner. I actually started to spin out the A4 yesterday but that is because I was overconfident in it. Fortuately the Quattro saved my butt.

Zytek_Fan

4matic seems to have gotten a lot better throughout the years. It still can't shake a fist at quattro, but nothing can.

Merc has done a good job with improving 4matic, and I'm sure they could challenge quattro if they had a similar torsen differential.

KL2DC

This is my first winter with my W211. The car feels great in our relatively light mid-atlantic winter conditions. I have the additional benefit of dedicated winter tires (Dunlop Wintersport 3Ds). The car takes off from a stop like its dry and cornering grip and braking is confident. The car will wag its tail some, however, if you go looking for it. I'm quite surprised the car feels like a RWD in those 1-2 millisecond before the ESP, 4-matic, 4-ETS etc kicks in.

AMGTestDriverNJ

What type of tires are we running this winter my fellow 4matics? I'm still riding my summer tires and 4Matic isn't saving me from sht but thats really my own fault. Just curious to know if you are riding on your stock tires of if you've switched to a winter set up like blizzack or something similar? BTW if you've been following my 4Matic lowering thread the springs should be in very shortly so stay tuned height change and ride specs and of course pictures!

sleewell

if i ever move somewhere with winter weather i would get a 4matic for sure. although moving from sunny 80 degrees in January back to snow and ice would be a tough sell at this point...

KYBENZ

Being your neighbor, I too was quite impressed with my 4Matic in the ice and snow mess we encountered this week.
My drive from northern Kentucky up to West Chester was a true joy.
No slippin' or slidin' and a warm backside thanks to the heated seats.

sdunham

I compromised and went with Bridgestone Potenza RE960 AS's on my E500 4M... I say compromise because I didn't want to run a summer set and a dedicated winter set ( got too many sets of tires in the basement as it is with 4 vehicles). The AS's do just fine in winter but aren't as good as dedicated snows obviously... I can also run them in summer with no issues. Your biggest issue with running summer tires in winter is due to the rubber compound not being designed to be run in temps lower than 45 degrees and the tires are very hard at cold temps... Also the tread most likely doesn't have many biting edges but rather large rubber blocks that don't do much for grip in snow or ice...

hagar852

I have the continentals that came on the car and haven't had any issue with those. I live in New England and we have had a lot of snow this winter so I have had plenty of chances to go 4matickin

Long Islander

I have factory Michelin all seasons. Acceleration in snow is great, enough so that you forget how slippery the road is -- until you try to brake or turn. You definitely have to keep reminding yourself that despite the great acceleration, it's slippery underneath. I guess this is why you see so many overturned SUVs whenever it snows -- they get a false sense of confidence, which with their high center of gravity, gets them in trouble.

AMGTestDriverNJ

Those are the conti pro contacts 245/40 right? Its interesting to hear how they do in weather as I didn't think they would stand up to our east coast winters. Maybe I should throw those back on there. Hmmm...

MBNUT1

Running Fairly new Michilen MXM"S We had a pretty good snow here the secondary streets are still not clear. The snow plow created a hump before the driveway which I could have blasted through but I am gentle with this car so it took a couple of gos. No need for winter tires as far as I can see.

alejotrujillo

I have Pirelli Sottozero's (245/40/18) and the car is truly amazing with them. We just had an insane amount of snow in Montreal this week, and you should see the roads that I've been driving and parking on!!!

It doesn't matter if the road is covered in snow, VERY deep snow, ice, black ice, etc. the car just keeps going like a tank.

The car feels sooo much better than my previous BMW 335xi it's not even funny. I am officially in love with my Mercedes

KL2DC

I looked at the LM25s and the Sottozeros 240s too but went with the Wintersport 3D based on tirerack reviews. It seems more well rounded in its winter driving abilities.

I also mirror the 'drives like a tank' sentiments

hagar852

Yes I believe so. I have driven on them through 3 snow storms now and one with a few inches on the ground without any issue.

I recently went up a driveway that was all ice about 2 inches thick, and had little problem going up. Ofcourse being on ice I did slide around a little bit but was never out of control.

I will have to see how many miles these tires will last. So far I have been happy with them, but not sure if I will buy these again or go with some Toyo's.

W210

Debating whether to get the GLK350 or a E300 4Matic (smaller engine only available in Canada).

How far have you all taken the 4Matic in deep snow?

220S

What are snow tires? I run earthquake tires all year around here.....

harkgar

GLK for sure.

Bigger engine. More powerful.
GLK is new. The E300 W 211 body will be replaced under a year.
As a result depreciation will be bigger for the E300.
If you live anywhere outside British Columbia the small SUV is definitely better for snow and ice.

W210

I quite agree with you, it's just that the E does have a bit more rear leg room.

SAguirre

My family has had Quattros since they were available in Colorado. There was no better car for the winter. The first generation 4-Matic on the W124 was OK, but expensive to keep working. This 4-Matic on my W211 is significantly better than my S 6’s Quattro. The S 6 is a great car, but the 4-matic makes tight turns and climbs up the hills perfectly. The Audi still slips a little when I take it up the driveway/street in Vail. My Audi has Michellin Pilot Alpines and my Benz has Blizzaks. I think that the Benz turn better because the 4-Matic system knows the difference in the turning speed and allows the tires to turn a corner while the surface is slippery. The Audi is a lot more RWD biased and like to loose the tail a bit too soon! Also, I like the SBC on the snow, it works incredibly!

Steve