Westwind

Hi,
I am sure this has been discussed and beat to death before, but I did not find a clear answer. In my area, we get from 1 to maybe max 4-6 inch of snow for the season. That does not bother me much as the ICE. It gets icy a lot.

I flipped thru the instrument panel settings, and the only thing I could find was that logo which shows a 'slippery car with OFF' at the bottom. I keep it ENABLED. Now, if it is enabled, does that mean 'your car is less (OFF) likely to skid? Or should I disable it?

Nevertheless, please advise on best settings for good traction on icy (and snow) driving. Besides, of course good driving skills

Thanks.

ttoE550

I don't know if the car is more or less likely to skid with it enabled. Depending on your driving skills, however, having it enabled might make it more likely that the car prevents a skid from turning into an uncontrolled one. But, the laws of physics reign supreme, and even having it enabled can't prevent all uncontrolled skids. (EDIT: Many rally drivers are probably far superior to stability control in preventing uncontrolled skids.)

Note that there are times in snow and ice where it is beneficial to disable it. Going up hills, for instance, you sometimes need wheel spin to move at all. If the car does not allow enough wheel spin with it enabled, then it will help to turn it off. Older BMWs allow zero wheel spin, and I frequently see them stuck on hills.

Texas993

Don't forget to use your paddle shifters if you need more traction. Use lower gears.

ttoE550

uh huh -- now I understand why Texans get stuck in 1/4" of snow (seriously, I lived in TX when SA got 1/4" of snow, and the city shut down for days -- we ran out of food in Amarillo because trucks couldn't supply the grocery stores). But I'm just kidding.

Unless I misunderstand what you meant, you probably want higher gears (2nd or 3rd instead of 1st) so there is less torque.

cvinfig

We have a couple of inches of snow here. When I went out this morning I had ESC enabled and had problems trying to go uphill - not enough wheel spin. I just went out again and started out with it disabled. I had no problems going uphill and had a little more fun through the subdivision . I enabled it before turning onto the main road as that did seem to be safer. While returning home I still had it on and I was able to disable it on-the-fly as I was struggling up a hill. I'm thinking I'll always keep that setting up in the instrument panel when driving through snow so that I can enable/disable as necessary. This is in a RWD E350 BlueTEC...

Westwind

Good advise, and thanks for instant hands on experience report. That really helps.

Texas993

Yep, HIGHER gears. The + flappy paddle!

AFter 10 years in Boston, I figured it out. In fact I am in So Dakota today. Driving in the snow...

ttoE550

I have an ESC off button under my hazard light triangle (near the pass seatbelt off/on light).