GuyFawkes

It's -5*C tonight, snowing pretty hard, didn't change the tires, car still works. Horray for 4-Matic. Anyone else out there as reckless as I and done the same and still use the car in snow?

hyperion667

I drove in snow several times this year.......I live in NC though........not the 'NE'
but I have kept the all season tires on.......

petee1997

I live in Eastern Ontario and see no need for snow tires with 4Matic. Both my E's perform very well in snow and cold weather. Keep in mind that 4Matic cars come with all season tires as opposed to high speed tires on the 2WD sport package cars. If those tires were on the 4Matic,snow tires would be required.
This is the first car my wife has driven without snow tires and her best performer so far.

sosh

With all the MB's I have owned in recent years, all 4 Matic, I have never used anything but the OEM all seasons tires and I have never had an issue that caused me to get stuck. We do have some heavy snow here and some ice to go with it.

rovermark

I live in Ottawa ("Eastern Ontario") and contrary to the opinion of hyperion above, there is a need to use snow tires with any 4 wheel drive car.

A 4WD car may prevent you from getting stuck in snow, but it will not prevent you from skidding into the Ottawa River or Rideau Canal, nor will it help you prevent a collision. All-seasons have suboptimal grip on ice and the brake distance is increased considerably. All-seasons (a compromise by nature) have harder rubber that becomes stiff with temperatures less than 7 degrees Celsius. They aquaplan more too. The fact that the rubber does not freeze is why winter tires wear out faster - softer rubber that remain soft at cold temperatures, and that is why all major auto clubs advise changing to winter tires even if there is no snow or ice. In contrast all-seasons are supposed to last 100,000km, and supposed to give a good ride in the summer; they are supposed to work in winter, but there are not winter tires. IF all-seasons replaced winter tires, winter tires would not be for sale.

If you live in a region where there is winter weather on a daily basis for literally 4 months a year, winter tires are an excellent investment in safety. You can have all the gizmos on your car, but ignoring the basic tenant of winter driving (winter tires) is not wise, especially if you can afford a $75,000 car, even if just leased.

Also, remember that if you bought your car, you all-seasons will last longer (obviously if you leased it you would not care). I see too many severe trauma accidents to take this lightly. Accident prevention is the key - not just for you but also for the other person you are potentially going to cause injury to.

At the end of the day, it depends where you live - if you live in Toronto or futher south and don't do a lot of highway driving, you could probably get away with all-seasons because of infrequent snow falls and aggressive salting. Also all snow tires are not created equally - Michelins X ice is "ok" but Bridgestones Blizzak are less good tires in my view (I would not buy Blizzaks).

BPhillyBenz

Used my all seasons this year and the car handled extrememly well in the Philly snow. Originally I was going to change to snows and purchase a second set of rims/wheels for them, to ease the change over...glad I didnt. Not needed IMO. Very happy with the 4matic!!!

sosh

I disagree with much of what you say. The Continental all seasons tires have a very soft tread compound and are quite good on ice. Better in fact than many pure snow tires I have driven on in the past. They do produce lowerer mileage before requireing replacement than many tires however thats a trade off with any soft tread compound tire. Our snowfall around here may be a bit less than you get but we do have significant snows and I use my MB's daily regardless of weather. We may in fact get more ice than you. Perhaps your driving habits are different than those of us who use the all seasons years round.

Wig

My E350 4Matic with all-seasons has handled 2 winters in southern Ontario without any problems.

BenzE350

I live in Boston and have used all-season tires exclusively for the past 20 some odd years. I now ahave a 4-Matic, but had x-Drive, etc. in the past. With a little common sense you should have no problem at all.

chris2k

Light snow in -5 weather you should be fine. In Montreal we get over 5 cm regularly and when it comes to stopping my Nokians destroy any all season even with x-drive. Moving forward is no problem, stopping is a whole other issue.

ImInPA

I have an E350 Bluetec...RWD only. I got around just fine in Central Pennsylvania this year on the stock run flats. Was it great?...no. Once rolling it was fine. I may get snows next season, but, more for the additional traction they afford, but not because it is a necessity. The additional weight of the AdBlue tank over the rear axles no doubt helps out a good bit. I keep the AdBlue tank full. The AdBlue tank also moves the f/r balance to a near perfect 50/50 or possibly even a slight rear bias so the car is quite balanced.

listerone

Although it's probably not wise I've *always* stuck with "all seasons" during winter.And surprisingly I've never encountered real trouble as a result.If I lived in Buffalo....or regularly droves back roads or in remote areas my attitude would proabably be different.

mg-E550

Stock all seasons w/20,000 mi on them served me great in ny this winter. Performed great throu the storms and slop we had all winter.

Barry O

I live outside Boston and we have been clobbered with snow this year. I ran my E350 with the stock Pirelli's (Not a Pirelli fan) and the car never missed a beat.

petee1997

It appears there is only one dissenting opinion and many of you have seen more snow this year than Ottawa(dissenting opinion) with good results.

MagicJack

With the exception of white knuckled steering wheel squeezes on patches of black ice, I was quite happy with how my stock tires worked in the snow this year.

However, the Ottawa guy is pretty much right in everything he said.

Its biased but check this video for a difference between summer/all-season/winter tires on ice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2wTg0l3_wI

petee1997

I agree that snow tires are better than AS tires but in all but exceptional circumstances are not required by the average driver. However there are people who wear a belt and suspenders. My point is we can over insure.