FCO

Some additional photos from the front.

FCO

Stumblefoot

FCO... Once again, thanks for taking time to put the front pictures up. I've got to admit, I'm really impressed by the looks of those 18's and that tread looks awesome!

Where did you end up getting the tires from Big-O, Costco, Discount Tire, or somewhere else?

Lastly, you've got a beautiful house!

FCO

Got the tires from Tire Rack, but Discount Tire will match Tire Rack prices. Tires work great on this new snow/slush/ice we got the last several days. Glad I got them. My TPMS light finally came on, I drove about 50 miles before it came on. It does not bother me much, learning to ignore it.

Careful out there.

FCO

blittle

Check my "off to the snow thread..." I just got back from snow driving and posted a couple of pics

LEOSOPHIE

I'd like to echo this question with all the snow recently. Will the 550 get through Caltrans or CHP chain control?

oknish

I didn't have any problems when we went up to Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks. They were checking for chains and I simply told them I had full time 4 WD and they just waved us on. I don't think they even checked to see if I had Snow rated tires but they could have done that on the sly. The little driving I did in my 450 in snow, I didn't have any issues. But then again I don't have 21" tires.

LEOSOPHIE

Thanks Nish, I am excited about introducing the dogs to their first CA snow.

slim nicky

Also got through chain control with 550 21" tires in B.C., Canada over pass on the way to Sun Peaks.

mortenmol

I put snowtires on the 20" GL wheels, looks very good.
We had some snow here yesterday, and they performed very well.

Only problem was braking on the small wooden bridges that leads over the canal to where i live, it was just ice, had no problem starting or getting over, just a bit with the breakin.

I have Vredestein Snowtrac 4 Extreme in 275/45 20, and i know they are a bit to small, but it's almost impossible to get the right size tires for the 20"

LEOSOPHIE

Dealers on Ebay are now offering new 18" OEM take off wheels with new M3 Dunlop snow tires or Bridgestone Blizzaks. About $1400.00 shipped.

tm4exc

Driving in California in a Chain control area still requires chains even with 4matic AWD and M&S tires. I clipped the following from the Caltrans Website.

"During the winter months, motorists may encounter traction chain controls in the mountain areas within California. When chain controls are established, signs will be posted along the road indicating the type of requirement. There are three requirements in California.

Requirement One (R1): Chains, traction devices or snow tires are required on the drive axle of all vehicles except four wheel/ all wheel drive vehicles.

Requirement Two (R2): Chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles except four wheel/ all wheel drive vehicles with snow-tread tires on all four wheels.
(NOTE: Four wheel/all wheel drive vehicles must carry traction devices in chain control areas.)

Requirement Three (R3): Chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles, no exceptions.

Snow-tread Tires:
The California vehicle code section 558 defines a snow-tread tire as follows, " A 'Snow-tread tire' is a tire which has a relatively deep and aggressive tread pattern compared with conventional passenger tread pattern". Snow-tread tires can be identified by examining the sidewall of the tire where the letters MS, M/S, M+S or the words MUD AND SNOW have been stamped into the sidewall."

You take a chance of having your trip spoiled (or forced to do business with the chain installers) if you don't have two sets of chains with you. to Caltrans!

tm4exc

Correction to my post above. The manual (p422) states only use chains on the rear wheels with a recommendation for ESP to be turned off. So only one set of chains is required. They are not required by Caltrans for all driving wheels as interpreted by some (locals in Oakhurst).

oknish

tm - I am definitely not an expert in Snow Driving by any means. It looks like that they day we were driving in snow either R1 or R2 was in effect. Glad to know of the details though since you never know when they come in handy.

Does Caltrans post which Requirement is in effect where, on their website?

MKW

Per a friend who's a former CHP officer , they and Caltrans almost never invoke " R3 " on major California roads - if conditions are that bad, they just close the road until road crews or weather conditions deem it safe to resume "R2" . So if you have an AWD vehicle with at least M+S tires, there is no need to carry chains unless you frequent poorly plowed hilly roads on pvt property and should be running studded snow tires anyway , as several of my Lake Tahoe friends do in those situations.

tm4exc

Just a caution. R2 requires chains to be with you per Caltrans. You are at the whim of the CHP if you don't have them. On 50 a few years ago on our way to Kirkwood, a very aggressive CHP officer demanded to see my chains and I was driving a ford bronco with 31.5 agressive M&S tires. For 80 bucks at tirechains.com it is great peace of mind. Nish, they do post what chain control is in effect at the time on major roads. This is a link for a map of northern CA where they have posted only one section as R2. http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist2/chainup/allcntys.htm
chainup maps are available for all the districts.
Good luck!!

oknish

Thanks, tm.

scottybdiving

That's a good website. I will be taking a rental from Sacremento to Mt Shasta later in Feb. I will save that one.

MKW

That's true. Also US 50 to Kirkwood is much more winding and narrow in spots than my regular Bay Area to North Lake Tahoe via I 80 route , where if the road is passable on R2, they just wave you through at the Applegate or Gold Run checkpoints if you have an SUV, 4X4, Audi or Subie . Driving anything else, they may look you over more carefully.

SteveY

In CA, you may also call Caltrans Road Conditions hotline at 800-427-ROAD (7623). You just speak the highway # and an update is provided.

Stumblefoot

I continue to put the AMG's on our 550 to the test in the snow. The past few days in our mountains has provided many opportunities. Here's my latest thoughts from the interstate...

The Good

1. The tires continue to perform exceptionally well in new snow, as well as packed snow and ice.
2. The manual gear selector is important to use for flawless vehicle control. It has become second nature and I really enjoy using it.

The Bad

1. The tires continue to be squirrely in slush. The key, it seems, is to only change lanes at a speed less than 45mph.

New Learning

1. Remove all snow from your wheels
   
   As you probably saw from my post in the picture thread, I had quite a bit of snow packed in the wheels yesterday. When I started to gain speed on I-70, I noticed a minor vibration at 45mph that become violent at 60mph. I thought that I might have a tire going down, so I slowed back down and exited the interstate at first chance. All of the tires were fine, so I thought that maybe something was happening with the suspension since our GL had been parked outside for 3 nights. So, I changed the setting from Sport to Automatic and re-entered the interstate.
   
   Upon re-entry, the same violent vibration happened again. Now I was really concerned, because the drive home was another 70 miles. As I continued to drive very slowly in the right lane following the big rigs, it finally dawned on me that maybe the snow had caused the tires to become unbalanced.
   
   At the first chance to exit the interstate again, I got out and removed all of the packed snow from the wheels. When I re-entered I-70, the beast breathed a sigh of relief, started dancing like Fred Astaire, and the ride became smooth as silk.

Conclusion
After driving in serious winter conditions for the past month, I believe that it isn't going to be necessary to switch to winter tires. I'm really looking forward to driving in a major snow storm for more than 2 straight hours to truly put the AMG's to the test.

oknish

And how did wife handle all the ingress/egress, violent vibration?

Jokes aside, great to hear of your experience and glad all was well in the end.

Stumblefoot

She just gave me one of those looks that only I know what it means... "I can't believe you have bought such an expensive SUV that drives like this."

oknish

OK, I am not the only one then who gets those looks. And she wants a GLK.

sraj

Wow, that's huge and really alleviates some of my concerns. The all-season capability was a selling point I used to justify the purchase to my wife. I wasn't looking forward to explaining we'd still need to change tires every winter (phew!).

Here in central/eastern NC our big problem is ice rather than snow. I know that in some conditions nothing will perform as well as winter tires, but hopefully the stock tires will get us through OK.

Thanks for the updates!

Stumblefoot

I think that as long as you take it slow, you'll be just fine.

Just remember to control your speed as much as possible with the transmission, as opposed to the brake pedal.