Thopi 5karan

Hi Everyone,

This is my first time on this forum. I just recently got a GLC43! I live in Ontario and it's snowing intermittently and not all the roads are plowed.
A few questions, after driving for the past 2 days in the snowy condition, and experiencing sliding:

1. Mercedes is always rear wheel drive?
2. Is there a way to turn all wheel on (I thought 4matic meant all wheel drive)?
3. I have all season tires, would changing to winter tires help?

The reason for asking the above questions, is primarily because I noticed the snow is causing a lot more sliding with my GLC 43 than my other vehicles.

DameMD

First, do you have the 21' Run-flat continentals (Summer Performance tires) on your GLC43? If so, good luck in the Winter, you should change them out ASAP. If the answer is yes please refer to the "Crabbing/Shuddering" threads.

If you have the 19's or 20's do you have have All-Season tires, Summer performance or a winter setup?

Thopi 5karan

Thanks for the reply DameMD. I have All-Season.

ble2716

Thopi 5karan

Yes, 20in. Ok, makes sense, I will buy snow tires, since I'd rather spend the money than get into any unfortunate situations. Thanks for the help.

Chrisk03

1. No. Fixed torque split of 69 rear/31 front as others mentioned.
2. No. And no "rain", "snow", or "off-road" mode.
3. ABSOLUTELY. I think pretty much a requirement if you get any kind of winter weather consistently.

This article talks about it pretty well...
http://www.motortrend.com/cars/merce...43-first-test/

Thopi 5karan

Perfect. Thanks.

Tylbran

Thopi 5karan

Thank you and everyone for the details. I am an incredibly big newb to purchasing a new vehicle. I had the worst experience of my life today after slipping and sliding, so I once again (10th time maybe) asked my father(the man who insisted we get a brand new vehicle and was in charge of the purchase), whether he is sure those are all season tires. Please keep in mind, it's winter in Ontario right now and yes I could/should have checked myself, but I was 99% sure he(as well as the person he asked, in this case the sales rep) was sure of what they are talking about. I came home today (after all the slipping and sliding) and saw my tires in a state of being covered in snow and can't even see the tire(which an all season should not be, at least not this much). I immediately checked the tire treads, and tbh I'm not all too familiar but I believe the tires were summer sports tires. The rim is 21" btw. Well that's all folks. I'm getting new tires soon and will be driving my old car for now. What a day! I was genuinely afraid for other people's lives today.

Brew1

They are big fat tires which will never do good in the snow even if all season. You're going to need new wheels and tires and try to go un-staggered snow tires and as narrow as possible. I don't take mine out in the snow (salt yuck), we take the wife's Acura TLX with snows on it and that goes through snow like a truck with Acura's AWD system.

Tylbran

Thopi 5karan

It was only the sales person who said it was all season, and I unfortunately didn't ask the finance department personnel who we dealt with after we agreed to purchase with the sales person. My buying experience was, went to the sales rep to see what they had followed by finalizing with the sales rep on a later date and after which we dealt with someone in finance to close. I was offered all the protection, services etc for purchase however they missed to ask about the winter package. Playing devil's advocate, the purchase was done in September and i received the vehicle on January 11. Definitely getting winter tires. I live in Vaughan and I'm looking to purchase the winter tire, rims, sensors, and installation elsewhere because it would be cheaper. I was
quoted $4200 (without installation) by Mercedes and $3200 by a local vendor-with installation(Premier Tire). I'm looking one more place before deciding. Also anyone have a suggestion on which setup to get, 20" or 19"?

Tylbran

The recommendation from Mercedes is 19 inches. That is what I purchased for $3500 including sensors and installation. I too placed my order in September but took delivery at the end of November. When I finalized the purchase with the finance folks a few days before delivery, I requested to add the winter tires since I knew that is what I required for the vehicle. When I purchased winter tires for my E63 wagon I went to Superior tire.

speedeye

For my GLC43, I bought a wheel/tire package from Tire Rack a year ago. Wheels are Rial "M10" 19x8.5. Tires are Pirelli Scorpion Winter NO 235/55R19 (made for Porsche Macan). A set of 4 with TPMS sensors will be about $2000 from Tire Rack. If you want a bargain, go for the 2014 production Pirellis and save $99/tire (same tires I assume, just been in the warehouse longer). My tires are 2014 production and I am very satisfied with them.

GLC43NV

Having driven around on all season 20” Goodyears in the snow, I’ve concluded the GLC43 is ill-suited for snow driving. I get that snow tires help, as I’ve been driving rear drive performance cars for a couple decades, but I was somewhat expecting a daily driver that can handle more than a dusting of snow with stock tires.

On several occasions:

The rear kicks out and is not really possible to straighten out with the throttle like other AWD cars that move power to the front wheels
The traction control cuts the engine the second the rears start to slip, even though the front tires should have traction

Seems like we have a lot less sophisticated AWD system than all the competitors, which is a bit unfortunate.

Mr. J

My experience was quite different. The last snowstorm we had here I was picking up and shuttling our employees to work using my GLC 43 which was riding on 20'' Goodyear OEM tires. Grip was fine on un-plowed streets and ice over snow. Driving technique is a little different but easy to get used to. Reducing the throttle slightly allowed me to easily correct the orientation when I was playing around. It is harder to do donuts since the traction control on the 43s is never fully "off".

FastE

It is not “less sophisticated”, but it is focused on summer performance driving. That is why it is rear biased. Get the 300 is you don’t want summer drive bias.

GLC43NV

The point is Porsche Macan S, Audi SQ5 and BMW X3 M40 have all seen fit to provide torque vectoring -- MB seems behind the curve. Why would I buy a GLC300?

FastE

I literally just finished test driving all of those vehicles. The SQ5 and X3, and X4 are simply not in the same driving category. Very boring. I would agree that Porsche has done a great job there and I prefer its drive. I was able to push one hard as my friend owns a Turbo. Too bad the back seat is way too small for me. The front seats are really thick for some reason - leaving little room in the rear.

I come from a RWD E63, and driving dynamics are fun / awesome. No AWD drives like that. I decided to have fun (save some $) and switched to a C43, and I love the 70/30 split - why? I can still send the back end out in corners (stability off) which is so much fun. The split makes it easier to stay in control, over a RWD. The system has been hailed as a great way to maintain the fun factor in many articles. So for me I don’t like the other systems that keep you straight no matter what.

I am getting the 2020 GLC43 as my kids are getting larger and need more space. I was tempted to get the 63 which has more drive options. But I have not had the opportunity to push a GLC43 as hard as I do not own one. I am hopeful it still feels RWD - though I doubt I will turn traction right off and try to slide this one!

So you can see there is a preference for some. I don’t consider it low tech. I am a dying breed (not many drift their Benz) so I can also see your point.

sbt007

I lived in Ontario for 10 years. Two words: winter tires.
The only time I have ever had a mishap in many years of driving is when I was driving my 2012 Audi Q5 with all season tires when it was -25C / -13F.
Quattro is great but unfortunately did not help me stop at a T-junction, and I slid off the road (not too bad). Got winter tires immediately, the feeling of control it gives you is great.

GLC43NV

I agree winter tires would help, but part of the idea of a DD is not swapping tires. I also get that AWD can't help with braking or high lateral forces.

But torque vectoring would definitely reduce the tendency for the rear to lose traction around corners and for the car to grind to a halt (with TC on) when the rear tires start slipping on straights.

I'd love to drive the GLC43 and a Porsche Macan back to back on an ice track. Guarantee you the GLC43 would be much easier to spin.

Torque vectoring or a winter driving mode that changes how the power is applied would be a huge improvement for this car.

I will add that my tires are starting to wear which contributes to making this problem more obvious.