Tips for driving in snow..

[WGB]

Having driven these cars in the 70's and early 80's in New Zealand in an area of high speed gravel roads and winter snow I thought they were magnificent off the seal.

TJ 450's suggestion of a few bags of cement in the boot might be worth while thinking about.

Traction is a problem without appropriate tyres or chains in the snow but no worse than any other rear wheel drive car. It's just that a  front wheel drive mini or an old VW was better in snow before the widespread use of 4WD.

I was adept at putting on chains without removing wheels - lay out the chains and put a small block of wood about half way along - drive onto the block and then fit the chain tightening the inside link first. Top speed on chains is only about 40 km/hr max though.

Knowing that the snow is usually short lived in the UK - patience might be the best alternative.

Bill

[EvanB]

Get a good set of snow tires (all four tires), drive sensibly, and you will be fine. I prefer RWD in the snow. I feel like i have more control and never lacking in traction.

I drove a Miata (MX5 in England) in the winter for four years. Learn to control the oversteer, feather the throttle from stops to keep traction, and give yourself distance to stop.

I actually just bought a W116 solely for winter driving even though my daily driver is an AWD Subaru WRX. Although I am having trouble getting the Merc to run right, that is another story.

[arman]

Calvin you won't wear your M&S tires on bare roads. Just as EvanB says drive sensibly and they will last for a long time. I think your winter tires should last about 20.000-30.000 km, although on the w116 -which tend to have bad alignment in front, because of age- it is hard to estimate. But if your summer tires wear equally your winter tires will too.
In Sweden it is normal to have a set of summer and winter tires. On my daily driver I change tires somewhere in October and then again in the end of march.
But you do know that the w116 doesn't like road salt?! 

[calvin streeting]

Calvin you won't wear your M&S tires on bare roads.

thanks good info

But you do know that the w116 doesn't like road salt?! 

I know i hate the UK's over reliance on salt..never works properly. and as you said old cars hate it.. aaarrrgghh rust..

But on that i had the whole underside sprayed with under seal, and oil just before the snow and i will was the underside after its gone and more than likely give it another coat. (i hope that helps  )

[calvin streeting]

errr..



mm..



simple solultion for today.. stay indoors..

[EDZ649]

Yep, leave it at home Calvin, I never take any of my rear wheel wheel drive cars out in the snow. My SEL is currently burried under 10" of the stuff.....

Lucky for me I have a Mitsubishi L200 4 X 4 too;)

[Papalangi]

Just remembered that I used to drive both a '65 6 cylinder Mustang and a '76 V6 Mustang II over Snoqualmie pass fairly often.   No idea when I became a RWD in the snow wuss.

These days, I just swipe the wife's Chevy HHR and go.

Michael

[arman]

That is a lot of snow Calvin for a w116 with summer tires. Good decision.

I have just finished my project to take the Merc into the garage some 500m away. To ensure I wouldn't get stuck in the middle of the road with the rear wheels stuck into tracks of packed snow -like those you have in your street- I did some work and leveled the snow with a shovel in front of the driveway just to come into the tracks.
Then I looked if no one was coming and then took off idling down the road at 20km/h. The thing is you have to keep the car rolling over every tricky snow bump, because if you brake too hard or get to a stand still, there is a good change you get stuck. I did it this time of night because every one is watching TV and the roads are almost empty from traffic.

It felt good. Better than I recall from last time a couple of years ago. But then the snow was just below zero and that fills your summer tire profile right away, leaving you almost without traction. This night it was about -8 Celsius and I could see that the tires had a nice grip when I came back and inspected my tracks.

[ulysees]

Calvin... my 300SD drives wonderfully in the snow but, i have good Toyo M&S tires on him. And no they do
not wear quickly w/o snow or mud for that matter. Sure keep the tank topped up and give yourself lots of
road room i.e. b/t cars, but its amazing just how well these heavy cars track. On ice its a different game and
that's when you need the chains...  but these chains are not for speeds above 70-80 kmh really ...

ulysees  B.C.

[MB_Mike]

My 280SE has experienced over a foot of snowfall this week (and it is my first time taking it out in the winter). I must say it has handled wonderfully considering it has all season tires, steering slop, no ABS or traction control ect...

The shameful part is the rust has presented itself rather quickly  clearly it was always there, just hiding.

To stay on topic, I have found downshifting to be quite useful when going downhill or on take offs. Other than that just take it slow and pay attention.

[Papalangi]

A heads up for those in the Pacific Northwest.

It shouldn't snow again this year, except for a light dusting.  I had Les Schwab put my snows on Saturday morning and it's never snowed again once they are on.

Michael

[Squiggle Dog]

Thanks for the heads up, Michael! One of the snow days here in Washington when it dropped below 20 degrees Fahrenheit the B99 biodiesel in my 1980 300SD had become too thick to run the engine! The next day was in the low 20s and I was fine.

When I had my 1979 300SD the winter before last, when we got a lot of snow, the car was doing great in the deep snow. When I would get stuck in a bunch of it, rocking the transmission from R to L got me out okay. Some travelers from Arizona got stuck in front of my house in their Ford Explorer. I pulled their SUV out with my 300SD and they were on their way!

[sannerud]

Like Arman says we use to have 2 sets of wheels in Sweden/Norway. I don't use my 450 as my daily driver, but I like to take it for a spin every second week in the winter months. So before every winter I put a set of studded tires on her. I still need to drive careful though and it's always a bit exciting to see if I can bring me and the car back home in one piece...





I also found a old picture of a w116 in the Alps in a old mercedes-magazine. Notice the chains!!

[ponton]

I am pleased to have found a topic where I have some experience!  I have a w126 300SD that I find to behave quite well compared to some others in the snow (including the Volvo 850, Mazda 626, VW New Beetle, etc.), even here in Wisconsin where we recently got 12 inches of snow in one day.  I currently have bald sumitomo m+s garbage on my rears with some brand new bfgoodrich m+s on the front.  The key is to leave a lot of space for stopping so that you can keep the wheels from locking up, which induces a slide to one side or the other generally.  I am waiting for my General Altimax Arctic studdable winter tires to be installed today.  According to tire rack they are the best snow and ice studdables they have tested, and they are quite cheap (here at least...52 USD each). 

[Type17]

We've just got over another dose of snow here in Ireland - temps in the run up to Christmas were -3 C (26.5 F) all day for a few days, and some records were set for night time temps in the west of the country with -17-5 C (0.5 F) in County Mayo - the coldest December night in over 100 years. (normal December temps are about 7-9 C during the day, and 1-2 C at night).

I managed to sort out a covered parking place for my 116 before the really bad weather, but not before it got a taste of the white stuff... in the photo there's about 3" of snow, but we got about 8-10" later on.