[DirtyD]

I'm looking to hear from those who have experience driving a C230 Sport in the snow.

I'm a good driver, and I'm used to driving rear wheel drive cars in all conditions (Massachusetts). Until now my winter car has been my 5 speed 1995 BMW 525i, with Michelin Pilot Alpine tires. Its been fantastic in even the biggest snow storms.

After buying the C230, my plan was to sell the 525i and get a set of winter rims and tires for the Merc. Now I'm kinda questioning it... The suspension on the C230 is a lot stiffer than the 525 and I'm wondering how it will be in the winter with snow tires????

On the other hand its stupid for me to keep the 525i, because then I've got two summer-only cars. Getting the winter rims and tires for the Merc would be the best option as long as itll be driveable in the snow...

Edit: Note that my wife drives the X3 in the winter.

 

[beerguz]

My wife and I have an 09 c-300 4 matic in Calgary. With the factory Continental tires the car launches pretty good when starting off in icy intersections, and if you go easy on the throttle when turning it,s fine but if you step on it you will lose steering. Ice tires would make a big difference. Sport suspension is very stiff when cold out. If the snow is quite deep we park it, for fear of damaging front end body parts due to lowered suspension.

We still have her 92 Honda Accord for such occasions. Also, because everybody complains about snow removal in Calgary, they are back to using salt again,so the Merc. stays in the garage at least until it get's it's first wax job.

 

[DirtyD]

My wife and I have an 09 c-300 4 matic in Calgary. With the factory Continental tires the car launches pretty good when starting off in icy intersections, and if you go easy on the throttle when turning it,s fine but if you step on it you will lose steering. Ice tires would make a big difference. Sport suspension is very stiff when cold out. If the snow is quite deep we park it, for fear of damaging front end body parts due to lowered suspension.

We still have her 92 Honda Accord for such occasions. Also, because everybody complains about snow removal in Calgary, they are back to using salt again,so the Merc. stays in the garage at least until it get's it's first wax job.

Thanks. Thats an AWD car though. My RWD C230 wont be anywhere near as good!!

 

[beerguz]

Woops, didn,t read your post to clearly. If it helps at all our 92 Accord has Michelin x- ice winter tires and they do make a difference when driving on snow-ice. My wife has to climb a big hill to work everyday, and where other people have "spun out" the Honda makes it up the hill.

 

[zeet]

These cars handle fine with snow tires on. Heck, I drove mine around in the snow on no-seasons this winter with very few problems. ESP is very nice, and these cars have good chassis dynamics. They will not be quite as easy as a FWD or AWD car in the snow, but it's really all about the tires.

 

[Black04C230]

If you have winter tires, put some weight in the trunk and drive with caution, you will be fine. They are actually pretty good for being RWD.

 

[butler]

I have a 2005 230k sport, live in Indianapolis (city has poor snow removal equipment and has more ice than snow, but had plenty this year). The car has relatively new Toyo Proxi 4 (high performance all seasons- if such an animal exists). Bottom line the car handled fantastic better than expected, I attribute this to new tires and a lower center of gravity than previous models.

 

[Infinite]

Hi guys.

I have a 05 c230 sport in Edmonton (Canada) where it snows like a mofo and can be as cold as -40 centigrade easily. I was driving a '85 190Dfor 8 years until this past August, when I bought my 05. Winter performance is awesome!

If you are used to driving rw, you should be fine. I run the car on Comfort mode, and barely do I find the wheels spinning, and the traction is really good. I also run winter tires, and recommend you to do the same. The 1 time I was kind of stuck, I switched the traction control off, and no problem.

It is true that the suspension is stiff, but I got used to it from a 190D, so I think you will be fine. Just remember to wash all the nasty salt off!!

Cheers,

 

[Infinite]

Oh, and I have never had any issues with grip, and needing to put weight in the trunk.

 

[venturaII]

My RWD C320 wagon with 4 Dunlop Graspic DS2's is as good (and many times, is better) in the snow than my Jeep Liberty when in 4wd, 99% of the time. I'm actually glad I don't have a 4Matic. Super deep snow is the only time the Jeep is better. I run 205/55-16's in the winter, since the narrower width and taller sidewall give better winter performance. I only wish there was a switch to completely disable ESP/ABS/TCS.

As far as running Sport suspension, that will hurt you a bit, but I wouldn't think it'd be enough to dissuade you from using the car...although, the Sport package has big brakes, so I don't think you can run 16's. Low profiles in the winter aren't fun - especially around here.

 

[DirtyD]

Thanks guys. Thats reassuring. I'll definately sell the old car.