Idiots + Winter - The FAIL Collection Thread

[AiR]

Not necessarily, winter tyres (at least, the studless variant us non-Nordics use) also bear the M+S marking.

Aha.

But it doesn't say what are the requirements to get the M+S symbol. But considering the -97 Continental M+S tyres fitted to my MX-5, the requirements are not high. If I would drive that car in icy conditions with those tyres, I would end up in youtube quite quickly

Continental import I guess? In scandinavia it's required that the tires must be developed for winter driving to be legal, not just be MS-marked.

I'm still not sure, but it wasn't being wiped away by the wipers, and that is the best explanation I can come up with. All I know is that the fluid stayed in the same position in the same spot and the wipers weren't wiping it away.

What was your washer mix and what was the temperature?

 

[thevictor390]

I'm still not sure, but it wasn't being wiped away by the wipers, and that is the best explanation I can come up with. All I know is that the fluid stayed in the same position in the same spot and the wipers weren't wiping it away.

My wipers have been doing that forever. The blade has warped or worn or something and it doesn't actually touch the windshield near the top.... I'll eventually give in and get new ones which I presume will fix it.

 

[Topgearfanatic]

Aha.

Continental import I guess? In scandinavia it's required that the tires must be developed for winter driving to be legal, not just be MS-marked.

What was your washer mix and what was the temperature?

I don't know about the washer mix but the outside temperature was hovering around freezing but the car was warmed up plenty, the temperature gauge was a quarter way round so it wasn't coming out cold.
These wipers are about a month old, I'll have to look at the wipers because the other one was doing it faintly before.

 

[MacGuffin]

Oh great, now I have a vision of a Belgian waffle with a cowboy hat murdering a prostitute.

... while drinking cherry-flavored beer.

Aha.

Continental import I guess? In scandinavia it's required that the tires must be developed for winter driving to be legal, not just be MS-marked.

What was your washer mix and what was the temperature?

I did a little research on the interweb and according to tests, the snow tires Mercedes mounts on the M-Class, are actually quite good. Mind you, we do not have the same conditions here, as you have in Scandinavia. Here you need tires, that offer the best grip on sludge, ice and wet roads. We only have uncleared snow surfaces on minor roads, if at all. You have to go to the Alps to get these conditions constantly during the winter. Currently we have ice again but I'd rather have a steady snow surface. Won't happen, though: Traffic is too much and not enough snow falling to compensate for cars clearing out the snow.

 

[Lastsoul]

Aha.

Continental import I guess? In scandinavia it's required that the tires must be developed for winter driving to be legal, not just be MS-marked.

Well it's not an import, because I and the care live in Stuttgart at the moment. I'll import it to Finland in the summer, but only for summer use so the tyres will be destroyed in drifting attempts (yeah, they don't work very well on dry tarmac either, so it's not the power of the MX-5 doing the drifting )

I don't know about the winter tyre regulations of Finland, because I liketo use good, proper winter tyres, but I do know that quite a lot of people import cars from Germany to Finland and use the German-spec winter tyres also in here. I guess they are legal, but not the most safe choice.

 

[bone]

How does that happen?

i've had it happen as well a while ago, i got in my car, and there were a few stripes in front of me, i squirted some fluid, whiped it open, and a nice layer of frozen stuff stayed behind, i couldn't see a single thing no more, and had to wait till the blower had defrosted my windshield before taking off

 

[narf]

Unfreezing water with your washers will lower the temperature of your wind shield. That increases the chances of some stuff freezing again quickly.

 

[D-Fence]

I think the M-Class is one of the few SUV's which actually CAN go offroad, thus it probably had offroad capable (big profile gaps) M+S tires. A lot of the Qx Audis and BMW Xs come on normal summer tires and a lot of the owners think 4WD can save them (but you are lost on summer tires, any way). I think I have never seen any Qx with offroad tires, a few Touaregs and X5s though...

 

[MacGuffin]

It depends on when you buy the car. As mentioned before, the car rentals get the cars with the tires according to the season. When they get a car from October to March or so, it will have winter tires mounted. When they get a car during springtime and summer, it'll have summer tires. That's why you have to pay extra, when you want the tires changed.

That's also an option for every normal customer: You can have your new car with summer or winter tires delivered.

And by the way, it's not that winter tires are only needed on snow and ice. What most people don't realize, is that winter tires have a much softer rubber mixture than summer tires, which stays soft an flexible in cold temperatures. The rubber of summer tires tends to harden at low temperatures, which means they're losing grip in autumn already.

So below 8?C or so, winter tires are actually having better grip on tarmac, than summer tires. Also a good winter tire can handle aquaplaning better, than any summer tire. The golden rule is to mount winter tires from October to Easter.

 

[Lastsoul]

And by the way, it's not that winter tires are only needed on snow and ice. What most people don't realize, is that winter tires have a much softer rubber mixture than summer tires, which stays soft an flexible in cold temperatures. The rubber of summer tires tends to harden at low temperatures, which means they're losing grip in autumn already.

So below 8?C or so, winter tires are actually having better grip on tarmac, than summer tires. Also a good winter tire can handle aquaplaning better, than any summer tire. The golden rule is to mount winter tires from October to Easter.

You're right about the softer compound, but it doesn't work as you said with all types of winter tyres. Studdless winter tyres that are made for northen europe are really soft (so they're soft when it's really cold just as you said), so the car is "wobbling" on them on dry tarmac. Steering is much less direct etc, it feels a bit like driving with way too low tyre pressure. And in spirited driving in dry but cold tarmac they'll start to overheat and melt. So these kind of winter tyres are worse than summer tyres on dry tarmac even if it's 0?C, as long as there is no ice and snow.

Of course the situation is totally different in Germany, where the winter tyres have to cope with autobahn speeds and much less snow and ice (well, atleast before this winter). For example in Finland the max speed in the winter is 100km/h, so while the winter tyres have speed ratings between 180 - 210km/h usually, they're not in their element in speeds the versions sold in central europe have to cope.

 

[MacGuffin]

So what you mean is, that you cannot do this with Scandinavian winter tires? How sad

 

[Lastsoul]

So what you mean is, that you cannot do this with Scandinavian winter tires? How sad

Yeah, but you're welcome to try to use those tyres in winter conditions. And I must say driving in winter can be really fun, and straight line speed has nothing to do with it.

 

[D-Fence]

I am really noticing the difference in tire age and thread left here. My dad has 2004 winter tires on, ~4,6mm of thread left. I have 2009 tires with ~7mm left. I have WAY more traction than him, both on icy roads and on snow.

 

[Blind_Io]

I think the M-Class is one of the few SUV's which actually CAN go offroad, thus it probably had offroad capable (big profile gaps) M+S tires. A lot of the Qx Audis and BMW Xs come on normal summer tires and a lot of the owners think 4WD can save them (but you are lost on summer tires, any way). I think I have never seen any Qx with offroad tires, a few Touaregs and X5s though...

I've never seen an M-class with off-road tires. Hell, I've hardly ever seen them on graded gravel roads and never on any terrain that actually requires 4WD. I think that if an M-class were to ever face terrain that required 4Low the car would wee coolant and the driver would stain his shorts.

 

[argatoga]

I've never seen an M-class with off-road tires. Hell, I've hardly ever seen them on graded gravel roads and never on any terrain that actually requires 4WD. I think that if an M-class were to ever face terrain that required 4Low the car would wee coolant and the driver would stain his shorts.

http://www.autoblog.com/2004/12/21/some-muddin-shots-of-the-new-m-class/

Mercedes is touting the off-road prowess of the M-Class with a new Off-Road Pro engineering package. Features of the off-road package include a two-speed transfer case with an off-road ratio, manually or automatically engageable differential locks (100 per cent) between the front and rear axle and on the rear axle, plus a modified version of the AIRMATIC air suspension system which has been specially tailored to off-road driving and which raises the ground clearance by 4 inches to as much as 11 inches and the vehicle's fording depth to a maximum of almost 24 inches. I'm sure I will be able to count the amount of M-Classes that go off-road in the US on one hand. Click though for more pics.

I might add that the current Grand Cherokee is based off the same platform as the M-class.

I'm posting this G class picture I found on the Google due to awesomeness

 

[Blind_Io]

I've still never seen an M-class off road, they're more likely to be parked in the shop than on the side of a mountain.

The G-Class and Unimog, however, are forged out of pure 100% Awesome.

 

[argatoga]

I've still never seen an M-class off road, they're more likely to be parked in the shop than on the side of a mountain.

True, but it doesn't mean it is incapable. The vast majority of Land Rover drivers are the same too.

 

[Blind_Io]

I'd say that it is, at best, mildly capable. The off-road edition sounds better but it still seems to have a shit-ton of extra stuff that will only cause problems on the trail, like that adjustable suspension. Just build a simple off-road machine with a good suspension to start with, it's cheaper, more reliable, and more durable in the face of abuse.

 

[argatoga]

I'd say that it is, at best, mildly capable. The off-road edition sounds better but it still seems to have a shit-ton of extra stuff that will only cause problems on the trail, like that adjustable suspension. Just build a simple off-road machine with a good suspension to start with, it's cheaper, more reliable, and more durable in the face of abuse.

I'm not sure about the WK but the WK2 uses the M chassis. Air suspension has advantages both off and onroad.

If you want a basic 4x4 you can still buy a Wrangler, Defender, LandCruiser,etc.

 

[narf]

G class awesomeness

https://pic.armedcats.net/n/na/narf/2010/06/27/44d52_ORIG-eba4ce39_fickja.jpg