How does a 4.5 handle in snow?

[joshhol]

That is if any of us use it in the winter.
Just curious, I doubt I'll try to make it to Tahoe in mine.

[Tomguy]

My parents always said "It sucked" but I have no experience myself. The only memory I have of it in snow is with my father doing a 360 down the hill we lived on when he braked - and he was crawling and we had studded tires!

[psfred]

I'd characterize the handling of the 4.5 as "adequate". Certainly NOT a 4WD! You can get around, but it's heavy, it has WAY too much torque and you cannot get it to start off in 2nd gear. Fast idle is going to give you fits cold -- it will drive the car with the front wheels locked easily. Need to drop into neutral to keep if running straight. I did this a lot.

Snowtires help a bunch, but be carefull. I drove mine most of last winter when the Volvo crapped out on me. Not the best car in snow and ice, but better than, say, a Miata or the 220D -- those both spin at the drop of a hat!

Peter

[300SDog]

No offense and nothing personal to anybody who thinks these cars dont handle in snow - but whata bunch of bull...... Cars dont handle themselves in snow - Drivers handle cars in snow!! Tom, was the old man spinning the steering wheel like panicked madman when he pulled the 360 while slamming on the brakes instead of dropping to lower gear?

Josh, MB recommendation for 4 wheel snows and a 50 lb sack of sand or two in the trunk oughta be all you need to hotrod the 4.5 to Tahoe and back...... and get yerself a cheap CB radio too so you can avoid gettin trapped behind slugs that get stuck halfway up hills.... channel#17 is CA version of #19 where you get truckers road reports everywhere else.

And if you really wanna be hero and pull sweet California snow bunnies in their SUV's out of ditches then you oughta be drivin a finbody - any 4 spd finbody will work - but low end high torque diesels that litterally idle at walking speed in 1st gear on dry pavement with clutch engaged are probably the best at doin stuff like pulling top heavy SUVs filled with colllege girls out of ditches.

I say go for it!!! Take your favorite car to the mountains and chase some fine pieces of tail down the ski slopes.

[Tomguy]

Dog: My dad is one of the best winter drivers ever. He was in "L" and we had 3 80lb bags of Quickrete in the trunk. Not to mention studded tires. He was driving very slowly and just tapped the brakes lightly (He started braking about 1/2mi before normal at half the normal speed) and it caused the car to spin. The hill we lived on was rather steep though, and it was in the middle of an icestorm (you could see icicles hanging off all the power lines).

[300SDog]

240 lbs of concrete in the trunk of the 116?? .....it sounds like too much weight in the trunk causing jackknife on downhill run -

The most I ever used for winter snow driving was one 50 lb sack in the 280/8...... leaving the rear end light enough to enjoy fishtailing the car around corners with controlable oversteer slide whenever i wanted on ordinary all season tires in New England flatlands.

Jury is still out on adding $5 sack of sand to the 123 trunk - but from what you're saying it sounds like throwing weight over the rear axle can be overdone.

[psfred]

Dog:

The 4.5 will benefit quite a bit from about 100 lbs in the trunk directly over the axle. It's a bit front heavy from the V8, about 52/48 front/rear. That extra weight will give just a bit more grip.

All in all, these cars have WAY too much easy power to be a breeze to drive in the snow. MB emphasises handling, but they are NOT known for excellent snow and ice traction. Sensible driving and lots of practice on a large parking lot will enable you to get where you want to do, but stay off wet ice if you can! NOTHING handles more than marginally under those condtions, including when the ice is dry but melts under the tires....

Get a Saab for that, they don't stop til the snow is over the front bumper.

Peter

[Tomguy]

Dog - with any less weight in the trunk, it found making it up my old driveway (coated with ice) a chore, even with the studded tires. a 100' long incline of 90% coated with wet ice is very difficult for almost any vehicle (except our Jeep it seemed!).

[300SDog]

you've got my sympathy, bro.... cant be anything worse than climbing 20+ degree incline from practically standing still at the bottom after turning into the driveway.

15 - 20* incline, Btw, is considered dangerous for CDL's, especially on downhill runs...... which is why you see roadsigns on interstates at/near crests of hills in mountains tellin about steep downhill ahead, sometimes givin measurements at anything above 12* slope or even below.

Gotta be length of wheelbase too that makes the 116 say, SEL, tougher to manage in snow than say, the heckflossen finbodies that i swear up and down are the finest snow cars I've ever driven. Hooray, its wintertime!!! .... gotta grab the keys quick and cut donuts in parking lots before snow plows hit the scene.

[Tomguy]

Dog: 4.5 is a 108. Heavy chassis, long wheelbase, tons of torque to rear wheels that just leads to them spinning as soon as you release the brake!

Our old driveway had to be climbed from a stop in the winter - if you didn't stop, you might keep going - which would be bad - BOOM, down the 20' bank and into the creek below!

[joshhol]

I say go for it!!! Take your favorite car to the mountains and chase some fine pieces of tail down the ski slopes.

Are you suggesting I chase em down with the 220S?!
I don't think it will fit on the ski lift.

[joshhol]

I suppose tire chains would make it matter less.

All this heralding of Finbodies in snow makes me want to take the 220 to Tahoe. It's too nice though, I couldn't risk bashing out a Euro headlight.
Besides, if they salt the roads, forget it.

[fahrgewehr2]

Josh,

Arent you worried about all that road salt spraying up into all the little nooks and crannies?!

[joshhol]

Arent you worried about all that road salt spraying up into all the little nooks and crannies?!

Yes, that's what I mean by forget it. Forget about taking it up to the mountains.

Now a beater Fintail, if I had one, would be on its way.

[fahrgewehr2]

Ooops - you snuck your post in before I could ask you about the salt issue.

Where you heading in Tahoe? I spent alot of time there in my childhood (bay area native).