I've noticed that both the 84 and 85 SDs are more sensitive to skidding in the rain than other cars I've owned. Both have refurbished front suspension and alignments. The skid sensitivity has been regardless of what brand tires are installed. Both cars have stock 14 or 15" wheels and quality tires in good shape. I research tires before buying then get the local tire shop to give me a price we can both live with.

Most of my cars have not had ABS so I'm not comparing ABS to non-ABS. Tires play a large roll in determining adhesion between the ground and tire. So: is the SD just heavy for the amount of contact patch? I don't feel unsafe but do have to be conscious driving in rain.

What gives?

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

My '83 SD has Kumho something or other in front and General Altimax in the rear. 205/70-14 all around. Brakes are fine in wet but I haven't gotten on them hard enough to engage ABS if it were equipped. What I notice is the rears slip easily when accelerating in wet. I'll take off from a light and the left rear tire will spin on painted crossing lines. I'll accelerate into a right turn and I'll hear a tire spin. I'll accelerate into a left turn over railroad tracks and the rear will scoot over a foot or so. My '87 300D with 205/55-16 Pilot A/Ss then ProContacts only did the railroad track thing. My '93 SD 3.0 with 225/XX-16s did no such thing.

I have 420SEL springs in the rear of the '83 SD to permanently cure sagging so it could be stiffness causing traction problems.

Sixto
83 300SD
98 E320 wagon

I have a 80' 300SD and noticed what you speak of. I've had Micheline tires, and hankooks in my opinion they are the same time. The only difference is tread life the Michelins lasting longer. I noticed my tires skidding around 7 or 6/32" of tred.

HOWEVER, I firmly believe in the safety and handling of my car, allow me elaborate. On a rainy day during traffic time I was driving across a bridge. the bridge was the highest point and were I ended up turing was a little lower than the high point of the bridge. Think of the road in the shape of a wide U. At this point in time I had dry rotted goodyear tires on the car, there was a good amount of tread, but these tires were dry rotted to the point of severe cracking. Should I have rain with the tires? No. Did I? Yes. After getting off the bridge and going uphill (20%+ incline) the car in front of my slammed on their brakes because they pussyfooted it when attempting to make a left hand turn. Natural reaction led me to slam on my brakes. My 300SD went into a full slide. I had 0 stopping power. I turned the wheel to the right a far as possible and successfully completed a 90 degree turn down a side street in a full slide.

I have attempted the previous maneuver twice in an early 90s' Oldsmobile (front wheel driver) and the car made no attempt to alter direction. I am convinced that Mercedes balanced our cars 'like no other'. After surviving that incident all I can say about our cars handling is excellent words. What an incredibly precise engineered automobile. Thank you Mercedes-Benz.

Tire depth guide: http://www.discounttiredirect.com/pdf/treadDepthGaugeDownload.pdf

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Nosce Te Ipsum "Know thyself"