RE: Mercedes tyre 'skipping' - official statement

[jimmybell]

i'll eat my hat - just watched this video: https://www.mercedescrabbing.org/2017/02/13/gettin...

Was that a particularly bad day for it, or is that every time you drive anywhere?

Yours is much worse than anything i have. Have you requested the dealer principle come for a ride with you?

(i'm still not convinced i'd be losing sleep over it)

[PhillipM]

VGTICE said:

It is normal, I almost shat myself yesterday when my non German whip with 16 inch wheels skipped on full lock in the rain as if it lost one wheel. Mercedes "fixed it" by simply offering grippier tyres with more give compromising performance side of things. Which is pointless in a school run bus like GLC anyway.

Actually they've gone with tyres with less grip and softer tread/carcass so the tyre can twist more to alleviate the sudden stick/slip.
It hasn't solved the underlying problem, as per the letter - they don't think it's an issue. The tyre change is just a sweetener really to hide the skipping for those grumbling about the noise.

Edited by PhillipM on Sunday 26th February 15:23

[Cyb3rDud3]

rockin said:

You stick with your "perfect" VW Golf, we'll stick with our "faulty" sportscars.

Oh what fools we must be.

Yes indeed, very foolish indeed if you compared the setup of a sports car with a 168hp diesel family SUV as you reference. Different cars for different purposes require different setups. Thinking this is perfectly normal is just daft. Anyone can just stand in a car park or any street corner and see that cars do not have to do that. Arguing differently is just foolish indeed.

[Kenny Powers]

Cyb3rDud3 said:

You lot are just unbelievable. Heck even pistonheads themselves experienced it and found it worthwhile to report on. As did other in the motoring press, and as does Mercedes. Yet you still go against it and now are nitpicking on words used to describe how people feel about it.

Well more fool you. I rather be classed a non technical person who doesn't know what he is talking about in a perfectly smooth car, than a fool who thinks it is normal to experience this. Truly quite remarkable how some convince themselves that a violently shaking vehicle is normal.

No need to be so hostile. You dip your toe into internet discussion then you accept that people will disagree with you.

In the end, it is normal for compromises of this nature to occur when developing a car. You don't have to agree, but that won't stop it being true. Obviously any resulting effects will vary with application and condition. It would seem that Mercedes compromised a little too much in this instance, but it will be within the scope of what was deemed acceptable. That is to say that I highly doubt there is a simple and cost efficient engineering solution coming soon. But you never know of course!

Edited by Kenny Powers on Wednesday 8th March 04:41

[thebraketester]

So it's a compromise of what?

The tyres skip on hard lock at slow speed. What's the positive outcome as a result of this compromise? I am guessing there isn't one

In reality it's just a poor design

[havoc]

thebraketester said:

So it's a compromise of what?

The tyres skip on hard lock at slow speed. What's the positive outcome as a result of this compromise? I am guessing there isn't one

In reality it's just a poor design

I think your last sentence is correct, but in fairness, the positive outcome is the car has better high-speed stability than would otherwise be the case, so it's less likely to crash if you do something silly on an Autobahn.


...which I acknowledge is of very high importance to all UK buyers!

[Mr2Mike]

Cyb3rDud3 said:

Yes indeed, very foolish indeed if you compared the setup of a sports car with a 168hp diesel family SUV as you reference. Different cars for different purposes require different setups. Thinking this is perfectly normal is just daft. Anyone can just stand in a car park or any street corner and see that cars do not have to do that. Arguing differently is just foolish indeed.

Just look through the thread and you'll find plenty of people have experienced this effect on cars other than Mercedes. Are you claiming you know better than all these different car manufacturers?

[mwstewart]

For me its not the crabbing that's unacceptable but the fact it occurs only on RHD vehicles. Given these models were a clean sheet design it seems a bit slack - I mean, modelling suspension before build is not a new thing.

[saaby93]

Mr2Mike said:

Cyb3rDud3 said:

Yes indeed, very foolish indeed if you compared the setup of a sports car with a 168hp diesel family SUV as you reference. Different cars for different purposes require different setups. Thinking this is perfectly normal is just daft. Anyone can just stand in a car park or any street corner and see that cars do not have to do that. Arguing differently is just foolish indeed.

Just look through the thread and you'll find plenty of people have experienced this effect on cars other than Mercedes. Are you claiming you know better than all these different car manufacturers?

As far as I can tell a number of other cars exhibit this effect at low speed and tight manoeuvres such as steering on full lock parking.
From the videos the model in question seems is much worse and exhibits the effect during normal running turning out of junctions etc

Someone ate their hat a few posts up

Edited by saaby93 on Wednesday 8th March 17:24

[CO2000]

Seems to me that other cars have more of a rubber skipping feel and that this Mercedes issue is more mechanical in feel ie metal to metal interaction so louder/harsher and feels like damage is occurring even if it not (short term at least...)

[Forest Jones]

Like many of the other GLC owners on this thread I too have had the annoying experience of "tyre skiiping" , exacerbated by wet and cold conditions.

Another issue I have that I am not happy with is excessive tyre wear in my opinion.

After my first service and only 12,000 miles I was informed I need to replace my front tyres. At this time I made my local dealer aware of the "crabbing" concerns I had and asked them to check the tracking.

They reported back that the tracking was fine and that this type of wear was normal.

However my front tyre on the drivers side is completely bald on the outer tread but not replicated on the passenger side.

Has anyone else notices the excessive wear and or the additional wear on only the drivers side ??

My work colleague who owns a Range Rover Sport does not experience crabbing and replaced his front tyres after 24,000 miles over 2 years with similar driving patterns.

[Dr Interceptor]

Forest Jones said:

My work colleague who owns a Range Rover Sport does not experience crabbing and replaced his front tyres after 24,000 miles over 2 years with similar driving patterns.

Same brand and model of tyre?
Same compound?

[Forest Jones]

You know they are not Dr Interceptor, the Range Rover is a much bigger and heavier car so will require different tyres

[Dr Interceptor]

Forest Jones said:

You know they are not Dr Interceptor, the Range Rover is a much bigger and heavier car so will require different tyres

Much bigger and heavier car with a harder compound tyre that lasts longer than the sticky soft rubber bands on your Mercedes?

[Kenny Powers]

thebraketester said:

So it's a compromise of what?

The tyres skip on hard lock at slow speed. What's the positive outcome as a result of this compromise? I am guessing there isn't one

In reality it's just a poor design

In answer to the first question, I believe it's been said that there is a mechanical design restriction with the RHD vehicles. Possibly with the steering rack but I can't recall. This leads to the second question - the positive outcome is that you're able to buy the car in RHD. Had Mercedes not made the necessary geometry compromise, the likelihood is that the cars would be available only in LHD markets

Your assertion that it's poor design is an opinion, and of course one that you're entitled to, but it doesn't change any facts. This is not an unforeseen mistake. It's a compromise. Compromises never please everyone all the time

[VGTICE]

You can always buy an LHD version, they sell them here.

[herewego]

VGTICE said:

You can always buy an LHD version, they sell them here.

Or buy something else, I'm struggling to see why it has to be available in the UK.

[grumpynuts]

Lots of cars do this on full lock. My Z4 did it reversing off my drive on full lock, and my 911 does it too. You can feel and hear the tyres scraping on the road, it's just a symptom of big wide wheels and the set up on the car.

[Forest Jones]

My question was to other GLC owners.The question was " I have experienced what I consider to be excessive wear on the front tyres but more to the point I think it strange that on my car I have the outside tread on the drivers side front tyre completely bald now but this is not so on the passenger side."

We don't drive around roundabouts all day so that discounts that argument out and Mercedes checked the tracking for me and said all is Ok.I am using this thread to ask other GLC owners if they have experienced the same issue.If no then it is an issue with my Car.if yes then I will pursue this with Mercedes.

I have been promised replacement all weather tyres by Mercedes which will hopefully lessen the tyre skipping annoyance in wet or cold conditions but in light of the covering letter from Mercedes in a previous thread recognizing there may be a deeper issue then I wanted to get other GLC owners feed back before going back to Mercedes.

Pleased to be receiving hopefully less squeaky jumpy tyres but if there is a further issue with the differential that may be causing uneven and excessive wear then a different compound tyre may only be a temporary fix.

[popeyewhite]

I may have missed this but what is considered 'slow speed'? If we're talking <10 mph then it's a really insignificant issue isn't it?