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2007 R320 Explodes during blizzard

24 messages,  Last post on Nov 24, 2009 at 5:39 PM

You are in the Mercedes-Benz R-Class Forum.

What is this discussion about? Mercedes-Benz R-Class, Mercedes-Benz, Car Safety, Fuel System, Exhaust, Diesel, Wagon

Messages Page 4 of 4

#22 of 24 by zombiereef

Dec 18, 2008 (3:44 pm)

i am really curious because i have seen the car and wow! that is all i can say. it blew the curtain airbags, shredded the l/r fender, the front bumper is hanging off of it, the l/r door is mangled, l/r quarter panel is hit, sunroof panel broken, driver's door damaged and of course it has a spare where the aftermarket pirelli used to be. the tire wasnt factory. they put the pirelli scorpions on shortly after purchasing.

#23 of 24 Re: Conclusion: Driver Error [moparbad] by dspicher

Nov 24, 2009 (2:42 pm)

Replying to: moparbad (Mar 16, 2007 3:01 pm)
I'm just in on this, but we own a 2007 R320, purchased in Colorado. This situation certainly seems extreme. That said, regardless of what the OEM tires are rated they are completely inadequate in the snow (this coming from someone who grew up driving in New England winters). Once you start sliding - even at extremely slow speeds, under 10 mph - it is unbelievably difficult to bring the car to a stop. After one winter, I replaced the original tires with real tires. Stunning to me that the car company that touts the safety of its vehicles would allow the tires to be sold on its vehicles.

#24 of 24 Re: Conclusion: Driver Error [dspicher] by zombiereef

Nov 24, 2009 (5:39 pm)

Replying to: dspicher (Nov 24, 2009 2:42 pm)
Even though i dont work for M-B anymore, I stand by their tire choice. They may not seem good to you now, but there are a lot of other tires out there that will work fine, but not give you the ride and comfort that the OEM ones do. In my personal opinion, the driver of the wrecked R320 did this, not the car. It is a fluke situation where there was a bad choice to overrev the engine to try and negotiate out of a large snow drift. I am sorry , but that doesnt work for any car/truck and i dont believe that Benz was in the wrong at all. There are mechanical limitations to any all wheel drive system and there will be times when there is a situation that it wont work perfectly everytime. As for stopping on ice; every car is still at the mercy of the laws of physics. If you cant stop on ice, you arent alone and blaming the car is laughable. Ask all the people driving their SUV's to the ski resorts every saturday morning. They are all the ones in the ditches scratching their heads.

Messages Page 4 of 4

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