Driving in Very strong Cross Wind

[d215yq]

Yesterday I was driving back from a nice day on the coast and inland there was a lot of crosswinds - the weather said a constant 30mph with gusts of 50 mph (max 60mph ) - trees were properly bending over.

I was driving at my usual 65-70mph and at times when cresting a hill or hitting an openign the car would suddenyl change direction and need inputs to stay in a straight line so I slowed to 55ish which seemed to be what half the people did and then it was very controllable and kept it's course much better. That said there were a good half doing their normal 80-90mph which I really wouldn't have wanted to do. There was also a 44ton artic that sped by at 65ish without seeming to care (trucks don't use their limiters here). No crashes for the whole 3h motorway journey so I can't say what tehy were doing was dangerous.

So was wondering if it's just the newer cars/trucks are better equipped to deal with this or maybe it's not actually dangerous if the car changes direction a little on big gusts and you just get used to it..or maybe the bushes are all warn in my car.

So would be interested to hear if forum members would expect to feel the car being pushed around and make adjusting inputs driving at 65/70 mph in up to 60mph gusts crosswind or if they would not expect this and it is something with my car and they would happily drive at 80-90 anyway...

 

[LostKiwi]

I've always found my MBs to be exceptionally stable in cross winds.
The Smart Roadster on the other hand...
It depends largely on the design and loading of the vehicle. If the centre of wind pressure is at or behind the centre of gravity the car will be stable/have a tendency to self stabilise. If the centre of wind pressure is ahead of the centre of gravity then the vehicle will be unstable.

 

[Blobcat]

Depends very much on the car and it’s design. I find the SLK very good in cross winds, 911 also exceptionally good.

Smart Fortwo not great, short wheelbase, quite tall so very twitchy so slowing down essential

 

[d215yq]

To rephrase the perhaps badly worded question though what is "good" in wind?

I presume if somethign's moving around all over the place at 10mph wind it's broken...I'm not too fussed if my car is bad in wind as adjusted my speed, I was just more shocked that others completely ignored the wind but maybe they didn't feel it? When you say these cars are good in wind have you ever driven them at 80mph in 60 mph gusts of crosswind and are they so good that you can pretty much ignore it and not feel the car being pulled suddenly when cresting a hill/going over a viaduct, etc

And how twitchy does it have to be before the car could lose control - I assume no car could ever tip over but could be over corrected and end up spinning if ignored completely?

 

[AMG-GTC]

Cross wind assist has been standard on the S Class since around 2010-11 and since 2014 on Sprinter vans. Its built in with the cruise and lane keeping assist on most Mercedes cars these days I think, my 2015 C Class had it.

I tried to post a link to a site that explains it but the forum software isn't allowing it at the moment.

 

[AMG-GTC]

https://carbiketech.com/crosswind-assist/

 

[Srdl]

From my e-Manual:
Crosswind Assist

General information
Strong crosswind gusts can impair the ability of your vehicle to drive straight ahead. The crosswind driving assistance function integrated in ESP® noticeably reduces these impairments.
Depending on the direction and intensity of the crosswind affecting your vehicle, ESP® automatically intervenes.

ESP® intervenes with stabilising braking to assist you in keeping the vehicle in the lane.

Crosswind Assist is active at vehicle speeds above 80 km/h when driving straight ahead or cornering slightly.

Important safety notes
Crosswind Assist does not work if ESP® is deactivated or disabled because of a malfunction.

 

[LostKiwi]

From my e-Manual:
Crosswind Assist

General information
Strong crosswind gusts can impair the ability of your vehicle to drive straight ahead. The crosswind driving assistance function integrated in ESP® noticeably reduces these impairments.
Depending on the direction and intensity of the crosswind affecting your vehicle, ESP® automatically intervenes.

ESP® intervenes with stabilising braking to assist you in keeping the vehicle in the lane.

Crosswind Assist is active at vehicle speeds above 80 km/h when driving straight ahead or cornering slightly.

Important safety notes
Crosswind Assist does not work if ESP® is deactivated or disabled because of a malfunction.

210s don't have that...

 

[Blobcat]

To rephrase the perhaps badly worded question though what is "good" in wind?

I presume if somethign's moving around all over the place at 10mph wind it's broken...I'm not too fussed if my car is bad in wind as adjusted my speed, I was just more shocked that others completely ignored the wind but maybe they didn't feel it? When you say these cars are good in wind have you ever driven them at 80mph in 60 mph gusts of crosswind and are they so good that you can pretty much ignore it and not feel the car being pulled suddenly when cresting a hill/going over a viaduct, etc

And how twitchy does it have to be before the car could lose control - I assume no car could ever tip over but could be over corrected and end up spinning if ignored completely?

What I mean by "good in wind" is that I don't feel it and the car stays on course and planted. SLK is quite small and the 911 is designed for 200mph driving so can handle a bit of the blowy stuff.

The Smart isn't... it gets quite twitchy and it moves around a lot.

 

[EmilysDad]

......
The Smart Roadster on the other hand....

If you think the Roadster is bad, try a Fortwo! They really are not suited to motorways.

 

[LostKiwi]

If you think the Roadster is bad, try a Fortwo! They really are not suited to motorways.

Yep... Centre of wind pressure ahead of centre of gravity...

 

[rorywquin]

Cross wind assist has been standard on the S Class since around 2010-11 and since 2014 on Sprinter vans. Its built in with the cruise and lane keeping assist on most Mercedes cars these days I think, my 2015 C Class had it.

I tried to post a link to a site that explains it but the forum software isn't allowing it at the moment.

in my SL as well

 

[EmilysDad]

Yep... Centre of wind pressure ahead of centre of gravity...

A wheel base of 2' 6" doesn't help either

 

[Dean Fletcher]

To rephrase the perhaps badly worded question though what is "good" in wind?

I presume if somethign's moving around all over the place at 10mph wind it's broken...I'm not too fussed if my car is bad in wind as adjusted my speed, I was just more shocked that others completely ignored the wind but maybe they didn't feel it? When you say these cars are good in wind have you ever driven them at 80mph in 60 mph gusts of crosswind and are they so good that you can pretty much ignore it and not feel the car being pulled suddenly when cresting a hill/going over a viaduct, etc

And how twitchy does it have to be before the car could lose control - I assume no car could ever tip over but could be over corrected and end up spinning if ignored completely?

My c207 is excellent in cross winds. Quite low and aerodynamic.