d215yq
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2008
- Messages
- 2,664
- Reaction score
- 702
- Age
- 39
- Location
- Valencia, Spain
- Your Mercedes
- 1987 W124 300D 280k miles
Was driving to work today, going straight on over a roundabout with 4 other lanes at the usual 25mph and upon exiting for the first time ever the backend lost traction...I had to correct it with oversteer and luckily didn't hit anything else. This was all at 25mph, flat road, damp (rained heavily yesterday) but no standing water, 12C so now snow/ice possible. I think it was after I braked slightly which I understand would shift weight to front but as I say, at such speed/G force I wasn't expecting to worry about such "on edge" handling nuances.
I'm not a fast driver and there was no G felt at all, and on a mountain road even in the wet I would regularly rely on more grip than this (and still be overtaken by 80% of traffic!), and indeed have done recently with no problems whatsoever. The other cars in the other lanes were at a very similar speed so it wasn't like I was doing anything silly.
I've checked tyres (4.5mm all round, under 3 yrs old, correct pressure) and shock absorbers (no excessive bounce). Is this possibly something "loose" in the rear suspension that can cause this or another factor? There was no bang/noise/anything to suggest something has broken recently.
Thanks for the replies, it's genuinely the first time I've lost control of a car except for in snow since I was 18, and first in a RWD Merc.
I'm not a fast driver and there was no G felt at all, and on a mountain road even in the wet I would regularly rely on more grip than this (and still be overtaken by 80% of traffic!), and indeed have done recently with no problems whatsoever. The other cars in the other lanes were at a very similar speed so it wasn't like I was doing anything silly.
I've checked tyres (4.5mm all round, under 3 yrs old, correct pressure) and shock absorbers (no excessive bounce). Is this possibly something "loose" in the rear suspension that can cause this or another factor? There was no bang/noise/anything to suggest something has broken recently.
Thanks for the replies, it's genuinely the first time I've lost control of a car except for in snow since I was 18, and first in a RWD Merc.