In the snowdrifts that formed on many streets of Russian cities in 2026, long-term slipping during attempts to get into a swing, as well as sharp switching between forward and backward modes, are especially dangerous for cars. Alexey Balashov, director of service and spare parts at Avilon Mercedes-Benz, told Motor magazine about this.
“If we are talking about a manual transmission, then the clutch suffers first. When trying to escape from a snowdrift, it quickly overheats, begins to “burn,” a characteristic smell appears, and the grip itself becomes worse. In addition, with a sharp restoration of wheel adhesion to the surface after slipping, damage to drives and CV joints is possible due to a sharp shock load,” Balashov said.
If we are talking about a classic “automatic” with a torque converter, the main risk is associated with overheating of the oil during slipping. Along with the oil, the clutches inside the box also overheat. Frequent rocking and sudden switching from mode “D” to “R” and back create shock loads and accelerate wear of transmission elements, which in the future can lead to problems with the valve body and a general deterioration in the operation of the transmission.
Robotic gearboxes (DSG, AMT and other options) are especially sensitive to such situations due to clutches: they overheat faster than a classic automatic, especially if the driver often starts and allows slipping. The actuators (mechanics and actuators) receive additional load. When switching forward and backward, they operate in increased wear mode, the specialist noted.
However, cars with CVTs are in first place when it comes to failure in snowfalls. This type of transmission is extremely sensitive to slipping: when rocking and sharply pressing the gas, the load on the belt or chain, as well as on the cones, increases, slippage, overheating and accelerated aging of the oil are possible.
Even if a breakdown does not occur immediately, after such loads the service life of the variator is reduced, and problems will not be long in coming, the expert warned.
Previously, Russians were given five reasons why the engine does not start in cold weather.
