Mercedes Tech Advancements within the Last 40 Years
Mercedes-Benz was one of the first companies to institute crash testing of new cars.
Mercedes-Benz has been a technological leader in the automotive industry since its inception more than 100 years ago. If there’s been a tech advance in the auto industry over the last century, you can rest assured that Stuttgart engineers had a hand in developing it. We’ve gone through a list of some of the advancements that have been put in use by Mercedes engineers through the first half of the 20th Century and up to about the seventies. Let’s take a look at some of their more recent advancements.
The Gated Shifter – A Safety Advancement That Has Saved Many Lives
In 1963 with their SL models with automatic transmissions, Mercedes introduced the gated shifter that kept the shifter from moving inadvertently or entering an incorrect gear. The shifter had to be moved around a catch/lock in order to enter the next gear. This is now standard equipment on every car made today with a lever-controlled automatic transmission.
More Safety Advances from Stuttgart
1978 saw the first production use of antilock braking systems when Mercedes released it with some of their models for that year. 1982 saw the first multi-link suspension system. This type of suspension gives unprecedented handling precision, and thus increases safety. In 1991, Mercedes engineers removed all CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) from both the AC system and the AC component manufacturing process.
Mercedes Was Also the First with Stability Control
This is a development that was so leading-edge, U.S. regulators decided it should be a requirement on all production vehicles. Mercedes instituted the Electronic Stability Program (ESP) in 1995, and made it standard on all their U.S.-market cars in 1999. The government took quite a bit longer before they mandated it in 2012.
ESP is an electronic program that enhances vehicle stability during severe maneuvering. ESP helps drivers maintain vehicle control during hard cornering and “evasive driving.” Some call this the second most important technological advancement for automobiles in the past 40 years. Those who feel this way say airbags are the most important.
If you’re interested in checking out more of the advancements and “firsts” of Mercedes-Benz, check out their Innovation page.