03'55AMG

In my E55, comfort gives me ten MORE miles per gallon with spirited driving. In sport I get 7-8mpg, comfort gives me up to 17-20 sometimes. Plus comfort is way better than sport IMO.

noka

C = 2 to 7 (6 gears)
S = 1 to 7 (7 gears)

whiteongrey

Don't forget R is 2 speeds as well. Can probably hit 40 mph in R !

Might be useful to know if some maniacs are about to assault you car haha.

I have not noticed any economy gains from C - only good for winter driving as 2nd gear starts. Other than that never use it.

Interesting to learn default is C on late models though. Kinda sucks - along with losing the power folding mirrors.

omgitselaine

To think i've always driven in S ..... thinking it was for ummm " Sexy " !!??

whiteongrey

HaHa - now that I think about it I always drive in S and every girl that sits in the car wants S*x !

lamonsas

by default, u have to drive the first 1000 miles in E mode, after that u can change it to S and it will stay at S mode, but for the first 1000 miles it will always go back to E once u restart the car.

Do u really think S wastes less gas? cuz thats what im all about, i want to waste the least gas possible

noka

Not sure how you define "late models" but my US-spec '09 C300 4Matic starts in whatever mode it was last.

Rogwp

The change was made in 2010, the car always defaults to C now.

ltcinf

I wondered the same thing so do some long distance driving in both modes. I actually got higher gas mileage in sport mode. Over a 200 miles distance I averaged between 28 and 29 MPG in sport mode and around 25-26 in Comfort mode.

Like everyone else says though in stop and go traffic or if you are burying the pedal in the floor constantly there really seems to be very little difference. The sport mode is much easy to drive in traffic though--less lag when you jump on the gas.

lamonsas

so u guys recommend that i switch permanently to Sports mode? i live in new york and it usually is spot and go traffic here u know, unless im on the highway.

RedVines

My car has 2400 miles on it and it still continues the default E setting. I do think that S wastes less gas because you dont have to use the throttle as aggressively due to the lag from C. I think it is also better for your engine as well. puts less strain on it.

JoeVal

Actually, both modes (C and S) work automatically on 6 gears (2-7 & 1-6, respectively). To engage the 7th gear in the S mode, you ought to manually upshift when 6th gear is engaged. Conversely, when you wish to start in 1st gear in the C mode (with car stoppped), you have to manually engage it downshifting from the automatic 2nd.

Acapulco Bill

This is news to me, which automatically means, if you dont manually go into 7th gear, that "C" mode (or "E" for the 2011 automatic) HAS to have better MPG than driving in "S" sport mode.

bdolan76

The drive modes are annoying, sometimes the button sticks and its stays in "S" mode, but most of the time it defaults back to "E" mode. Its annoying Mercedes should let us decide what mode want it to default to.

MiamiAMG

I can't remember where, but i read that driving in C mode supposedly cuts fuel consumption by 10%

noka

When I am cruising in "S" and shift down one gear manually (verified by the tach going up) it registers 6 in the display. This tells me I was in 7th gear.

jctevere

Yeah, that bit about sport mode only using 1-6 is false. Comfort uses 2-7, sport uses 1-7.

brandno7

My driving style is S for the city, C for long highway trips because I really don't need to quickly switch in an out of gears. Fuel consumption is all relative to your driving style.

RLE

Regardless of C or S, the trans shifts to 7th and when it does is dependent on throttle position.

Noka was correct.

bdolan76

With my 2011 I drive is "S" sport mode around town, but "E" on the highway also. Its seems much more aggressive in "S" mode but probably consumes a little more gas.

phatmanrx7

Hey guys after reading this post i decided to give it a shot. Ive been driving mostly in "C" mode since ive had the car, and i reset my trip calc a few weeks ago and after about 350 miles of my weekly route of work, gym, gfs, etc (combined hwy and street). i average about 20.9-21 mpg.

I tried it this past week in "S" mode only, and my mpgs are around 23 mpg for the same weekly route!

It is completely based on how heavy your foot is, but ive noticed if you tried to be light with both, with sport mode on i see better mpg. But the problem is the moment you are a little harder on the gas in S mode the mpg drops down dramatically.

NickCats

I have also noticed that I get better gas mileage in Sport ( vs Comfort )

Nick

Beto Pereira

Hi Lamonsas,
where did you read this? or how do you know this? i'm interested in knowing this beucase i hate driving in the C mode. My old 2009 C300 defaulted to whatever was set before turning the car off. now, in the 2012 C250 coupe... it keeps taking me to the C mode.

thanks,

teja1936

Returned from Melbourne to Sydney just yesterday. I drive a C300. Drove 829 Kms on one tank (98 Octane). Most of the trip (95%) on cruise control set at 111 kph. Admittedly highway driving, but no particular style of driving was employed. Just stuck it in drive (E), set, forget and steer. Your milage is always going to be dependant upon your driving style and conditions. Interestingly though on the trip from Sydney to Melbourne I only achieved 760kms from the one tank possibly due to strong cross / head winds on the morning of departure. Additionally, leaving Sydney, the terrain is somewhat more 'hilly' (Goulburn / Yass) and having a heavier vehicle (full tank of fuel) will effect the fuel consumption.

EastExpert

Mine is a '09 C180K 5-speed Auto (it stays in the mode you left it in, C/S).

My commute is about 3 miles village driving, then 5 miles on the motorway, then 1 mile to the office.
I used to drive on C almost always on pretence that it will save fuel.

However, I got a bit frustrated with sluggish start, especially on cold engine, and decided to give S a go in this condition. All that watching fuel consumption gauge.
My findings so far are that in S, if you are easy on the pedal, it is easier to maintain momentum because the RPMs are kept with my driving style between 1.5 and 2.5 K, and gauge does not go too high up.
In C, gaining speed is a*se, I can feel the strain, RPMs go in the range of 1-2K -- yes I am THAT easy on the pedal, trying to move in bursts, and gauge goes above 20l/100km (below 14 mpg).

My theory is that gears are there for a reason. Optimal fuel consumption is happening when your torque is enough but RPMs are not too high. So if your RPM is too high, obviously you are wasting fuel, but if they are too low, that is happening too, because there's not enough torque and you're putting the strain on the engine.

My guessed rule is currently as follows:
* Should use S when cold,
* S in urban traffic where you have to slow down or stop often,
* S when need to race from traffic lights (e.g. need to change the lane and they won't let you - happens all the time in London, which is why I hate driving there), and
* C for long motorway trips in normal driving mode, which helps you not to push too strongly on the pedal (in S it's all too tempting to accelerate).
* (unconfirmed) probably S for motorway trips in Cruise Control mode, it seems like that S mode keeps revs within optimal range when there are slight ups and downs, avoiding dropping too low on ups by prompt upshift.

Now it also must depend on petrol very much. On a better petrol (98 octane) torque is higher at the low rev area, and C will give optimal, great economy, limiting your foot's "leadenness" still having enough torque at low revs, but sometimes the petrol is just ridiculously crappy, and without an upshift it just lags on start and delivers atrocious acceleration all the time -- S mode would "liven up" the engine in this case.

The last petrol tank for example was second crappiest I've ever seen - and I just stuck permanently to S, otherwise it's unsafe at the roundabout, you floor it and it just ... lags 2-3 sec... and this is not a turbodiesel, but a normally nippy petrol engine.

M