C300Man

Yesterday I was driving and my g/f accidently pressed the C/S while I was in drive. Will that hurt my car.

UGOTMOPPED

NO....

lx Raven xl

You can do that. Its not a problem.

piccirm

According to what I was told, it is just a software change to go from 7 speed to 6 speed transmission.

Blk04cobra1

no worries...tell her to push it as many times as she would like

lx Raven xl

No , What it actually does it changes the gears in high RPM if you are in S ( sports mode ) in C mode the gear change will happen a bit sooner.

Chaz00Blue

C mode also starts the car out in 2nd gear to give you more traction in low traction situations.

Maximo

trust me! no hurt at all

woolala

OMG!!! tell her dont touch that button again!!! hurts the car alot!!!!!



jk!!! ^.<
doesnt hurt @ all~!!

dimaSG

i also heard it will stiffen the suspension (when changed to S), true?

akbro93704

Not on the US C's, its part of the agility package in other countries.

micropower99

Says in the manual not to change while in motion but it won't mess up your car. Why else would they make the button active while in motion?

tanktube67

micropower99

Is that directed towards my post?

Glyn M Ruck

It won't hurt the car if you change in motion. Benz recommend against it because the car could go into a skid or whatever in poor road conditions or it could startle the driver & cause an accident.

Devastator187

ghettobird

So is it safe to say that it is better to launch from C rather than S for better traction?

white46

depends on surface condition.
under low traction (ie.snow), there will be less wheel spin in C.

C300PO

I went from C to S on the highway tonight traveling at about 70mph just to see what would happen if anything...seemed like it went from 7th gear to 6th as the engine gained about 200 more RPM... definitely felt it and watched it on the tach...

VD$

C/S will adjust TCU software settings and will "force" TCU to use lower gear at higher PRMs. TCU is smart enough to pick the right one and there is no way to break the system.

Diesel Benz

Yes, I've seen this mention in the W221 manual too (not sure if I was reading the Euro manual or a US pdf copy). The only reason I can think of why the manual states this is that the possible change of gear could make the car start a slide at extremely slippery conditions (absolutely theoretical case still).

Cannot be anything related to hurting the tranny or such.

C300Sport

I have been playing with this all week on my loaners....it only controls the shift algorithms and does not hurt the car at all to shift back and forth. I agree with Diesel Benz that MB only puts the warning there to cover their @$$ in case someone presses it, gets a lower gear, breaks traction for a sec, and subsequently spins into the bushes...then they can sit back and say "told you not to"

mat2hu

the cool thing about S mode is that when u accelerate and slow down, it keeps your RPM around 3500-4000 so it gives you your full torque and almost all of your horsepower ready at any given moment so when you push the gas the car flies. The S mode also does stiffen up the suspension, trust me I feel it! braking is also improved in S mode because it downshifts quicker and keeps the car in higher rpms under braking so it uses more engine braking hp to slow down the car. S mode feels much better than regular, but it comes at a price(your MPG).

Krytech

Not our US models. MBUSA hates America.

eyemd

S mode is definitely a more aggressive shifting algorithm, but I actually wish it was even more aggressive sometimes. MB should have designed 3 shift modes...or I should by another car with a stick