Do you drive in "C" or "S" mode?
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,464
Likes: 73
From: Midwest, US
'17 GTR, '17 GLC43, '14 Panigale 899, '20 V4
I drive in M mode when i'm not in traffic 
(I need to get better at shifting it tho), C mode when I'm in traffic, and S mode when I am too lazy to shift and I'm not in traffic.
(I need to get better at shifting it tho), C mode when I'm in traffic, and S mode when I am too lazy to shift and I'm not in traffic.
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Super Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 923
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From: North Jerzeee
Lexus IS 350 F Sport
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 25
Likes: 1
I like to use S at startup. But soon I find it too lousy, and the car feels bumpy every time I push it. I prefer smooth drive, like gliding on the ice. U know. So I switch to C, and sit back, enjoying the quietness and smoothness. But not for long after stopping at a traffic light, I find the car is kinds of lacking power at startup, and I have already started to miss S. So I switch to S. It's too easy to do that. The switch is right around fingers...
Everyday is into an Endless Loop... Never escape from the my own paradox.
Everyday is into an Endless Loop... Never escape from the my own paradox.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,464
Likes: 73
From: Midwest, US
'17 GTR, '17 GLC43, '14 Panigale 899, '20 V4
I like to use S at startup. But soon I find it too lousy, and the car feels bumpy every time I push it. I prefer smooth drive, like gliding on the ice. U know. So I switch to C, and sit back, enjoying the quietness and smoothness. But not for long after stopping at a traffic light, I find the car is kinds of lacking power at startup, and I have already started to miss S. So I switch to S. It's too easy to do that. The switch is right around fingers...
Everyday is into an Endless Loop... Never escape from the my own paradox.
Everyday is into an Endless Loop... Never escape from the my own paradox.
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 388
Likes: 1
From: Montreal
2013 E350 4M, 997 Turbo, MK3 GTI
Always S. The 2011 c class are S or E mode. I always downshift when coming to a light and just put it back in d. The engine decompression really slows down the car quickly. More so than any other cat I've owned.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 8,384
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2019 G70 6MT & 2022 Ford Maverick XL
It really makes very little difference. Press the pedal to the floor in C mode from a stop and it will downshift to 1st. I always found it funny how people think it is a huge deal whether the transmission starts off in 1st or 2nd gear from a stop.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,464
Likes: 73
From: Midwest, US
'17 GTR, '17 GLC43, '14 Panigale 899, '20 V4
I hope you're joking. Which gear the transmission starts off in is not the only difference. WOW. Just WOW!
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 2,286
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From: eNyCe
Steel Grey Metallic C63!!
Do you start your 135i in second gear and then downshift to first gear?
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 285
Likes: 1
2008 C350 Sport
I always wait till at a stop before switching...but I would like to know if it's safe also. Proably in the manual...but I'm too lazy to look it up right now. I would think you should probably not change it on the fly. When stopped and I change the setting I can actually feel it change.
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 10
Likes: 0
From: Bloomfield, CT
'08 C350
80,718 miles and I've almost exclusively driven in S mode. The reason you feel the change while stopped is that the car is shifting from 2nd to 1st when you go from C to S. While driving, the most that may happen if you switch is that the car drops a gear depending upon your rate of acceleration and change shift smoothness, but the car will suffer no ill effects from switching while driving. And just like mr inkredibul said, the difference between C and S is night and day. 
