JYO

Will Distronic plus allow me to drive in stop and go rush hour traffic without much input? Or is that too slow.

If it can't do that doesn anyone know a manufacturer whose system might be able to do that for me.

When there's no traffic I like to drive but rush hour traffic tilts me.

PittsburghBenz

I use it regularly for this very reason. I do a lot of driving (or should I say sitting?) in Pittsburgh, Baltimore and DC traffic. The distronic and lane assist do a great job of stopping/going and keeping me in the lane. I've actually found myself in a better mood when I get to my destination not having to do this myself anymore.

miketc

+1 Great option for stop and go traffic. Similar in other mfr as well; may be called by different names.

BenzC400

Distronic plus w/steering assist works very well in stop and go traffic. It accurately follows the car in front and will come to a complete stop as traffic stops. If you stop for more than about 1-2 seconds, you must tap the accelerator to get moving again.


I set the speed to no more than 40mph in stop and go traffic. If you leave the speed set to highway speeds, say 75mph, your car will try to resume 75 mph if there is a temporary gap until it recognizes the car in front again. This can make for some interesting fast starts and stops.

C_Class_Dad

agree its terrific in stop abd go traffic. like the tip about lowering the set speed in stop & go

Seanix

I love using the distronic and lane assist..... It works really well, much better than I anticipated!!

Only small problem I find is when i'm in heavy traffic the car leaves a fairly decent gap between the car in front and my car when distronic is on. The gap is a safe distance apart, but what I find is that it's large enough for other cars to jump in, which sometimes the merc won't detect until completely in front causing the car to brake heavily to retain the required required gap.
Also, when merc is at complete stop it waits for the car in front to get to the required gap before it will move, which I noticed annoys the cars behind as they think you have fallen asleep.....lol

I have set the gap to minimum on the distronic lever, but I find I am always trying to get it a bit closer all the time.....

puzzled

This thread is very interesting. Monday I bought a C300 with Distronic. The GM of dealership told me the hard part will be learning to trust it in stop and go traffic. I tried it once and when I saw the car in front of me stopping I hit the break.

jolt8631

You will, for the first few times, that is a normal reaction to seeing stop lights in front! In a quite short period of time, though, you will begin to trust it more and more - but the fact is, when you get confronted with someone braking REALLY hard in front, you will find it difficult not to react - but the car will already have beaten you to it!

Weegs

I find it hard to go back to a vehicle without distronic now. I find myself expecting the car to brake for me and get a surprise when it doesn't!

JYO

appreciate the reponses. Does the system warn you if your hands are off the wheel for some time?

And what's the fastest speed you have felt comfortable using it?

floridadriver

After 30 seconds or so, it gives symbol to put hands back on the wheel, and some time after if you don't, disconnects, beeps, and coasts. One hand on the wheel keeps it happy. Very neat system on the right roads/conditions.

BenzC400

You can go hands free for about 10-15 seconds then you get a warning. A few seconds later the steering assist disengages. Below about 40 mph in stop and go traffic, you can go hands free for extended periods.

I don't recommend taking your hands off the steering wheel. The system will occasionally disengage if for some reason it can no longer see the lines or loses contact with the car in front. There isn't much of a warning in that situation. Only a small steering wheel symbol that turns from green to gray. I wish there was some type of audible warning that steering assist has disengaged.

I almost always use the system on the highway and feel comfortable with it from stop and go speeds to fast highway speeds.

Weegs

I'm wondering if you could fool it with a rubber hand and a g-clamp and then climb in the back for a nap???

Seanix

Haha.... I like the way you think

miketc

The system is looking for inputs from the steering wheel not really your hands on the wheel. Moving the wheel a bit gives you another 15 seconds. Am I the only one that keeps the Attention Assist graphic on the display at all times?

trustoryson

No, you are certainly not the only one; I have been really impressed with this feature and generally have Driver assist graphic on the display... but

The really annoying part is that if I have Driver Assist on the Dash, Radio on the Command screen, I lose the ability to see what move/turn is coming for Navigation (unless I switch back to Navigation on the Command Screen or the Dash). They really should offer a split screen functionality like BMW or at least show the upcoming turn graphic overlaid on the Command screen while in other modes (Radio, Consumption, Media, etc.)

For the few people who have heads up display this would be no issue, but I ended up with the most loaded model I could get at this (large) dealership, and it wasn't on there (4-Matic, P1, Multimedia, Sport, Lighting, Parktronic Active Parking Assist, Driver Assist Plus, Pano, 19" AMG, Open Pore Wood...). HUD is something I really wish I had; does anyone have both Driver Assist and HUD, and does the HUD also have any Driver Assist info?

miketc

Glad I have both, Driver Assist info are not on the HUD but Nav is as you indicated.

gfmohn

It's been done, and it worked. A few months ago, I saw a review of a C-Class (can't remember whether it was C300 or C400) which included a photo of a can of Coke duct taped to the steering wheel. Sorry, I can't remember which magazine/website it was. Obviously, it was one of the more obscure/sillier ones.

l3it3r

I wonder if I can 'easily' add Distronic to my C400?

The Godfather

Shouldn't be too hard. Good ol' MBENZNL aka Steve used to make trips to the US from NL to get crazy option retrofitted to people's cars. I don't think he does it anymore and just focuses on his shop in the NL, but google MBENZNL.