Hi, I have been having a bit of problem with the consistency of the brake in my C300 Hybrid (2 months old with 3,000km). Occasionally, there is a inconsistency in the brake paddle. Sometime when I put my foot on the brake paddle, the car brakes gradually. And sometime with the same amount of force applied on the brake paddle, the car brakes much stronger.

I feel the way the car brakes in relation to the amount of force putting on the brake paddle is inconsistent and unpredictable. Often I found myself concentrating on my right foot the first instant it touches the paddle to see how the car would want to brake, then apply the weight to the paddle accordingly in order to brake smoothly and safely without the car behind rear-ending me. Doesn't inspire confidence in driving fast to be honest since it doesn't feel that I have control over how the car behaves. Quite unnatural i supposed.

Have any of you experienced this?

The only thing I could think of is the Brake Assist system but I thought it's only active when emergency braking not everyday start-stop braking in the city.

PS. When i test drove the car before purchasing, i didn't feel this symptom. I went back to the dealer yesterday to test drive again and (now that i know what to look for), the test car behaves similarly but to the lesser degree. I talked to SA and noone seems to be aware of this. Will bring the car in for check tomorrow anyway to see if there is anything wrong or it is the norm of the car (along with harsh transmission downshifting).

Thanks all comments in advance. Milin.

 

Could be the trany downshifting. My car does this and makes for a jerky stopping experience.

 

Hi hpilot. Thanks. Yeah i also experience that as well when braking and the car downshift. Shouldn't the downshifting be smoother though? My camry doesn't downshift this bad. :-(

Anyway, the brake issue also happen when im in D2 in the stop and go traffic as well (no downshift). Feel like the initial travel (when the paddle is very light) of the paddle just put too much grabbing power. Thing is, it happens intermittently.

 

doesn't the 300h have regenerative braking and regenerate some of the car's kinetic energy while applying the brakes as part of the hybrid system????


That would explain why the brake feel is not natural

 

Yes, it should be smoother like every other car I have driven. I didn't realize you had the Hybrid - that changes everything. Regenerative braking is hard to get right...

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh now this explains a lot of things. Thanks guys. Never know the regen brake would have such an impact.

When you mentioned about the regen brake, i googled and found an article from MB on this as well.

http://mercedes-benz.custhelp.com/ap...rent-the-first

I hope i can get used to it. Been driving a lot of cars and this is the first hybrid. And in Bangkok where you use the brake a lot more than the accelerator, it's quite frustrating.