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C S S+ M RS What is the difference

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Old Mar 1, 2014 | 05:14 AM
  #1  
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C63 P31 Coupe 13'
C S S+ M RS What is the difference

I saw the C63 I am gonna get today again, and noticed C S S+ M RS What is the difference?

The dealer told me RS is not working? Why? What is RS? Is it locked by the company?
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Old Mar 1, 2014 | 07:17 AM
  #2  
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2010 C63 Estate
C= Comfort- Takes off in 2nd gear, shifts earlier, "saves fuel". For sedate driving, or snow
S= Standard/ Sport- This is most regularly used. Takes off in 1st gear. Normal shifts. General driving.
S+ = Sport Plus- Similar to "S", only the traction control is partially disabled, allowing more "give" to get the tail happy. Though its not really enough. Still keeps you on track generally.
M = Manual shifting. It will hold the selected gear, and not shift up automatically. You will have to initiate gear changes with the Paddles or Gear Lever. It will hit fuel cut at redline, and stay there until you shift up. Still not like a proper clutch manual, as certain gears are unavailable at certain speeds.
RS= Race Start. Basically launch control. But i feel there are better ways to "launch" than RS. Its more of a bit of a "showy" feature. Though, others chime in if you feel i am wrong!

Hope that helps. Congrats on the pending car. Though, i would have thought the dealer should explain all this, if you aren't familiar with it. Jump on YouTube, alot can be found there, and its fun to watch too!

Sounds like their may be something wrong with the car though? If RS is unavailable? Sounds odd? Its not locked by Mercedes. Get the car checked out before parting with $$

Last edited by AMG893; Mar 1, 2014 at 07:20 AM. Reason: For to add "M" explanation
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Old Mar 1, 2014 | 08:55 AM
  #3  
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C63 P31 Coupe 13'
Originally Posted by AMG893
C= Comfort- Takes off in 2nd gear, shifts earlier, "saves fuel". For sedate driving, or snow
S= Standard/ Sport- This is most regularly used. Takes off in 1st gear. Normal shifts. General driving.
S+ = Sport Plus- Similar to "S", only the traction control is partially disabled, allowing more "give" to get the tail happy. Though its not really enough. Still keeps you on track generally.
M = Manual shifting. It will hold the selected gear, and not shift up automatically. You will have to initiate gear changes with the Paddles or Gear Lever. It will hit fuel cut at redline, and stay there until you shift up. Still not like a proper clutch manual, as certain gears are unavailable at certain speeds.
RS= Race Start. Basically launch control. But i feel there are better ways to "launch" than RS. Its more of a bit of a "showy" feature. Though, others chime in if you feel i am wrong!

Hope that helps. Congrats on the pending car. Though, i would have thought the dealer should explain all this, if you aren't familiar with it. Jump on YouTube, alot can be found there, and its fun to watch too!

Sounds like their may be something wrong with the car though? If RS is unavailable? Sounds odd? Its not locked by Mercedes. Get the car checked out before parting with $$
THANK YOU MAN! I will get it checked for sure! Maybe the dealer doesnt know how to lunch the control :P
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Old Mar 1, 2014 | 01:18 PM
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Shift points are different:
S+ shifts at redline (7,200 rpm)
S mode shifts at 6,800 rpm
C mode shifts at ___, probably under 6,800 but I never drive hard in that mode and really don't know. Can someone else fill in the blank on this one?

I believe that shift SPEEDS are also varied, with S+ shifting superfast, S shifting pretty fast, and C shifting kinda leisurely. This is NOT a paddle-response speed, its just how fast the transmission can change gears if left to shift on it's own.

Downshifting is also varied although I don't fully understand it. It takes a lot less gas pedal pressing to get a downshift in S+ than in C - it's like the car becomes able to read your mind and anticipate your intentions. Quick hard braking in S+ will trigger an automatic downshift, as if the car knows you are braking into a corner and want to drop gears quickly to accelerate out as you pass the apex.
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Old Mar 1, 2014 | 01:50 PM
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I got this in a note from an AMG rep in their Private Lounge forum:

The high level explanation is- C mode means Controlled Efficiency, starts in 2nd gear, shifts sooner and smoother, defaults to that setting on start-up. S-mode starts in 1st gear, shifts 25% faster and higher RPM. S+- 30% faster shifting, will double clutch and blip the throttle on downshifting and will hold a gear to 6000 RPM if in a turn.

He also said that traction control is not impacted by the transmission settings - it is managed only by the separate traction control button on the dash. I've not played with the settings enough to confirm this.

On a related topic, he also said this about pushing the traction control button (which puts you into "sport" mode). "Traction control or ESP is another button all together. The Sport setting on your suspension will have an effect on suspension, and steering if you have a newer car with the electro-mechanical steering." Again, I've not played with this enough to notice any changes other than the traction control being intrusive when in Sport.
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Old Mar 1, 2014 | 02:24 PM
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C63 P31 Coupe 13'
Originally Posted by zcct04
I got this in a note from an AMG rep in their Private Lounge forum:

The high level explanation is- C mode means Controlled Efficiency, starts in 2nd gear, shifts sooner and smoother, defaults to that setting on start-up. S-mode starts in 1st gear, shifts 25% faster and higher RPM. S+- 30% faster shifting, will double clutch and blip the throttle on downshifting and will hold a gear to 6000 RPM if in a turn.

He also said that traction control is not impacted by the transmission settings - it is managed only by the separate traction control button on the dash. I've not played with the settings enough to confirm this.

On a related topic, he also said this about pushing the traction control button (which puts you into "sport" mode). "Traction control or ESP is another button all together. The Sport setting on your suspension will have an effect on suspension, and steering if you have a newer car with the electro-mechanical steering." Again, I've not played with this enough to notice any changes other than the traction control being intrusive when in Sport.
Thank you my friend I appreciate all you help!
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Old Mar 1, 2014 | 05:55 PM
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2012 C63 P31 sedan
You can also tell the car to hold a gear. Like if you are in 4th in S+ and hit the downshift paddle it will kick down to 3rd and then won't it shift past third 3rd again (until redline of course).

Also it will only shift at the higher RPMs if you are really on the gas. If you are meandering slowly around town in S+ it will still shift to 5th by 40 mph.
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 10:13 AM
  #8  
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AWESOME. Thanks for detail on the shift points. I was looking for this information. Thanks

Originally Posted by zcct04
Shift points are different:
S+ shifts at redline (7,200 rpm)
S mode shifts at 6,800 rpm
C mode shifts at ___, probably under 6,800 but I never drive hard in that mode and really don't know. Can someone else fill in the blank on this one?

I believe that shift SPEEDS are also varied, with S+ shifting superfast, S shifting pretty fast, and C shifting kinda leisurely. This is NOT a paddle-response speed, its just how fast the transmission can change gears if left to shift on it's own.

Downshifting is also varied although I don't fully understand it. It takes a lot less gas pedal pressing to get a downshift in S+ than in C - it's like the car becomes able to read your mind and anticipate your intentions. Quick hard braking in S+ will trigger an automatic downshift, as if the car knows you are braking into a corner and want to drop gears quickly to accelerate out as you pass the apex.
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 02:02 PM
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Originally Posted by El-Debs
The dealer told me RS is not working? Why? What is RS? Is it locked by the company?
If a dealer says this, I interpret it as a way to deter people from trying to launch the cars.

Like others mentioned, it may also not be working correctly or they just don't know how to use it.
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Old Jun 12, 2019 | 02:09 PM
  #10  
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Originally Posted by INS1GNIA
If a dealer says this, I interpret it as a way to deter people from trying to launch the cars.

Like others mentioned, it may also not be working correctly or they just don't know how to use it.
Great point but this thread is five years old. OP is probably driving a Prius by now.
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