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?
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 $$
Last edited by AMG893; Mar 1, 2014 at 07:20 AM. Reason: For to add "M" explanation
S= Standard/ Sport- This is most regularly used. Takes off in 1st gear. Normal shifts. General driving.
S+ = Sport Plus- Similar to "S", only the traction control is partially disabled, allowing more "give" to get the tail happy. Though its not really enough. Still keeps you on track generally.
M = Manual shifting. It will hold the selected gear, and not shift up automatically. You will have to initiate gear changes with the Paddles or Gear Lever. It will hit fuel cut at redline, and stay there until you shift up. Still not like a proper clutch manual, as certain gears are unavailable at certain speeds.
RS= Race Start. Basically launch control. But i feel there are better ways to "launch" than RS. Its more of a bit of a "showy" feature. Though, others chime in if you feel i am wrong!
Hope that helps. Congrats on the pending car. Though, i would have thought the dealer should explain all this, if you aren't familiar with it. Jump on YouTube, alot can be found there, and its fun to watch too!
Sounds like their may be something wrong with the car though? If RS is unavailable? Sounds odd? Its not locked by Mercedes. Get the car checked out before parting with $$




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.




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.
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.
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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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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Like others mentioned, it may also not be working correctly or they just don't know how to use it.




