Road Trip in the Rain - And a Sassy MBUX
06-10-2019, 10:03 AM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Road Trip in the Rain - And a Sassy MBUX
Preface: Former Japanese/American car owner (1 Volvo) all my life. So Mercedes is a brand new experience for me.
About 600 miles, 2/3 of it pure highway, 55 to 70 speed limit, the rest smaller roads 35 to 60 speed limit. Varying levels of rain about 90% of the time.
I feel like a new person. Before this car driving in the rain meant a lot of double checking the mirrors, proceeding slow/cautiously, poor vision and worrying about slick roads. I'm a conservative driver (to preserve brakes for one reason, avoid accidents for another, have a +5 record) but the A220 allows me to be more adventurous while still being very much in control. Road handling was incredible, the radar helps with lane changes a great deal and the car is very responsive. Wow. It's like I'm in control now, not the weather. Weaving through traffic was like a fine tuned process, crisp lane changes, no braking and fantastic visibility thanks to the amazing windshield wipers.
I had a VW GTI (I think) follow me for about 100 miles, sometimes struggled to keep up but always turned up on my tail eventually, good fun. FYI, I almost always hold to the "9 you're fine, 10 you're mine" rule, only speeding ticket in the last 10 years is 61/55 (for which I got no points). Just to say I'm not the maniac you see sometimes on the roads...
And the MBUX? That thing has real personality (easter egg?). If I didn't have a passenger I would have written it off to my imagination but we both heard the same thing and looked at each other. I can't remember exactly what she said but it was in response to a command and it was something like "I don't feel like doing this right now." No joke.
About 600 miles, 2/3 of it pure highway, 55 to 70 speed limit, the rest smaller roads 35 to 60 speed limit. Varying levels of rain about 90% of the time.
I feel like a new person. Before this car driving in the rain meant a lot of double checking the mirrors, proceeding slow/cautiously, poor vision and worrying about slick roads. I'm a conservative driver (to preserve brakes for one reason, avoid accidents for another, have a +5 record) but the A220 allows me to be more adventurous while still being very much in control. Road handling was incredible, the radar helps with lane changes a great deal and the car is very responsive. Wow. It's like I'm in control now, not the weather. Weaving through traffic was like a fine tuned process, crisp lane changes, no braking and fantastic visibility thanks to the amazing windshield wipers.
I had a VW GTI (I think) follow me for about 100 miles, sometimes struggled to keep up but always turned up on my tail eventually, good fun. FYI, I almost always hold to the "9 you're fine, 10 you're mine" rule, only speeding ticket in the last 10 years is 61/55 (for which I got no points). Just to say I'm not the maniac you see sometimes on the roads...
And the MBUX? That thing has real personality (easter egg?). If I didn't have a passenger I would have written it off to my imagination but we both heard the same thing and looked at each other. I can't remember exactly what she said but it was in response to a command and it was something like "I don't feel like doing this right now." No joke.
06-10-2019, 11:32 AM
#2
That's good to hear. I live in the Seattle area so rain is a thing. 
Although, ironically, it's barely rained since I've had the car (going on 3 weeks now) so I haven't had the opportunity to really try it out in wet conditions.
Regarding the wipers, we noticed they would swipe 3-5 times when starting the car after being parked in a parking lot for a little bit (less than an hour). My wife thought it was a problem since there was nothing obvious on the windshield (no rain). My theory is maybe it was pollen/dust. It doesn't do this all the time; it just happened to do it twice yesterday.
Although, ironically, it's barely rained since I've had the car (going on 3 weeks now) so I haven't had the opportunity to really try it out in wet conditions.Regarding the wipers, we noticed they would swipe 3-5 times when starting the car after being parked in a parking lot for a little bit (less than an hour). My wife thought it was a problem since there was nothing obvious on the windshield (no rain). My theory is maybe it was pollen/dust. It doesn't do this all the time; it just happened to do it twice yesterday.
06-10-2019, 12:11 PM
#3
Member
Thread Starter
That's good to hear. I live in the Seattle area so rain is a thing. Although, ironically, it's barely rained since I've had the car (going on 3 weeks now) so I haven't had the opportunity to really try it out in wet conditions.
Regarding the wipers, we noticed they would swipe 3-5 times when starting the car after being parked in a parking lot for a little bit (less than an hour). My wife thought it was a problem since there was nothing obvious on the windshield (no rain). My theory is maybe it was pollen/dust. It doesn't do this all the time; it just happened to do it twice yesterday.
Although, ironically, it's barely rained since I've had the car (going on 3 weeks now) so I haven't had the opportunity to really try it out in wet conditions.Regarding the wipers, we noticed they would swipe 3-5 times when starting the car after being parked in a parking lot for a little bit (less than an hour). My wife thought it was a problem since there was nothing obvious on the windshield (no rain). My theory is maybe it was pollen/dust. It doesn't do this all the time; it just happened to do it twice yesterday.
