Can someone explain to me the differences between the S and C mode? Is it for different driving environments and which is more fuel efficient. Thanks.

 

The only difference is when you are in "C" mode, the car is a 6 speed, and starts out in 2nd gear, with less "stump pulling" low end grunt.

In "S" the car uses all 7 forward gears & starts out in 1st gear. Some of the shift points are adjusted too.

I guess the thinking is that in winter/wet road conditions you don't need all that grunt in 1st. (Not that you can spin the wheels because the "traction control" will kick in & prohibit it.

Overengineering the mechanical aspects of the car once again while underengineering other more "Japanese" areas of the car. I suppose someone, somewhere can come up with a must have reason for this feature, and swears it saved his life once, but other than showing it off to a friend one time, Its been in "S" since I got the car.

 

I always read about C/S but my car has W/S. My sales rep told me it's winter and summer mode. Is he for real? I've read the manual and even the manual has C/S listed. Any one know what the differences are?

 

Your W = C
Your S = S

 

I rarely use "C" mode because it causes the car to LAG like crazy when accelerating. I've heard "C" mode is a bit more fuel efficient, but for all that lag, I don't even bother. My car is always in "S".

 

It does make a difference in the snow. Shift point being a lot lower.

Also, it seems that traction control is more evident in the winter mode, coming on earlier and and stronger in side slides, etc.

In the snow I always use W or C mode.

I think it is a great feature.

 

My previous MB had the W/S mode...as posted above it's winter/summer.

When I asked my tech why they changed it to C/S, he told me that it's basically the same as W/S only they changed it to C for "comfort mode" (2nd gear starts and less abrupt gear shifts) and S for "sport mode" (first gear starts and more spunky shift points). He's not one to make stuff up if he doesn't know, and his explanation matches the driving difference between the two modes.

Any one else heard this from their tech/dealer?

 

I was reading somewhere that when the 4MATIC came in they started to change away from Winter mode and changed it to Comfort mode.