SFML320

Found this on the MBUSA website, does anyone know if it's a new feature or has the GL always had it. Does it work the way they say it does?

"A trailer in tow can adversely affect the driving dynamics of a vehicle. That's why the R, M and GL-Class are equipped with Trailer Stability Assist. Electronic Stability Program sensors monitor for oscillations caused by the trailer's movement. The system then intervenes by using the brakes to help stabilize the vehicle. Once ESP is satisfied that the vehicle and trailer are under control, braking intervention is ceased."

lkchris

Yes.

It's car brakes and not trailer brakes, of course.

I think you'll find this automatically a feature with any car with ESC.

tarydesign

Has anyone actually experienced Trailer Stability Assist (TSA) working and if so, how well did it work?

lkchris

it seems unlikely this system will ever let things get out of control enough that you could feel it. I’d guess something to be felt might be a sudden trailer tire blowout.

Somewhat related might be my experience with ESP ... was in Texas in W211 (no trailer) closely following a pickup I was about to pass, when suddenly a beer can (surely Lone Star) blew out of the bed and came right at my face. I reflexively applied steering to miss it and ESP extremely strongly brought the car back straight. It’s there and it works.

Did the MBCA Germany tour once and experienced the famous Mercedes test track in Unterturkheim, including the portion when the track goes vertical. The day I was there they appeared to be high speed testing the roof accessory they sell for taxicab use. In any event, Germans pull trailers much moreso than Americans and trailer hitches are available for almost every car they sell, not just solely SUVs as in the USA. I’m sure this high speed test track has been extensively used testing trailer stability parameters.

Max Blast

I towed a 6000lb travel trailer once and it was completely transparent to me - no additional warnings or cautions. It was controllable but not anything I’d call comfortable - I can only wonder what towing 6k would have been without this system.

DennisG01

I have purposefully tried out the feature. I was towing a boat that weighed somewhere around 6K and this was the first time I was using this Merc as a tow vehicle. Coming from mostly larger vehicles, I wanted to see how it faired. I found a long, open stretch of road and travelling around 45MPH I submitted everything to harder and harder "emergency" stype lane change maneuvers. Eventually I got to the point where the system kicked in. It was noticeable and, I must say, I was impressed. It did exactly as it was desinged and brought the rig back to straight. I did it a bunch more times - even more aggressively - just for fun!

tarydesign

I'm amazed how difficult it is to find information about this feature (TSA) most references are to the newer TSA (Traffic Sign Assist), from what I've discovered is that most Mercs with ESC and after around 2007 have this feature, and it all started on the ML. I'm now towing a caravan with both my ML320 CDI (W164) and my C350CDI Estate (W204), and I must say at 105km/h the van starts to "sway", not serious but it feels like it could get worse and I'm very cautious to push things past that point. To be honest I like my cars firmly planted on the ground (Merc) and I guess this is more of my own concern than a real danger.

I have personally used ESC many times on my gravel road with a rather interesting "Kink" in the road and it pulls the ML straight and predictably every time!

DennisG01

If the trailer is swaying under normal conditions, it's probably loaded wrong with too little tongue weight. The tow vehicle doesn't cause the sway - it's the trailer. Once in a while, the height of the ball can be a factor when the tongue weight is on the verge of being too light. Since you seem to notice it a certain speed, that again points to tongue weight. If adding tongue weight doesn't cut it, you could always look into anti-sway bars - but really, anti-sway bars aren't meant to "fix" an existing issue - instead, they're there to help in situations where sway may be created by gusts of wind or a quick turn/maneuver.

BlownV8

ESC is also referred to as ESP has been on MB vehicles way before the first 164 ever went down the assembly line. I think it was first used around 1995 on the S600. I know my 98 E430 had it and every MB afterwards.

TSA - trailer stability assist made it's debut in the W221 S class and then in the M class. The M class was the first MB SUV to have the extra ESP function of TSA.

eric_in_sd

Check out the big ***** on Brad.

Seriously, I'm impressed.

I towed a big U-Haul trailer 1500 miles. Never had the slightest issue with sway, even though ABS AND ESP WERE DISABLED because I hadn't figured out how to do the learn procedure before we left. The trailer wasn't that heavy, I guess, and it had a LOT of drag, so I guess that helped.

DennisG01

I have STILL never seen that whole movie! Just bits and pieces here and there.

eric_in_sd

Frankly, you're better off with just the snippets. It's like a Stephen King book: There are moments that are inordinately compelling, but the rest is a self indulgent circle jerk. Frankly, Samuel L. Jackson's monologue in Boondocks is better than anything he did in Pulp Fiction.

If it weren't for doing stupid stuff, I'd have nothing worth remembering. I heartily endorse slip slidin around; I did donuts in reverse in my Honda Accord on a snow-covered parking lot, causing great excitement for my female passenger. But I stop short of pointing a .45 1911 at someone's face, with my finger on the trigger, while riding in car on what may have been a bumpy road, regardless if that someone is named Marvin and no one that will be missed.