Jaccub

Hey everyone,

If you have experience with MB's distronic plus and steering assist, could you please share your insight with me? Is it worth getting for $2700? How often do you use your steering assist feature? I understand that it's not perfect nd should not be relied on as if it's an autonomous car. Thanks.

d1stance

i have this on my GLC and I think it can definitely be worth it to certain owners. I find two scenarios where it has been quite helpful:

1. When driving in stop and go traffic - living around Chicago, stop and go traffic on the highways seems to be a fact of life no matter what time of day it is. Distronic plus lets me set it and almost not even pay attention anymore. So much less road rage from people cutting you off because hey, the car will handle it and its not your blood pressure rising as your have to react. Of course you still have to pay attention and be ready to take over, but I have really found it takes a bit of the "edge" off.

2. When driving long distance - If you're driving a long distance on the highway there are always the moments when you drift a little bit. Now the distronic shouldn't be relied upon to save you every time, but it is nice to have that extra safety net in case you get a bit of fatigue and can't quite get to a rest stop yet.

If those scenarios don't really apply to you (eg light traffic for short-medium distances) then probably not worth it. But in my situation, I am quite happy that I did.

wally AMG

worth every penny !

jmbaker3

+1

dieseldoc

+2

tjgcmcwru

+3 !

Jaccub

Ok I should rephrase lol

1) Do you ever have to fight wth the steering assist when you want to intentionally change a lane? I don't always signal. Does it ever make a mistake?

2) Does the steering assist ever lead you off to the wrong lane or follow the car infront of you change a lane?

3) Does steering assist work on dirty/slushy roads in the winter time?

Distronic plus is a nice feature. I do a lot of 200-400km highway drives between the city where I work and my hometown. I rarely see any stop and go traffic. But I can see it being useful following a rabbit and saving on the speeding tickets.

Thanks guys.

MITCH1975

1. You don't have to fight the steering wheel. It's not that much of a control freak.
2. Don't know.
3. Dirty slushy roads are not good for the system. You have to keep the cameras and the sonar in the front grille clean.


I love it. Does relieve some of the stress of highway driving.

dieseldoc

+1

freinhar

The GLC is the first car I've owned with Distronic Plus and I already wouldn't want to go back - for busy (traffic heavy) commuting, as well as long distance driving, it is amazing.

1) I signal to change lanes, but even if you don't signal, the steering wheel won't "fight" you. The steering assist works extremely well, but it only adds a very slight amount of resistance to the steering wheel when active, i.e. it is extremely easy to override.

2) Yes, it has done this once or twice but it only happens under a very particular set of conditions. If driving at speed (e.g. highway) the Distronic uses the lane markings to orient itself over the car in front of you, so won't change lanes just because the car in front of you does. When on a busy commuter road and driving at slower speeds (where the Distronic primarily uses the car in front to orient itself) it once again won't change lane if that car does if you are surrounded by other cars. The one set of circumstances where I have seen it try to change lanes to follow the car in front even though I didn't want it to was a situation where speed was so low that it primarily uses the car in front to orient itself, and there was no other traffic around.

3) Have not tried under these conditions.

I have to +1 most of the other posts - most of the time it works extremely well. Almost feels like magic.

dieseldoc

It works fantastic. Would not buy a car without it.

Jaccub

Ok you guys have me convinced. My car goes into production 3rd decade of April. Is it too late to add this?

fabbrisd1

Yes - as I have answered your PM - 2016 GLC orders are all "locked down" and cannot be changed.

Possibly your dealer can "trade" your GLC going into production with another-dealer/another-GLC going into production that does have Driver's Assistance.

2017 GLC's will start production in Germany end-June/beginning July - and release to US market my estimate mid/end-August.

BerndV

Worth every penny!

Jaccub

Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm not sure if the dealer would be willing to do that. I got HUD on mine which seems like a less sought for feature that might be a harder sell.

I also felt a little mislead on this 2017 issue. I had asked the dealer in March prior to signing for a 2016 GLC. I was told that 2017 GLCs won't be delivered until approx November/December. It turns out that my 2016 GLC was going to be one of the last ones produced. It's quite a depreciation hit for a 1 month difference.

Teckno

Don't worry about 2016 / 2017. Still built and rego in 2017. Only difference if 2017 has some extra features. Sometimes the next model misses out on some features, so your 2016 might end up better.
We give the Assist a +3. Btilliant.
As a selling point I also love and rate very high the value and use of the HUD.

mercedesinmiami

2016 C300 with Driver Assistance Package (Includes Distronic Plus with Steering Assist).

I give Distronic Plus With Steering Assist an A- for driving in heavy traffic jams under 20 mph. That's the good news.

However, I give it a C overall.

If you are buying the Mercedes no matter what and simply want to know if Steering Assist is worth the $2700, I'd say yes. However, if your primary objective the semi-autonomous driving, look at Tesla.


The Good:
Below 20mph with a car right in front of you, it does almost everything you could ask of it: it will follow the car ahead of you on straightaway or curves, maintain speed and distance- no hands or feet required.

The Bad:
1. The system is frequently not available, especially if there is not a vehicle nearby in front of you. My impression is that when there is no car for the lidar or the ultrasonic sensors to detect, the car relies on the cameras to detect lane markings. I'd say while 75% of the time it can do so, it is hard to predict when it will fail. The only indicator is that a small steering wheel icon on the driver display goes from green (active) to white (inactive). There is no sound to alert you and the icon is not in your normal line of sight. That means you may think the car is ready to steer when it isn't.

2. You must keep your hand on the wheel over 20mph. Although the system will function at (much) higher speeds, it insists on your hand on the wheel. I find that very annoying. Incidentally, I have determined that the way the system senses your hand on the wheel is actually whether you have turned the wheel at all; it is not detecting the weight of your hand (funny- if you are on a really straight road, it occasionally signals you to put your hands back on the wheel even if you already had your hands on the wheel because it doesn't sense any recent user input).

3. Safety systems don't seem well integrated. Example: I have on occasion had the steering assist engaged and the car veers slightly out of lane (especially on a curve) activating the Lane Keeping Assist system which gives a rumble, an "out of your lane" graphic, and pushes you back in. Huh? I thought the steering assist was supposed to be keeping me in the lane.

4. I suppose it is possible that MB will occasionally update the software for the system, but I sure haven't heard anything about it and am not holding my breath. At any rate, it would surely mean a trip to the dealer. That was fine back in the 90's, but let's face it this car is a computer with 4 wheels and doors. Tesla has the right idea. It updates software overnight while your car is in the garage.


The Ugly:

This is a serious and dangerous flaw. If a car up ahead is at a complete stop, the Distronic Plus will not recognize it until you are about 20ft away. Any faster than about 25 mph and you will have a collision. Even if you don't hit the car ahead of you, you're going to brake so hard, the car behind you might collide.

Here's what I think is going on. I think the lidar only detects moving objects because it uses doppler. It has a range of 300ft but if the car ahead is fully stopped, there is no detection. The ultrasonic sensors do detect a stationary car, but their range is much shorter- about 20ft.



TL/DR: My objective is semi-autonomous driving. I shoulda bought a Tesla.

JM-GLC

Pretty funny: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/posts/1481364/

MB190

Amazing! I had been driving a 2014 Acura MDX with Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Keeper. Only having had the GLC for a couple of days now, I'm already extremely pleased and glad I got Distronic Plus with Steering Assist. Far improved over the Acura. The review above is rather accurate though, but these are not autonomous vehicles nor are they intended to be. Poorly marked lanes, highway exit ramps, stopped cars, are all things that require a driver to determine the best course of action. Every manufacturer out there strongly tells the driver that these systems do not replace common sense nor the driver. I believe the system in the GLC is a superior product. Something to get if you can!

JEVA

I used the distronic plus - steering assist today on my commute to work since traffic was pretty heavy. Frankly, it was terrifying for me because it will take me a while to really 100% trust the system. I had my foot hovering over the brake most of the time and since you have to have your hands on the steering wheel, there's not a whole lot of benefit of it steering for you. I can see me using the adaptive cruise control a fair amount but probably not the DP-SA.

Mikeyking

I'll have DP-SA and expect it'll be like having a new girlfriend - hard at first to trust it, you give it a few run outs and in the end decide if you're going to take the plunge or not

JEVA

The problem is, it works until it doesn't.
Well officer, I was letter the car drive itself and...

The funny thing is, I'm very technology oriented and am usually an early adopter of new products/features. I guess nearly 30 years of driving has ingrained a certain amount of control freak in me I'm going to have a hard time letting go of.

MB190

I've had Lane Keeping and Adaptive Cruise control on my cars since 2013. I find now if I get into another car, I'm lost without it. I drive with Cruise Control on about 90% of the time and fully trust it, more than I trust myself. Just have to watch for stopped cars and those that cut you off. My only dislike is the location of the stalk. In my last car I controlled my speed with my right thumb, and the radio with the left, never really taking my hands off the steering wheel.

Lane Keeper is also great as it really does eliminate most of those slight line crossings when distracted by sneezing, the wife, kids, etc.

tjgcmcwru

I was very nervous when I first started using Distronic Plus and eased myself into it, starting with very little traffic and gradually easing up into full stop/start traffic. I am completely comfortable with it now.

rdrunner21

After using the distronic+ w/steering my opinion is similar to what others have said. If you want want semi autonomous driving buy a tesla. Tesla's is way more advance and they update it! In the long term thats a huge competitive advantage.

Under 20mph its pretty good. Just the acceleration and stopping can be stronger than I would like.

However in terms of highway driving at speed. The steering assist is not so useful. It always reminds you to put your hand on the wheel even if its on the wheel. It wants to feel you slightly moving the wheel. They should have just put some capacitive sensor you could put your hand on OR just shut off the warning at let it be like a tesla where it alerts you if it needs input.

For curves slightly more than a small curve the tracking fails. I expected a bit more from the system when I bought it.