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What happens if you just turn off the two distronic buttons on the dashboard to left of the steering wheel? I have one button that has a steering wheel logo that I assume turns on the auto steering feature, and one button with a picture of a car in between lanes, which I suspects alerts if I cross a line.
I haven’ played with it enough to know what happens if you turn just one on.
2015 S550 4MATIC AMG Sport package, 2006 S500 4Matic (Sold)
Originally Posted by SLcharge
It is not possible.
I don’t know if it’s possible or not, my Toyota sequoia allows the distronic to be turned off and the cruise still used. I was curious if MB was the same.
I don’t know if it’s possible or not, my Toyota sequoia allows the distronic to be turned off and the cruise still used. I was curious if MB was the same.
If I am not mixing up things, it works as follows.
By activating the Cruise control, you automatic activate Distronic as well. If the Radar don't see anything in front of the car, the system acts as a normal Cruise control. As soon as the radar detects a other vehicle it shift to Distronic mode, and keep the Chosen distance. If the vehicle disappear it goes back into Cruise control mode.
If distronic comes on automatically with cruise control, then does that mean I don’t need to worry about having these two buttons pushed when I am in cruise control? I have had my car for 2 months, so I am leaning about these features myself.
You are cruising just over speed limit on interstate quality road. In about 30 seconds your car will change lanes to pass a semi-truck. In about 25 seconds a car already in the left lane will pass you and start to pass the semi.
Under scenarios like this, as the trailing car passes you, you SHOULD be able to change lanes into his wake. But if you do this, the DP feature slams on the brakes (which is completely unnecessary.)
Now imagine a third car 10 seconds behind the trailing car you are trying to blend in between the two car and all 3 cars pass the semi.
In this case, when DP slams on the brakes the 3rd (innocent) car is put in a difficult situation.
2015 S550 4MATIC AMG Sport package, 2006 S500 4Matic (Sold)
Originally Posted by Mitch Alsup
You are cruising just over speed limit on interstate quality road. In about 30 seconds your car will change lanes to pass a semi-truck. In about 25 seconds a car already in the left lane will pass you and start to pass the semi.
Under scenarios like this, as the trailing car passes you, you SHOULD be able to change lanes into his wake. But if you do this, the DP feature slams on the brakes (which is completely unnecessary.)
Now imagine a third car 10 seconds behind the trailing car you are trying to blend in between the two car and all 3 cars pass the semi.
In this case, when DP slams on the brakes the 3rd (innocent) car is put in a difficult situation.
I, too, leave it off 90%+ of the time.
I totally agree with your comments above. I have had too many occasions where the vehicle unnecessarily hard brakes due to the distronic & cruise control. I only use the cruise went on the interstate in very light traffic I just got tired of the unnecessary hard breaking, plus it will prematurely wears out my brakes.
I have different MB but it only slams on brakes when speed difference is very large like 15-20mph.
But if I am going 75 and Semi in your example is going 70 my car slows gradually as if I let off gas to coast up behind.
Then I stay there at fixed distance until those following cars pass and hit my blinker and change lanes and speed up again.
Now if I was going 85mph and came up on same semi doing 70mph - then yup car hits brakes and does not coast.
I think issue is car does everything from same distance point no matter speed distance....
where humans we can react based on this difference..
Maybe MB has new Distronic program??
I hear 2019 and later versions are light years better then older gen cars.
I totally agree with your comments above. I have had too many occasions where the vehicle unnecessarily hard brakes due to the distronic & cruise control. I only use the cruise went on the interstate in very light traffic I just got tired of the unnecessary hard breaking, plus it will prematurely wears out my brakes.
Found this thread in a search. Agree as well.
Cruise control is worthless unless there is no traffic.
a) you look out the rear view mirror and see a car heading your way followed by a second car 10 seconds further back at same speed,
b) you observe that the car will pass you in 20 seconds,
c) you will reach a semi-truck in front of you in 25 seconds,
Any driver can manage this situation:: allow car to pass and pull out right behind him.
The way distronic handles this situation is to see the semi-truck in front of you just as other car passes and slows so you have lost you speed and if you pull out between cars you will endanger the second approaching car due to loss in speed.
Alternately, distronic does not start to slow as the truck is far enough away, but as you pull out behind first car dstronic slams on the brakes and endangers the second following car.
I turner Distronic off because of these situations. It is very annoying.
a) you look out the rear view mirror and see a car heading your way followed by a second car 10 seconds further back at same speed,
b) you observe that the car will pass you in 20 seconds,
c) you will reach a semi-truck in front of you in 25 seconds,
Any driver can manage this situation:: allow car to pass and pull out right behind him.
The way distronic handles this situation is to see the semi-truck in front of you just as other car passes and slows so you have lost you speed and if you pull out between cars you will endanger the second approaching car due to loss in speed.
Alternately, distronic does not start to slow as the truck is far enough away, but as you pull out behind first car dstronic slams on the brakes and endangers the second following car.
I turner Distronic off because of these situations. It is very annoying.
A bit of an older thread, but playing devil's advocate here. This is a fairly unique situation where it's probably best to take manual control of the car. First off, you can always override DISTRONIC using the throttle. The moment you step on the throttle, DISTRONIC suspends its operation until you let off the throttle again and then it resumes. But perhaps in a situation like this, it's best to hit cancel and take full manual control. Alternatively, DISTRONIC in conjunction with the active steering assist can change lanes automatically for passing when it's safe. All you have to do is turn on the blinker, and then the car will accelerate and complete the lane change for you. It may not do it in a situation like this, though, if there is not enough room to do it safely. Just imagine one of the cars you mention here abruptly steps on the brakes for some reason. I would argue this is a situation where the driver should be in full control, even with regular CC.
DISTRONIC, and cruise control in general for that matter, active steering assist and lane keep assist are as is in their name assistance systems that are designed to take over some of the driving functions while the driver continues to stay alert and in charge. They do not replace the driver and should really not be used when making maneuvers such as the above example. Use your judgment.
Last edited by superswiss; Aug 13, 2020 at 08:16 PM.
A bit of an older thread, but playing devil's advocate here. This is a fairly unique situation where it's probably best to take manual control of the car. First off, you can always override DISTRONIC using the throttle. The moment you step on the throttle, DISTRONIC suspends its operation until you let off the throttle again and then it resumes. But perhaps in a situation like this, it's best to hit cancel and take full manual control. Alternatively, DISTRONIC in conjunction with the active steering assist can change lanes automatically for passing when it's safe. All you have to do is turn on the blinker, and then the car will accelerate and complete the lane change for you. It may not do it in a situation like this, though, if there is not enough room to do it safely. Just imagine one of the cars you mention here abruptly steps on the brakes for some reason. I would argue this is a situation where the driver should be in full control, even with regular CC.
DISTRONIC, and cruise control in general for that matter, active steering assist and lane keep assist are as is in their name assistance systems that are designed to take over some of the driving functions while the driver continues to stay alert and in charge. They do not replace the driver and should really not be used when making maneuvers such as the above example. Use your judgment.
I was thinking exactly that while reading the thread.
As always these things are not mean to take control of the car like HAL the computer... but supplement and assist a driver to sort of EASE the work load.
Also if you think car slows too lat for truck in front then adjust distance by turning end of stalk to adjust distance car should run behind car in front.
During my morning drive most are doing 80-90mph on 4 lanes, lane changing with maybe 1-2 car lengths gap (at best).
Distronic is literally worthless unless I want to get passed and cut off by the entire world.
It would consist of- I have 6 car lengths in front of me doing 85. Everyone sees this and closes that gap, car brakes and makes another 6 car gap, gets filled over and over.
With regular cruise someone could fill the gap and I cruise along with a few car lengths ahead of me and no constant/excessive braking.
During my morning drive most are doing 80-90mph on 4 lanes, lane changing with maybe 1-2 car lengths gap (at best).
Distronic is literally worthless unless I want to get passed and cut off by the entire world.
It would consist of- I have 6 car lengths in front of me doing 85. Everyone sees this and closes that gap, car brakes and makes another 6 car gap, gets filled over and over.
With regular cruise someone could fill the gap and I cruise along with a few car lengths ahead of me and no constant/excessive braking.
I FAWKING HATE that! When you're following at a safe distance and EVERYONE assumes that is space for them to get in front of you!!
During my morning drive most are doing 80-90mph on 4 lanes, lane changing with maybe 1-2 car lengths gap (at best).
Distronic is literally worthless unless I want to get passed and cut off by the entire world.
It would consist of- I have 6 car lengths in front of me doing 85. Everyone sees this and closes that gap, car brakes and makes another 6 car gap, gets filled over and over.
With regular cruise someone could fill the gap and I cruise along with a few car lengths ahead of me and no constant/excessive braking.
Yeah, this is a whole different problem. Safe following distance is 3 seconds, that's 50 meters (~164 feet) or 10 car lengths (average car length is 4-5 meters) at 37 mph. Just think about that for a second. Most of these people, probably including yourself don't have the reaction time to come to a stop in an emergency w/o rear ending cars in front. DISTRONIC actually allows to follow closer than 3 seconds in the lowest setting, because it's much faster to react than the human driver, should the car in front suddenly slow down. I believe the following distance is 1 second in the lowest setting. Using regular cruise control w/o 3 second following distance is frankly unsafe. You won't have the reaction, especially if your right foot is not currently even at least on the throttle pedal and ready to quickly change over to the brake pedal. Most likely automatic emergency braking will kick in before you could even react, so there is that at least.
I find Distronic so annoying that I don't even use cruise in this car. Besides the above,.. where people assume you're leaving room for the entire world to pull in front of you, and the car is constantly on the brakes...
I also find that I'll be catching a car / truck in the middle lane,.. and before it's time to move left, It's gotten on the brakes. Then when I'm over enough it gets back on the gas. Like a little punishment for not moving over sooner. The Germans never heard of drafting? LOL
Then the last time I drove it there was a truck in the lane to my right,.. and suddenly it decided to brake hard at 75. I veered to the left as much as I could to try to get the radar to not see the truck, and it then let me continue.
The Distronic is rather nice on a limited access highway. But the rest of the time it's just annoying. I have to be on my toes to outsmart the car to keep from getting punished.
Perhaps we can just unplug the radar up front? We'll get a warning for sure,.. but would the cruise still function?
A bit of an older thread, but playing devil's advocate here. This is a fairly unique situation where it's probably best to take manual control of the car. First off, you can always override DISTRONIC using the throttle.
Not always, if the car begins to brake, you can slam the throttle down and nothing happens.
The moment you step on the throttle, DISTRONIC suspends its operation until you let off the throttle again and then it resumes.
Only if you hit the throttle BEFORE the car began to brake.
But perhaps in a situation like this, it's best to hit cancel and take full manual control.
Not always, if the car begins to brake, you can slam the throttle down and nothing happens.
Only if you hit the throttle BEFORE the car began to brake.
That's not my experience at all. What year is your car? In my 2019 C63S, which has the latest system I can always override it using the throttle. I do this all the time for example if it decides to slow down because another car is still partly sticking into my lane, but it's safe to pass it. ACC in my previous car, albeit an Audi, was an earlier generation system and it also always allowed the system to be overridden with the throttle. Similarly the collision warning and avoidance systems can and must be overridable with the throttle as well as by making an evasive maneuver with the steering to get out of a jam. It wouldn't be safe if they blocked the throttle, because the driver is always in charge. As far as I know they are not legally allowed to block the driver, because otherwise MB would be liable if you get into a collision because the car effectively took control and ignored your inputs. You might wanna have your system checked out, or do some more testing, but honestly what you are saying would be a real issue.
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