StephenK

A mercedes tech told me today that the 06 will be having a new feature. We were talking about vehichles being rear ended. Here is the example he gave me. If you were at a stop and a vehichle ran into the vehichle behind you which in turn was going to hit you, the benz would accelerate itself forward to avoid impact if it detected room available in front of the car.

This sounds unbelievable to me. Any comments?

JackStraw

Even if your foot was on the brake? The wonders of SBC. Sounds a little far-fetched to me.

LovinMercedes

Remind me not to walk in front of a 2006 Mercedes when it is stopped at a light.

StephenK

I made the same comment about with your foot on the brakes and he said yes. It would be neat, but I don't see it being possible.

StephenK

I know what you mean.

I didn't mean to post something so off the wall, but this guy was so serious about it.

tiggerfink

What if a car was in front of you and it was raining? I can see a lot of law suites.

Bob718

I don't think it'd make much sense because instead of getting rear-ended and not being at fault, you'd probably hit into someone in front of you or hit someone in the crosswalk and at be at fault.

StephenK

I think it is nonsense, just thought I would share this with everyone.

WIldcat465

That was my first thought. What if you stopped to avoid hitting a person? I'd prefer to see a feature that opens the trunk, pulls out a gun and shoots the person who hit you from behind.

speed

Lol

JackStraw

The city types (like myself) should, for the moment, consider that this feature was probably not conceptualized for the urban environment, but rather for the interstate. Under foggy conditions or just a traffic jam in which driver have to reduce speed quickly, this could be a useful feature. In these cirumstances no pedestrians would be involved. But consider the complexity of the feature.

Stephen K said that the merc would sense that the car behind it had been rear-ended. That means that it has "hear" it which means it has to have a microphone and a CPU that can differentiate between an impact and other transient noises. Assuming that it does, Parktronic could determine the distance between the merc and the vehicle behind. Parktronic would already be activated because the merc would be at a stop. Now it has to integrate the acoustic impact data with both the brake release and the distance of the car ahead of the merc.

I believe this is all possible with today's technology: Parktronic, Distronic and SBC and some acoustic "transient recognition" technology which dates back to the '70s (anyone remember dbx, a company that had a component that removed clicks and pops from scratched LPs?)"

But how do you implement this technology taking into consideration the urban (Times Square) environment? Seems a little Buck Rogers to me.

vraa

Wow, not only are the Mercedes cars troublesome, the mechanics are also incompetent (well, some of them).

MBZFAN55

From Autoweek last summer. Maybe the tech was confused with an upcoming safety feature on the next S-Class:


"At the forefront of the S-class’s technological offensive is a series of new safety features that form part of Mercedes’ upgraded Pre-Safe system. They include an early warning set-up that uses an upgraded Distronic cruise control system to identify objects in front of the car. When it detects a car pulling in front suddenly at motorway speeds, it automatically triggers the Pre-Safe system, tightening the seat belts, moving the seats to a pre-determined position and closing the windows. The same process is triggered when the ESP (electronic stability program) determines a total loss of traction for a prolonged period."

Battery!

Yea, this rep is confused or uninformed. The car moving while being on the brakes is like the early '80s Audi 5000 - only that was unplanned!

carlosfernandez

this info comes also in the mbusa site as part of the pre-safe systems of the new mercedes check the site and the virtual demo

northbenz

I believe your tech/sales person is a bit off in explaining what the added feature is, but there are some new safety systems being touted by Mercedes which likely are being added to the 2006 model.

carlosfernandez

I agree with you. but hate that those features will not fit the older cars even if we have to pay for the upgrades

MBZFAN55

Carlos, You are absolutely correct. In my haste to post, I inadvertantly copied the wrong paragraph from the June 21, 2004 Autoweek. The correct paragraph outlining the "new" front end safety system for the 2006 W221 is below. I still think it is possible that the Mercedes tech was referring to this item and it sure beats the vehicle deciding to accelerate or stop by itself !


"Mercedes designers also have been challenged by requirements to engineer portions of the body to extend out in case of a crash, as part of the continuing evolution of Mercedes' Pre-safe system. It is yet to be officially confirmed, though AutoWeek understands the hood of the next S-Class will be mounted on hydraulic struts and will automatically lift up in a frontal impact. The arrangement is needed to meet European pedestrian safety laws in effect in 2005."
.

carlosfernandez

Thanks for the info it's very interesting I love to see a demo of that hydraulic hood or whatever.

miroj

There is no such thing as a Mercedes option that will make the car go. Only stop. This person is playing a workshop prank on you and trying to see how far the joke circulates.