SL-Class (R231) 2013 on: Discussion on the SL550

SL/R231: Trusting Distronic Plus

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Old Jan 16, 2015 | 09:40 PM
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pharmscott's Avatar
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From: Sacramento, CA
2015 SL550
Trusting Distronic Plus

Ecstatic new SL550 owner here! I have Distronic Plus and I am amazed at what it can do. My question is, how fast have you been traveling when the car in front of you is stopped completely but not yet seen by Distronic (too far away, but closing fast) and you allowed Distronic Plus to stop the car.

So far, I've been comfortable with 30-40 MPH but at 50, I chicken out and use the brakes before Distronic sees the car in front of me. What is your experience?
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Old Jan 17, 2015 | 04:45 PM
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2022 AMG SL63
I chicken out too! The seems remarkably smart about these things....but I can't trust it too much when the outcome could be disastrous.
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Old Jan 18, 2015 | 07:38 AM
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40MPH is my limit, unless there's a change in grade such that the SL isn't pointed at the stopped car.

On another note, has anyone else noticed that Distrionic Plus freaks out sometimes when it passes under highway bridges that have open girders? It puts up the red warning triangle, beeps, and very briefly brakes the car until it realizes bad data is bouncing around.
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Old Jan 18, 2015 | 10:53 AM
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if the cars in front are at a dead stop and I know that, there is no reason to play "how good are mercedes engineers". just use the brakes.
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Old Jan 18, 2015 | 11:07 AM
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My distro failed me a couple times and I had to slam on the brakes... The scenario was that i was cruising at about 50 and out the car in distro and there were no cars in front of me for a minute... When I approaches a pack of cars at a stop distro did not detect them and I slammed on the brakes

I stopped using it... Not worth it for my type of driving. Will be good for road trips though
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