MERCEDES-BENZ SL ROADSTER 2008 Owners Manual

Driving sys
tems 128 Distroni
cdoesn ot react to:
R pedestrians
R stationar yobstacle sont he road, e.g .sta-
tionar yorparked vehicles
R oncoming and crossing traffic
Distroni cmaynot detect narrow vehicles
driving in front, e.g .motorcycles, or vehi-
cle sd riving on adifferen tline. Therefore,
always pa yattentio ntotrafficconditions
eve nw henD istroni cisa ctivated. Other-
wise ,you mayfailtor ecognis edangers in
time, could caus eanaccident and injure
yourself and others.
If as lowe r-moving vehicl eisdetecte dinf ront,
Distroni ccauses your vehicl etobrake and
maintain aprese tdistance to the vehicl ein
front. G
Ris
kofa ccident
Distroni ccannot take account of roa dand
traffi cconditions .Deactivate ,ordonot
activate ,Distroni cifitd oesn ot detect the
vehicl einfront, or if it no longe rdetects it.
This is especiall ythe case:
R befor ecorners
R on filte rlan es R
when changing to alan ew ithf asterm ov-
ing traffic
R in complex driving situations or where
the lanes ar ediverted ,e.g.atr oadworks
on am otorway.
Otherwise, Distroni cmaintains the current
spee dora ccelerates up to the se tspeed.
Distroni ccannot take account of weather
conditions .Deactivate ,ordonot activate,
Distronic:
R if the roads ar eslippery, snow-covered or
icy .The wheels could lose their grip
under braking or acceleration. Th evehi-
cle could start to skid.
R if the sensors ar edirty or there is poor
visibility, e.g .due to snow, rain or fog.
Distanc econtrol ma ybeimpaired.
Alway spayattentio ntotrafficconditions
eve nw henD istroni cisa ctivated. Other-
wise ,you mayfailtor ecognis edangers in
time, could caus eanaccident and injure
yourself and others.
If there is no vehicl einfront, Distroni coper-
ate sint he same wa yascruisecontrol .Dis-
troni cfun ctions in the 30 km/h to
180 km/h range. G
Ris
kofa ccident
Distroni cbrakes your vehicl eatamaximum
of 2m /s2
,d epen ding on its speed. This
corresponds to approximately 20% of your
vehicle' smaximum braking power. You
must also appl ythe brakes yourself if this
braking powe risnot sufficient.
If Distroni cdetects ariskofc ollision with a
vehicl einfront, an intermittent warning
tone sounds. Additionally, the EDTR
warning lamp in the speedomete rlight sup
red .Brake to avoi dacollision.
Cruis econtro llever With the cruis
econtrol lever yo ucan operate
Distroni cand variable Speedtronic.
Th eL IM indicator lamp on the cruis econtrol
lever indicates which syste myouhave selec-
ted:
R LIM indicator lamp off:
Distroni ciss elect ed
R LIM indicator lamp lit:
variable Speedtroni ciss elect ed Controls
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Driving sys
tems 1291
To store the current spee dorahigher
speed
2 LIM indicator lamp
3 To select the current or last store dspeed
4 To store the current spee doralower
speed
5 To switc hbetween Distronicand variable
Speedtronic
6 Deactivatin gDistronic
Sele ctingD istronic X
Check whether LIM indicator lamp 2is off.
If it is off, Distroni cisa lready selected.
If it is not, pres sthe cruis econtro llever in
the direction of arrow 5.
LIM indicator lamp 2in the cruis econtrol
leve rgoeso ut.D istroni ciss elec ted. Switching on
Distronic,storingand
maintainin gthe current speed If Distroni
cisn ot activated after the cruise
contro llever is pressed, youw ills ee the mes-
sage DTR- --km/h in the multi-function
displa y.
Yo uc anno tactivat eDistroni cinthe following
circumstances:
R ifyo ua redrivin gslowe rtha n3 0km/ hor
faster than 180 km/h
R when braking
R when yo uhavea pplied the parking brake
R if ESP ®
is deactivated
R when the selector lever is in position P,R
or N
R for two minutes afte rthe engine is started
X Accelerate the vehicle to the desired
speed.
X Briefly press the cruise control lever up
1 or down 4.
X Remove your foot from the accelerator
pedal.
Distronic is activated .The vehicle main-
tains the store dspeed until the distance to
the vehicle in front becomes too small. i
If yo udon ot fully release the accelerator
pedal ,the DTR passive messageappears
in the multi-function display. The distance
to as lower-moving vehicle in front will then
not be preset. You will be driving at the
speed yo udetermine with the accelerator
pedal.
Setting aspeed X
Pres sthe cruise control lever up 1for a
higher speed or down 4for alower speed.
X Kee pthe cruise control lever presse duntil
the desire dspeed is reached.
X Release the cruise control lever.
The new speed is stored.
i Deceleration of the vehicle by means of
the cruise control lever is assiste dbyauto-
mati capplicatio nofthe brakes.
On long downhil lgradients, the automatic
transmission also shifts down. Controls
230_AKB; 5; 4, en-GB
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Driving sys
tems 130
Making adjustments in 10 km/
hincre-
ments X
Briefl ypress the cruis econtrol lever up
1 for ahighe rspeed or down 4for a
lowe rspeed.
Th elasts peed stored is increase dor
reduced.
Making fine adjustments in 1km/h
increments X
Fo rah ighe rs peed: brieflypullt he cruise
control lever towards you 3.
or
X Kee pthe cruis econtrol lever pulled
towards you 3unti lthe desired spee dis
reached.
Storin gthe curren tspeed or callin gup
the las tstored speed G
Ris
kofa ccident
Onl yselect astored spee difyouknow what
tha tspeed is and whether it is suitabl efor
the current situation. Otherwise, sudden
acceleratio norbraking could endanger you
or others. X
Briefl ypullt he cruis econtrol lever towards
you 3.
X Remov eyourfoo tfromt he accelerator
pedal.
Distroni cisa ctivate dand accepts the cur-
ren tspeed if it is activate dfor the first time,
or adjusts the vehicle' sspeed to the last
spee dstored.
Settin gthe specified minimu mdistance
fo rD istronic Yo
uc an setthe specified minimum distance
for Distroni cbyvaryi ng the tim espan
between one and two seconds. This tim espan
determine sthe distance tha tDistroni cshould
maintain fro mthe vehicl einfront, depending
on the roa dspeed .You canr eadt hisd istance
in the multi-functio ndisplay ( Ypage 132). Exampl
e(excep tSL63A MG)
1 To activate/deactivate the distance warn-
ing function
2 To adjus tthe se tdistance
In the SL 63 AMG the button and thumbwheel
ca nb efound on the right-hand side of the
centr econsole. Controls
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Driving sys
tems 131
Adjusting the se
tdistance
X To increase: turnthumbwheel 2towards
the ¯ symbol.
Distroni cthe nm aintains agreate rdistance
between your vehicl eand the vehicl ein
front.
X To decrease: turnthumbwheel 2towards
the ® symbol.
Distroni cthe nm aintains ashorter distance
between your vehicl eand the vehicl ein
front.
i Make sure tha tyou maintain the mini-
mu md istance to the vehicl einfront
required by law. Adjust the distance to the
vehicl einfront if necessary.
Distance warning function Even if Distroni
cisd eact ivated, thi sfun ction
warns yo uatspeedsabove 30 km/h if:
R the distance to the vehicl einfront is too
short for the spee dyou ared riving at for
several seconds. The EDTR warning
lamp in the speedomete rlight supinr ed.
R yo ua reapproaching avehicl einfront at too
great aspeed .You the nhearani ntermit-
tent warning tone ,and the EDTR warn- ing lamp in the speedomete
rlight supin
red.
Yo um usta pply the brakes yourself in order
to maintain the correc tdistance to the vehicle
and to avoi dacollision. G
Ris
kofa ccident
Be especiall yobser vant of traffi ccondi-
tions when the EDTR warning lamp in
the speedomete rlight suporani ntermit-
tent warning tone sounds.
Brake or take evasive actio nasnecessary.
i Distroni cdoesn ot always clearly recog-
nis ec omplex roa dand traffi cconditions.
Yo um aythe nreceive afalse distance warn-
ing tone or none at all.
X To activate/deactivate: press button1.
When the functio nisa ctivated, the indica-
tor lamp in button 1lights up and aloud-
speaker symbo lappears in the display.
When the functio nisd eact ivated, the indi-
cator lamp in button 1goes ou tand the
loudspeaker symbo ldisappear sfromt he
multi-functio ndisplay. Distroni
cdisplays in the speedometer 1
White/red EDTR warning lamp
2 Stored speed
i For design reasons, the spee ddisplayed
in the speedomete rmaydiffe rsligh tlyf rom
the spee dsetfor Distronic.
When Distroni cdetects avehicl eahead ,the
E DTR warning lamp in the speedometer
lights up in white. Controls
230_AKB; 5; 4, en-GB
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Driving sys
tems 132
Distroni
cmenui nt he on-board com-
puter Yo
uc an rea dthe current Distronicsettings
in the Distroni cmenu. Th ereading in the
multi-functio ndisplay depends on if Distronic
and the distance warning functio nareactiva-
ted or deactivated.
X Press the èorÿ button repeatedly
unti lone of the following two displays
appear sinthe multi-functio ndisplay.
Distroni cdeactivated
When Distroni cisd eact ivate dyou will se ethe
standard Distroni cdisplay in the multi-func-
tio nd isplay. 1
Vehicle in front, if detected
2 Distanc eindicator, displaying current dis-
tanc etot he vehicl einfront
3 Specifie dminimum distance to the vehi-
cle in front, adjustable
4 Ownvehicle 5
Symbo lfor activate ddistance warning
function
Distroni cactivated
When yo uactivate Distronic, yo uwills ee the
DTR symbo land the stored spee dinthe left-
hand multi-functio ndisplay. 1
Display for activate dDistronic
2 Stored speed Deactivating Distronic 1
Deactivating Distronic
2 LIM indicator lamp
3 To switch between Distroni cand variable
Speedtronic
There ar eseveral ways to deactivate Dis-
tronic:
X Briefl ypress the cruis econtrol lever for-
wards 1.
or
X Brake.
or Controls
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Driving sys
tems 133
X
Briefl ypress the cruis econtrol lever in the
directio nofarrow 3.
Variable Speedtroni ciss elect ed.LIM indi-
cator lamp 2in the cruis econtrol lever
lights up.
i Youw ills ee the DTR off message in the
multi-functio ndisplay for approximately
five seconds.
Th elasts peed stored is cleared when you
switch off the engine.
i Distroni cisn ot deactivate difyoudepress
the accelerator pedal. If yo uaccelerate
briefl ytoo vertake, Distroni cadjusts the
vehicle' sspeed to the last spee dstored
after yo uhavef inishe dovertaking.
Distroni cisa utomaticall ydeact ivate dif:
R yo ud epress the parking brake
R yo ua redriving at less tha n30km/h
R ESP ®
is intervening or yo udeact ivate
ESP ®
R yo um ovet he selector lever to Nwhil edriv-
ing
If Distroni cisd eact ivated, yo uwillh eara
warning tone .You will se ethe DTR off mes-sage in the multi-functio
ndisplay for approx-
imately five seconds.
Tips fo rdrivin gwithD istronic Th
efollowing contains descriptions of certain
roa dand traffi cconditions in which yo umust
be particularl yattentive. In such situations,
brake if necessary .Distroni cist hend eact i-
vated.
Cornering, goin gintoa nd comin goutof a
bend Th
ea bility of Distroni ctodetect vehicles
when cornering is limited .Yourv ehicl emay
brake unexpectedly or belatedly. Vehicle
stravellin gonad ifferentline Distroni
cmaynot detect vehicles travelling
on adifferen tline. Th edistance to the vehicle
in front will be too short.
Othe rvehicles changin glane Controls
230_AKB; 5; 4, en-GB
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Driving sys
tems 134
Distroni
chasnot ye tdetecte dthe vehicle
cutting in. Th edistance to thi svehicl ewillbe
too short.
Narro wvehicles Distroni
chasnot yetd etected the vehicl ein
front on the edge of the carriageway ,because
of its relativel ynarro ww idth .T he distance to
the vehicl einfront will be too short. Speedtronic
Speedtroni cbrake sautomatically so tha tyou
do not excee dthe se tspeed .Onl onga nd
steep downhill gradients, especially if the
vehicl eisladen ,you must select shif tran ge
1, 2or 3in good time. By doin gsoyou will
make useoft he brakin geffec toft he engine,
whic hrelieve sthe load on the brak esystem
an dp reve ntst he brakes fro moverheating
an dw earing too quickly .Ifyou nee daddi-
tiona lbraking ,depress the brak epedal
repeatedly rathe rtha nc ontin uously. G
Risk of ac
cident
Neve rdepress the brak epedal contin u-
ousl ywhile the vehicl eisinmotion, e.g.
never ca uset he brakes to ru bbyapplying
constant slight peda lpressure. This causes
the brak esystemtoo verheat, increases
the brakin gdistance an dcan lead to the
brakes failin gcompletely. G
Risk of ac
cident
Do not change down fo raddit iona lengine
brakin gonas lipperyroads urface .This
could ca uset he driv ewheel stol oset heir
grip an dthe vehicl ecould skid. Yo
uc an setav ariabl eorp ermanen tlimit
speed:
R Variable fors peed limits, e.g .inbuilt-up
areas
R Permanent forl on g-ter mspeed restric-
tions, e.g .for drivin gwithw inte rt yres
( Y page 136) G
Risk of ac
cident
Speedtroni ciso nlyana iddesigne dto
assist driving. Yo uareresponsible fo rthe
vehicle' sspeed andf or brakin gingood
time.
i Thes peed indicated in the speedometer
ma ydiffe rs ligh tlyf romt he limi tspeed
stored.
Variable Speedtronic With the cruis
econtro llever ,you ca noperate
cruis econtrol, Distronic* an dvariable
Speedtronic.
Th eL IM indicator lamp on the cruis econtrol
leve rindicat es whic hsystemy ou have selec-
ted:
R LIM indicator lamp off: Con
trols
*optional
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Driving sys
tems 135
cruis
econtrol or Distronic* is selected
R LIM indicator lamp lit:
Variable Speedtroni ciss elect ed
Yo uc an uset he cruis econtrol lever to limit
the spee dtoany spee dabove 30 km/h while
the engine is running. 1
To store the current spee dorahigher
speed
2 LIM indicator lamp
3 To store the current spee dorcallupt he
last store dspeed or to make fine adjust-
ments in 1km/ hincrements
4 To stor ethe curren tspeed or alower
speed
5 To switch between cruise control, Dis-
tronic* and variable Speedtronic
6 To deactivate variable Speedtronic Selecting variable Speedtronic X
Check whether LIM indicator lamp 2is on.
If it is on, variable Speedtronic is already
selected.
If it is not ,press the cruise contro llever in
the direction of arrow 5.
LIM indicator lamp 2in the cruise control
lever lights up. Variable Speedtronic is
selected. G
Risk of accident
If ther eisac hange of drivers ,advise the
new driver of the limit speed stored.
Only use Speedtronic when you do not have
to accelerat esuddenly to aspeed higher
than the stored limit speed allows. You
could otherwise cause an accident.
You can only exceed the limit speed stored
if you deactivate variable Speedtronic:
R using the cruise contro llever.
R by depressin gthe accelerator pedal
beyond the pressure point (kickdown).
It is not possible to deactivate variable
Speedtronic by braking. Storing the current speed You can use the cruise contro
llever to limit
the speed to any speed above 30 km/hw hile
the engine is running.
X Briefly press the cruise control lever up
1 or down 4.
The current speed is stored. You wills ee
the stored speed in the multi-function dis-
play.
Storing the current speed or calling up
the last stored speed G
Risk of accident
Only select astored speed if you know what
that speed is and whether it is suitable for
the current driving and traffic situation.
Otherwise ,sudden braking could endanger
you or others.
X Briefly pullt he cruise control lever towards
you 3. Controls
*o ptional
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Driving sys
tems 136
Making adjustments in 10 km/
hincre-
ments X
Briefl ypress the cruis econtrol lever up
1 for ahighe rspeed or down 4for a
lowe rspeed.
or
X Kee pthe cruis econtrol lever presse duntil
the desired spee disset.P ress the cruise
control lever ,up1forahighe rspeed or
down 4for alower speed.
Making fine adjustments in 1km/h
increments X
Fo rah ighe rs peed: brieflypullt he cruise
control lever towards you 3.
or
X Kee pthe cruis econtrol lever pulled
towards you 3unti lthe desired spee dis
set.
Deactivating variabl eSpeedtronic There ar
eseveral ways to deactivate variable
Speedtronic:
X Briefl ypress the cruis econtrol lever for-
wards 6.
or X
Briefl ypress the cruis econtrol lever in the
directio nofarrow 5.
LIM indicator lamp 2in the cruis econtrol
lever goes out. Variable Speedtroni cis
deactivated.
Cruise control or Distronic* is selected.
Variable Speedtroni cisd eact ivate dautomat-
icall ywheny ou depress the accelerator pedal
beyond the pressure point (kickdown) ,but
onl yify ourc urrent spee ddoesn ot diffe rby
mor ethan20k m/h fro mthe stored speed.
Yo uw illh ea raw arning tone if thi sisthe case. G
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kofa ccident
It is not possibl etodeactivate variable
Speedtroni cbybraking.
i Thelas ts peed stored is cleared when you
switch off the engine.
Permanent Speedtronic i
Permanent Speedtroni ciso nlya vailable
in certai ncountries.
Yo uc an uset he on-board computer to limit
the spee dpermanentl ytoavaluebetween
160 km/h (e.g. for driving with winter tyres)
and the maximum speed. Shortl
ybefor et he stored spee disreache dit
appear sinthe multi-functio ndisplay.
Yo uc annot exceed the stored limi tspeed,
eve nify oudepress the accelerator pedal
beyond the pressure point (kickdown).
Settin gpermanent Speedtronic
X Press the èor· button to select the
Settings menu(Ypage 116).
X Press the jbutton to call up the selec-
tio nofs ubmenus.
X Press the æorç button to select the
Vehicle submenu.
X Press the jbutton to select Speed
limit (winte rtyres) . X
Press the æorç button to select the
desired setting.
Th ef ollowing setting scan be selected:
R Off Controls
*optional
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Driving sys
tems 137
Permanent Speedtroni
cisd eact ivated.
R Al imit spee dbetween 240 km/h and
160 km/h in increments of 10 km/h
X To select adifferen tdisplay ,press the
j, èorÿ button. SBC Hold
SBC ®
Hol dassis ts the driver in the following
situations:
R when pulling away ,especially on steep
slopes
R when manoeuvring on steep slopes
R when waiting in traffic
Th ev ehicl eisk epts tationar ywithout the
driver having to depress the brake pedal.
Th eb raking effect is cancelle dand SBC Hold
deactivate dwheny ou depress the accelera-
tor peda ltopulla way.
Activation conditions Yo
uc an activate SBC Hol dif:
R the vehicl eisstationary
R the engine is running
R the driver's door is closed R
the parking brake is not applied
R the bonnet is closed
R the selector lever is in position D,Ror N
Activating SBC Hold X
Make sure tha tthe activation conditions
ar em et.
X Depres sthe brake.
X Depres sthe brake agai nquickl yu ntil
SBC H appear sinthe multi-functio ndis-
play.
SBC Hol disactivated. Yo ucan release the
brake pedal. 1
SBC Hol disactivated. G
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Th ev ehicle' sbrakes ar eapplied when SBC
Hol disa ctivated. For thi sreason, deacti-
vate SBC Hol difthe vehicl eistobes etin
motion by other means (e.g. in acarwash
or by towing).
Deactivating SBC Hold SBC Hol
disdeactivate dif:
R yo ua ccelerate when the selector lever is in
position Dor R
R yo um ovet he selector lever to position P
R yo ua pply the brakes agai nwithac ertain
amount of pressure unti lthe SBC H mes-
sage in the multi-functio ndisplay goes out G
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Never ge toutof the vehicl ewhenS BC Hold
is activated.
SBC Hol dmustn eve rbeo perated or deac-
tivate dbyapassenge rorfromo utside the
vehicle.
SBC Hol ddoesn ot replace the parking
brake and must not be used for parking.
Th eS BC Hol dbraking effect is cancelled
and the vehicl ecould rol lawa yif: Controls
230_AKB; 5; 4, en-GB
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