Mercedes-Benz S 320 CDI, Owner'S Manual

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299
Controls
Automatic transmission
Drive program C has the following charac-
teristics:
앫
Comfortable engine and suspension
tuning.
앫
The vehicle pulls away more gently in
forward and reverse gears, except
when driving at full throttle.
앫
Fuel metering flexibility is increased.
This provides the vehicle with improved
driving stability on slippery road surfac-
es, for example.
앫
The automatic transmission shifts up
sooner. This means that the vehicle
drives at lower engine speeds and the
wheels are less likely to spin.
Drive program S has the following charac-
teristics:
앫
Sporty engine and suspension tuning.
앫
The vehicle pulls away in first gear.
앫
The automatic transmission shifts up
later.
Manual drive program
!
Warm up the engine quickly. Do not make
use of the engine’s full output until its normal op-
erating temperature has been reached.
Only shift the automatic transmission to
R when
the vehicle is stationary.
Where possible, avoid allowing a drive wheel to
spin when pulling away on a slippery surface.
You can change gear using the steering
wheel gearshift buttons in manual drive
program M .
When the automatic transmission is in po-
sition D , you can shift up or down through
the gears using the steering wheel gear-
shift buttons (
컄
page 295). The gear cur-
rently selected and engaged is shown in
the speedometer display.
Activating
왘
Press program selector button
1
re-
peatedly until the letter M for manual
drive program M appears in the multi-
function display.
The automatic transmission changes to
manual drive program M . Automatic
gearshifting is deactivated.
Upshifting
왘
Press the button on the right-hand side
of the steering wheel.
The automatic transmission shifts up to
the next gear.
Downshifting
왘
Press the button on the left-hand side
of the steering wheel.
The automatic transmission shifts
down to the next gear.
Kickdown
You can also use kickdown for maximum
acceleration in manual drive program M .
왘
Depress the accelerator pedal beyond
the pressure point.
The transmission shifts to a lower gear
depending on the engine speed.
G
Risk of accident
Do not change down for additional engine
braking on a slippery road surface. This could
cause the drive wheels to lose their grip and
the vehicle could skid.