2008 MERCEDES-BENZ A-CLASS HATCHBACK Owners Manual

Driving sys
tems 126
i
In tight parking spaces, you will achieve
the best parking results by reversing as far
as possible. When doing so, also observe
the Parktronic messages.
X Stop as soon as Parktronic sounds the con-
tinuous warning tone, if not before.
Manoeuvring may be required in tight park-
ing spaces.
Vehicles with manual transmission: the mes-
sage Park Assist active Please shift
to a forward gear appears in the multi-
function display.
Vehicles with AUTOTRONIC*: the message
Park Assist active Please shift to
D appears in the multi-function display.
X Vehicles with manual transmission: When
the car is stationary, shift to first gear.
Vehicles with AUTOTRONIC*: When the car
is stationary, set the selector lever to posi-
tion R.
Active parking assist immediately steers in
the other direction.
On the multi-function display, the message:
Park Assist active Please acceler- ate and brake the vehicle yourself
appears.
i You will achieve the best parking results
by waiting for the steering procedure to
complete before moving forwards.
X Drive forwards and be ready to brake at all
times.
X Stop as soon as Parktronic sounds the con-
tinuous warning tone, if not before.
Vehicles with manual transmission: the mes-
sage Park Assist active Please shift
into reverse gear appears in the multi-
function display.
Vehicles with AUTOTRONIC*, the message
Park Assist active Please shift to
R appears in the multi-function display.
X Further gear changes* may be necessary.
As soon as the parking procedure is com-
plete, the message Parking assistance
finished Please take over appears.
Active parking assist is now deactivated.
Parktronic is still available.
X Manoeuvre if necessary.
X Always observe the warning messages dis-
played by Parktronic (Y page 121).Cancelling active parking assist You can cancel active parking assist at any
time.
X
Stop the movement of the multi-function
steering wheel or steer yourself.
Active parking assist will be cancelled at
once. The multi-function display shows the
message: Park Assist cancelled.
or
X Press the Parktronic button on the centre
console (Y page 122).
Parktronic is switched off and active park-
ing assist is immediately cancelled. The
multi-function display shows the message:
Park Assist cancelled.
Active parking assist is cancelled automati-
cally if:
R a gear is changed* too early
R parking using active parking assist is no
longer possible
R you are driving faster than 10 km/h
R a wheel spins, ESP ®
is activated or fails. In
such cases the vwarning lamp lights
up in the instrument cluster. Controls
* optional
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Driving sys
tems 127
A warning tone sounds. the multi-function
display shows the message:
Park Assist
cancelled.
When active parking assist is cancelled, you
must steer again yourself.
Trailer towing* For vehicles with a trailer coupling, the mini-
mum length for parking spaces is slightly
increased.
If you have attached a trailer to your vehicle,
you should not use active parking assist.
Once the electrical connection is established
between your vehicle and the trailer, active
parking assist is no longer available. Park-
tronic is deactivated for the rear area. ECO start/stop function*
The ECO start/stop function automatically
switches off the engine as soon as you stop
the vehicle and restarts the engine as soon as
you prepare to pull away again. Each time the
engine is started using the key, the ECO
start/stop function is activated.
Conditions for the automatic engine
switch-off The ECO start/stop function automatically
switches off the engine if all of the following
conditions are met:
R you have shifted to neutral
R the clutch pedal is not depressed
R the brake pedal is depressed
R the vehicle speed is very low
R the engine has reached its operating tem-
perature
R the indicator lamp in the ECO button is lit
green
R the bonnet is closed
R the outside temperature is within the com-
fort range R
the battery is sufficiently charged
R the brake vacuum is stable
Conditions for the automatic engine
start The ECO start/stop function automatically
switches on the engine if one of the following
conditions is met:
R
the brake pedal is released
R the clutch pedal is depressed
R the vehicle speed exceeds a certain thresh-
old
R the ECO button is pressed
R the brake vacuum has decreased
R the battery charge has dropped
R the demister function of Thermotronic *is
selected Controls
* optional
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Driving sys
tems 128
Activating/deactivating the ECO start/
stop function 1
To activate/deactivate the ECO start/
stop function
2 Indicator lamp If indicator lamp
2is off, the ECO start/stop
function is deactivated. The engine will then
not be switched off automatically when the
vehicle stops.
i The next time that the engine is started
using the key, the ECO start/stop function
is automatically reactivated. Controls
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Air conditioning
129Air conditioning
Overview of air-conditioning systems
The vehicle is equipped with one of the following air-conditioning systems: Heatmatic
16 Air-conditioning system* Thermotronic*
Heatmatic is a heating and ventilation system
without a cooling system. The air conditioning combines a heating and
ventilation system with a cooling system. The Thermotronic automatic air-conditioning
system combines an automatic heating and
ventilation system with a cooling system. You
can control the air conditioning separately for
the driver's and front-passenger sides.
16
Only in certain countries. Cont
rols
* option al
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Air conditioning
130 General notes
The air-conditioning system*/
Thermotronic* controls the temperature and
the humidity of the vehicle interior and filters
out undesirable substances from the air.
Heatmatic/the air-conditioning system*/
Thermotronic* is only operational when the
engine is running. Optimum operation is ach-
ieved only when you drive with the side win-
dows and panorama louvred sliding sun-
roof* closed. i
Ventilate the vehicle for a brief period
during warm weather, e.g. using the con-
venience opening feature (Y page 86). This
will speed up the cooling process and the
desired vehicle interior temperature will be
reached more quickly.
i The integrated filter filters out most par-
ticles of dust and completely filters out pol-
len. A clogged filter reduces the amount of
air supplied to the vehicle interior. For this
reason, you should always observe the interval for replacing the filter, which is
specified in the Service Booklet. As it
depends on environmental conditions, e.g.
heavy air pollution, the interval may be
shorter than stated in the Service Booklet. G
Risk of accident
Observe the settings recommended on the
following pages. The windows could other-
wise mist up. This may obstruct your view
of the traffic situation, thereby causing an
accident. Cont
rols
* optional
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Air conditioning
131Overview of air-conditioning system functions
Heatmatic Function
1
Sets the temperature
P
Demists the windscreen 2
Ä
Activates/deactivates air-
recirculation mode Function
3
Sets the airflow
Switches the air conditioning on/
off
P
Demists the windscreen 4
1
Switches the rear window
heating on/off Function
5
Sets the air distribution
P
Demists the windscreen Cont
rols
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Air conditioning
132
i
Notes and recommendations on optimum
air conditioning:
R Activate the air conditioning by turning
control knob 3clockwise to the desired
position (except position 0).
R Only use the "demisting" function until
the windscreen is clear again.
R Only use the "air-recirculation mode"
briefly, e.g. when there are unpleasant outside odours or when in a tunnel. Oth-
erwise, the windows could mist up due
to a lack of fresh air in air-recirculation
mode.
Air-conditioning system* Cont
rols
* optional
169_AKB; 2; 4, en-GB
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Air conditioning
133Function
1
Sets the temperature
P
Demists the windscreen 2
Ä
Activates/deactivates air-
recirculation mode 3
Sets the airflow
Switches the air conditioning on/
off
P
Demists the windscreen Function
4
1
Switches the rear window
heating on/off 5
Sets the air distribution
P
Demists the windscreen 6
œ
Switches cooling with air
dehumidification on/off i
Notes and recommendations on optimum
air conditioning:
R Activate the air conditioning by turning
control knob 3clockwise to the desired
position (except position 0).
R Set the temperature to 22 †. R
Only use the "demisting" function until
the windscreen is clear again.
R Only use the "air-recirculation mode"
briefly, e.g. when there are unpleasant
outside odours or when in a tunnel. Oth-
erwise, the windows could mist up due
to a lack of fresh air in air-recirculation
mode. Cont
rols
169_AKB; 2; 4, en-GB
wdomann,
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