2017 MERCEDES-BENZ SLC-Class ESP

Drivingonw et road s
Hydroplaning
If water has accumulated to acertai ndept hon
th er oads urface, there is adanger of hydro-
planin goccurring, eve nif:
Ryou drive at low speeds
Rthet ires hav eadequat etread dept h
Fo rthisr eason ,intheevent of heav yrain or in
condition sinwhichh ydroplaning may occur ,
you mus tdrive in th efollowin gmanner:
Rlowe ryour speed
Ravoid rut s
Ravoid sudden steerin gmovements
Rbrake carefully
Drivin gonflooded road s
!Do notdrive through floode dareas. Chec k
th ed ept hofa ny water befor edrivin gthrou gh
it .D rive slowly through standin gwater. Oth-
erwise ,water may ente rthe vehicle interio ror
th ee nginec om partment. Thi scan damage
th ee lectronic component sintheengin eor
th ea utomatic transmission. Water can also
be drawn in by th eengine's air suction nozzles
and this can cause engin edamage.
Winte rdrivin g
GWARNING
If you shift down on aslipper yroads urfac ein
an attempt to increase th eengine's braking
effect ,the drive wheels could los etheir grip.
There is an increase ddanger of skidding and
accidents .
Do no tshift down fo radditional engin ebrak-
in gonas lipperyroads urface.
GDANGER
If th eexhaus tpipe is blocke doradequat e
ventilation is no tpossible, poisonous gases
suc hasc arbon monoxide (CO) may ente rthe
vehicle. Thi sisthecase, e.g. if th evehicle
becomes trappe dinsnow. There is arisko f
fatal injury.
If you leav ethe engin eortheauxiliar yheatin g
running ,makes uret he exhaus tpipe and are a
around th evehicle are clear of snow. To
ensur eana dequat esupply of fresh air, ope na
window on th esideoft hevehicle that is no t
facin gintot he wind.
Hav eyour vehicle winter-proofed at aqualified
specialis tworkshop at th eonset of winter.
Drive particularly carefully on slipper yroads ur-
faces. Avoid sudden acceleration ,steerin gand
braking maneuvers .Donotuse cruise control.
If th evehicle threatens to skid or canno tbe
stopped when movin gatlow speed:
XShift th etransmissio ntoposition N.
The outsid etem perature indicator is no t
designed to serve as an ice-warnin gdevic eand
is therefore unsuitable fo rtha tp urpose.
Changes in th eoutsid etem perature are dis -
playe dafter ashort delay.
Indicated temperature sjusta bov ethe freezin g
poin tdon otguarantee that th eroads urfac eis
free of ice. The road may still be icy, especially in
wooded areas or on bridges. The vehicle could
skid if you fail to adapt your drivin gstyle. Always
adapt your drivin gstyle and drive at aspeed to
suit th eprevailin gweather conditions.
You should pay spe cia
l attention to road condi-
tion swhen temperature sare around freezin g
point.
Fo rm orei nformati on on drivin gwiths now
chains, see (
Ypage 257).
Fo rm orei nformat ion on drivin gwiths ummer
tires ,see (
Ypage 257).
Observ ethe note sint he"Winte roperation "sec-
tion (
Ypage 257).
Drivin gsystems
Cruis econtro l
General notes
Cruise contro lmaintain saconstan troa ds peed
fo ry ou. It brake sautomatically in order to avoid
exceedin gthe set speed. On lon gand steep
downhill gradients, especially if th evehicle is
laden, you mus tselec talowe rgear in goo dtim e.
By doin gso, you will mak euse of th ebraking
effect of th eengine. Thi srelieves th eload on th e
138Driving systems
Driving an dparking

brake system and prevents the brakes from
overheating and wearing too quickly.
Use cruise control only if road and traffic con-
ditionsmake it appropriate to maintain asteady
speed for aprolonged period. You can stor eany
road speed above 20 mph (30 km/h).
Important safetyn otes
If you fail to adapt your driving style, cruise con-
trol can neither reduce the risk of an accident
nor override the laws of physics. Cruise control
cannot take intoaccountt he road, traffic and
weather conditions. Cruise control is only an
aid. You are responsible for the distance to the
vehicle in front, for vehicle speed, for brakin gin
good time and for staying in lane.
Do not use cruise control:
Rin road and traffic condition swhich do not
allow you to maintain aconstan tspeed e.g. in
heavy traffic or on winding roads
Ron slippery road surfaces.B raking or accel-
eratin gcould cause the drive wheels to lose
traction and the vehicle could then skid
Rwhen ther eispoor visibility, e.g. due to fog,
heavy rain or snow
If ther eisac hangeofd rivers, advise the new
driver of the speed stored.
Cruise control lever
:Stores the currents peed orahigher speed
;Storing the currents peed or calling up the
last stored speed
=Stores the currents peed oralower speed
?Deactivatin gcruise control
When you activate cruise control, the stored
speed is shown in the multifunction display for
five seconds. The speed is then permanently
displayed in the status indicator together with
the ¯ symbol. On vehicles with
asegmentr ing in the speed-
ometer, the segments from the currently saved speed to the end of the segmentr ing light up.
Storing, maintaining and calling up a
speed
Storing and maintainingaspeed
XAcceleratet he vehicle to the desired speed.
XBriefly press the cruise control lever up :or
down ?.
XRemove your foot from the accelerator pedal.
Cruise control is activated. The vehicle auto-
matically maintains the stored speed.
You can stor ethe currents peed if you are driv-
ing faster than 20 mph (30 km/h).
iCruise control may be unable to maintain
the stored speed on uphill gradients. The
stored speed is resumed when the gradient
evens out. Cruise control maintains the
stored speed on downhill gradient sbyauto-
matically applying the brakes.
Storing or calling up aspeed
GWARNING
If you call up the stored speed and it differs
from the currents peed, the vehicle acceler-
ates or decelerates. If you do not know the
stored speed, the vehicle could accelerateo r
brake unexpectedly. There is arisk of an acci-
dent.
Pay attention to the road and traffic condi-
tion sbefore calling up the stored speed. If you
do not know the stored speed, stor ethe
desired speed again.
XBriefly pull the cruise control lever towards
you =.
XRemove your foot from the accelerator pedal.
The first time cruise control is activated, it
stores the currents peed or regulates the
speed of the vehicle to the previously stored
speed.
Driving systems139
Driving and parking
Z

Settingaspeed
GWARNING
Keep in mind that it may take abrief moment
until the vehicle has made the necessary
adjustments.
Increase or decrease the set vehicle speed to
av alue that the prevailing road conditionsa nd
legal speed limits permit. Otherwise, sudden
and unexpected acceleration or deceleration
of the vehicle could cause an accident and/or
serious injury to you and others.
XTo adjust the set speed in 1mph incre-
ments (1 km/h increments): briefly press
the cruise control lever up :to the pressure
point for ahigher speed, or down ?for a
lower speed.
Every time the cruise control lever is pressed
up or down, the last speed stored is increased
or reduced.
XTo adjust the set speed in 5mph incre-
ments (10k m/h increments): briefly press
the cruise control lever up :past the pres-
sure point for ahigher speed, or down ?for
al ower speed.
Ever ytime the cruise control lever is pressed
up or down, the last speed stored is increased
or reduced.
iThe speed indicated in the speedometer
may differ slightly from the speed stored.
iCruise control is not deactivated if you
depress the accelerator pedal. For example, if you accelerateb riefly to overtake, cruise con-
trol adjusts the vehicle's speed to the last
speed stored after you have finished overtak-
ing.
Deactivating cruise control
There are several ways to deactivate cruise con-
trol:
XBriefly press the cruise control lever for-
wards :.
or
XBrake.
Cruise control is automatically deactivated if:
Ryou engage the electric parkin gbrake
Ryou are driving at less than 20 mph (3 0km/ h)
RESP®intervenes or yo udeactivate ESP®
Ron vehicles with manua ltransmission, you
shift to agearthati stoo high, and as aresult
the engine spee distoo low
RBrake Assist intervenes
Ryous hift fromt ransmission position D
If cruis econtro lisdeactivated ,you will hear a
warning tone .You will see the Cruise con‐
troloffmessage in the multifunctio ndisplay
for approximately fiv eseconds.
iWhen yo uswitch off the engine ,the last
spee dstored is deleted.
Distance Pilo tDISTRONIC
General notes
Distance Pilo tDISTRONI Cregulate sthe speed
and automaticall yhelps youm aintain the dis-
tance to the vehicl edetecte dinf ront. The sys-
tem detects vehicles using the rada rsensor sys-
tem. Distance Pilo tDISTRONI Cbrakes automat-
icall ytoa voidexceeding the set spee dorto
maintain the designated distance fromt he vehi-
cle in front.
Chang einto alower gear in good time on long
and stee pdownhil lgradients .Thisise specially
140Driving system s
Driving an dparking

importantifthe vehicle is laden. By doing so, you
will make use of the braking effect of the engine.
This relieves the load on the brakes ystem and
prevent sthe brakes fromo verheatingand wear-
ing too quickly.
If Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC detect sthat there is
ar isk of acollision, you will be warne dvisually
and acoustically. Without your intervention, Dis-
tance Pilot DISTRONIC cannot prevent acolli-
sion.Ani ntermitten twarnin gtonew ill then
sound and the distanc ewarnin glamp will light
up in the instrumentc luster. Brakeimmediately
in order to increase the distanc efromt he vehi-
cle in front ,ortakee vasivea ction, provided it is
safe to do so.
For Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC to assist you
when driving, the radar sensor system must be
operational.
Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC operates in the range
betwee n0mph (0 km/h) and 120 mph
(200 km/h).
Do not use Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC on roads
with steep gradients.
As Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC transmits radar
waves, it can resemble the radar detectors of
the responsible authorities .You can refertot he
relevant chapter in the Operator's Manual if
questions are asked about this.
iUSA only: This deviceh as been approved by
the FCC as a"Vehicular Radar System". The
radar sensor is intended for use in an auto-
motive radar system only. Removal, tamper-
ing, or altering of the devicew ill void any war-
ranties, and is not permitted by the FCC. Do
not tamper with, alter ,oruse in any non-
approved way.
An yu nauthorized modification to this device
could void the user's authority to operatet he
equipment.
iCanada only: This devicec omplies wit h
RSS-210 of Industr yCanada. Operation is
subject to the followingt wo conditions:
1. This devicem ay not cause harmful inter-
ference, and
2. This devicem ust accept any interference
received, including interference that may
cause undesired operation of the device.
Removal, tampering, or altering of the device
will void any warranties ,and is not permitted.
Do not tamper with, alter ,oruse in any non-
approved way. An
yu nauthorized modification to this device
could void the user's authority to operatet he
equipment.
Important safety notes
GWARNING
Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC does not react to:
Rpeople or animals
Rstationar yobject sont he road, e.g. stopped
or parked vehicles
Roncomingv ehicles and crossingt raffic
As aresult,D istancePilot DISTRONIC may
neither give warnings nor intervene in such
situations .There is arisk of an accident.
Always pay careful attention to the traffic sit- uation and be ready to brake.
GWARNING
Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC cannot always
clearly identify other road users and complex
traffic situations.
In such cases ,Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC may:
Rgive an unnecessary warnin gand then
braket he vehicle
Rneither give awarnin gnor intervene
Raccelerateorb rakeunexpectedly
There is arisk of an accident.
Continue to drive carefully and be ready to
brake, especially if Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC
warns you.
GWARNING
Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC brakes your vehicle
with up to 50% of the maximum possible
deceleration. If this deceleratio nisnot suffi-
cient, Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC alertsy ou
with avisual and acoustic warning. There is a
risk of an accident.
Apply the brakes yourself in these situations
and tr ytot akee vasivea ction.
!When Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC or the
HOL Dfunction is activated, the vehicle
brakes automatically in certain situations.
Driving systems141
Driving and parking
Z

To avoid damage to the vehicle, deactivate
Distance Pilot DISTRONIC and the HOLD
function in the following or similar situations:
Rwhen towing the vehicle
Rin the car wash
If you fail to adapt your driving style, Distance
Pilot DISTRONIC can neither reduce the risk of
an accident nor override the laws of physics.
Distance Pilot DISTRONIC cannot take into
account road, weather or traffic conditions. Dis-
tanc ePilot DISTRONIC is only an aid. You are
responsible for the distance to the vehicle in
front,f or vehicle speed, for braking in good time
and for staying in your lane.
Do not use Distance Pilot DISTRONIC:
Rin road and traffic conditions which do not
allow you to maintain aconstant speed, e.g. in
heavy traffic or on winding roads
Ron slippery road surfaces. Brakingora ccel-
erating could cause the drive wheels to lose
traction and the vehicle could then skid
Rwhen there is poor visibility, e.g. due to fog,
heavy rain or snow
Distance Pilot DISTRONIC may not detect nar-
row vehicles driving in front,e .g. motorcycles, or
vehicles driving on adifferent line.
In particular, the detection of obstacles can be
impaired if:
Rthere is dirt on the sensors or anything else
coveringt he sensors
Rthere is snow or heavy rain
Rthere is interferenc ebyother radar sources
Rthere are stron gradar reflections, for exam-
ple, in parking garages
If Distance Pilot DISTRONIC no longer detect sa
vehicle in front,D istance Pilot DISTRONIC may
unexpectedly accelerate to the speed stored.
This speed may:
Rbe too high if you are driving in afilter lane or
an exit lane
Rbe so high when driving in the right-hand lane that you overtak evehicles in the left-hand
lane
Rbe so high when driving in the left-hand lane
that you overtak evehicles in the right-hand
lane
If there is achange of drivers, advise the new
driver of the speed stored.
Cruise control lever
Cruise control lever
:
Stores the current speed or ahigher speed
;Setting aspecified minimum distance
=Storing the current speed or calling up the
last stored speed
?Stores the current speed or alower speed
ASwitching off Distance Pilot DISTRONIC
Activating Distance Pilot DISTRONIC
and storing, maintaining and calling up
as peed
Important safety notes
!When Distance Pilot DISTRONIC or the
HOLD function is activated, the vehicle
brakes automatically in certain situations.
To avoid damage to the vehicle, deactivate
Distance Pilot DISTRONIC and the HOLD
function in the following or similar situations:
Rwhen towing the vehicle
Rin the car wash
To activate Distance Pilot DISTRONIC, the fol-
lowing conditions must be fulfilled:
Rthe engine must be started. It may take up to
two minutes of driving before Distance Pilot
DISTRONIC is ready for use.
Rthe electric parking brake must be released.
RESP®must be active, but not intervening.
RActive Parking Assist must not be activated.
Rthe transmission must be in position D.
Rthe driver's door must be closed when you
shift fromPto Dor your seat belt must be
fastened.
Rthe front-passenger door must be closed.
Rthe vehicle must not skid.
142Driving systems
Driving and parking

Changing lanes
If you want to change to theovertakin glane on
multi-lan eroads ,Distance Pilot DISTRONIC sup-
port syou if
Ryou are driving faster than 45 mph (70 km/h)
RDistance Pilot DISTRONIC is maintaining the
distanc etoav ehicle in front
Ryou switch on th eappropriat eturns ignal
RDistance Pilot DISTRONIC does no tcurrently
detect adanger of collision
If these conditionsa re fulfilled, your vehicle is
accelerated. Acceleration will be interrupte dif
changingl anestakes to olongorift hedistance
between your vehicle and th evehicle in front
become stoo small.
iWhen you change lanes, Distance Pilot
DISTRONIC monitors th eleft lane (on left-
hand-driv evehicles) or th erigh tlane (on right-
hand-driv evehicles).
Stopping
GWARNING
If you leave th evehicle when it is only being
braked by Distance Pilot DISTRONIC, it could
roll away if:
Rthere is amalfunctio ninthesystem or in
th ev oltage supply.
RDistance Pilot DISTRONIC is switche doff
usingt hecruise control lever, e.g .byavehi-
cle occupant or from outside th evehicle
Rthee lectrical system in th eengine com-
partment, th ebattery or th efuse sare tam-
peredw ith.
Rtheb attery is disconnected
Rthev ehicle is accelerated, e.g .byavehicle
occupant.
Thereisar isk of an accident.
Before leavingt hevehicle ,always deactivate
Distance Pilot DISTRONIC and secure the
vehicle against rolling away.
Further informatio nondeactivatin gDistance
Pilot DISTRONIC (
Ypage 146).
If Distance Pilot DISTRONIC detect sthatthe
vehicle in frontiss topping, it brakes your vehicle
until it is stationary. Once your vehicle is stationary, it remains sta-
tionar
yand you do no tneedtod epress the
brake.
iAfte ratime, th eelectric parking brake
secures th evehicle and relieves th eservice
brake.
iDependingont hespecified minimum dis-
tance, your vehicle will com etoastandstil lat
as ufficient distanc ebehindt hevehicle in
front. The specified minimum distanc eisset
usingt hecontrol on th ecruise control lever.
When Distance Pilot DISTRONIC is act ivated,
t

h et ransmission is shifte dautomatically to
position Pif:
Rthed river'ss eat belt is no tfastene dand the
driver'sd oor is open.
Rthee ngine is switched off ,unless it is auto-
matically switched off by th eECO start/stop
function.
The electric parking brak esecures th evehicle
automatically if Distance Pilot DISTRONIC is
activated when th evehicle is stationar yand:
Rasystem malfunctio noccurs.
Rthep ower supply is no tsufficient.
If am alfunctio noccurs, th etransmission may
also shifti ntop osition Pautomatically.
Settin gaspeed
Keep in mindt hatitm ay tak eabriefm oment
until th evehicle has accelerate dorbraked to
th es peeds et.
XTo adjust th eset spee din1m phincre-
ments (1 km/h increments): briefly press
th ec ruise control leveru p: to th epressure
pointf orah igher speed, or down ;for a
lower speed.
Every tim ethe cruise control leverisp ressed
up or down,t helast speeds toredisi ncreased
or reduced.
XTo adjust th eset spee din5m phincre-
ments (10k m/h increments): briefly press
the cruise control lever up :past the pres-
sure point for ahigher speed, or down ;for
al ower speed.
Ever ytime the cruise control lever is pressed
up or down, the last speed stored is increased
or reduced.
144Driving systems
Driving and parking

Display when DistancePilot DISTRONIC is
activate d
:Vehicleinfront,ifd etecte d
;Specified minimum distanc etothevehicl e
in front; adjustable
=Own vehicl e
?DistancePilotD ISTR ONIC activated
XSelec tthe Assistanc eGraphi cfunction
usin gthe on-boar dcom puter (Ypage 171).
You will initially see th estoreds peed fo rabout
fiv es econds when you activat eDistance Pilot
DISTRONIC.
Deactivating Distanc ePilot DISTRONIC
Cruis econtro llever
There are severa lways to deactivat eDistance
Pilo tDISTR ONIC:
XBriefly press th ecruise control lever for-
ward s:.
or
XBrake ,unless th evehicl eiss tationary
Whe nyou deactivat eDistance PilotDISTR ONIC,
th eDistance Pilot off
message appears in
th em ultifunction display fo rapproximately fiv e
seconds.
iThe last speed store dremain sstoredu ntil
you switch of fthe engine.
iDistanc ePilotD ISTR ONIC is no tdeactivated
if you depress th eaccelerato rpedal. If you
accelerate to overtake ,Distance Pilot
DISTRONIC adjust sthe vehicle's speed to th e
last speed store dafter you hav efinished over-
taking.
Distanc ePilotD ISTR ONIC is automatically deac -
tivated if:
Ryou engage th eelectric parkin gbrak eorift he
vehicl eisautomatically secured wit hthe elec -
tric parkin gbrak e
RESP®intervenes or you deactivat eESP®
Rthet ransmissio nisintheP,Ror Nposition
Ryou pull th ecruise control lever toward syou
in order to pull away and th efront-pa ssenger
doo riso pen
Rthev ehicl ehas skidde d
If Distanc ePilotD ISTR ONIC is deactivated auto-
matically, you will hear awarnin gtone. The
Distance Pilot off
message will appear in
th em ultifunction display fo rapproximately fiv e
seconds.
Tips for drivin gwithD istanc ePilot
DISTRONIC
General notes
The following contain sdescription sofcertain
roa dand traffic condition sinwhichyou mus tbe
particularl yattentive. In suc hsituations, brak eif
necessary. Distanc ePilotD ISTR ONIC is then
switched off.
Cornering, going int oand coming out of a
bend
146Driving systems
Driving an dparking

HOLD function
General notes
The HOLD function can assist the driverint he
following situations:
Rwhen pulling away, especially on steep slopes
Rwhen maneuvering on steep slopes
Rwhen waiting in traffic
The vehicleisk ept stationary without the driver
having to depress the brake pedal.
The braking effect is cancele dand the HOLD
function deactivated when you depress the
accelerator pedaltop ulla way.
Important safety notes
GWARNING
When leaving the vehicle, it can still roll away despite being braked by the HOLD function if:
Rthere is amalfunction in the system or in
the voltag esupply.
Rthe HOLD function has been deactivated by
pressing the accelerator pedalort he brake
pedal, e.g. by avehicl eoccupant.
Rthe electrical system in the engine com-
partment, the battery or the fuse shave
been tampere dwith.
Rthe battery is disconnected
There is arisk of an accident.
If you wis htoexit the vehicle, alway sturn off
the HOLD function and secure the vehicle
against rolling away.
!When Distance Pilot DISTRONIC or the
HOLD function is activated, the vehicle
brakes automatically in certain situations.
To avoi ddamage to the vehicle, deactivate
Distance Pilot DISTRONIC and the HOLD
function in the following or similar situations:
Rwhen towing the vehicle
Rin the car wash
Deactivating the HOLD function (
Ypag e148).
Activation conditions
You can activate the HOLD function if all of the
following conditions are fulfilled:
Rthe vehicleiss tationary.
Rthe engine is running or if it has been auto-
matically switched off by the ECO start/stop
function.
Rthe driver's door is closed or you rseat belti s
fastened.
Rthe electric parking brake is released.
Rthe transmission is in position D,R or N.
RDistance Pilot DISTRONIC is deactivated
Activating the HOLD function
XMake sure that the activation conditions are
met.
XDepress the brake pedal.
XQuickly depress the brake pedalf urther
until :appears in the multifunction display.
The HOLD function is activated. You can
release the brake pedal.
iIf depressing the brake pedalt he first time
does not activate the HOLD function, wait
briefly and then try again.
Deactivatin gthe HOLD function
The HOLD function is deactivated automatically
if:
Ryou accelerate and the transmission is in
position Dor R.
Ryou shift the transmission to position P.
Ryou apply the brakes again withacertain
amount of pressure until HOLDdisappears
from the multifunction display.
Ryou secure the vehicleu sing the electric park-
ing brake.
Ryou activate Distance Pilot DISTRONIC.
iAfter atime, the electric parking brake
secure sthe vehiclea nd relieves the service
brake.
148Driving systems
Driving and parking