Start and driving
The control lamps light up together when the
ignition is s wit
ched on and shoul
d turn off af-
ter approximately 2 seconds. This is the time
taken for the function check.
Hydraulic Brake Assist (HBA) Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
The ESC helps to impr
o
ve safety. It reduces
the tendency to skid and improves the stabili-
ty and roadholding of the vehicle. The ESC
detects critical handling situations, such as
vehicle understeer or oversteer, or wheelspin
on the driving wheels. It stabilises the vehicle
by braking individual wheels or by reducing
the engine torque. The warning lamp will
flash on the instrument panel when the ESC is
intervening !.
The ESC includes the anti-lock brake system
(ABS), the hydraulic brake assist (HBA), the
traction control system (ASR), electronic dif-
ferential lock (EDS), electronic torque control
(XDS) and tractor-trailer sway mitigation*.
ESC also helps stabilise the vehicle by
changing the torque.
Anti-lock brake system (ABS)
ABS prevents the wheels from locking up un-
der braking until the vehicle has reached a
virtual standstill. You can continue to steer the
vehicle even when the brakes are on full.
Keep your foot on the brake pedal and do not pump the brakes. You will feel the brake pedal
pulsat
e whil
e the ABS is working.
Hydraulic Brake Assist (HBA)
The brake assist system can reduce the re-
quired braking distance. The braking force is
automatically boosted if you press the brake
pedal quickly in an emergency. You must
keep pressing the brake pedal until the dan-
ger has passed.
Traction control system (ASR)
In the event of wheelspin, the traction control
system reduces the engine torque to match
the amount of grip available. This helps the
car to start moving, accelerate or climb a
gradient.
Electronic differential lock (EDL)
When the EDL detects wheelspin, it brakes
the spinning wheel and directs the power to
the other driven wheel. This function is active
up to approximately 100 km/h (62 mph).
To prevent the disc brake of the braked wheel
from overheating, the EDL cuts out automati-
cally if subjected to excessive loads. The ve-
hicle can still be driven. The EDL will switch on
again automatically when the brake has
cooled down. Tractor-trailer sway mitigation*
If the vehicle is pulling a tr
ailer, it will control
the following: tractor-trailers tend to sway.
When the swaying of the trailer is felt by the
vehicle and detected by the ESC, it will auto-
matically brake the towing vehicle within the
limits of the system and mitigate the sway.
Tractor-trailer sway mitigation is not available
in all countries.
Electronic torque management (XDS)
When taking a curve, the driveshaft differen-
tial mechanism allows the outer wheel to turn
at a higher speed than the inner wheel. In this
way, the wheel that is turning faster (outer
wheel) receives less drive torque than the in-
ner wheel. This may mean that in certain sit-
uations the torque delivered to the inner
wheel is too high, causing the wheels to spin.
On the other hand, the outer wheel is receiv-
ing a lower drive torque than it could transmit.
This causes an overall loss of lateral grip on
the front axle, resulting in understeer or
“lengthening” of the trajectory.
The XDS system can detect and correct this
effect via the sensors and signals of the ESC.
Via the ESC, the XDS will brake the inside
wheel and counter the excess driving torque
of that wheel. This means that the driver
