econ
omical driving. Ahigher levelindicat esa
more economical driving style.Ifthe three
outer areas arecomplet elyfilled atthe same
time, thedriver hasadopted themost eco-
nomic aldriving styleforthe select edsett ings
and prevailing conditions .The ECO display
border lightsup.
The ECO display doesnotindicat ethe actual
fuel consumption .The additionally achieved
range displayed underBonus fr.start Bonus
fr.start does
not indicat eafixed consumption reduction.
In addition todriving style,theactual con-
sumption isaffect edbyother factors, such as:
R load
R tire pressure
R cold start
R choice ofroute
R active electricalconsumers
These factorsare not included inthe ECO dis-
play.
An econ omical driving stylespecially requires
driving atmoderate enginespeeds.
Ach ieving ahigher valueinthe categor ies
"Acc eleration" and"Constan t":
R observe thegearshift recommendat ions.
R drive thevehicle indrive program Cor E.
In urban trafficand stop- start traffic,drive pro-
gram Cis recom mended.
On long journ eysatacon stant speed, e.g.on
the highway, onlytheouter areafor"const ant"
will change.
The ECO display summarizes thedriving style
from thestart ofthe journ eytoits complet ion.
Therefor e,there aremore marked changes in
the outer areas atthe start ofajourn ey.On
longer journeys,there arefewer changes .For
more marked changes ,perform amanual rest
(Y page 194).
Furt herinfor mation onthe ECO display
(Y page 193). Br
aking
Impor tantsafety notes G
WARN
ING
If you shift down onaslippery roadsurface
in an attem pttoincr ease theengine' sbrak-
ing effec t,the drive wheels couldlosetheir grip.
There isan incr eased danger ofskid-
ding andacciden ts.
Do not shift down foradditional enginebrak-
ing onaslippery roadsurface.
Downhill gradients !
On
long, steep gradient s,you must reduce
the load onthe brakes. Touse engine brak-
ing, shift toalower gearingood time. This
helps youtoavoid overheat ingthe brakes
and wearing themoutexces sively.
When making useofthe engine braking
effec t,itis possible thatadrive wheel may
not turn forsome time,e.g.inthe case of
suddenly changingor slippery roadsurface
con ditions .This could cause damage tothe
drive train.This type ofdamage isnot cov-
ered bythe Mercedes- Benzwarrant y.
Change intoalower gearingood timeonlong
and steep downhill gradients.This isespecially
import antifthe vehicle isladen.
This also applies ifyou have activat edcruise
con trol orAct ive Dist ance Assist DISTRONIC.
Heavy andlight loads G
WARN
ING
If you rest your footonthe brake pedal
while driving, thebraking systemcanover-
heat. Thisincreases thestoppin gdistanc e
and caneven cause thebraking systemto
fail. There isarisk ofan acciden t.
Never usethebrake pedalasafootr est.
Never depress thebrake pedalandthe
accelerat orpedal atthe same time.
! Depress
ingthe brake pedalconstant ly
results inexces siveandpremature wearto
the brake pads.
If the brakes havebeen subject edtoaheavy
load, donot stop thevehicle immediately, but
drive onfor ashort while. Thisallows theair-
flow tocool thebrakes morequickly.
Wet roads If
you have driven foralong time inheavy rain
without braking,there maybeadelayed reac-
tion from thebrakes whenbraking forthe first Driving
tips
151Driving andparking Z
Observe
thenotes inthe "Winter operation"
section (Ypage 295). Driving
systems Cruise
control
General notes Cruise
controlmaintains aconst antroad
speed foryou. Itbrakes automaticall yin order
to avoid exceeding thesetspeed. Onlong and
steep downhill gradients, especiallyifthe vehi-
cle isladen, youmust select alower gearin
good time. Bydoing so,you willmake useof
the braking effectofthe engine. Thisrelieves
the load onthe brake system andprevents the
brakes fromoverheating andwearing too
quickly.
Use cruise controlonly ifroad andtraffic con-
ditions makeitappropria teto maintain a
steady speedforaprolonged period.Youcan
store anyroad speed above20mph
(30 km/h ).
Importa ntsafety notes If
you failtoadap tyour driving style,cruise
cont rolcan neither reducetherisk ofan acci-
dent noroverride thelaws ofphysics. Cruise
cont rolcannot takeintoaccount theroad,
traffic andweather conditions. Cruisecontrol
is only anaid. You areresponsible forthe dis-
tance tothe vehicle infront ,for vehicle speed,
for braking ingood timeandforstaying in
lane.
Do not use cruise control:
R in road andtraffic conditions whichdonot
allow youtomaintain aconst antspeed e.g.
in heavy traffic oron winding roads
R on slippe ryroad surfaces. Brakingoraccel-
erating couldcause thedrive wheels tolose
traction andthevehicle couldthenskid
R when thereispoor visibil ity,e.g. due tofog,
heavy rainorsnow
If there isachange ofdrivers, advisethenew
driver ofthe speed stored. Cruise
control lever 0043
Tostore thecurrent speedorahigher
speed
0044 Tostore thecurrent speedorcalls upthe
last stored speed
0087 Tostore thecurrent speedoralower
speed
0085 Todeactivate cruisecontrol
When youactivate cruisecontrol,the stored
speed isshown inthe multifunction displayfor
five seconds. Thespeed isthen permanently
displa yedinthe status indicator togetherwith
the 00B2 symbol.
In vehicles withasegment circleinthe speed-
ometer, thesegments betweenthecurrently
stored speedandtheend ofthe segment cir-
cle light up.
Storing, maintaining andcallin gup a
speed Storing
andmaintaining aspeed
X Accelerate thevehicle tothe desired speed.
X Briefly pressthecruise controllever up0043
or down 0085.
X Remove yourfootfrom theaccelerator
pedal .
Cruise controlisactivated. Thevehicle auto-
matically maintains thestored speed.
You canstore thecurrent speedifyou are
driving fasterthan20mph (30km/h).
i Cruise
controlmay beunable tomaintain
the stored speedonuphil lgradients. The
stored speedisresumed whenthegradient
evens out.Cruise controlmaintains the
stored speedondownhill gradients byauto-
matically applyingthe brakes. 154
Driving
systemsDriving andparking
