2020 MERCEDES-BENZ SL ROADSTER Owner's Manual

Selec
tingthedrive progra m X
Turn DYNAMI CSEL ECT controller 0043as
many times asnecessary untilthedesired
drive program isselected.
The symbol ofthe selected driveprogram is
shown inthe multifunct iondisplay .
In addition, thecurrent driveprogram set-
tings aredisplay edbriefly inthe multimedia
system display.
The drive program indicator onDYNAMIC
SEL ECT controller 0043lights upinred.
Additional information fordrive programs
(Y page 139). Additional
settings 0043
ECO start/ stopfunct ion(Ypage 129)
0044 ESP ®
(Y page 65)
0087 Suspension (Ypage 173)
0085 Permanent activationofmanual gearshift-
ing (Ypage 142)
When youpress buttons 0043-0085 the corre-
sponding settingis selected. TheDYNAMIC
SEL ECT controller settingis overwritten .These
settingswill also bemaintained ifyou
switch todrive program RACE,S+,Sor Cwith
the DYNAMI CSEL ECT controller.
If you switch todrive program I,all stored
characterist icswill beaccepted. Thisisalso
the case ifyou have previously pressedbut-
tons 0043-0085. Automat
ictransmission Import
antsafety notes G
WARNING
If the engine speedisabove theidling speed
and youengage transmissionposition 003A
or 0046, thevehicle couldpullaway sud-
denly. Thereisarisk ofan accident.
When engaging transmissionposition 003A
or 0046, alwaysfirmly depress thebrake
pedal anddonot simultaneously accelerate. G
WARNING
The automatic transmissionswitches toneu-
tral position Nwhen youswitch offthe
engine. Thevehicle mayrollaway .There isa
risk ofan accident.
Aft erswitching offthe engine, alwaysswitch
to parking position P.Prevent theparked
vehicle fromrolling awaybyapply ingthe
parking brake. Selec
torlever
Overview oftransmission positions All
vehicles (exceptMercedes-AMG vehi-
cles)
! If
the engine speedistoo high orthe vehi-
cle isin motion, donot shift theautomatic
transm issiondirectly from005Bto005E, from
005E to005B ordirectly to005D.
Do not open thedriver's doorwhile thevehi-
cle isin motion. Atlow speeds intransm is-
sion position 005Bor005E, otherwise parkposi-
tion 005Disengaged automatically.
The transm issioncouldbedamaged. Automat
ictransmission
135Drivingandparking Z

005D
Park position
005E Reverse gear
005C Neutral
005B Drive
The selector leveralway sreturn sto its original
position. Thecurren ttrans mission position 005D,
005E, 005Cor005B isshown inthe trans mission
position displayinthe multifunc tiondisplay.
Mercedes-AMG vehicles
! If
the engine speedistoo high orthe vehi-
cle isin motion ,do not shift theautomatic
tran smission directlyfrom005Bto005E, from
005E to005B ordirectly to005D.
Do not open thedriver's doorwhile thevehi-
cle isin motion .At low speeds intrans mis-
sion position 005Bor005E, otherwise parkposi-
tion 005Disengaged automatically.
The transmission couldbedamaged. 005D
Park position
005E Reverse gear
005C Neutral
005B Drive
The selector leveralway sreturn sto its original
position. Thecurren ttrans mission position 005D,
005E, 005Cor005B isshown inthe trans mission
position displayinthe multifunc tiondisplay. Tr
ansmission positionanddrive pro-
gram display All
vehicles (exceptMercedes-AMG vehi-
cles) 0043
Transmission position
0044 Gear
0087 Drive program
The curren ttran smission positionanddrive
program appearinthe multifunc tiondisplay.
Mercedes-AMG vehicles 0043
Transmission position
0044 Drive program
The curren ttran smission positionanddrive
program appearinthe multifunc tiondisplay.
In addition todrive program 0044being shown in
the multifunc tiondisplay, thecurren tlyselec-
ted drive program isindicated inred onthe
DYNA MICSELECT controller (Ypage 132). 136
Automa
tictransmissionDriving andparking

Engag
ingpark posi tion P All
vehi cles (excep tMer cedes -AMGvehi -
cles) X
When theveh icle isstatio nary,depr essthe
brak epedal.
X Pre ssbut ton0043.
Mer cedes -AMGvehi cles X
When theveh icle isstatio nary,depr essthe
brak epedal.
X Pre ssbut ton0043.
Engag ingpark posi tion Pau tom ati-
cally Park
position005Disauto maticall yeng aged if:
R you switchoff theeng ineusin gth eSm art-
Key and remove theSm artKey
R you switchoff theeng ineusin gth eSm art-
Key orusin gth eSt art /S topbutt onand
open thedriv er'sdoor orfron t-passe nger
door
R you open thedriv er'sdoor when theveh icle
is statio naryor when drivingataver ylow
spee dand thetrans miss ionisin posit ion005B
or 005E Un
der certain condition s,theauto matictrans -
miss ionshiftsauto maticall yto trans miss ion
posit ion005Difth eHO LD function orActiveDis -
tan ceAssist DISTRO NICisact ivat ed. Obse rve
th einf orm ationon theHO LD function
(Y page 167)and onActiveDis tan ceAssist
DI STRO NIC(Ypage 161).
Engag ingreversegear R !
On
lymov eth eauto matictrans miss ionto
005E when theveh icle isstatio nary.
X De pres sth ebrak eand keep itpres sed.
X Push theselec torleve rfor wards pastthe
fir st poin tof res istanc e.
The ECO start /stopfun ction isno tavailabl e
when revers egear iseng aged. Further infor-
mat ionontheECO start /stopfun ction
(Y page 129).
Shif tingto neut ralN G
WAR
NING
If ch ildre nare left unsuperv isedintheveh i-
cle ,th ey coul d:
R oper atetheveh icle'sequipm ent
Add ition ally, childre ncoul dset theveh icle in
mot ionif,for exam ple,they:
R rele ase thepark ingbrak e
R shif tth eauto matictrans miss ionout of
park position005D
R start theeng ine
Ther eis arisk ofan acc iden tand injury.
Nev erleave childre nor anim alsunat tende d
in theveh icle.
When leavingth eveh icle,always taketh e
Sm artKey with youand lockth eveh icle.This
also applies fortheDig ital Vehi cleKey ifth e
"Dig italVehi cleKey" function isact ivat edvia
Mer cedesme connect.
X When theveh icle isstatio nary,depr essthe
brak epedal.
X Push theselec torleve rfor wards orback to
th efir st poin tof res istanc e.
If you switchtheeng ineoffwith thetrans mis-
sion inposit ion005Eor005B, theauto matictrans -
miss ionshiftsto 005C auto maticall y. Aut
oma tictrans mission
137Drivingand parking Z

With
theSmartKey: ifyou then open thedriv-
er's door orthe front-passenge rdoor or
remove theSmartKey fromtheignitio n,the
au tomatic transmissi onshifts to005D automati-
call y.
With KEYLESS-GO :if you then open thedriv-
er's orfront-passenge rdoor, theautomatic
transmissi onshifts to005D automatical ly.
If you want theautomatic transmissi onto
remai nin neutral 005C,e.g. when havingthe
vehicl eclea ned inan automatic carwas hwith
a towing system:
X Vehic leswith KEYLESS-GO :remove the
Start/Stop buttonfromtheignitio nlock.
X Insert theSmartKey intotheignitio nlock.
X All vehi cles:swi tch the ignitio non.
X Depress thebrake pedaland keep it
depre ssed.
X Shift toneutral 005C.
X Rel ease thebrake pedal.
X Rel ease theelectric parkingbrake.
X Switch offthe ignitio nand leavethe Smart-
Key inthe ignitio nlock.
Eng agin gdrive position D X
When thevehicl eis stationa ry,depre ssthe
brake pedal.
X Push thesele ctor leverback pastthefirst
point ofresis tance. Transmissio
npositi ons 0045 Park
positi on
This prevents thevehicl efrom roll-
ing awa ywhen stoppe d.
Only shiftthetransmissi oninto
posi tion 0045 (Ypag e135) when
the vehicl eis stationa ry.The park-
ing lock shou ldnot beused asa
brake whenparking.Alwa ysapp ly
the electronic parkingbrake inadd i-
tion tothe parki nglock inorder to
secure thevehicl e.
If the SmartKey isremoved fromthe
ignitio nlock, thetransmissi onis
locked.
The automatic transmissi onshifts
to 0045 automatical ly:
R when theSmartKey isremoved
from theignitio nlock
R when theengine isswi tched off
with thetransmissi oninposi tion
0046 or003A andone ofthe
doors isopened
In the event ofamalfu nction ofthe
vehicl e'selectronics, thetransmis-
sion may lockinposi tion 0045.
Have thevehicl eelectronics
checked immediatelyat aqua lified
speci alist worksho p. 0046 Reverse
gear
Only shiftthetransmissi oninto
posi tion 0046 when thevehicl eis
stationa ry. 138
Automatic
transmissio nDrivingand parking

0044 Neut
ral
Do not shiftthe transmi ssion to
0044 while dri ving .The automa tic
tra nsmi ssion cou ldothe rwise be
da ma ged.
No powe ris tra nsmi ttedfromthe
eng inetothe drive wheels.
Re leas ing the brakepedalwi llal lo w
yo uto mov ethe vehiclefre ely, e.g .
to push itor tow it.
If ESP ®
is de acti vated orfaulty: shift
the transmi ssion topositio n0044 if
the vehicleis in da nge rof ski dding ,
e.g .on icy roads.
! Co
asting inneu tral005C may
cau sedama getothe drive train. 003A Dri
ve
The automa tictransmi ssion
cha nge sge ar automa tically. All
for wa rdgearsar eav ailabl e. Dri
ving tips
Ch ang ingge ar The
automa tictransmi ssion shifts thro ughthe
ind ividu alge arsau toma tically wh en itis in
tra nsmi ssion positio n005B. Thisau toma ticgear
shi fting behavio ris de term inedby :
R the selecte ddri ve pro gram
R the positio nof the acce lera tor pedal
R the roadspe ed
Ac celerator pedalpos ition Yo
ur sty leof dri ving influences howtheauto-
ma tic transmi ssion shifts gear:
R little thro ttle:ea rly upshi fts
R mor ethro ttle:la te upshi fts Ki
ck dow n Use
kickd ownfor maxim um accelera tion.
X Dep ressthe accelera tor pedalbe yond the
pre ssu repoint.
The automa tictransmi ssion shifts toalowe r
ge ar dependi ng on the enginespeed.
X Eas eoff the accelera tor pedalonce the
de sired speedisrea che d.
The automa tictransmi ssion shifts back up. Dri
veprog rams
Al lve hic les(e xc ept Merce des -AMG
ve hic les) Dri
veprog ramC(C omfo rt)
Driv epro gramCis cha racteri zedbythe follow-
ing :
R the vehiclepu lls aw ay mor ege ntly in
for wa rdand revers ege ars, unl ess theaccel-
era tor pedalis de pre sse dfu lly.
R low fuel cons umption resulting fromthe
au toma tictransmi ssion shifting upsoo ner.
The vehicleis dri ven inthe low eng inespee d
ra nge and thewheelsareless likel yto spin.
R the suspe nsion exh ibits comf ortable da mp-
ing setti ngs.
R the stee ring exhibits comf ortable stee ring
cha racteri stics.
R ESP ®
pro vides the optimu mcomp romise
be twe entractio nand stability. Fur ther infor-
ma tionab ou tESP ®
(Y page 66).
i Sel
ect thisdri ve pro gramfor diffi cul troa d
cond itions, e.g. snow andiceorwe troa d
su rfa ces .
Dri veprog ramS(S port)
Driv epro gramSis cha racteri zedbythe follow-
ing :
R the vehicleexh ibits spo rtydriving character-
is tics .
R the vehiclepu lls aw ay infirst gear.
R the automa tictransmi ssion shifts uplater.
The fuel cons umption possi blybe ing highe r
as ares ultof the later automa tictransmi s-
si on shiftpo ints .
R the suspe nsion exh ibits firm dampi ngset-
ting s. Au
tomati ctrans mission
139Dr ivi ng andparki ng Z

R
the steering exh ibits sporty steering cha rac-
teri stics.
R ESP ®
pro vides the optim um comp romise
be twe entractio nand stability. Fur therinf or-
ma tionab ou tESP ®
(Y page 66) .
Dri veprog ramS+(Sport Plus)
Dri vepro gramS+ ischa racteri zedbythe fol-
lo wi ng:
R the vehicleexh ibits partic ular ly sp orty driv-
ing characteri stics.
R the vehiclepu lls aw ay infirst gear.
R the automa tictransmi ssion shifts uplater.
The fuel cons umption possi blybe ing highe r
as ares ultof the later automa tictransmi s-
si on shiftpo ints .
R the susp ens ion exh ibits partic ular ly firm
da mpi ngsetting s(ve hicle swi th adap tive
da mpi ngsyste m).
R the susp ens ion exh ibits firm dampi ngset-
ting s(ve hicle swi th Activ eBod yCo ntrol ).
R the steering exh ibits sporty steering cha rac-
teri stics.
R ESP ®
emp hasizes thevehicle'sow nove r-
ste ering and understee ringcha racteri stics.
Thi sena bles amor eacti vedrivin gsty le.Thi s
dri ve pro gramreq uires incr easeddri ver
inte ractio n.Fur therinf orm ation abou tESP ®
(Y page 66).
i Onl
yse lect thi sdri ve pro gramifthe road
cond itions arego od ,e.g .the roadis dry and
the routeaheadis cle arly vis ible.
Dri veprog ramI(I ndi vidual )
In dri ve pro gramIthe followi ng pro pertie sof
the drive pro gramcan beselected :
R the drive (engi ne and transmi ssion manag e-
ment)
R the susp ens ion
R the steering
R the contro lthre sholdsof ESP ®
Info rma tionab ou tconfi gurin gdri ve pro gramI
wi th the multimed iasyste mcan befou ndin
the DigitalOp era tor' sMa nua l. Veh
icle swi th adapti vedampi ngsys tem:
driv eprog ramE(E co no my)
Dri vepro gramEis cha racter izedby the follow-
ing :
R the vehicleexh ibits comf ortable, eco nomi cal
ha ndl ing character istics .
R the vehiclepu lls aw ay mor ege ntly in
for wa rdand revers ege ars, unl essthe accel-
era tor pedalis de pre sse dfu lly.
R op tim alfuel cons umption resulting fromthe
au toma tictransmi ssion shiftin gup soo ner.
Th eveh icleis dri ven inthe low eng inespee d
ra nge and thewheelsareless likel yto spin.
R the susp ens ion exh ibits comf ortable da mp-
ing setting s.
R the steering exh ibits comf ortable ste ering
cha racter istics .
R du rin gde cel era tion,the engineisdisco n-
necte dfro mthe drive train. Theveh icleus es
kine ticene rgy and cons umesless fuel
(co asting mod e).
R ESP ®
pro vides the optim um comp romise
be twe entractio nand stability. Fur therinf or-
ma tionab ou tESP ®
(Y page 66).
Veh icle swi th Activ eBody Contro l:
CU RVE driveprog ram
The CURVE drive pro gramischa racter izedby
the followi ng:
R incr easeddri vin gcomf ortonbends .
R the vehicletil ts acti velyinto thebend. Fur-
the rinf orm ation onthe curvetilting functio n
(Y page 170 ).
R the vehicleexh ibits comf ortable, eco nomi cal
ha ndl ing character istics .
R the vehiclepu lls aw ay mor ege ntly in
for wa rdand revers ege ars, unl essthe accel-
era tor pedalis de pre sse dfu lly.
R comf ortable su sp ens ion se tting .
R the steering exh ibits comf ortable ste ering
cha racter istics .
R op tim alfuel cons umption resulting fromthe
au toma tictransmi ssion shiftin gup soo ner.
R the automa tictransmi ssion shiftin gup
soo ner. Thisres ults inthe vehiclebe ing
dri ven atlowe reng inespee ds and the
wh eelsbe ing less likel yto spin.
R du rin gde cel era tion,the engineisdisco n-
necte dfro mthe drive train. Theveh icleus es 14
0 Au
tomati ctrans missionDr ivi ng andparki ng

kine
ticene rgy and cons umesless fuel
(co asting mod e).
R ESP ®
pro vides the optimu mcomp romise
be twe entractio nand stability. Fur ther infor-
ma tionab ou tESP ®
(Y page 66).
Me rce des -AMG vehic les RAC
Edriv eprog ram
i The
RAC Edri ve pro gramma ynot beused
on norm alroa ds. RAC Emu stonl ybe acti va-
ted and used on dedicate dra ce circui ts, not
on public roa ds.
The RAC Edri ve pro gramischa racteri zedby
the followi ng:
R the vehicleexh ibits driving characteri stics
su ita ble for the racetra ck.
R allveh iclesy stem sar eset formaximu m
spo rtine ss.
R the gearshi ftreco mme ndationgives you
info rma tionfor slow lywa rmi ngup the drive
as sem bliesand foradop ting afu el-eff icient
dri ving style(Y page 142) .Yo ucan follow
the gearshi ftreco mme ndations atalltime s
and shiftge ar acco rdingl yus ing the stee ring
wh eelpa dd leshi fter s.On the basis of the
ge arshi ftreco mme ndation,using the stee r-
ing wheelpa dd leshi fter s,yo ucan optimi ze
the drive trainand engineopera ting mod eat
any time .
R ifyo uha ve selecte dage ar ma nua lly, thi s
wi llbe mainta inedunti lthe vehiclespe ed
incr eases ordecrea sesdramatica lly.
R the vehiclepu lls aw ay infirst gear.
R the automa tictransmi ssion shifts uplater.
The fuel cons umption possi blybe ing highe r
as ares ultof the later automa tictransmi s-
si on shiftpo ints .
R the suspe nsion exh ibits partic ular ly firm
da mpi ngsetti ngs.
R glid ing mod eis not availabl e.
R the ECO start/sto pfu nctio nis not availabl e.
R ESP ®
sw itch estoSPOR Tha ndl ing mod e.
The 0074 SPORTha ndl ing mod ewa rning
la mp inthe instrument cluster lights up.The
SPO RTHandli ngMode SPO
RTHandli ngModemes sage appe arsin
the multifu nctio ndispl ay.Obs ervethe
imp orta ntsafety note sfor the SPOR Tha n-
dl ing mod e(Y page 68).
R ESP ®
onl yimp rovesdriving stability to a
li mite dde gre e.The engine'storq ueisonl y res
tric ted toalimite dde gre eand thedrive
wh eelscan spin.Fur ther informa tionab ou t
ESP ®
(Y page 68) .
Dri veprog ramS+(Sport Plus)
Driv epro gramS+ ischa racteri zedbythe fol-
lo wi ng:
R the vehicleexh ibits partic ular ly spo rtydriv-
ing characteri stics.
R the vehiclepu lls aw ay infirst gear.
R the automa tictransmi ssion shifts uplater.
The fuel cons umption possi blybe ing highe r
as ares ultof the later automa tictransmi s-
si on shiftpo ints .
R the suspe nsion exh ibits partic ular ly firm
da mpi ngsetti ngs.
R glid ing mod eis not availa bl e.
R the ECO start/sto pfu nctio nis not availa bl e.
R ESP ®
pro vides the optimu mcomp romise
be twe entractio nand stability. Fur ther infor-
ma tionab ou tESP ®
(Y page 66) .
Dri veprog ramS(S port)
Driv epro gramSis cha racteri zedbythe follow-
ing :
R the vehicleexh ibits spo rtydriving character-
is tics .
R the vehiclepu lls aw ay infirst gear.
R the automa tictransmi ssion shifts uplater.
The fuel cons umption possi blybe ing highe r
as ares ultof the later automa tictransmi s-
si on shiftpo ints .
R the suspe nsion exh ibits partic ular ly firm
da mpi ngsetti ngs.
R glid ing mod eis not availa bl e.
R the ECO start/sto pfu nctio nis not availa bl e.
R ESP ®
pro vides the optimu mcomp romise
be twe entractio nand stability. Fur ther infor-
ma tionab ou tESP ®
(Y page 66).
Dri veprog ramC(C omfo rt)
Driv epro gramCis cha racteri zedbythe follow-
ing :
R the vehiclede liver scomf ortable, eco nomi cal
ha ndl ing characteri stics.
R the vehiclepu lls aw ay mor ege ntly in
forw ardand revers ege ars, unl ess theacce l-
era tor pedalis de pre sse dfu lly.
R the vehicleha simp roveddriving stability,
for exa mpl eon slip pe ry roa dsu rfa ces . Au
tomati ctrans mission
141Dr ivi ng andparki ng Z

R
optimal fuelconsumpt ionresulting fromthe
automatic transmissionshifting upsooner.
The vehicle isdriven inthe low engine speed
range andthewheels areless likely tospin.
R gliding modeisavaila ble.
R the ECO start/stop functionisavaila ble.
R ESP ®
provides theoptimum compromise
between tractionand stability. Furtherinfor-
mation aboutESP®
(Y page 66).
Drive programI(Individual)
In drive program Ithe following properties of
the drive program canbeselected:
R the drive (engine management )
R the transm issionmanagement
R ESP ®
R the suspension
Infor mation aboutconfiguring driveprogram I
with themultimedia systemcanbefound in
the Digital Operator's Manual.
i To
permanent lyselect thegears indrive
program Iusing thesteering wheelpaddle
shifters, selecttheM(manual) settingfor
the transm ission. Manua
lgearshift ing
General notes You
canchange gearyourself usingthesteer-
ing wheel paddle shifters. Thetransm ission
must beinposition 005Btodo this.
Depending onwhich steering wheelpaddle
shifter ispulled, theautomatic transmission
immediately shiftsintothenext gear down or
up, ifpermitt ed.
To use manual shifting, youhave twooptions:
R temporary setting
R permanent setting
If you activate manualgearshifting, themulti-
funct iondisplay willshow thecurrent gear
instead oftransm issionposition 005B.
If manual gearshifting isdeactivated, thegears
will beselected automatically. Temp
orarysetting X
To activat e:shift theselector leverto005B.
X Pull steering wheelpaddle shifter0043or0044.
The temporary settingisactive foracert ain
amount oftime. Under certaincondit ions,the
minimum amountoftime isexten ded,e.g.in
the case oflateral acceleration, duringoverrun
mode orwhen driving onsteep terrain.
X To deactivat e:pull steering wheelpaddle
shifter 0044and hold itin place.
or
X Use thelever toswitch thetransm ission
position.
or X All
vehicles (exceptMercedes-AMG vehi-
cles): usetheDYNAMI CSEL ECT button to
change thedrive program.
X Mercedes-AMG vehicles:usethe
DYNAMI CSEL ECT controller tochange the
drive program.
Perma nentsetting All
vehicles (exceptMercedes-AMG vehi-
cles) 142
Automa
tictransmissionDriving andparking