With the launch of the re-engineered model later this year, the S-class sedan will once again have the most advanced self-driving technology of any Mercedes-Benz vehicle.
The S-class sedan arriving this fall ushers in a new iteration of the Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Drive suite of semiautonomous driving technologies. The automaker says it takes a major step toward autonomous driving.
The updated S class will be revealed at the Shanghai auto show later this month.
“The new S class raises Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Drive to the next level,” said Michael Hafner, head of automated driving and active safety at Mercedes. "We are approaching the goal of automated driving more purposefully and faster than many people suspect. From the autumn, the new S class will be able to support its driver considerably better than all systems which have been available to date.”
The S class was supplanted as the brand’s leader in driver assistance technology in 2016 when the redesigned E-class sedan went on sale with the most up-to-date technology at that time.
Now the S class is receiving enhanced radar and camera systems to improve assistance even more. For the first time, map and navigation data are used to calculate driving behavior, and vehicle speed can be automatically adjusted in bends and at road junctions.
With the updated S class, all driver-assistance functions will be controlled from the steering wheel. The driver also can glance at the screen or head-up display to see which functions are activated and to what situations they are responding.
In Active Distance Assist DISTRONIC, the speed preset is predictively reduced and then increased according to the route and the curves, junctions or toll booths ahead. If a destination is selected in the navigation system, the S class also responds, such as slowing down when approaching a chosen highway exit. This will enable automated driving for longer periods of time in certain circumstances, the company said.
