Thursday 5th August 2010

Driven: Merc S Class With Active Lane Assist

Crash-proof or idiot-proof? Either way it works on the track

---

Active Lane Assist demos are easy

Crash a late model Mercedes E Class and you'll have as much as a 10 per cent reduced risk of serious injury than if you were driving a competitor vehicle, we were told by an M-B safety boffin recently.

It's a stark headline, and like all statistics warrants proper scrutiny to fully understand the implications, but we offer the claim here 'untested' in case you need to out-gun someone in the pub later.

The presumably not off-the-cuff stat was revealed during a presentation on a couple of the company's latest safety measures before we got to drive the fabulous S63 AMG.

Testing Active Blind Spot Assist...

Radar-based Active Blind Spot Assist and Active Lane Keeping Assist are becoming optionally available to all S Class buyers, and are sure to filter down the food chain sooner or later. (In fact, M-B is already involved in an EU supported venture with Bosch designed to help mass produce systems suitable for all classes of car after new EU technical standards for automotive radar are implemented in 2013.)

Presumably to discourage us from jumping straight into the S63 and lunging into innocent bystanders on the Autobahn, we were offered a chance to try the system in a controlled environment before we set off on our driving route. The set-up was a bit like rugby practise, as it involved bashing harmlessly into great big crash mats - the most interesting of which was strapped to the side of a Mercedes SUV and had an M-B Cabrio painted on its flank.

...is a bit like motorised rugger practise.

The two systems are basically a natural progression from the passive M-B systems that alert you to drifting out of your lane or when something arrives in your blind spot. With Active Assist, instead of only telling you about it, the ESP takes corrective action if you fail to do so - braking the wheels on the opposite side to gently haul you back to safety.

If it sounds potentially alarming, it isn't. In either case, the pressure coming back through the wheel is finger-tip light, and any steering intervention by the driver immediately overrides the electronics.

You can also have Active Braking...

So does it work? Well, with something like a million test kilometres under the wheels of Active Assist-equipped test cars you'd hope so. In the case of Lane Keeping, the demonstration was fairly cut and dried - drift over a solid line, and you'll feel a gentle pressure on the wheel guiding you back on track.

Because the interventions are so gentle, with Active Blind Spot Assist the system wasn't always able to prevent us swapping paint with the Cabrio on the crash mat. The point in this case, though, is that any accident that proves unavoidable will involve a less forceful impact, potentially mitigating the after-effects.

...or not!

I guess whether it works in the real world, will be revealed by the next batch of statistics.

[mrben]

this is all very nice but i cant help thinking that if you need all these systems should you be driving ???

[Atrophy]

Waste of time, all i want to do is drive! Leave me alone

[Twoshoe]

^ Absolutely. It's all part of the insidious dumbing down of what is expected of a driver, designed to help us forget the fact that, when all is said and done, you're still in charge of several hundred kilos of metal.

Also, what happens when all these wonderful gizmos start to go wrong in 5 years time?

[mrben]

give me a simple caterham anyday , im a car tech i cant stand modern cars bleepin everytime i do something ! if ya that thick then dont drive !!!!!

[IanO]

I like this stuff as it is another step closer to have a car you can drive yourself, but then enjoy a couple of schooners of sherry, some dry roasted peanuts, and get the car to drive you home.

[goron59]

mrben said:

give me a simple caterham anyday , im a car tech i cant stand modern cars bleepin everytime i do something ! if ya that thick then dont drive !!!!!

Absolutely, but if I was in a Caterham, and some idiot in an S-Class decided to drive into me, I'd be glad they had active lane assist.

[PetrolAholic]

IanO said:

I like this stuff as it is another step closer to have a car you can drive yourself, but then enjoy a couple of schooners of sherry, some dry roasted peanuts, and get the car to drive you home.

Well said, and just my line of thought. No need to call a taxi, brathalyser built in to ignition. If you are over the limit, select "home" destination and off we go!

[leon9191]

goron59 said:

mrben said:

give me a simple caterham anyday , im a car tech i cant stand modern cars bleepin everytime i do something ! if ya that thick then dont drive !!!!!

Absolutely, but if I was in a Caterham, and some idiot in an S-Class decided to drive into me, I'd be glad they had active lane assist.

+1 I have no problem with cars being made safer with this sort of thing.

If it means an old guffa who hasnt looked in his mirrors since 1969 has less chance of running over me I'm all for it. Its a bit like ABS really a good driver shouldnt need it but it can be helpful.

[goron59]

PetrolAholic said:

IanO said:

I like this stuff as it is another step closer to have a car you can drive yourself, but then enjoy a couple of schooners of sherry, some dry roasted peanuts, and get the car to drive you home.

Well said, and just my line of thought. No need to call a taxi, brathalyser built in to ignition. If you are over the limit, select "home" destination and off we go!

If it detects high octane breath, it could use it as fuel and help save the planet too!

[mrben]

leon9191 said:

goron59 said:

mrben said:

give me a simple caterham anyday , im a car tech i cant stand modern cars bleepin everytime i do something ! if ya that thick then dont drive !!!!!

Absolutely, but if I was in a Caterham, and some idiot in an S-Class decided to drive into me, I'd be glad they had active lane assist.

+1 I have no problem with cars being made safer with this sort of thing.

If it means an old guffa who hasnt looked in his mirrors since 1969 has less chance of running over me I'm all for it. Its a bit like ABS really a good driver shouldnt need it but it can be helpful.

knowing my luck the old boy will prob have it turned off as he dont know how it works !!

[Benjman]

mrben said:

leon9191 said:

goron59 said:

mrben said:

give me a simple caterham anyday , im a car tech i cant stand modern cars bleepin everytime i do something ! if ya that thick then dont drive !!!!!

Absolutely, but if I was in a Caterham, and some idiot in an S-Class decided to drive into me, I'd be glad they had active lane assist.

+1 I have no problem with cars being made safer with this sort of thing.

If it means an old guffa who hasnt looked in his mirrors since 1969 has less chance of running over me I'm all for it. Its a bit like ABS really a good driver shouldnt need it but it can be helpful.

knowing my luck the old boy will prob have it turned off as he dont know how it works !!

Or maybe he's just wondering were the 'gentle pressure on the wheel' is coming from and turn in harder

Will be a little like mobile phones: Scrap when out of warranty.

But at the end it's a good thing.

[hardmouse1]

The article states “In the case of Lane Keeping, the demonstration was fairly cut and dried - drift over a solid line, and you'll feel a gentle pressure on the wheel guiding you back on track” however if you are in the middle lane, on UK motorways then where’s the solid line….....

Back to the drawing board me things……

[JumpinJack]

I can't help but think that this will just become a bit of an excuse to help people who get behind the wheel when they are;

1) drunk
2) shattered, or
3) an incapable dumbass

[DB9VolanteDriver]

The problem with any of these features occurs when they don't work (for whatever reason).

"Hello, MB? I crashed my S-class because the expensive optional equipment I purchased from you didn't work as advertised. I will be engaging a scumbag lawyer and suing your pants off...click"

[TVRWannabee]

hardmouse1 said:

The article states “In the case of Lane Keeping, the demonstration was fairly cut and dried - drift over a solid line, and you'll feel a gentle pressure on the wheel guiding you back on track” however if you are in the middle lane, on UK motorways then where’s the solid line….....

Back to the drawing board me things……

Just what I was thinking - how many solid lines do we have on our roads?

I do have a feeling of doom with all these gimmicks (which is all they are at the end of the day - designed to sell more M-B cars) as I would hate to rely on technology to keep me safe.

On one occasion I had control of my car taken away at a crucial moment by ESP. Sure, it ended happily but I felt helpless for a short period. It wasn't a good feeling.

[Nickellarse]

Put any person into a "crash" situation without electronic aids, air bags etc and I'll wager you'll come off worse without than with the technology.

Additionally, I'll bet a goodly chunk of cash that in an emergency situation ABS would out brake anyone on here who was cadence braking.

Don't get me wrong, I love driving and I do prefer to feel the car and be in control rather than not.

However, if it saves your sorry ass then you are better off with than without the technolgy.

[terryphelan]

"Put any person into a "crash" situation without electronic aids, air bags etc and I'll wager you'll come off worse without than with the technology"

There is a huge difference between airbags, crumple zones, imact bars etc and the sort of electronic gadgetry being discussed above.

Of course you will come off worse without these things.

The point people are trying to make is about the intrusion of digital driving aids that actually take over control of the vehicle rather than just protecting you in case of an accident.

I am not keen on these, if only because the electronics are not reliable or likely to last beyond the car's warranty.

On the other hand 90% of drivers do not give a second thought to their driving beyond getting from a to b so anything which reduces the chances of them crashing into the other 10% is a good thing.

[geoffracing]

First time I see a Cabrio with a fixed roof!

As for critics, we all remember the troubles with the A-class...

A driver must remain conscious, or else stay at home. What is all this nonsense allowing the cars to decide everything.
The electronics are becoming so incredibly complicated that no-one will be able to find or med the troubles...

I like my basic Cobra. This is fun!
An automatic car CANNOT be fun; perhaps everything else around it: music, the beatiful girl next to you, the scenery... but not the car!

[nightflight]

I assume that Volvo have had this system for years, and that's why Volvo drivers always sit in lane 2 or 3 on the motorway when lane 1 is empty.

[NJS25]

As has been mentioned above this all just part of the movement towards fully automated vehicles.

There will come a point in time when cars are 'capable' of driving themselves, a body of data will then be built to demonstrate the improved safety of these vehicles and you will also see insurance companies offer better deals for owners of such vehicles.

The next step will be road trains able to travel above our current speed limits in safety and take us from A to B in safety and comfort.

The most controlled area to prove these capabilities is a motorway. The systems required to cope with town and country driving would need to be much more sophisticated and will take much longer to develop and be accepted.

I have no problem with this, I enjoy driving but no-one can tell me that motorway driving fulfills the joy of motoring! I actually look forward to being able to travel to Goodwood for a breakfast club and home in the same day in comfort and without being exhausted.

If you don't want these features, don't buy the car. The simple fact is that however good a driver we think we all are, accidents continue to happen either through our own or someone else's fault. If these technologies save lives then what's the problem. How many people who use these forums drive a car with ABS, ESP or other driver aid? how many Ferrari owners turn off the traction control when they go shopping?

There are times for enjoying spirited driving and also effortless cruising, none of these technologies preclude the opportunity of both.

Regards, Neil