Ads (Adaptive Damping System) - Mercedes-Benz R-Class Owner's Manual

Driving systems
174
Crossing vehicles
DISTRONIC may detect vehicles that are
crossing your lane by mistake. Activating DIS-
TRONIC at, for example, a traffic light with
crossing traffic, could cause your vehicle to
pull away at the wrong time.
Rear axle level control
Rear axle level control regulates the vehicle
level at the rear axle. The benefit of this is that
the vehicle level at the rear axle is kept con-
stant regardless of the load.
Observe the notes on driving with a trailer
( Y page 184).
AIRMATIC package
General notes
AIRMATIC enables a suspension tuning set-
ting to be selected and regulates the damping
behaviour and level of your vehicle. The sys-
tem comprises two components. These are
ADS ( Y page 174) and the level control
( Y page 174).
Observe the notes on driving with a trailer
( Y page 184).

ADS (Adaptive Damping System)

ADS adapts the damping characteristics to
the current operating and driving situation.
This depends on:
your driving style
R
the road surface conditions
R
the ADS setting
R
the vehicle level setting
R
Your selection remains stored even if you
remove the key from the ignition lock.
X
Start the engine.
X
Press button : repeatedly until the
desired setting is selected.
You can choose between the following ADS
settings:
AUTO for normal driving situations; indica-
R
tor lamps ; and = are off.
SPORT for sporty driving; indicator
R
lamp ; is on.
COMF for a more comfortable ride; indica-
R
tor lamp = is on.
Level control
Important safety notes
G
WARNING
Make sure that nobody is near the wheel arch
or vehicle underside when you make a change
to the vehicle level. Otherwise, you or others
may be trapped.
G
WARNING
Always select as low a vehicle level as possi-
ble. If the vehicle level is high, the vehicle
centre of gravity shifts upwards. This increa-
ses the risk of the vehicle tipping over.