2008 Mercedes SL-Class Owner's Manual - Page 227

Controls in detail Driving systems ! Moving the gear selector lever to position N while driving cancels the Distronic. However, the gear selector lever should not be moved to position N while driving except to coast when the vehicle is in danger of skidding (e.g. on icy roads). i Depressing the accelerator pedal does not deactivate the Distronic. After brief acceleration (e.g. for passing), the Distronic will resume the last speed set. Warning! G Increasing distance Increasing the distance setting tells Distronic to maintain a greater following distance to the preceding vehicle. Turn thumbwheel 1 towards ¯. Decreasing distance Decreasing the distance setting tells Distronic to maintain a shorter following distance to the preceding vehicle. Turn thumbwheel 1 towards ®. It is up to the driver to exercise discretion to select the appropriate setting given road conditions, traffic, driver's preferred driving style and applicable laws and driving recommendations for safe following distance. Setting the following distance in Distronic You can set the specified following distance for Distronic by varying the time setting between 1.0 and 2.0 seconds. Using this time setting and the current speed of your vehicle, Distronic calculates and sets the required following distance to the preceding vehicle. The set distance will appear in the right multifunction display ( page 222). The distance setting thumbwheel for the time setting is located on the lower section of the center console. 1 Thumbwheel for setting following distance 226