2011 Mercedes S-Class Owner's Manual - Page 72

70 Driving safety systems ! Vehicles with 4MATIC: switch off the ignition when the electric parking brake is being tested on a brake dynamometer. Application of the brakes by ESP® may otherwise destroy the brake system. i Only use wheels with the recommended tire sizes. Only then will ESP® function properly. ETS/4ETS (Electronic Traction System) G Warning Observe "Important safety notes" (Y page 66). "ESP OFF" is designed for driving on closed tracks when the vehicle's own oversteering and understeering characteristics are desired and requires an extremely qualified and experienced driver who is able to handle these critical driving situations. You could lose control of your vehicle and cause an accident. Beware of these limits if you deactivate ESP®. Do not deactivate ESP® when the emergency or spare wheel is mounted. Safety Traction control is part of ESP®. Traction control brakes the drive wheels individually if they spin. This enables you to pull away and accelerate on slippery surfaces, for example if the road surface is slippery on one side. On vehicles with 4MATIC, more drive torque is also transferred to the wheel or wheels with traction. Traction control remains active if you deactivate ESP®. ESP® is activated automatically when the engine is running. It may be best to deactivate ESP® in the following situations: Rwhen Rin using snow chains deep snow Ron sand or gravel G Warning! Activating/deactivating ESP® G Warning! The ESP should not be switched off during normal driving other than in the circumstances described below. Disabling the system will reduce vehicle stability in driving maneuvers. Do not switch off the ESP when a spare wheel is mounted. Switch on the ESP immediately if the aforementioned circumstances do not apply anymore. Otherwise the ESP will not stabilize the vehicle when it is starting to skid or a wheel is spinning. When you deactivate ESP®: RESP® no longer improves driving stability. Rthe engine's torque is no longer limited and G Warning S 63 AMG: ESP® should not be deactivated during normal driving. Deactivating the system results in the following: Rno Rloss restriction to the engine torque of system-supported traction control the drive wheels can spin. The spinning of the wheels results in a cutting action, which provides better grip. Rtraction control is still activated. RESP® still provides support when you brake. If ESP® is deactivated and one or more wheels start to spin, the ÷ warning lamp in the instrument cluster flashes. In such situations, ESP® will not stabilize the vehicle. X To deactivate: (Y page 375). The å warning lamp in the instrument cluster lights up.