Do you use the speedtronic limiter?

[IanMSpencer]

Speedtronic has around for years and The Other Two don't seem have followed suit with a widely available limiter.

Interested on who uses it.

 

[whitenemesis]

Occasionally use the limiter - no option for that in your poll...

 

[IanMSpencer]

Occasionally use the limiter - no option for that in your poll...

So that's a yes then Trying to keep it simple. Then we can discuss why you only use it occasionally (I'm sure a lot of people will have different views on when it is most helpful).

Bother, should read my own poll more carefully, there is a gap, let's just assume that regularly means for specific circumstances rather than having a fiddle.

 

[whitenemesis]

Usually only when going through average speed camera sections

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

Thanks for this poll. I never use speedtronic to limit speed, but frequently use the cruise control to prevent exceeding road speed limits.

Could anyone that uses speedtronic regularly, explain the advantage of it as opposed to simply using cruise control?

 

[whitenemesis]

Cruise control strives to maintain a set speed.

Speed limiter simply prevents the car (and driver) from exceeding a set speed.

On the limiter one can still drive normally at all speed below the set limit. On cruise the car travels at the set speed only, so no real use around town for example

 

[c_200k]

I use Distronic alot

 

[IanA2]

I use cc a lot, but never the limiter.

 

[C43AMG]

I use Distronic alot

Me too. Distronic on the CL and + on the S-Class

 

[Deadhead]

I've been driving for 39 years. I now use the speed limiter quite a lot. As a result I've had a clean license for the last 6 years. Never had one of those before. (Never went over 6 points total either, but for most of my driving career I've had 3 points). Of course I'm an old git now and not in quite such a hurry...

 

[IanMSpencer]

Thanks for this poll. I never use speedtronic to limit speed, but frequently use the cruise control to prevent exceeding road speed limits.

Could anyone that uses speedtronic regularly, explain the advantage of it as opposed to simply using cruise control?

CC is for when traffic is light and a constant speed is wanted, on a powerful car with good soundproofing it is especially useful as you really aren't aware of the difference between 70 and 80 say.

The limiter stops you going too fast, and in fact will help operate the car to slow it down - old speedtronic could work the gearbox to use engine braking, newer versions even apply the brakes.

I use it in two ways, in traffic, say on a motorway roadworks, you set the limiter and then you can ease off if traffic backs up. When traffic is flowing more freely, keeping foot on the accelerator makes it act as CC. In town it stops you zoning out and following the car in front to an unhealthy speed, and means also that you can watch the road and not the speedo. On speed limit changes, you can just click the limiter as with CC and get the speed,. The difference on slowing down is that the car will hold the car back down to the speed, CC would coast at the higher speed until it naturally slowed.

The big advantage in town is that it provides a prop to being pressurised by other drivers. You are less inclined to react to being pressured by speeding up, and it has to be said that holding 30mph in a 200bhp torquey turbo-diesel requires a certain amount of concentration.

You can still kick down through the limiter in the rare situations that it might seem necessary.

Basically, if you've done a speed awareness course or advanced driving you'll be more inclined to stick to limits and the limiter is a useful aid to do so.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I use the limiter a lot and believe that it has played a big part in my, now, clean licence.

Can not promise that the limit I set is always the same as the limit in force though.

Does anyone know of any downsides mechanically speaking? I'm thinking of wear on gear boxes maybe?

 

[IanMSpencer]

I use the limiter a lot and believe that it has played a big part in my, now, clean licence.

Can not promise that the limit I set is always the same as the limit in force though.

Does anyone know of any downsides mechanically speaking? I'm thinking of wear on gear boxes maybe?

Well Mercedes themselves warn against using the limiter on long descents as it uses brakes, but then that is what 99% of drivers seem to do these days. I haven't done enough descending to work out the difference between the implementation on my '99 C240 and my C220Cdi as to how much gear box it uses now as the old box was gear control only, not braked.

I'd expect both CC and the limiter aid longevity, especially as the Merc implementations gently cut off and are excellent at holding a speed with changing conditions - the CC system on my old Ford Explorer had all sorts of foibles including hunting and overshooting on resume. The electronics aren't doing anything that a driver doesn't do.

 

[martyp87]

I use the limiter a lot, unlike cruise you are still in full control of the car which is handy when in traffic but you don't need to look at the speedo as you can set it to the legal limit and know you won't go over.

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

Thanks to whitenemesis & IanMSpencer for the explanations of speedtronic.

I will give speedtronic a try.

I think the control for it is on the same stalk as cruise control, and from enabling it once before by accident, I think I had to push the stalk in until the orange light came on.

 

[IanMSpencer]

Thanks to whitenemesis & IanMSpencer for the explanations of speedtronic.

I will give speedtronic a try.

I think the control for it is on the same stalk as cruise control, and from enabling it once before by accident, I think I had to push the stalk in until the orange light came on.

Yes, SWMBO hates me setting it because after 15 years she still can't tell the difference between it and the indicator, though I have great hopes now that they have finally put the stalks in a more sensible place.

The only thing to watch is accidentally knocking it on setting of when gets set to 20mph. It gets set in 5mph units. The older models can add 1mph by a pull on the stick, newer ones have a pressure point and clicking beyond the pressure point gives 5mph increments, below that 1mph.

On older models dropping speed needs a bit of time so you either set it early or drive! Newer brake assisted speedtronic is pretty immediate without being vicious, but you might consider going down in steps whereas the older one you just set the target speed and allow the car to catch up.

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

Yes, SWMBO hates me setting it because after 15 years she still can't tell the difference between it and the indicator, though I have great hopes now that they have finally put the stalks in a more sensible place.

The only thing to watch is accidentally knocking it on setting of when gets set to 20mph. It gets set in 5mph units. The older models can add 1mph by a pull on the stick, newer ones have a pressure point and clicking beyond the pressure point gives 5mph increments, below that 1mph.

On older models dropping speed needs a bit of time so you either set it early or drive! Newer brake assisted speedtronic is pretty immediate without being vicious, but you might consider going down in steps whereas the older one you just set the target speed and allow the car to catch up.

Re SWMBO Driving must be so confusing when all stalks seem like an indicator lol.

Time for me to RTFM on speedtronic... should be good once I have learned how to control it properly... to avoid getting points. Clean licence at the mo, which I want to keep like that.

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

On a long run yesterday I briefly enabled speedtronic and verified that pressing the accelerator lightly didn't result in an increase in speed. Good stuff.

The only reservation I have with it is that the only way to accelerate out of trouble, if required, is to invoke kickdown, or disable speedtronic briefly until overtaking is complete.

That aside, I can see speedtronic being useful when traffic is dense, when cruise control is the wrong speed control tool (due to having to constantly enable and disable it), and one wishes to constrain speed to whichever limit is in force.

Have any speedtronic users been caught out by this scenario...i.e. when it is enabled and one needs a quick burst of speed to overtake? In this case, what is your favoured method of resolving the situation:

1. disable speedtronic briefly and then accelerate as normal
2. invoke kickdown
3. brake/hang back?

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

Based on the poll results so far, 39% use speedtronic, and 56% only use cruise control, it would appear perhaps that many drivers here (like myself) aren't really aware of the function/usefulness of speedtronic. Either that, or they don't like to use it.

So if you are one of those not using speedtronic, it would be interesting to know the reason why. In my case, I didn't use it because I wasn't sufficiently aware of when to use it instead of cruise control, and cruise control was a concept that was already familiar to me.

 

[camerafodder]

Usually only when going through average speed camera sections

This is exactly what I do too. So I'm an occasional user of the limiter.