drive on S or C

[ghummy]

Just had the long overdue service B on my 2005 w203 at my local mercedes independent, while he was at it i had him to the gearbox oil and filter.

just picked it up and one thing he said to me that he noticed the car was in C and i should be driving it in S.

i asked him why, his reply was that since C starts of in second gear it means 1st gear wont get lubricated as much as the others as its not being used and advised me to drive in S. According to him it doesnt make a difference in economy at all.

what do other people think?

total cost for service B including fuel filter, cabin filter and air filter along with transmission service, a tidy sum of £380 i was relieved of.

was pleasantly superised. because i paid in cash he didnt charge me any VAT, otherwise cost of £464, i know it was naughty of me to accept it, but thats alot of money saved.

update on the petrol in the car incident. 100 miles later the car still seems going strong with no sign of problems so far. fingers crossed.

 

[whitenemesis]

I never found any difference in mpg using S or C

I have never heard driving in S is preferable for autobox health. BS springs to mind...

 

[John]

I noticed no difference in C or S.

C sounded better when pulling away as it was second, but I decided a long time ago that my car was bought for S, not C, and so it's been in S ever since.

Not sure about the first not being used thing though.

 

[gIzzE]

I saw an increase of 2mpg going from C to S on my E320cdi.

 

[ghummy]

i guess its going to one those mysteries...

cant believe what a change renewing the transmission oil makes, it is just so smooth now and changes straight away rather than hanging on to gears randomly.

i know it sounds strange but after the gearbox and engine service the car sounds quiter,when idling and when driving and feels much much more unrestricted if you get what im trying to say.

 

[Rory]

I only ever drive mine in S, and I drive pretty gently. The snag with C is that if you do need to step off the line smartly it starts off in 2nd then shifts down to 1st but does it with quite a thump.

The other thing is that S will hold 4th gear until about 45mph. There's quite a long 40 stretch into town and if I remember then I nudge the car into 5th and the revs drop a bit.

I would guess that for very gentle drivers doing a lot of stop start type of use then C might produce somewhat less rear tyre wear.

 

[markjay]

I only ever drive mine in S. On my C180K, the C is too gutless even for my sedate driving style. I actually find the gear changes in S to be smoother.

Said that, according to the manual, C will start in 2nd gear only when accelerating mildly, but if you put your foot down then it will start in 1st even when in C.

 

[Paul/]

Not had much experience yet so still experimenting, but so far C feels a better match for typical urban conditions and the 320cdi torque peak. S feels sharper and makes more fuss, but on kickdown don't know if it's significantly better than C. I was wondering if anyone has seen any comparable C/S test starting and standing acceleration time and economy data. I've seen statements that C is (intentionally) less sharp on changes than S, if so, slightly less frugal as more wasted energy?

 

[whitenemesis]

On my S203 I did approx 1month commute to work in each mode and found absolutely no difference in mpg. Performance was also very similar, the only thing really noticed when using C is as Rory mentioned, the kickdown at launch and the swapping of cogs when suddenly prodded

 

[scottydee]

A bit naive, i know, but is C and S the same as W and S which I have in mine?

 

[whitenemesis]

A bit naive, i know, but is C and S the same as W and S which I have in mine?

Yes...

 

[steadyeddie]

I tend to drive in S in traffic then switch to W once I'm on open roads

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I used C for the motorway and S around town.

 

[GP801]

I use S nearly all the time. Only use C when there is snow or possibility of ice. The 200k is just too slow off the mark in C even for my relaxed driving style.

 

[markjay]

Not had much experience yet so still experimenting, but so far C feels a better match for typical urban conditions and the 320cdi torque peak. S feels sharper and makes more fuss, but on kickdown don't know if it's significantly better than C. I was wondering if anyone has seen any comparable C/S test starting and standing acceleration time and economy data. I've seen statements that C is (intentionally) less sharp on changes than S, if so, slightly less frugal as more wasted energy?

The transmission programs determine the engine speed at which the gears are changed under normal driving conditions.

However, during kick-down, the gear change is carried-out at the engine rev limiter so it makes no difference whether the car is in C or S - kick-down essentially overrides the normal C and S shift patterns and simply changes gears at the max (permitted) engine speed.

 

[Rory]

I used C for the motorway and S around town.

I suppose C might hold top gear longer if you slow down but in normal cruising they'd both be the same.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I suppose C might hold top gear longer if you slow down but in normal cruising they'd both be the same.

In 'C' in the 7G box, it changed up a lot quicker than 'S', more than the 5 speed box.

I say that I used C for the motorway, when I very likely only used it 5% of the time, thinking about it.

 

[ghummy]

well i have been driving in s since yesterday, i cant see any difference in economy at all so it may be a bit of bs on his part.

the only thing i noticed is that its just shoots of the mark in s. ive been driving in c for a year not and thought it was great, nice and smooth, but i am finding s is more confortable.

 

[whitenemesis]

Around town in the CLS I find C much less aggressive! Hopefully will save a little on tyre wear

 

[artyman]

On my 5 speed C class I'm not convinced it starts in 2nd looking at the rev counter, it does hold on to the revs longer in S before changing up, unless you feather the throttle, when it thinks, Oh we've stopped accelerating change up!