2019 Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class Max Safety And Driving Pleasure

Stuttgart - In January 2011, Mercedes-Benz will be launching the new SLK. The agile sports car will feature a new, exciting design, exceptionally high levels of comfort for a roadster, as well as plenty of open-air driving pleasure. At the same time, it will also set new standards for open-top sports cars in terms of safety. The best or nothing - the safety experts at Mercedes-Benz have long adopted this motto, coined by Gottlieb Daimler, as their guiding principle. Far from contenting themselves with achieving rating targets, they work intensively on attaining a level of safety which far exceeds the standards stipulated by the world’s legislators. The most important measure of their work is not the laboratory or crash test facility, but actual accident incidents. They call the results of their work Real Life Safety, a concept which is based on research into thousands of accidents. Using this irrefutable evidence, the Mercedes-Benz engineers have developed or initiated most of the assistance systems which today effectively support drivers and have been adopted by many of the company’s competitors. The new SLK also features a unique combination of driver assistance systems which help to avoid accidents.

These include the drowsiness detection system ATTENTION ASSIST, for example. Thanks to this system, the roadster develops a precise feeling for the level of attentiveness of the driver and can provide an early warning of overtiredness. Also making up part of the standard equipment specification is the ADAPTIVE BRAKE. It comprises ABS, the acceleration skid control system ASR and also active yaw control (GMR). In wet conditions it applies light brake contact, without the driver even noticing, to dry the brake discs. The ADAPTIVE BRAKE works in conjunction with the equally adaptive brake light. In emergency braking situations, it warns vehicles behind with flashing brake lights. Available as optional extras are the DISTRONIC PLUS proximity control and the PRE-SAFE Brake, already tried and tested in other Mercedes-Benz models. Both systems work in conjunction and can initiate emergency braking automatically on detecting an acute risk of an accident. In normal driving conditions, the radar-based DISTRONIC PLUS proximity control adjusts the distance to the vehicle in front automatically.

If necessary, it can apply the brakes, even bringing the SLK roadster to a stop, and accelerate it again. This takes some of the strain off the driver, particularly in bumper-to-bumper driving conditions. If the distance starts to narrow too quickly, the system gives the driver visual and audible warnings, thereby prompting the driver to take action, at which point he is also supported by the Brake Assist System PLUS (BAS PLUS). If the systems detect an acute risk of a front-end collision and the driver does not react, in addition to the visual and audible warnings the electronic system also activates the PRE-SAFE Brake. In the initial stage, partial autonomous braking is initiated. If the driver does not react to this, in the second stage the PRE-SAFE Brake increases the braking pressure and can also carry out full brake application independently. The Intelligent Light System provides five lighting functions (Cornering light function, Country mode, Motorway mode, Active Light System and Enhanced foglamps), which are activated depending on the driving conditions.

The Speed Limit Assist is able to detect speed limit signs using a camera on the inside of the windscreen and indicate the respective detected speed limit on a display in the instrument cluster. The optional PARKTRONIC incl. Parking Guidance supports the driver when parking. An additional safety highlight which will be available in the new SLK is the anticipatory occupant protection system PRE-SAFE, a system developed by Mercedes-Benz which is unique throughout the world. If the system detects an acute risk of an accident, it reflexively activates precautionary protective measures for the vehicle occupants, so that the seat belts and airbags are able to fulfil their protective function to the full during an impact. Mercedes-Benz developed PRE-SAFE on the basis of research into actual accidents, and is the only manufacturer in the world to offer such a system. This highly effective system has so far not been taken into account when producing ratings, however. In developing the new SLK, the requirements of Euro NCAP as well as all of the global consumer ratings have been taken into account.