A newly developed parking guidance system is making its production debut in the Mercedes-Benz CL-Class this fall. The system uses radar technology to help the driver find a suitable parking space and park the vehicle. When driving past at a speed of up to 40 km/h, side-mounted radar sensors in the front and rear bumpers of the new luxury coupe measure whether the parking spaces on the driver and front passenger sides are sufficiently large for the vehicle. Once the system has found a suitable parking space on the front passenger side, a blue “P” symbol appears in the instrument cluster if the vehicle speed is below 16 km/h. Parking spaces on the driver’s side are shown if the indicator on that side is operated.
Once the driver has stopped the coupé in the position shown on the display and engaged reverse gear, the display shows a symbolic, bird’s-eye-view representation of the parking situation. Coloured guide lines show the driver how best to park: a red line indicates the current steering angle, while a yellow line shows the steering angle required for parking. The driver now turns the steering wheel until the two lines coincide, and can then begin to reverse slowly. As soon as the ideal and actual steering angles coincide, the guide lines on the display change to green. When reversing, an acoustic signal informs the driver when it is time to countersteer.
During the parking manoeuvre, the guidance system continuously monitors the steering angle and vehicle position. If the driver stops before reaching the recommended position, for example, the system automatically recalculates the ideal steering angle for smooth parking.
The new radar-based parking guidance system, which will be optionally available for the CL-Class from the end of 2006, works in tandem with the Parking Assist feature familiar from the S-Class. This system uses radar to measure the distance to obstacles in front of and behind the car, informing the driver by means of the display and an intermittent acoustic warning.
08/28, 3:54 PM
posted by:
teknomusik
Sweet
08/28, 3:55 PM
posted by:
Don
can’t trust a car
08/28, 3:55 PM
posted by:
Jon
OMFG! How hard is it to park? If you need an entire guidance system to park your car, maybe you shouldn’t be driving, especially a $100,000+ Mercedes-Benz. Plus, read the description of the whole procedure…it takes forever.
Jon.
08/28, 4:03 PM
posted by:
Jimbo - G Mill$
amen jon.
08/28, 4:06 PM
posted by:
stangmatt66
what? mercedes didn’t have the technology to have the car park itself? Toyota/Lexus figured this out years ago. The Prius (outside the US) and now the new LS460 can self park, no driver intervention needed other than your foot on the brake.
08/28, 4:14 PM
posted by:
kafkef
^^ BMW too…
08/28, 4:16 PM
posted by:
1952 MG TD
and a car driven by a driver that needs parking assist or een to have the car park itself is considered a *good* thing?
08/28, 4:23 PM
posted by:
Renton
I can think of some situations where this feature could come in very handy. On any car.
08/28, 4:25 PM
posted by:
blue-coupe
I’d just hate to have to have that thing fixed. They’ll be diagnosing that system for days.
08/28, 4:27 PM
posted by:
mbftw
For the new BMW system you need to GET OUT OF the car and place a reflective surface in front of the car so its system can work to park for you…
I like the MB system better, at least I’m parking the car myself, this thing is only helping me. I’m NOT leaving my car to do its own thing!
08/28, 4:30 PM
posted by:
Random Jerk
Let me know when someone comes up with one that replaces the valet entirely.
08/28, 4:40 PM
posted by:
Interphase
Didn’t the latest generation S class already have this fitted? It shows the trajectory of the car for a given amount of lock, which is handy when you’re driving one of these barges and you have no idea where the sloping back end is…
08/28, 4:55 PM
posted by:
gsh
yah all the asian car makers had that trajectory thing on the rear view camera screen, but it didnt actually park the car for you. i think this is good technology for all the blue hairs, afterall i think all of us have seen some old folks in their caddys and buicks ram the cars on the side of the road trying to parallel park…
08/28, 4:57 PM
posted by:
Big Nick
nothing new
08/28, 5:12 PM
posted by:
Drew
This technology has been available for years. It’s called “The driver” and pretty much every car has one. Except for rich white haired people in Malibu.
08/28, 6:31 PM
posted by:
1c3d0g
Cool, but useless to any driver with half a brain.
08/28, 6:53 PM
posted by:
mindas
lexus wins
08/28, 9:18 PM
posted by:
bltguy1985
Ill co-sign on what Whinners said
08/28, 11:18 PM
posted by:
J
Indeed, this junk is frivilous and unnecessary, but so is having 400+ hp in a car… If you want it and can afford it, feel free to waste your hard earned cash on it. (That’s not to say I don’t want a really fast car… I’m just making a point.)
08/29, 12:34 AM
posted by:
alex
The LS460 is a sexy beast. I wanna hump it in the tailpipe.
08/29, 9:47 AM
posted by:
Al Bundy
The best parking guidance system out there is “drop the cell phone and pay attention to what the HELL you are doing !”. This Mercedes system is a toy for kid’s with rich Grand Daddy’s……it’s a waste of money who those of us who can actually drive and park without a gizmo beeping in our ears.
08/29, 9:59 AM
posted by:
Carl
and make sure to read the whole 5 pages laywer message on the nav screen before releasing the brake pedal. i’ll take care of your radar measured parking space, meanwhile. with my regular parked car.
08/29, 6:26 PM
posted by:
Daniel
haha Carl. What if you hit someone while you’re parking. It’s the car’s fault?
08/29, 8:16 PM
posted by:
JSP
I prefer this system to the auto parking one. It’s the less evil of the two. At least this is just an “assist”.
08/29, 8:26 PM
posted by:
Sistema de guiado para el aparcamiento desarrollado para Mercedes-Benz — Diariomotor
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