"Please help".

[Henry Luxton]

Dear anyone;this is my first visit as a new member,and I was wondering if you could tell me what the ASR or ARS button does that is on the dashboard of my (just picked it up tonight,first Mercedes !!) "C-CLASS 200. 1999 Model.
I would be grateful for any help you could give as I will not be getting the owners book until the weekend.

                      Many Thanks,

                                     Henry.

 

[fuzzer]

The ASR button is automatic slip restraint , its basically traction control. When you push the button a yellow triangle should appear on your dash cluster warning you its off.

 

[steveperry]

Hi Henry,

As Fuzzer has mentioned it's for de-activating/activating the traction control system. Just an extra snippet, the big yellow triangle in the dash cluster will also flash if the traction control takes corrective action in slippery conditions.

Enjoy your new 'C' :biggrin: and welcome to the forum.

S.

 

[steveperry]

p.s. thanks Fuzzer I knew that 'ASR' was the traction control system but I always wondered what the acronym stood for... now I know.

Perhaps I should read the driver's manual more :biggrin:

S.

 

[fuzzer]

it might be Acceleration slip restraint , somthing like that

 

[Shude]

I was told it's Acceleration Slip Control.  When I cleverly pointed out that that would be ASC, I was promptly told that ASR stands for the german translation...

When you turn ASR off, it is still on, partly.  Some models have ASR and something called ESP (I think mine has, along with the C280 I think it's one of those options you get by default for safety reasons on the more powerful models).  There is kind of a mystery here as to what part each of them plays, but they're supposed to monitor the speed of each wheel, and compare the direction of travel with the amount of turn of the steering wheel.

I can recommend not turning ASR off cause it's a bit of a life saver.  I'm hopeless with the RWD thing and ASR is the training wheels for me :biggrin: .  Some kids were trying to race me in a citroen saxo and they were on my tail on a roundabout.  I pulled off onto a dual carriageway and the back of the car fishtailed out when I floored it.  ASR caught it and flicked the tail back in like a pro.  The kids backed off cause they prolly thought I was serious, or mental :biggrin: .  ASR rocks in the wet, but it sucks in the winter when your wheels spin all the time anyway, even in W mode.

 

[fuzzer]

The ESP was only avalible as an option on the V6 models for about  £850 and if you have it , its got ESP on the button instead of ASR ( except the A class which has ASR because they don't want you to turn it off in case the car topple's )

It later became standard on the later model W202 before they phased it out . Gregs C240 should have it.


When switch off the safety systems( esp , im not sure about asr)  the engine power is restrained and im sure that if you are about to kill yourself , it turns itself back on , so its never really off.

 

[Richard W]

From personal experience the ESP doesn't switch itself back on automatically.

To explain properley, I help organise on some stage rallies and whilst 'checking' a stage at a recent event I had switched the ESP off. Relative to the above comment about winter driving, if you're on a slippery surface the ESP and ABS just get confused. On a very slippery muddy corner I couldn't stop the car on the brakes with ESP switched on as everything started flashing and pulsing. Switching the ESP off mean't I could slide the car through the corner without electrical interference and whilst I don't profess to have the skill of Tiffany Needle the handling was very progressive!

Still impossible to handbrake it though! LOL

I'm working on the Scottish Rally next weekend as a Stage Safety Officer, but having experienced the size of the rocks on those stages I'm not taking the Merc in the forest!

 

[Shude]

Quote: from fuzzer on 1:38 pm on May 29, 2002
When switch off the safety systems( esp , im not sure about asr)  the engine power is restrained and im sure that if you are about to kill yourself , it turns itself back on , so its never really off.

ASR aka The Nanny is always watching  I don't find it intrusive at all and it's stopped me getting into trouble a few times now...

There are a couple of companies that can defeat the ESP/ASR function with a true kill switch.  This is quite expensive but neccessary for the track users.

Apparently on the Porsche 996 the traction control (with some other three lettered acronymn) if turned off, will turn back on again if you touch the brake pedal!

 

[Matt Crooke]

You can have a lot of fun in a 2.5 Vectra with the TC off :WINK:

 

[Matt Crooke]

Bugger, me wink didnt work, lets try again :wink:

 

[Koolvin]

I dont have either ;-)

 

[Stewart Smith]

Eeeeee- Yer right Richard - tis the scottish this weekend.  And I got tickets for the Scotland/Barbarians match this weekend so I get two visits to Scotland in a row.
Think I shall bring the banger up. Which stage you on? (Ditch hooking - there's another thing the Merc doesn't do that the zero-value Cavalier does.)  Nice to see a rally fan - been a bit lonely on here amongst all the posh fella's with their awesome custom jobs.

Oh aye - then the weekend after that I'm off to Le-mans as the sole representative of the MBOA!.

(Edited by Stewart Smith at 7:39 pm on May 29, 2002)

 

[Richard W]

Stewart,

Does this mean I'm not the only 'rally anorak' here.......?

I'm working as Safety Officer on SS1 Loch Grannoch,  with members from Trackrod MC, Craven MC, 2300 Club (and many more!) we're running SS1 and SS5. Basically different runs through the same forest we've split responsibilities to help, i.e. I'm helping clear what equipment is left in 1 while 5 is running. That's purely tactical so the bbq and p*&s up can start sooner.

I think as we're the first stage of the day I could be busy as the 'red mist' decends and the 'last of the late brakers' comes to grief.

We're staying on a camp site close to Dumfries as funds don't stretch to anything more exotic.

Maybe we should raise a motorsport thread to see how many other like minded folk are out there? The team I'm part of also help with the Tour of Mull and as Trackrod we host a BRC event in God's own rallying county (Yorkshire for those who may be unsure....).

 

[Stewart Smith]

Yup - gotta own up.  Been off the scene for a while since I got involved with the Rugby club at newcastle a few years ago, but the DT's are starting to set in because I haven't smelt Castrol R for a while - last time I was out was on the Croft Stages in January. I did some start marshallig in trackrod country a few years ago.  (And as a Hartlepool resident I'm a gods country chap too - ever since I watched Michele's uphilll drag from a standing start out of the woodyard in the S1. ) Gotta admit that the Rugby leaves little time for the muddy(er) stuff now.  Might renew my menbership of Hartlepool and DMC again tho ( I suppose I should as I am Chief Marshal ).
When's the tour of mull - that's one I really want to go to !