Assisted driving notes

★★★★★

Drive Pilot is Mercedes’ latest, vaunted assisted driving suite but it wasn’t fitted to our car. The system works at up to 40mph and in theory allows the driver to almost entirely relinquish control in line with SAE level-three stipulations (that is, the driver is notified only when the system’s ‘functional limits’ are reached). It’s designed to work on motorways in heavier traffic, and with the car kept in one lane.

With Intelligent Park Pilot, the S-class can even reach SAE levelfour capability and locate a reserved parking space autonomously, although it’s difficult to say how practical this would be in the real world, given its specific and rather limiting operating requirements.

In the UK, the S-class comes as standard with the Driving Assistance Package, which features the gamut of intelligent cruise control, traffic sign recognition and evasive emergency steering and braking.

AUTONOMOUS EMERGENCY BRAKING

 Does the system seem prone to ‘false positive’ activation? ✗

 Can its sensitivity be adjusted? ✓  Can it be deactivated? ✓  Does the system keep the driver engaged when activated? ✓

 Can you easily avoid a pothole without deactivating it? ✓

 Does it progressively warn, then intervene, to prevent you changing lanes into the path of an overtaking vehicle? ✓  Does it work equally well on single-track roads as motorways? ✓

 Once deactivated, does it stay off even after restart? ✓

INTELLIGENT CRUISE CONTROL

 Can the system recognise and automatically adopt speed limits on posts and gantries? ✓

 Does it work consistently well? ✗

 Does it prevent undertaking? ✓