No corner control for Aussie S-Class

Australia will miss out on the upgraded ability of Mercedes-Benz’s Drive Pilot system to autonomously adjust cornering speeds when it launches as part of the substantial midlife overhaul of the S-Class limousine later this year.

The system upgrade, which was first reported by motoring.com.au in June last year, relies on intelligent predictive use of detailed mapping that isn’t yet available here.

No timeline has been set for when the system will be available in Australia.

The most sophisticated Drive Pilot system currently available was launched in the latest E-Class in mid-2016 in Australia. Known locally as Driver Assistance Package Plus, it relies on radars and cameras to follow gentle curves, but not turn sharply while driving autonomously.

This is not the first time Australia has missed out on new-tech available elsewhere. For instance, Benz still cannot offer speed sign recognition in Australia.

Mercedes-Benz was extolling the Drive Pilot ‘reload’ as the next step along its path to full autonomy at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas last week.

It is part of a long list of new features the S-Class update will debut, including a new inline six-cylinder engine and upgraded mild and petrol-electric hybrid systems.

New Mercedes R&D chief Ola Kallenius, who took over from Dr Thomas Weber on January 1, said the latest Drive Pilot would exploit detailed sat-nav maps to enable the S-Class to prepare for corners sooner than using sensors.

“The map knows what is going to happen … and the sensor sees it too late,” Kallenius explained. “So tell the car using an intelligent map that it needs to slow down before you go into the corner.

“If you are putting your blinker on and want to take a right down the road, you know that is going to be a 90 degrees turn, then the car will automatically adjust the speed,” Kallenius added.

“Then you come out of the corner the car automatically accelerates again.

“To get that absolutely right we have worked very hard to ensure the car corners in a very smooth way and that it can also take … much tighter corners.”

Sensors have also been upgrade to aid this new autonomous cornering ability.

The mapping that is being put into play when the upgraded S-Class launches in Europe this summer is still not good enough for the Level 4 and 5 five fully autonomous driving Benz is working toward next decade.

“Those maps are not yet available,” confirmed Kallenius. “They are happening as we speak.”

Audi, BMW and Mercedes have invested a combined $US3.1 billion in HERE, a digital mapping service, to allow fully self-driving cars to work properly in many areas by 2025.