It will cost you an eye-watering USD $155,000!
The latest S-Class luxury line of cars from Mercedes ships with an updated version of Active Intelligent Drive (the automaker’s semi-autonomous suite) which uses data from Here maps to determine just how fast the car should take a corner. That means if you’re doing 65 miles per hour using adaptive cruise control and the upcoming bend in the road is too sharp for that speed (according to Mercedes and Here at least), the car will automatically slow down to an appropriate pace. It’s weird, helpful and an important step toward cars driving themselves safely.
During my jaunt through Northern California (on both highways and on backroads), the system slowed the S560 to a speed that I can only describe as cautious. Compared to my typical driving style, it was almost annoyingly slow. I drive a lot and well; I also drive fast. But I know quite a few people who would be happy with the pace the car automatically set for itself.
What’s impressive is how well it works on two-lane roads off the beaten path. Typically you wouldn’t think to engage adaptive cruise control in this type of environment because unless the car is tracking another vehicle, it goes as fast as you set it. Not exactly safe when you’re likely to encounter turns. But in the S560 it was smooth (albeit slow) sailing.
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