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Mercedes-Benz garnered the automotive “Best of What's New” award this week from
Popular Science, the oldest and best-known science and technology magazine in
the United States. The all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan, which arrives in
Australia next February, is the grand award winner for cars, one of 12
categories covering 100 winners.
Mark Jannot, editor-in-chief of Popular Science, said, “Best of What's New is
the ultimate Popular Science accolade, representing a year's worth of work
evaluating thousands of products. These awards honour innovations that not only
influence the way we live today, but that also change the way we think about the
future.”
Each year, the editors of Popular Science review thousands of new products in
search of the top 100 tech innovations of the year – breakthrough products and
technologies that represent a significant leap in their categories. The winners
– the Best of What's New – are awarded inclusion in the much-anticipated
December issue of Popular Science, the most widely read issue of the year since
the debut of Best of What's New in 1987. Best of What's New awards are presented
to 100 new products and technologies in 12 categories: Auto Tech; Aviation &
Space; Cars; Computing; Engineering; Gadgets; General Innovation; Home
Entertainment; Home Tech; Personal Health; Photography and, Recreation.
The Mercedes-Benz Flagship
The successor to a long line of premium luxury vehicles, the new S-Class
sedan will arrive in Australia early in 2006 with a significantly evolved design
and a new-generation 5.5-liter V8 engine delivering 285 kW. The “S” designation
has long been used to identify top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz cars, and the
S-Class has embodied the brand's flagship role for more than five decades. The
S-Class is a technological showcase that has pioneered significant safety and
comfort features for the entire auto industry, including the first ABS anti-lock
brakes, the first ESP stability control and the first PRE-SAFE system.
New Distronic Plus Helps in Stop-and-Go Traffic
The well-known Distronic cruise control feature that maintains a pre-set
distance behind the vehicle ahead is replaced by an optional “Distronic Plus”
system. Integrated with the latest PRE-SAFE, the radar-based system operates at
all speeds between zero and 200 km/h and can be especially helpful in
stop-and-go traffic.
Brake Assist Plus Can Reduce Rear Collisions by 75 Percent
Making its debut on the new S-Class, an optional enhanced version of
Mercedes-Benz Brake Assist not only supplies full-power braking in emergency
braking situations as soon as the driver applies the brake pedal, but also
monitors the distance to the vehicle ahead and adjusts brake pressure if the
driver doesn't brake hard enough. While conventional Brake Assist is only
triggered by the driver's reflex reaction on the brake pedal, Brake Assist Plus
also considers the closing speed of the vehicle ahead based on radar signals
from Distronic Plus. In tests conducted by Mercedes researchers using 300
drivers, the new integrated system reduced rear collisions in heavy traffic by
75 percent.
Infra-Red Vision Increases Night Visibility
Another innovative technology making its debut on the new S-Class is Night
View Assist, a new option that can extend the driver's ability to see the road
ahead up to around 210 metres. An industry first, and in contrast to other
passive systems, this active system bathes the road ahead with infra-red light
from two projectors mounted in the headlight assemblies. An infra-red camera
discreetly mounted in the windshield receives the reflected images and displays
them on a high-resolution instrument cluster screen. `
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