Some questions serious ones...?

[S350L-E240]

Guys,
When ever i drive a lot during the day, i end up seeing a lot of black powder on the wheels!

Just wondering what is that? I know it can be dust cuz it's all black so is it anything from tyres? burnt rubber?

Also what is a limited slip diffrential? can someone tell me or gimmie a link where i can understand what it does in simple language??

Also in my car i have a button that raises the car by a few mm. What is that exactly for? And another which pressed once puts me on Sports 1 mode and if pressed again on sports 2 mode now what are those for?? and why wud i need them?

I have a rear A/C in the car when it's switched on does it make a difference to the mileage ? or is it just an extention of the front a/c?

How can i find out if my car has a 5 Speed transmission or a 7G?

Also is teflon important ? does it really make a difference or just a way to slosh some money?

Whats the best way to clean the car without giivng it minor scratches??

lol too many ques but pls answer someone... i'm worried abt a few

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (S350L-E240 @ May 02 2004,18:56)]Guys,
When ever i drive a lot during the day, i end up seeing a lot of black powder on the wheels!

Just wondering what is that? I know it can be dust cuz it's all black so is it anything from tyres? burnt rubber?

Also what is a limited slip diffrential? can someone tell me or gimmie a link where i can understand what it does in simple language??

Also in my car i have a button that raises the car by a few mm. What is that exactly for? And another which pressed once puts me on Sports 1 mode and if pressed again on sports 2 mode now what are those for?? and why wud i need them?

I have a rear A/C in the car when it's switched on does it make a difference to the mileage ? or is it just an extention of the front a/c?

How can i find out if my car has a 5 Speed transmission or a 7G?

Also is teflon important ? does it really make a difference or just a way to slosh some money?

Whats the best way to clean the car without giivng it minor scratches??

lol too many ques but pls answer someone... i'm worried abt a few

The black stuff is brake pad dust - just was it off regualarly otherwise if forms a black stubborn stain o the wheels.

LSD prevents your wheels spinning unevenly on a wet road

Body height can be adjusted for rough roads and also for cruising. Sport mode is for the suspension settings, you will find sport pretty hard for Indian roads

AC is just an extension (I think)

Your car has 5 speed - 7G is only for theV8's at present

Teflon is a waste of time - use high quality polish like autoglym. Clean your car with los of water and clean cloths. keep separate cloths for the wheels. Avoid cleaning yor car too much for the first month until the paint hardens.

[Rehaan]

Black powder - as ajmat said its brakedust, you may notice that theres more on the front wheels than the rear wheels as they do more of the braking.

Limited slip diffrential - aka a LSD. A differential allows the driven wheels to turn at different rates (which is needed as when a car takes a turn the outter wheels travel further than the inner wheels). However, the way a differential is mechanically designed, if one wheel was off the ground it would just take all the power and keep spinning. Same applies if say you were driving half off the road, or on surfaces with low traction.(eg. wet road as ajmat said)

button that raises the car by a few mm - for bad roads i guess. Also as the Sclass reaches a certain roadspeed it lowers the suspension to provide better stability and aerodynamics.

Sports 1 mode and sports 2 mode well sports mode might tighten the suspension for sharper handling (at the expense of comfort - hence its a choice u make by pushing a button) and upshift at redline. What the diff is between S1 and S2 i donno..maybe RG will be able to tell you that. Probably just different levels of "sportyness"

rear AC just an extention of the front a/c? - i dont know, but its quite possible that the S has more than one compressor. And even if not, its quite likely that it steps up the running compressor when the rear ac is turned on. but thats just a guess.

Also is teflon important - from what people have said it wears off fast and its not really worth it. But ask around some more.

best way to clean the car w/o scratches? - High pressure water, but i guess thats a bit out of the question. Use the right type of cloth, make sure your car is nicely waxed and if using soap make sure its for cars (in other words doesnt have tiny particles for better abraison like detergent for clothes does!)

And most importantly READ THE MANUAL. You are sitting on(in) a technological masterpeice! You will be shocked at the incredible intelligence of the s-class and the things it does without you even knowing! After getting a glimpse of how she works you will love her even more!! believe me! READ THE MANUAL!!!!!!!

cheers
Rehaan

[Kinetik]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (S350L-E240 @ May 02 2004,18:56)]I have a rear A/C in the car when it's switched on does it make a difference to the mileage ? or is it just an extention of the front a/c?

There is a valve called the Duo valve . which opens up to the rear vent.. there is only one compressor and No, the mileage will not be affected irrespective if u keep the rear vent on or off.

[v12]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]When ever i drive a lot during the day, i end up seeing a lot of black powder on the wheels!

*It cud be dust or smoke residue [??]. If u rub your hands over plants planted on the road side u will see lotsa black dust on them. So i guess its smoke residue. It cud be brake pad dust also.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Also in my car i have a button that raises the car by a few mm

Thats if u come across some really bad roads.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]I have a rear A/C in the car when it's switched on does it make a difference to the mileage ? or is it just an extention of the front a/c?

If theres no affect on the mileage, it cud be just an extension. Does the a/c flow in the front reduce when u switch on the rear a/c??

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]How can i find out if my car has a 5 Speed transmission or a 7G?

Manual.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Also is teflon important ? does it really make a difference or just a way to slosh some money?

If your car is brand new, you dont need teflon coating. Teflon is good only if your car has lotsa minor scratches. But even machine polishing can remove them.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Whats the best way to clean the car without giivng it minor scratches??

Use a good soft cloth for the body. Do not wipe the car with a dry cloth. Always use a damp cloth. Dont use detergents. Use car shampoo. And a good polish.

[Kinetik]

hey forgot to add .. the AC compressor in s class always remains on, irrespective if u have switched it on through the panel in the cabin... what happens is when u flip the on the ac, a valve opens ( duo valve) which lets the cold air in. The ac compressor was working all the time, even when u dont want cooling in the cabin .. so there will not be a difference in mileage irrespective if the air conditioning/climate control is on or off

[Kinetik]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (S350L-E240 @ May 02 2004,18:56)]Also in my car i have a button that raises the car by a few mm. What is that exactly for? And another which pressed once puts me on Sports 1 mode and if pressed again on sports 2 mode now what are those for?? and why wud i need them?

are u refering to a black button (next to the height level /airmatic switch) ..on the dash.. with Two red dots which light up when u press them ?

[manticore]

i have a question. the outer wheels have to travel a greater distance than the inner wheels while making a turn...so does that mean even my M800 has a LSD??
if the car did not have LSD, will there be any difference while making the turn? plz explain. thanx.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]so does that mean even my M800 has a LSD??

Negative, that is taken care of by a normal differential which every car has.

GTO

[Kinetik]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (manticore @ May 03 2004,21:16)]i have a question. the outer wheels have to travel a greater distance than the inner wheels while making a turn...so does that mean even my M800 has a LSD??
if the car did not have LSD, will there be any difference while making the turn? plz explain. thanx.

Every car has a diff .. the M800 as we all now is a front wheel drive the differential is in front . and 2 drive shafts connect to the diff via 2 cv joints .the rear is a dead axle i.e it just rolls the wheels..
, now in a standard differential, if one wheel loses traction, it will get all the power and will spin, while the wheel with traction gets nothing. The idea of a limited-slip differential (LSD) is to prevent all power from being applied to only one driving wheel when traction is lost.

[Rehaan]

I guess i should also mention that LSDs are put on the more powerful cars because they can easily make a wheel start spinning (even on a surface with good traction), and once that wheel starts spinning if it got all the power it would just burn rubber whilst the other wheel did nothing.

A good example of a differential is when u pick up a battery operated radio controlled car, and spin one of the driven wheels, the other driven wheel will spin the opposite direction. (This just means it has a differential).
One radio controlled car that didnt have a differential was that one called the snake/viper/venom somehting like that..which had that snake that popped up and sprayed water, anyway..because it didnt have a differential it would spin easily and would be fun to handle on corners (this is fun in an R/C car but not in a real car!)... an advantage this car had was that it was much faster, and wouldnt get stuck so easily in muddy/sandy places.

Heres a howstuffworks.com guide to understanding differentials. Its really good. Check it out.

cya
Rehaan

ps - plus in some slightly advanced lego kits u get peices to make a differential (1 housing and 3 gears)..fairly simple.. but a great concept!

[S350L-E240]

Hey guys,
Thanx a lot everyone for the replies!! Esp. Rehaan ur link to diffrentials helped a lot!!

Now here's ur queries :

Ajmat 7G is optional for 350 also,

V12 the manual does not say if my car has 7G or 5 Speed. And no the front air flow does not increase or reduce with the rear a/c on or off. the rear has it's own flow control so i can have very less flow in the front and very fast at the back.

Kinetik yes thats the button im talking abt whats sports 1 and 2?? and when i press it again it gets back to convienence.

also can i use the Navigaton here??
and i use indinoil premium petrol in the car is that the best ? or shud i use something else??

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (S350L-E240 @ May 04 2004,10:43)]also can i use the Navigaton here??

Hey 350L,

The GPS navigation should work.
HOWEVER, it wont show you streets and roads or anything, only your position.
The navigation requires a DVD that gets loaded to the system containing all the map data for the area u are in, but i dont think GPS mapping of india has been done yet and adapted to this standard (however check with your dealer).
You may still be able to have some fun just plotting your drive on a blank screen and stuff like that if the system can run without the maps being loaded!
I wonder to what extent it will work - let me know

cya
Rehaan

[S350L-E240]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Rehaan @ May 04 2004,11:41)]

Hey 350L,

The GPS navigation should work.
HOWEVER, it wont show you streets and roads or anything, only your position.
The navigation requires a DVD that gets loaded to the system containing all the map data for the area u are in, but i dont think GPS mapping of india has been done yet and adapted to this standard (however check with your dealer).
You may still be able to have some fun just plotting your drive on a blank screen and stuff like that if the system can run without the maps being loaded!
I wonder to what extent it will work - let me know

cya
Rehaan

Rehaan everytime i try using the NAVI or MAP button it says not available or insert CD or DVD to continue..

[Kinetik]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (S350L-E240 @ May 04 2004,10:43)]Kinetik yes thats the button im talking abt whats sports 1 and 2?? and when i press it again it gets back to convienence.

that button stiffens the suspension so one red light(i.e sport1) means a slightly stiff suspension while both red(i.e sports2) lights on means the ur suspension is max stiff, this will reduce body roll when taking turns with in an agressive manner

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]also can i use the Navigaton here??

u can use navigation , u will need a navigation dvd for the area .. which is dont think is easy to come by.. without the nav dvd/cd nopes i dont think u can

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]and i use indinoil premium petrol in the car is that the best ? *or shud i use something else??

if u use only premium i.e 93octane and to then ask ur dealer to change the correction factor of the fuel to :"Min 93octane" but make sure u use 93 all the time, any 93octane shld be good unless its adultrated by the gas station