Ok, let this German explain. Everyone knows Mercedes hate VW. The fake car in front looked like a VW Touran. The error was that the Mercedes didn't accelerate.

Insurance companies should give a discount proportionate to the percentage of rear end accidents under 55mph for drivers of this Volvo... Great tech!!!

Lets not forget that volvo invented the 3 point seat belt that we all use today.

Volvo is always known for making safety car in the world. So I'm not suprise about this. I'm surprised Mercedes is a failure in that test.

This is a fantastic advert for Volvo but a surprising shocker for the Merc. I had expected the Merc to be equal the Volvo if not leading but obviously far from it.

Poor Mercedes, it weighs like 5000lbs and has an older system, and was nearly a decade old at that point. I'm sure the new S class would fare better.

221 S class already is 8 years old, try with new 222 and all will be ok

The ultimate anti-crash is being a good driver. No amount of gadgets and features will replace that.

1:21 I love how Tiff gives it a shove and says "Are you sure?" to make sure he's not being bullshitted

So, the Mercedes; once cars of absolute quality and the forefront of safety, has lost against an £11,000 city car made by Volkswagen. The Volvo one didn't surprise, they, they have been the real pioneers of safety, but good on the VW. Mercedes are nothing like they used to be. Very embarrassing for a near £80k car.

Sooooo what happens when the car behind you doesnt have this?

It's because the Mercedes is smarter than the other cars it knows which is a real car or fake.

Bottom line: Keep your f*cking eyes on the road. How about this: A sensor in the car seat which assrapes you when you're distracted. Too harsh???? Helll nooooo ( I saw someone texting on a motorbike last summer.)

Volvo is the champion when it comes to safety

Try that on an icy road and see what happens! :)

Volvos are great cars

I suppose that the system only works when it is switched on. I remember when they showed an S-Class on Top Gear, the S-class hit an object with great force, because they forgot to switch anti-crash system on. The front of the car was completely smashed to pieces.

and then you get rear ended from braking so hard.....

I'm not surprised that Volvo prevailed in this test, for Volvo has always been a safety pioneer.

mercedes did not stop because it knows the car in front is a fake, kay?

"Shut up! Tank you." Hahaha :D

All of these systems are impressive! This iteration of the Mercedes autonomous braking system, however, wasn't designed to prevent collisions without any driver input. The system was designed to warn the driver of a possible imminent crash, and when the driver applies braking power, the system calculates if the braking power is sufficient and then augments that input if it determines the braking force is not great enough. In the owner's manual, Mercedes specifically states that it will only automatically apply braking power without driver input if it determines a collision is unavoidable and then the braking input is only designed to reduce the force of the collision, not prevent it. I am not a Mercedes engineer, but these systems do have false positives at times, and Mercedes was possibly concerned about the system initiating a panic stop in a false-positive situation. Applying 100% of the braking power to prevent a frontal collision also increases the likelihood of a rear-end collision from the car behind, so I would say the Mercedes system is not better or worse, it just adopts a different philosophy of trying to minimize injury in possible collisions.

no real surprise there with volvo being the safest. I always associated volvo with being safe and there are looking better and better if you look at the last decade of their cars

That volvo city safety has saved my ass 2 times. Really amazing system. It even applies the hazards for you if you have come to a full stop!

For the Mercedes is UNFAIR, you only have the distrunic, but you don't have the bas plus option. Bas plus can do 108-0 mph

It could all be avoided if you'd just keep your distance and your eyes on the fucking road.

Distronic plus though is NOT designed to stop you in a possible collision. Collision prevention assist plus and collision prevention assist however does do it and does it very well. Distronic plus is designed to keep a safe distance to a vehicle in front of you and it works together with the autopilot too.

Well, the reviewers should read the manuals first. Mercedes will let you to do whatever you want until 0.6 sec before the collision is unavoidable, then apply the brakes to minimize the impact. If you just touch the brake pedal it will apply all force available to brake before you hit the car at front with minimal distance, to give the driver behind you enough time to stop as well, not to mention the flashing brake lights to get the attention of the driver behind and stop before he hits you and push you to the car at front as well....so you end you end up with same damage anyway. Anyway, I drive one of these, and it always give me warning before the sharp 90 degrees turn where the static road sign is installed, but as i accelerate and then I do sharp turn it wont interfere the driving. I wonder if the others can do the same without interfering my driving and perhaps brake before I have the chance to turn. Anyway, read the manual before you review. The demo video of S class AMG engineer demonstrating this feature is also somewhere here on you-tube.

The Mercedes system is good. The car does indeed slow down and regulate the speed if you turn on the cruise control. When you are doing the throttle and brakes, the S-class doesn't apply full braking force. It applies 40%. That is more than enough to alert you, so you do the rest. The Volvo (as usually) just slams on the brakes hard. And that could lead to another accident. Cause your Volvo brakes hard, but the car behind you, might not. So you could get rear-ended cause of your system. The Mercedes applies the brakes (not fully) and flashes the taillights.

“Only works up to 18 mph” When was the last time you got in a crash going so slow?

I had this kick in on a Merc Truck when cars suddenly stopped dead on the Motorway and boy it stopped the truck dead! I was beyond impressed, even today, years later I'm still stunned how the system stopped the truck in such a short distance. Brilliant!!

The Mercedes W221 will only brake up to 40% brakeing power which is why it is doing what it does - I think it was done for legal reasons (you get silly decisions when they get involved) . I use Distronic mainly on the freeways and only in slow creeping traffic for which it's brilliant for. Theses systems are an aid to being alert and attentive and are not a replacement.

as a mercedes owner I have to say I'm disappointed. but I'm also the person who thinks a person should drive the car and not a computer. stop messing with your radio and cell phones and you don't need this kind of option

NICE TECH...!!!

Very cool test. I wonder how the Honda Sensing package in my 2016 Civic compares to these? It's quite sensitive with the visual and auditory alerts but I don't think I've had it engage the brakes on its own yet. I'd love to see a similar test with the new Honda system.

I'm sure not many people have owned W221 S-class so they probably don't know about it. It's not that Mercedes system isn't good enough, but it's matter of setting. For Volvo and other vehicles, they apply maximum braking force to avoid collision. However for Mercedes, especially on W221 chassis, DTR plus only applies up to 40% of maximum braking force and you can find that in owner's manual. The difference is other systems slam on the brake for you while Mercedes is just telling you to slam on the brake. If you apply brakes when the car beeps which is intended when designing the system, you shouldn't have a collision. But honestly if you're the person who doesn't pay attention to the road or warning system but can only avoid an accident when the car does it for you, then I softly recommend you not to drive and save other people's life.

6:02 epic reaction from Tiff :)

"shatup!" "thank you :)"

"This target here is very complex" It is a freakin BOX!!

I am a huge Mercedes fan. But i am a bit disappointed. Although i can see that they are using an old S-Class whose anti crash systems might have been outdated. I'm sure the new 2014 S-class is as good as or even may be better than its competitors.

You know a few years ago we simply knew how to drive. Anybody remember when people were aware of their surroundings and didn't just put their car wherever they feel like even if there's a car barrelling towards them?

I am too much of a photographer...AEB= Auto Exposure Bracketing

Like the guy said at the end. These systems improve with every year and are now even standard in budget cars. The technology in the s class was 8 years old at time. Car technology, especially safety features improved so much in the past 10 years, it's crazy.

I have a cousin with a 2014 S550, the auto braking thing was amazing and very smooth. It even went around curves just like the video.

In the Mercedes u can change the distance for automatic breaking it could help change the results Mercedes have saved me many times. Plus that Mercedes is older

and then the car behind your slams you, because they werent paying attention / didnt expect your sudden braking... lol, yea..

AEB ( Radar version ) can now be an option extra on a Kia Picanto and Kia Rio. Amazing.

Do they stop for motorcycles? No. Cuz no one gives a fuck about us.

So basically if you are a distracted driver and don't want to get sued, buy the Volvo.

lets not forget they are testing the old S-Class at the end of its career, it is normal for its systems to be a bit out-of-date. i guess the new S-class systems will be as good as the Volvo ones

Drove a new C class recently... and i will say that that sleepy sensor thing works well.. i was tired and it knew

What you forgot to tell is that with that 2000£ option on the Volvo, you get stuff like, pedestrian detection (with full autobrake), BLIS (Blind Spot Information System), adaptive cruise control and so on.

mercedes probably works on the assumption that the driver will not ignore the collission warning. But will apply the brakes automatically to minimise the impact speed

I was hoping the MB would have performed better. I really want an S Class.

Would be VERY interesting how my Transit Connect wagon ( tournero connect in eu) would cope with ONLY a camera, that's the reason I have it on high sensitivity. It did beep me when an escape cut me off, but it wasn't so close!

I can't afford a Volvo in the US but i always wanted one and i was 100% positive the volvo was going to be on top on this video.

Volvo IS the real deal - search their truck braking system - it will blow you away.

All these type gadgets are great,but they are turning drivers into unthinking morons.

That technology is simply amazing and I'm sure it could have been used years and years ago to be a standard in all cars , wonder if the new gti will have this feature

New! AEB safety system available in some cars.. However not new for me. Over 47 years ago this system was in use by me. It's voice operated en named Regina, my wife.

this is why i don't use my pager while driving.

Volvo: ding VW: ding Mercedes: beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep

The thing about Mercedes is you need to have a lane (I think). I always use Distronic and I have never had these problems.

btw those beeps come out of the speakers in the merc so they cut out any music playing at the time.

Problem is, it's too good. 90% of the time you'll be hit from behind which if anything is worse.

mercedes is way to heavy to stop in time

Mercedes-Benz’s Distronic Plus is able to either bring the car to a stop, or reduce the speed of the impact and the radio is switched off when the audible tone is played

that's a friggin eye-opener if I've ever seen one.

look at ncap new mercdes e class test perfect

Volvo has always been a safe car to drive.

Good test, waiting ever probe this systems

what happens in tge event that the car infront is braking hard evasively? how effective is it then?

and what happens when a carjacker and his buddies know this and stand in front of your car and your brakes wont let you move and they rob you and kill you because you cannot get away.

this is why sweden was neutral during the war, play it safe..

How does these perform when driving in Back to back city traffic where the distance between two cars is less than a meter?

We need this on all cars.

The S Class is a lot heavier of course it's not gonna stop like the other 2 tiny cars. Simple physics will tell you this.

Well, you forgot the Mercedes is the favorite MAFIA's car..:)) So you thinck those guys will still buy them if the car will auto stop when you need to crash into someone to throw him out of a bridge ?:)) This feature on a Mercedes will be bad busyness ! Capisci ?

I have a question what is the sound track from Audio Network at 2:07 to 2:32

my bmw 325da 2008 have adaptive cruise control which reaches 180kmh cruise speed and I have tried to drive around 180kmh on cruise and when a car in front of me is driving like 100-130kmh my car automaticly brakes and does not crash! and that is at speed 180kmh or like 120mph ish.. maybe the s-class is too heavy to slow down enough??..

God I love volvo

I tried a awd volvo recently and it had adaptive cruise control and this autobrake stuff. I did not test the autobrake, but the adaptive cruise control sucks. If you are in a curve the car do not understand that you are turning (it could check the steering wheel) and if it does not "see" the car in the curve in front of you even if it's right there it will speed up again in the curve and getting very close to the car in front. Not good - does not work well I think. Also the AWD system sucked. The salesperson told me that I would not even notice that the AWD system connected the rear wheels, but I tried it up a slope where my subaru have no problems, the volvo was "waving" because the front wheels slipped too much. I am sure the volvo have better build quality than my 08 subaru outback, but the awd was not good and the adaptive cruise control can't be trusted!

You should have tested the systems Volvo Trucks och Mercedes Trucks uses. Very impressive to see those heavy machines slam the brakes and stop the collision!

Merc's distronic plus is not a fully automatic system...it warns you, and apply 40% braking power to the wheel....it saved me from a rear end collision the other day :D~~ I like it....

I am sort of doubting that this is true for the S-Class

my car doesn't have this fancy technology does it mean its dangerous to drive on a normal city road? i think soo i am going to die!!!

The video is miss leading regarding the system in the merc. The system called distronic plus by design and purpose can only use up to 40% of total braking force. It's designed to reduce the severity of the crash to make it more survivable. It's not designed to completely stop the w221. Not sure if the newer w222 has been upgraded to come to a full stop autonomously.

Should have tried these tests with each car braking behind the other two on test.

VOLVO IS THE BEST

Saved my brother

This system actually scared me more than helped me in my ex audi A8... Somtimes when I was overtaking some big vechile he brakes for actually "no reason"..

i wondered about that as well, such as sudden heavy fog on the motorway.

stupid video, that mercedes benz system is for adaptive cruise control, the car will stop when the front car break to stop, but for completely stop object, the system will only brake like 60% to wake you up. this is an older s class than the other too as well. So Mercedes benz was not as good but different system set up, new distronic beat them all

The Ranking of these Vehicles (Aeb Test) Top One:Volvo V40 Top two:Volkswagen Up Top three:Mercedes S Class

The brake system is fantastic but what happen to the vihicle at the back/rear of you can they have enough time to appyl the brake.

Does it only work on automatic though? Would a manual not cut out and jerk forward?

Volvo won fair and square. just one thing - what would happen if the Mercedes had the radar guided cruise control on at the time?

Scientifically the video is misleading and misrepresenting the different technologies capabilities and also not putting it into perspective. The "dummy target" is designed to simulate a vehicle ONLY and ONLY to laser based safety systems, which is why the laser systems performs really well. It is technically not representing a real car, because real cars are not made out of soft foam. Real cars are made from steel and radars are designed to detect steel which is a good radio reflective material. If the dummy was made from steel the radar would have seen it from around 250m away. Lets put the shoe on the other foot: Create a "dummy target" from steel with faded, non retro-reflective plates. For example use a clean, polished square-shape old VW golf either in black or red colour and approach it from a slight angle. I will guarantee the lasers will miss this car completely. Now drive at typical safety critical speeds and both the VW and Volvo occupants will get hurt or be killed. But besides the test that was not fair, the fact that low speed safety mechanisms saves one money in minor rear-end collisions and that may or may not be worth the money you pay for it. Everyone need to consider what the probability is that they will cause a rear-end collision in the life of the car. I have had one in 22 years of driving that cost me less than the system cost. So for me it will be a waste. However I would pay ten times as much for a system that will save my life or my family's life, that operates at higher speeds. So the test in the video discredits radar and applaud laser sensors. I do not agree and neither does high-end manufacturers and other safety specialists as can be seen by the types of systems they fit to cars. A full spectrum sensor (visible, infrared and microwave-radar) is ultimately the most reliable under the widest range of (1) important and (2) likely conditions. OK I must give in that this probably does not represent a scientific test and are glad that Fifth Gear did raise awareness. For this reason I am highlighting the true facts.

My own experience tells me the Benz system works even at 150 km/h. It brakes even to a full stop!

is there a system out there that can detect red traffic light signals and automatically brake? so many drivers trying to beat the traffic light these days i would help if something like that were possible...