|
|
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
US market Mercedes-Benz CLS won't offer MultiBeam LEDs
Filed under: Sedan, Technology, Mercedes-Benz, Luxury
With the unveiling of the refreshed Mercedes-Benz CLS, we're awash in information on the sleek new four-door. While there's plenty of exciting stuff to talk about, including the availability of a six-cylinder CLS on US shores for the first time, here, we're going to focus on headlights. Those bright, MultiBeam LED headlights are a big leap forward from anything that Mercedes has offered before, and we figured they deserved a closer look. The MultiBeam system improves upon the CLS' already formidable lamps by utilizing a new camera and LED element. Fans of headlight technology should note that this system is not unlike Audi's Matrix LED setup that's found on the 2015 A8. While it's not new, it doesn't mean that MB's system isn't pretty darn significant. Like the Matrix LED system, the CLS' headlights are able to constantly adjust the high-beam output on a specifically targeted area, which allows the CLS driver to maintain visibility without blinding oncoming traffic. This is done thanks to a LED lighting element that's made up of 24 smaller chips, each of which can be individually adjusted. From there, there are four control units that draw information from a windshield-mounted camera, with each unit calculating the perfect lighting pattern 100 times per second. Not only can the lighting elements be adjusted to prevent blindness, they also add a new degree of adaptability around bends and curves. Again, active front lighting systems are far from new, but with the CLS, Mercedes is promising to make the system even more intelligent, bolstering the visibility of its drivers. Now, the bad news: Mercedes has told Autoblog that, at least at launch, the US-spec CLS won't be available with MultiBeam LEDs. We're guessing it's because of the same antiquated law that's preventing Audi from offering its Matrix LEDs. According to the Feds, headlights need separate low-beam and high-beam modes. It's a bummer, but somehow we don't see this rule changing in the near future (headlight regulations don't make for a very sexy campaign platform). Here's hoping Mercedes joins Audi's effort to get the law changed. Take a look below for the official press release from Mercedes-Benz.Continue reading US market Mercedes-Benz CLS won't offer MultiBeam LEDs US market Mercedes-Benz CLS won't offer MultiBeam LEDs originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 13:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments More... Autoblog 06-18-2014 02:29 PM |
Bookmarks |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|