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Mercedes-Benz pre-safe sound

mercedesbenzofnatick.com

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Re: Mercedes-Benz pre-safe sound

#91

Post by rounce »

jedberg wrote: post #5

The Mercedes is known for being more expensive than most, but in most cases, it's worth it, not only for the luxury, but for the extreme attention to detail they put into safety. For example, when you get into one, it will adjust the tension of the seatbelt automatically to be ideal for each passenger. And of course this pink noise. And a ton of other little things that cost extra that most people will never notice.…

Some of their moose/elk test results have been pretty poor over the years though. These are two that spring to mind:

https://youtu.be/E8DT5q2ZD88?t=77

https://youtu.be/06y2ZRPglsI?t=59

Re: Mercedes-Benz pre-safe sound

#92

Post by dmix »

hirundo wrote: post #71

I'm guessing an engineer named it the German equivalent of "pre-crash" sound, then someone in marketing decided that "pre-safe" sounds better. It may be better to call it "foreplay" sound, since if you ever hear it you're probably screwed.

Definitely someone over thinking it. "We don't want them to associate the car with crashing so let's use a generic word that doesn't make any sense without having to read 4 paragraphs on the marketing website".

So many startups do this too with product names, they fear whatever name will be too "limiting" and end up with some generic name that doesn't communicate anything at all.

Brand names shouldn't be taken so literally either, no one cares that "Vodafone" sells Internet and TV connections, not just cell phones. Or that Salesforce sells a whole bunch of products unrelated to sales. Or Facebook is expanding outside of social networks into AI and VR. But more importantly than the brand/trademark is the product names don't have to be all encompassing of everything the product does (or plans to do in the future).

People are smart enough to connect a name to a group of things even if the name is only about one of them. And a negative term like 'pre crash' is far more memorable than 'pre safe'.

Re: Mercedes-Benz pre-safe sound

#93

Post by billfruit »

TylerE wrote: post #58
cr0sh wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard that German luxury cars (what we consider them here in the USA) are more like what we think of Fords here; so common and normal, considered affordable. Or maybe just not "high end" due to being common? Again, though, only heard that - nothing to back it up. It also may be that because Mercedes and BMWs are "local brand" vehicles, there are more of them, and more mechanics out there able to service them? Wh…

Market differentiation. For instance, the base A-CLass (small/mid size sedan) sold in Germany has a 110hp engine and cloth seats, and very few standard features. Base price (w/o VAT) is ~$24,000US. The base US A-Class has a 190HP engine, leather, more standard features, and starts at $32,500.

Why does the US version need to have a more powerful engine?

Re: Mercedes-Benz pre-safe sound

#94

Post by Baeocystin »

epalm wrote: post #77
whenchamenia wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least in most of the usa, wearing earplugs (or earbuds, headphones, etc) while operating a car, is illegal. Please check with your local PD to be safe. You may just be putting yourself and others at higher risk by attinuating your situational awareness.

I wear earplugs when I ride my motorcycle for longer trips on the highway. When people see this, they say "that's dangerous, you'll hear less" but it mostly cuts the wind noise, and counter-intuitively I end up hearing more than I would otherwise.

They make flat-frequency-response earplugs, too. They don't cost much more, and you get to keep the highs that provide context while still reducing the overall sound intensity. I love them for both motorcycle rides and concerts. You'll find several hits if you search for Musician's Earplugs.

Re: Mercedes-Benz pre-safe sound

#96

Post by JshWright »

It's crazy how fast a car deals with a collision. In the event of an actual crash, the car is _done_ processing the event and deploying all safety measures (airbags, seatbelt pretensioners, etc) before your body even begins to recognize the sensations of impact.

Re: Mercedes-Benz pre-safe sound

#97

Post by fyfy18 »

anyfoo wrote: post #51
cr0sh wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard that German luxury cars (what we consider them here in the USA) are more like what we think of Fords here; so common and normal, considered affordable. Or maybe just not "high end" due to being common? Again, though, only heard that - nothing to back it up. It also may be that because Mercedes and BMWs are "local brand" vehicles, there are more of them, and more mechanics out there able to service them? Wh…

While it’s true that BMWs and Mercedes are extremely common (and by feeling also less of a “luxury brand”), at least in Munich, I’ve rarely seen a BMW taxi. They’re not all Mercedes, but I’d say that the majority easily is. So there has to be reasons for that, but the potential existence of special maintenance packages for taxis could easily be one of them.

My observation of Germans is that they have a strong sense of nationalism towards their own car brands, so I'm not surprised taxi drivers use a local brand rather than Prius like the rest of Europe.

As others have said older Mercedes had very good reliability, so that probably still rubs off on how people feel about cars today. I'd consider BMW more sporty than luxury.

Re: Mercedes-Benz pre-safe sound

#98

Post by TylerE »

billfruit wrote: post #93
TylerE wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Market differentiation. For instance, the base A-CLass (small/mid size sedan) sold in Germany has a 110hp engine and cloth seats, and very few standard features. Base price (w/o VAT) is ~$24,000US. The base US A-Class has a 190HP engine, leather, more standard features, and starts at $32,500.

Why does the US version need to have a more powerful engine?

Different buyer preferences. Different needs.

Of course, it helps that most low-powered cars sold in the EU will have manual trans, where all US MBs are autos...

Also, US buyers will run the AC a lot more, and AC eats a lot of power...potentially as much as 15-20HP... that's a lot more noticeable with a tiny engine.

Re: Mercedes-Benz pre-safe sound

#99

Post by billfruit »

TylerE wrote: post #98
billfruit wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does the US version need to have a more powerful engine?

Different buyer preferences. Different needs. Of course, it helps that most low-powered cars sold in the EU will have manual trans, where all US MBs are autos... Also, US buyers will run the AC a lot more, and AC eats a lot of power...potentially as much as 15-20HP... that's a lot more noticeable with a tiny engine.

Still I doubt if it is actually justified, considering in India a similar size car is perfectly serving its purpose with a 60 to 70 HP engine.

Re: Mercedes-Benz pre-safe sound

#100

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

whenchamenia wrote: post #63
TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve taken up wearing earplugs while driving. I also work in a noisy environment, and it occurs to me that the road and engine and wind noise is probably loud enough to have a negative impact on hearing over time. Less so in newer cars, but both mine are over 10yo. Also, in the event of a collision I’m protected.

At least in most of the usa, wearing earplugs (or earbuds, headphones, etc) while operating a car, is illegal. Please check with your local PD to be safe. You may just be putting yourself and others at higher risk by attinuating your situational awareness.

At low speeds, driving around car parks etc, the ear plugs are out and usually have all the windows at least partly open, because I’m those environments hearing can be a huge boost to situational awareness.

I find above 40k/hr my hearing is better with ear plugs because it attenuates the road, wind, and engine noise more for me.

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