[kenzed]

I came across this feature whilst reading up on something else in the COMMAND user manual. In the Phone section - it makes a brief reference to 'Voice Activation System' and says something like 'where fitted'...
I haven't been able to find out whether 07 (UK) R171's (55AMG) come fitted with this feature as standard.
This subject has been discussed at length in these forums (circa. 2005) but does anyone have the latest information for me?

 

[alroumi]

Its the first time I hear about this feature on a Mercedes-Benz, However Ive used it extensively on my Porsche Cayenne S. Interms of classifying it as a must have option it is not worth it for sure.

 

[aquascape]

There is no voice activation on my slk55 uk spec 2005 model

 

[alroumi]

There is no voice activation on my slk55 uk spec 2005 model

Same here on my Eu spec 06 55. This is the first time I hear about the voice activation system on a Mercedes, I know its available on other makes.

 

[Shinigami]

SLK's don't have voice activation, but someone did retrofit it and mentioned how it's done. This was posted on the forums over a year ago. I think they took the system from a CLK...

 

[kenzed]

Right OK Guys...thanks again for the prompt replies...
I'll take it as a NO then...

 

[cyberdrakon]

Yup, this option is available on a lot of the other models, but for some reason not offered on our car. from what i hear, it's not worth the price anyway...the recognition is pretty spotty. Maybe they expect someone speaking English with a German accent?

 

[alroumi]

Yup, this option is available on a lot of the other models, but for some reason not offered on our car. from what i hear, it's not worth the price anyway...the recognition is pretty spotty. Maybe they expect someone speaking English with a German accent?

I cant get the system to change the from track one to track seventeen other wise 1-9 are fine.

 

[MadMax05SLK]

I came across this feature whilst reading up on something else in the COMMAND user manual. In the Phone section - it makes a brief reference to 'Voice Activation System' and says something like 'where fitted'...
I haven't been able to find out whether 07 (UK) R171's (55AMG) come fitted with this feature as standard.
This subject has been discussed at length in these forums (circa. 2005) but does anyone have the latest information for me?

The only "Voice Activation" that I experience is more "Interaction" with my Tel-Aid conciege service. Not really Activation as much as it is Recognition. I suppose it is possible since Tel-Aid has voice recognition. It still burns me up that a manufacturer such as Acura (great vehicles) has an incredible Voice Activation system ranging from Climate controls, to almost making a cup of coffee. But MB can't seem to at least keep up with the Techno-Genius Japanese folks. I do love to drive my SLK though, even without all the advanced bells and techno-whistles. Just my 2cents. Drive Fast.

BobbyM

 

[phatchink]

i honest think Mercedez really need to work on their "gadget" department. My slk only came with what I consider as the bare essentials and nothing else. I look at the TT with their Magenetic rides, automatic spoiler, DSG, Lexus with their auto park and interior touchscreens with rear parking cameras. Then I look at my Merc with the vario roof and I'd just sigh, even the Miata has a vario roof now!

 

[-1-]

My wife's former 2003 Cadillac CTS had voice recognition with DVD Nav, SAT radio etc. It was really neat, but we never used it. There were way too many commands to remember and it was just easier to do it by hand. For those that would take the initiative, I'm sure it's a great system. Regarding MB and their audio and NAV systems. I'd prefer they perfect and update the necessities before going to a "voice recognition" system. If they would come out with a state of the art system, I'd spend the money on it.

 

[CalifSLK]

i honest think Mercedez really need to work on their "gadget" department. My slk only came with what I consider as the bare essentials and nothing else. I look at the TT with their Magenetic rides, automatic spoiler, DSG, Lexus with their auto park and interior touchscreens with rear parking cameras. Then I look at my Merc with the vario roof and I'd just sigh, even the Miata has a vario roof now!

The Vario Roof is made by a company called Car Top Systems, a joint venture started by DB and Porsche in Germany in the early '90s. This JV was sold to Magna Group in Canada last year. They built a plant in the US in the late '90s to support the Cadillac roadster and will be soon Corvettes. All MB and Porsche soft and hard tops are made by this company.

Magna Car Top Systems

As nice as the Lexus gadgets, I never use the voice control system in my car either. I couldn't get pass a letter that would double entry for some reason.

The text -to-speech and speech-to-text technology had been around for 30 years. But they never could make voice recognition practical for consumer products. The sad thing is that we are paying for these half baked gadgets. You can't tell from the MB and Lexus brouchures in the beautiful showrooms how hard it is to use these things.

If you bought a $100 voice recognition widget from Circuit City and you don't like how it works, you take it back and get your money back. That's not how it works with $50K cars.

Fortunately these are great cars, so we have to love them as cars and not for their gadgets.

 

[Shinigami]

If you want a tricked out MB, you need to get the latest S class...

The SLK has always been one of the simplest MB's around. BUT, it is still a lot more complex then the simplest cars from other manufacturers.

I find it's not really fair to compare a roadster that has the goal of being a light, enjoyable car, to a fully tricked out Lexus.

Yes, a Miata may also have the vario roof, but meanwhile you get Miata owners rejoicing that they're finally getting heated seats, and the SLK had this, plus airscarf from day one. We also have automatic wipers, automatic lights, parktronic, automatic varying airconditioning, DVD playback and many other things, not to mentioned all the cool little info you can get by going to the menus and looking at data such as how many liters of oil is left, the voltage of your battery, the version of the software installed, the number of miles travelled and how long you've spent in the car, etc... (although stupidly, some of this stuff doesn't exist in the US cars).

I belong to a car club and we very often swap vehicles between each other, and let me tell you, some of these people are pretty amazed at all the stuff that's in my car. Of course, some of these people use a Lotus Exige as a daily driver (or some other speedy vehicle), and I have ten fold the gadgets they do.

In fact, few are the people in our club that have "more" in a high end sports car or convertible, and I'm talking about cars like Ferrari 360/360CS/550, Lamborghini Gallardo/Murcielago, a ton of Porches (mostly older, lighter and very stripped out track monsters), Lotus Elise/Exige's, Maserati, Wiesmann and the list goes on. My SLK55 AMG can tango with most of these cars, yet 99% of them don't have jack sh1t compared to the SLK.

The latest vehicle that came around that actually beat what was on offer in my SLK, was probably one owners new GL-class SUV. Yup, from Mercedes...

 

[kenzed]

Updating the original post....

Guys,

Reply form MB... It seems that 'Voice Activation System' (VAS) is available (not confirmed on R171) but as an optional extra for factory fit - called 'linguatronic'.

Thanks for all the replies / comments ...

Someone referred to VAS being available on some models but not on SLK...

I've given this some thought...possible this because with the roof off the voice commands would not be heard!

 

[CalifSLK]

There is a small bump on top of the steering column, this is where the VAS/VCS/HFU actuation level normally goes. So I think your are right, they probably deleted it due to open car.

This steering column may be in common with the C Class seden?