Can you use active cruise control on A roads?
Discussion
My wife has it on her Mazda CX5 and it's pretty good but certainly not perfect.
The car has an automatic gearbox and will slow with traffic in front down to a complete stop followed by restarting again. Pretty cool.
The main issues with it though are:
If a car in front is turning off a main road into a tight side road it doesn't / can't anticipate the slow turning speed so tends to brake really heavily at the last minute as they slowly turn off. Much better to turn the system off briefly when this situation arises.
If someone nips in front of you on a motorway it'll brake really hard whereas in practice youd probably back off and allow yourself to follow closely whilst asafe gap gradually restablishes.
It doesn't recognise traffic lights so don't forget to brake yourself otherwise you'll plough straight through!!
Don't use it entering a roundabout when it's set to a max of 60mph but following a car at 30mph. As soon as the car in front takes its exit and you continue around it will suddenly drop two gears and attempt to accelerate back to 60mph. Quite an interesting experience!!
The car has an automatic gearbox and will slow with traffic in front down to a complete stop followed by restarting again. Pretty cool.
The main issues with it though are:
If a car in front is turning off a main road into a tight side road it doesn't / can't anticipate the slow turning speed so tends to brake really heavily at the last minute as they slowly turn off. Much better to turn the system off briefly when this situation arises.
If someone nips in front of you on a motorway it'll brake really hard whereas in practice youd probably back off and allow yourself to follow closely whilst asafe gap gradually restablishes.
It doesn't recognise traffic lights so don't forget to brake yourself otherwise you'll plough straight through!!
Don't use it entering a roundabout when it's set to a max of 60mph but following a car at 30mph. As soon as the car in front takes its exit and you continue around it will suddenly drop two gears and attempt to accelerate back to 60mph. Quite an interesting experience!!
Camelot1971 said:
I don't particularly care for it on the motorway, unless traffic is really busy and it's stop/start - really helpful then. I mostly use mine on A roads where the limit keeps going 30/40/50 and back again and just use the adjustment to move my max speed up or down depending on need. It's definitely not a "once and done" system though, or something that means you can just switch off to whats going on around you.
Of course, those who tell you it's rubbish have either never tried it (using how it's intended) or are too stupid to understand it.
or not so selfish to form a caterpillar behind a caravan for miles and miles and miles Of course, those who tell you it's rubbish have either never tried it (using how it's intended) or are too stupid to understand it.
Ari said:
Dave Hedgehog said:
That's interesting but I'm guessing the systems fitted to a Tesla are far more sophisticated than on (for example) a VW Golf. WJNB said:
Together with a decent sound system, a good automatic gearbox & air conditioning, cruise control, active or otherwise, is vital to relaxing comfortable driving.
Over the years I've encountered many that are vocal in their denigration of such things & upon close questioning they have never experienced them. This is either because there employer has always lumbered them with the basic bog standard company issued car, or in the case of some males the they think it's terribly macho & manly to fiddle around with a gear knob, be overheated & enjoy leg & back ache on long motorway journeys.
I'd add auto lights, wipers and mirrors to that list. On a long drove at night in sOver the years I've encountered many that are vocal in their denigration of such things & upon close questioning they have never experienced them. This is either because there employer has always lumbered them with the basic bog standard company issued car, or in the case of some males the they think it's terribly macho & manly to fiddle around with a gear knob, be overheated & enjoy leg & back ache on long motorway journeys.
tty weather they all help. PS - to all the denigrators you can overrule all the important ones whenever you feel the need.
Edited by AC43 on Tuesday 19th November 18:02
I do regularly, the ACC on my Golf is great, even on the smaller rural A roads as long as they're not twisty. Only problem is at lower speeds it feels like the modern tech of ACC is poorly combined with the aged 1.6 TDI and oddly-ratioed five speed in my car. I think it suits DSG for the stop start option, and smoother, more powerful engines. It's why it frustrates me that my technology averse parents never use it in their GTD.
Camelot1971 said:
I don't particularly care for it on the motorway, unless traffic is really busy and it's stop/start - really helpful then. I mostly use mine on A roads where the limit keeps going 30/40/50 and back again and just use the adjustment to move my max speed up or down depending on need. It's definitely not a "once and done" system though, or something that means you can just switch off to whats going on around you.
Of course, those who tell you it's rubbish have either never tried it (using how it's intended) or are too stupid to understand it.
That may well be me, then! I have had it several cars and I appreciate how it works, but don’t use it. My issue is that my concentration dips. Of course, those who tell you it's rubbish have either never tried it (using how it's intended) or are too stupid to understand it.
Maintaining close control over speed is part of keeping focussed.
The Golf will bring you from whatever you've set it to to a complete stop, if necessary. Within 3 seconds of stopping, it'll move away too if the car in front does.
The comment above about it not spotting stationary cars: yes, you have to be very careful of this, or you'll plough into the back of a tailback. The user manual says as much
The comment above about it not spotting stationary cars: yes, you have to be very careful of this, or you'll plough into the back of a tailback. The user manual says as much
Dave Hedgehog said:
I don't know why but I was expecting the Tesla autopilot to be better than this. There's one instance where a layby coincides with a bend and the car appears to lose track of the road and drift into the layby. More worryingly on a sharp left bend the car drifts out across the central double white line. All looked a bit dangerous. If I was behind this driver I'd assume he was pissed or on the phone.Dont like rolls said:
You can tell by the cars and the constant spacings taken. Normally these "types" cannot keep a constant speed.
So, no evidence, you just don't like active cruise?Am I supposed to be in the least bit surprised?
If you can tell by the cars, what do you actually drive, just out of interest?
Dont like rolls said:
Gojira said:
So, no evidence, you just don't like active cruise?
Am I supposed to be in the least bit surprised?
If you can tell by the cars, what do you actually drive, just out of interest?
You honestly are asking for a specific study, hahahahahaAm I supposed to be in the least bit surprised?
If you can tell by the cars, what do you actually drive, just out of interest?
306gti/16 and VW Phaeton 4.2
PSB1 said:
That may well be me, then! I have had it several cars and I appreciate how it works, but don’t use it. My issue is that my concentration dips.
Maintaining close control over speed is part of keeping focussed.
I keep focused by anticipating ahead and altering the max speed so the car doesn't need to brake - it can be entertaining and you don't need to worry too much because if a car nips into your breaking distance it will slow anyway. Maintaining close control over speed is part of keeping focussed.
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