"Active/Adaptive" Cruise Control
Discussion
I see that a lot of new cars are coming with active/adaptive cruise control. These have a radar, that detects the cars in front, and can follow at a matching speed even coming down to a complete stop in traffic.
So, who has tried this? And how is it? Specifically I'm wondering:-
Does it make life easier?
Can it follow cars on A/B roads?
Do you trust it?
Does it work on the motorway?
Does it get confused and become more trouble than it's worth?
Does it work in stop-start traffic?
It does seem like it could make those boring rush hour journeys a bit more relaxing.
Nearly all MK7 Golfs have it. Mercedes have it ("distronic plus"), Porsche, Lexus. It must be the thing of the future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_cruise_co...
So, who has tried this? And how is it? Specifically I'm wondering:-
Does it make life easier?
Can it follow cars on A/B roads?
Do you trust it?
Does it work on the motorway?
Does it get confused and become more trouble than it's worth?
Does it work in stop-start traffic?
It does seem like it could make those boring rush hour journeys a bit more relaxing.
Nearly all MK7 Golfs have it. Mercedes have it ("distronic plus"), Porsche, Lexus. It must be the thing of the future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_cruise_co...
Pentoman said:
I see that a lot of new cars are coming with active/adaptive cruise control. These have a radar, that detects the cars in front, and can follow at a matching speed even coming down to a complete stop in traffic.
So, who has tried this? And how is it? Specifically I'm wondering:-
Does it make life easier?
Can it follow cars on A/B roads?
Do you trust it?
Does it work on the motorway?
Does it get confused and become more trouble than it's worth?
Does it work in stop-start traffic?
It does seem like it could make those boring rush hour journeys a bit more relaxing.
Nearly all MK7 Golfs have it. Mercedes have it ("distronic plus"), Porsche, Lexus. It must be the thing of the future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_cruise_co...
I've had a couple of loan golf mk7's with it when my mk6 was in for some work.So, who has tried this? And how is it? Specifically I'm wondering:-
Does it make life easier?
Can it follow cars on A/B roads?
Do you trust it?
Does it work on the motorway?
Does it get confused and become more trouble than it's worth?
Does it work in stop-start traffic?
It does seem like it could make those boring rush hour journeys a bit more relaxing.
Nearly all MK7 Golfs have it. Mercedes have it ("distronic plus"), Porsche, Lexus. It must be the thing of the future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_cruise_co...
I liked it. Its particularly useful on motorways.
You "could" used it on A / B roads following another car, but i dont think its that intuitive that it would react quick enough to corners, etc. Also if you werent following another car you'd have to be breaking for corners yourself.
As i said probably best on motorways with varying traffic speeds.
It does sometimes get caught out - eg, if you're in the outside lane doing 70mph, and you come upon a lorry going 50 mph, yes it brakes for you. Sometimes i've then just decided to drop into the inside lane and sit at 50mph, but it speeds you back up to 70mph and you look a bit of a tool for trying to undertake, particularly if theres traffic on up the inside lane.
Not sure if it would work in stop start traffic as unless you had an automatic you would be having to use gears. You could of course hit the "resume" button when traffic frees up.
Summarising - works well enough on motorways and good A roads, but attempting to get it to work effectively on other roads, stop / start traffic would probably take more driver input that you would otherwise have if you didnt use it.
I have it on my merc and once you're used to it's foibles, it does work pretty well.
What it's great at is slow moving traffic, long queues and hold ups. Once you set the speed, it'll just follow the car in front all day. If it stops, so do you and it applies a kind of handbrake, until you touch the throttle to move off.
It's not great at constantly changing, lane swapping traffic though. I think it might be slightly misaligned, so can sometimes fail to see the car in front until it's a little close for comfort, then you get some panic braking until it regains it's following distance. Works better with big cars and trucks though. I'll sort it one day when I want to give merc some money.
Do I trust it? Yes, after a few brake covering episodes.
Why not have a go of a demo car with it fitted and see what you think? the first time you let it brake for you, you'll be covering the brake, but eventually it'll be just another toy, like cruise control, air con, or electric windows.
What it's great at is slow moving traffic, long queues and hold ups. Once you set the speed, it'll just follow the car in front all day. If it stops, so do you and it applies a kind of handbrake, until you touch the throttle to move off.
It's not great at constantly changing, lane swapping traffic though. I think it might be slightly misaligned, so can sometimes fail to see the car in front until it's a little close for comfort, then you get some panic braking until it regains it's following distance. Works better with big cars and trucks though. I'll sort it one day when I want to give merc some money.
Do I trust it? Yes, after a few brake covering episodes.
Why not have a go of a demo car with it fitted and see what you think? the first time you let it brake for you, you'll be covering the brake, but eventually it'll be just another toy, like cruise control, air con, or electric windows.
t pulls into your braking distance it slams on the anchors and is an utter PITAI think they vary:
(a) some can only be activated above a certain speed and then if your speed falls below that they will not brake to a stop
(b) some can only be activated above a certain speed and they will brake to a stop but not get going again
(c) some are full start-stop
(d) some are full start-stop but you need a minimum speed to activate
Also there is lane keep, which kind of goes along with the package.
(a) some can only be activated above a certain speed and then if your speed falls below that they will not brake to a stop
(b) some can only be activated above a certain speed and they will brake to a stop but not get going again
(c) some are full start-stop
(d) some are full start-stop but you need a minimum speed to activate
Also there is lane keep, which kind of goes along with the package.
Feedback based upon a July 2014 MB CLA with Distronic Plus
1. Does it make life easier?
It makes life a lot easier, 100km journeys are easy, just set it and forget it.
2. Can it follow cars on A/B roads?
It can be used anywhere, you simply tell it the maximum speed it can use, e.g. 30km/h or 120km/h up to whatever
3. Do you trust it?
No. It's useful up to a point, it will follow up to 120 and come to a stop.
However if someone pulls into your lane unexpectedly, it will only brake up to 0.4g
Sometimes, this isn't enough. You as the driver are expected to remain in full command,
and it is up to you to use all braking power to slow down and to try to avoid the collision.
4. Does it work on the motorway?
Yes. But..., there is always a but, isn't there?
But....I was doing 120 last night, and the traffic up ahead had come to a halt. I wanted to see what she would do...she didn't seem to anticipate the stopped traffic like a high time driver would, she just plowed on through, and then, wouldn't you know it, an Audi jumped into the lane and I had to do an emergency brake. The car didn't react in time. I don't know if the car can be trusted. I'm trying to find out more. Having said that, she is a good car, and she even parks herself, bless!
5. Does it get confused and become more trouble than it's worth?
No. Having said that, I was doing 120 when I then went for the exit, with one car 3 seconds in front.
The motorway exist was a tight right hander, so when the lead car disappeared around the bend,
the Merc didn't see a vehicle, so accelerated started to acclr from 70 to 120 target, towards armco!
Wifey wasn't pleased...
6. Does it work in stop-start traffic?
Yes.
1. Does it make life easier?
It makes life a lot easier, 100km journeys are easy, just set it and forget it.
2. Can it follow cars on A/B roads?
It can be used anywhere, you simply tell it the maximum speed it can use, e.g. 30km/h or 120km/h up to whatever
3. Do you trust it?
No. It's useful up to a point, it will follow up to 120 and come to a stop.
However if someone pulls into your lane unexpectedly, it will only brake up to 0.4g
Sometimes, this isn't enough. You as the driver are expected to remain in full command,
and it is up to you to use all braking power to slow down and to try to avoid the collision.
4. Does it work on the motorway?
Yes. But..., there is always a but, isn't there?
But....I was doing 120 last night, and the traffic up ahead had come to a halt. I wanted to see what she would do...she didn't seem to anticipate the stopped traffic like a high time driver would, she just plowed on through, and then, wouldn't you know it, an Audi jumped into the lane and I had to do an emergency brake. The car didn't react in time. I don't know if the car can be trusted. I'm trying to find out more. Having said that, she is a good car, and she even parks herself, bless!
5. Does it get confused and become more trouble than it's worth?
No. Having said that, I was doing 120 when I then went for the exit, with one car 3 seconds in front.
The motorway exist was a tight right hander, so when the lead car disappeared around the bend,
the Merc didn't see a vehicle, so accelerated started to acclr from 70 to 120 target, towards armco!
Wifey wasn't pleased...
6. Does it work in stop-start traffic?
Yes.
Edited by SirBlade on Saturday 29th November 19:15
Edited by SirBlade on Saturday 29th November 19:31
I have it on my XF.
Going to buck the trend here, but I hate it. But then again, I live in Dubai, one of the worst places for driving there is, and it often slams on the brakes when the nearest car is miles away. That's on the shortest of settings. I never use it now....just feels like I have too little control of the cars actions.
Going to buck the trend here, but I hate it. But then again, I live in Dubai, one of the worst places for driving there is, and it often slams on the brakes when the nearest car is miles away. That's on the shortest of settings. I never use it now....just feels like I have too little control of the cars actions.
Chilli said:
I have it on my XF.
Going to buck the trend here, but I hate it. But then again, I live in Dubai, one of the worst places for driving there is, and it often slams on the brakes when the nearest car is miles away. That's on the shortest of settings. I never use it now....just feels like I have too little control of the cars actions.
Jag?Going to buck the trend here, but I hate it. But then again, I live in Dubai, one of the worst places for driving there is, and it often slams on the brakes when the nearest car is miles away. That's on the shortest of settings. I never use it now....just feels like I have too little control of the cars actions.
I hate it.
For me the idea of cruise control is you keep a constant speed then overtake people you catch up to. With the active system you never catch people, you just slow down and follow them. Then speed up again when you pull in to the overtaking lane.
I couldn't figure out a way to have 'normal' cruise control on an XF. It seemed to be active or nothing.
For me the idea of cruise control is you keep a constant speed then overtake people you catch up to. With the active system you never catch people, you just slow down and follow them. Then speed up again when you pull in to the overtaking lane.
I couldn't figure out a way to have 'normal' cruise control on an XF. It seemed to be active or nothing.
I only ever use cruise control for 50 mph roadworks stretches (set at 54). For that use, I can see the benefit of active cruise. Today it would have been useful on the M1, with its current lengthy stretches of roadworks.
Edit: bizarre auto text crap
Edit: bizarre auto text crap
Edited by Zod on Saturday 29th November 21:37
blank said:
I hate it.
For me the idea of cruise control is you keep a constant speed then overtake people you catch up to. With the active system you never catch people, you just slow down and follow them. Then speed up again when you pull in to the overtaking lane.
I couldn't figure out a way to have 'normal' cruiser control on an XF. It seemed to be active or nothing.
Distronic Plus will drive at speed, and if you "catch" someone, you either follow at their speed,For me the idea of cruise control is you keep a constant speed then overtake people you catch up to. With the active system you never catch people, you just slow down and follow them. Then speed up again when you pull in to the overtaking lane.
I couldn't figure out a way to have 'normal' cruiser control on an XF. It seemed to be active or nothing.
or indicate and move into the over-taking lane. The act of indication and moving the wheel causes it to accelerate up to its max set speed if the path is clear. If the traffic slows or comes to a halt, so will the car. If the traffic moves away again, so will the car.
Edited by SirBlade on Saturday 29th November 19:33
I had a 14-plate Golf as a courtesy car recently, which had both the DSG gearbox and the adaptive cruise control.
In town, it's a brilliant combination. Absolutely brilliant. The car pretty much drives itself - it'll maintain the set distance from the car ahead whilst accelerating up to the desired speed, and will brake down to a standstill. All I had to do was touch the throttle to tell it to move off again, and steer.
On faster roads and particularly dual carriageways I'm less convinced. I found it disconcerting that it would still slow down for a slower vehicle ahead even when I'm indicating to move right and already halfway into the next lane. On the motorway I reverted to "ordinary" cruise control, which took some buggering about to find (I think I had to hold down one of the buttons to engage it).
I also drove a manual Golf with ACC when the Mk7 had just been introduced (early 2013 IIRC). With the manual gearbox it was pretty much pointless in town, and just as frustrating on motorways. On single carriageways this particular car also left what I considered to be insufficient distance to the vehicle ahead - but the newer example I drove more recently was much better in this respect.
In town, it's a brilliant combination. Absolutely brilliant. The car pretty much drives itself - it'll maintain the set distance from the car ahead whilst accelerating up to the desired speed, and will brake down to a standstill. All I had to do was touch the throttle to tell it to move off again, and steer.
On faster roads and particularly dual carriageways I'm less convinced. I found it disconcerting that it would still slow down for a slower vehicle ahead even when I'm indicating to move right and already halfway into the next lane. On the motorway I reverted to "ordinary" cruise control, which took some buggering about to find (I think I had to hold down one of the buttons to engage it).
I also drove a manual Golf with ACC when the Mk7 had just been introduced (early 2013 IIRC). With the manual gearbox it was pretty much pointless in town, and just as frustrating on motorways. On single carriageways this particular car also left what I considered to be insufficient distance to the vehicle ahead - but the newer example I drove more recently was much better in this respect.
andrewparker said:
^^ Did you not use the button that controls the distance between you and the vehicle in front?
Yep!The interface seemed slightly different on the newer car - I think it offered more choice of distances, and the display wasn't quite as I remembered from the earlier car. It certainly was less keen to tailgate.
Having never owned such a car, but does it expain why i follow cars on the motorway that endlessly applies their brakes every 20 or 30 seconds in moderate traffic?
Whereas i have normal cruise turned off and just lift of a little to maintain a gap without needed to touch my brakes.
Whereas i have normal cruise turned off and just lift of a little to maintain a gap without needed to touch my brakes.
Edited by eliot on Saturday 29th November 23:33
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