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I have been a Dodge tech for 24 years until I retired in 2011. We had the adaptive cruise on our cars. Course you have to be over 30 mph for it to work and our cars have a laser sensor that can be adjusted. The only time you really need to adjust is if the car gets hit. It will keep about 3 car lenths from the car in front of you and if you get to close it will apply the brakes by using part of the anti-lock brake/stability system. The manual says it will not STOP the car it will only slow it down as after it slows under 30 mph the cruise kicks off. I think some people actually thought it would stop the car completely ! The Caravans also are using a blind spot module system as I was the first tech who had to fix one. It tells you when cars are in your blind spot as it has infrared sensors behind the 1/4 panels that sense thru the metal. Tricky sytem for us techs as Dodge did not have the diagnostics out yet for it when I had to fix one but I figured it out. So many electronic systems that are coming out and I am sure it will keep up as the car manufacters try to out due each other with the best technology. I do believe they will drive themselfs one day as they all have electronic throttle control now as the adaptive cruise has to use that also. Its funny but when you smash the gas pedal you are just pushing down on sensors telling the computer what you want and the computer decide's if its ok for the amout of throttle you want. Ron
I drive a 2012 International Pro Star+ truck tractor with the Meritor On Guard interactive cruise control. For me, it's a mixed blessing. I do believe that it GREATLY lessens the chance of me rear-ending the vehicle in front of me in an emergency. And it's quite a revelation seeing how much space we SHOULD be leaving in front of us vs. the amount we actually do. My truck is governed to 64 mph. I mostly drive at night on interstate and lightly traveled two lane U.S. and state highways. So I use it a fair amount. Interactive cruise control is not that commonly used in the large truckload carrier fleets. Yet. So, right now at least, I don't see it as a big issue. But I'm wondering about the day when large numbers of trucks are so-equipped and, on a two lane interstate highway, we truckers get slowed down SO much that it becomes a frustrating, dangerous game of "leap-frog" as the slowest trucks in the rear move to the passing lane to get ahead.
My interactive cruise works reasonably well but my issues with it are:
1. Stops working when snow/ice block the front sensor. I don't engage the cruise in inclement weather, but it's a great thing to have in fog and just generally tell how fast the traffic is moving ahead of you.
2. The sensor will sometimes "detect" an object in front of my truck like a Jersey barrier when the highway curves or a vehicle in the next lane in a curve. You haven't lived uless you've been at the wheel of a truck and have the brakes slam on at 50% (max cruise control application)
Some of the newer, more sophisticated systems can be used in stop-and-go traffic. You do have to tap the accelerator to go again after coming to a complete stop, and it won't stop for traffic lights, but other than that they don't do a bad job of driving the car.
New Mercedes also have a thing that grades your driving style. The car gave itself a grade of 46% (about the same score the average driver will get). So a person can still drive the car much more efficiently if they want to.
I see this feature on a lot of cars. It just doesn't seem to offer any value unless you do a lot of road trips. I can't see how this feature would be helpful in daily traffic. Perhaps I'm wrong though. Can someone lend their opinion on this feature.
On the contrary, I think a fully adaptable cruise control systems -- the type that can come all the way down to a complete stop if need be -- would be a tremendous asset for those of us who fight stop-and-go traffic on a daily basis. I'd absolutely love to have fully adaptive cruise control in my car. Even when traffic is moving it would still good to have in dense traffic that sometimes experiences wave patterns of faster/slower speeds and can help maintain or re-establish a safe following distance quickly if someone squeezes themselves in between you and the car in front of you that you had erstwhile been keeping a safe distance from.
Anyway, this is definitely not a fad, and in fact this is just one more component of what will eventually be autonomous driving systems. Audi has announced it expects to have autonomous driving systems ready to deploy as early as 2016 that can drive the car itself in speeds up to 37mph (I believe the system relies on road markings so its effectiveness would depend on how well the lanes are marked). I think as fully adaptive cruise control systems and/or autonomous driving systems reach a critical mass, they can greatly improve traffic flow by reducing stop-and-go wave propagation.
No thanks. There is nothing wrong with regular cruise control. If you cant pay attention enough to know when you are getting too close to the car ahead of you, then you really shouldnt be driving. or at least not driving at the speed that you are.
I want an opt out. I want to be able to select what IS and IS NOT put into my car. Damn "packages" the auto makers are shoving down our throats turns a perfectly good vehicle into an annoying PITA.
Last one was auto on wipers. WTF. I KNOW when to turn my damn wipers on and when not to. I KNOW when I want them full blast or just intermittent. I dont need some computer telling me when i HAVE to. Sometimes Technology is a royal PAIN to deal with. I dont need protection from myself.
I've never experienced adaptive cruise control but the concept is good in my opinion. From those who have it (the BMW version anyway), they say it works well. For traffic situations you don't have to hold the brakes and release every few feet to inch up. I have auto hold and that keeps the brakes down at red lights so I don't have to hold it. It sounds gimmicky at first but once you get used to it, you will like it. It's not about "not being capable enough" to drive the car. It's about simplifying things for the driver. Tapping the brakes once and leaving it to keep the car stopped sounds like it's doing just that. Same with auto-wipers and auto-headlights... set once and forget. Even if it means more electronics.
Its part of the slow progress to self driving cars. We already have auto brake, lane departure warning and correction, all sorts of anti skid and stability control devices, traction control etc. All of these are enabling technologies. Its only a matter of time before self driving cars become the norm.
I see all of these as things that make drivers complacent. Say you learn to drive but depend on adaptive cruise control, or a blind spot warning system. What happens if it doesn't work one day? "Well I didn't see a light in my rear view mirror, so I didn't know there was a car in my blind spot."
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobRiguez
No thanks. There is nothing wrong with regular cruise control. If you cant pay attention enough to know when you are getting too close to the car ahead of you, then you really shouldnt be driving. or at least not driving at the speed that you are.
I want an opt out. I want to be able to select what IS and IS NOT put into my car. Damn "packages" the auto makers are shoving down our throats turns a perfectly good vehicle into an annoying PITA.
Last one was auto on wipers. WTF. I KNOW when to turn my damn wipers on and when not to. I KNOW when I want them full blast or just intermittent. I dont need some computer telling me when i HAVE to. Sometimes Technology is a royal PAIN to deal with. I dont need protection from myself.
Having used a system for 6 months, knowing its limits, and having rear-ended someone in distant past, i can say that the modern radar-based ACCs with a camera are really good, especially staying in 1 lane. Such systems (Tesla's TACC and Distronic Plus) are quite good at reacting to people cutting me off. I especially like that sometimes TACC sees a car ahead, due to low placement of the sensor. So it reacts way better in case i'm following a big SUV that blocks my view. Even if i'm not using AAC, it still monitors situation ahead and alerts me if the car [or two] in front of me suddenly brakes. I have compiled a list of passenger cars, equipped with such systems: http://eugenegti.com/api/mainpage
I actually have a vehicle with adaptive cruise control and I have actually used it at highway speed and in stop and go traffic. As has been mentioned, there is basic adaptive cruise control and there is adaptive cruise control with stop/start functionality. Basic ACC cuts out when speed decreases to about 30 mph. So it's only good at highway speed. ACC w stop/start functionality will bring the vehicle to a complete stop. And when the vehicle in front of you starts up again, so will you. There is a safety limitation to this. After three seconds you will hear a soft chime. This indicates that you must tap "Resume" in order to start up again. The reason is that in the event you have become distracted, your vehicle doesn't move forward with you not paying attention. I like ACC at highway speeds because you constantly have 18 wheelers passing each other, which can take several minutes. So there is no going around. ACC paces me until the left lane is clear again. But where ACC with S/S functionality really shines is in bumper to bumper traffic. My experience is in SoCal traffic. I can come in on I-10 and go all the way to Thousand Oaks without having to touch the brake or gas. During rush hour. My experience is that you're usually moving and only come to complete stop for more than three seconds a few times. Once you drive 80 to 100 miles in SoCal traffic using ACC with stop/start, you'll never want to go back to a car without it. It makes to drive so much more relaxed. So if you're in the market for a new car, make sure it has adaptive cruise control with stop/start functionality. And don't listen to the salesman. They'll tell you anything to sell a car. I actually had one tell a particular model had it, when I knew it didn't. Do your research.
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