Cruise control

[Gliderpilot]

Hi all

When and in which models did they fit traffic aware (adaptive) cruise control, looking ahead to my next upgrade.

Cheers.

[Rutlandlex]

I have no idea but I just hope it's better than the VW system which is the only one I have personal experience of.  Say you were on a dual carriageway in lane 1, the car would start to slow down when there is another vehicle miles in front so the only way to maintain speed was to pull out into lane 2.  This meant that if the car that you were overtaking was only slightly slower than you it would take quite a while to catch and pass them.

In the meantime there could be a few cars that catch you up sitting behind wondering why you pulled out so early.  You could adjust the distance between you and the car in front to shorten the distance before it started slowing down but even on the minimum setting it was slowing down far too early.  I ended up giving up and only used it when the roads were very quiet.

It's certainly not a feature that I miss nor is the automatic emergency braking that used the same radar.  Other systems might work better but I just think that all of this technology makes drivers lazy and less skilled.  If you want it though you have it.

[Zotto]

If you are overtaking you can press accelerator and drive your car till the end of overtaking, then leave pedal and cruise restores.

[jumpingjehovahs]

I have a 2010 450h SE-L Premier which has Adaptive Cruise.

I agree with the above poster that on motorways it’s an absolutely pain, does my head in. However on 40/50/60 mph straight (ish) A-roads it’s a dream. I could definitely live without it, but it’s a nice thing to have now and then.


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[Rutlandlex]

12 minutes ago, Zotto said:

If you are overtaking you can press accelerator and drive your car till the end of overtaking, then leave pedal and cruise restores.

Yes you can and that's what I ended up doing before giving up on it.  It just felt like a retrograde step because a car with normal cruise control would have continued to cruise up behind them then I can overtake when I'm ready without having to accelerate.

[Zotto]

In RX 450h if you really need, it's possible to switch from adaptive cruise control to "traditional" , accordingly to instruction manual. Don't ask me how , I just gave a look time ago.

[jumpingjehovahs]

In RX 450h if you really need, it's possible to switch from adaptive cruise control to "traditional" , accordingly to instruction manual. Don't ask me how , I just gave a look time ago.

Quite right, and this is what I do. I don’t know about the latest model, but my 2010 has the little ‘joystick’ cruise control stalk on the bottom left on the steering wheel. Once you’ve turned CC on, you just push the stalk back for 3 seconds and it changes to regular CC. The car always biased to Radar Cruise whenever you press the Cruise On button.


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[Odysseus]

On 12/13/2018 at 12:24 PM, Gliderpilot said:

Hi all

When and in which models did they fit traffic aware (adaptive) cruise control, looking ahead to my next upgrade.

Cheers.

On the RX450s from 2009, it was an option, and was part of the same option pack that includes the HUD - these cars seem to sell for a significant premium over the other SE-L models based on my research to date.  I think it was standard fit from around 2015 or whenever there was the new model.

I have adaptive cruise on my GS450 and I love it.  Occasionally I wish it would return to the set speed a bit quicker once the slower car moves out of my path, but that might just be the latent BMW driver in me... 🙂

[welland]

I have a 2006 rx400h which has only the standard cruise control.  

My observations of the system on my car are that it can be a little lazy to apply throttle on undulating roads when I've just got to the bottom of a dip.  The car slows below the set speed before it applies throttle. Then it applies a lot of throttle and overshoots the set speed a little before it settles back at the correct speed.

On other cars I've owned, they respond quicker and avoid the loss of speed.

[Gliderpilot]

Yup mine does the same, they need to upgrade the algorithm, but it's only by about 1 mph but it is noticeable.

[Zotto]

It's less noticeable applying eco mode.

[Britprius]

2 hours ago, welland said:

I have a 2006 rx400h which has only the standard cruise control.  

My observations of the system on my car are that it can be a little lazy to apply throttle on undulating roads when I've just got to the bottom of a dip.  The car slows below the set speed before it applies throttle. Then it applies a lot of throttle and overshoots the set speed a little before it settles back at the correct speed.

On other cars I've owned, they respond quicker and avoid the loss of speed.

I have a GS450H, and this also exhibits the same symptoms as you describe to the point of being unnerving at times. I once had a Mazda  626, and this had a three position switch on the cruise ECU under the passengers seat to choose the level of response.

It also had a similar function on the hydraulic power steering ECU to adjust the level of power assist. This is something I would like on the GS to reduce the amount of PS assist.

John.

[Rutlandlex]

On 12/27/2018 at 11:51 AM, welland said:

I have a 2006 rx400h which has only the standard cruise control.  

My observations of the system on my car are that it can be a little lazy to apply throttle on undulating roads when I've just got to the bottom of a dip.  The car slows below the set speed before it applies throttle. Then it applies a lot of throttle and overshoots the set speed a little before it settles back at the correct speed.

On other cars I've owned, they respond quicker and avoid the loss of speed.

Mine is like this too.  I think that there are 2 issues here, 1 is that the system is slow to respond to the decrease in speed and 2 when it does it takes quite a lot of revs to increase the speed uphill due to the CVT transmission.  Whereas in a manual, DCT or regular auto where there is a direct mechanical locking of engine and transmission there isn't in the CVT so what you experience is the elastic band effect.  An improved response time would help to offset it though.

[Odysseus]

It might be my imagination but my GS seems more willing to accelerate back to the set cruise speed if I’m going in a straight line. If there’s any steering angle applied, even moderately, the acceleration is far more (frustratingly so?) gentle.

This is very safe, after all you don’t want too much throttle in a bend, but on most roads I’m well within the limits of adhesion, and if I wasn’t I don’t think I’d be using cruise control!

Anyone else noticed this?


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