Adaptive Cruise Control

[Seabee1973]

No question there.



We begin to differ here, and my concern is that if you don't have to always directly control your spacing in briskly moving traffic you could have a tendency to become a little slack in that respect. I'm not looking at this as being a guaranteed end result, just a percentage-play kind of thing that to me is in the wrong direction.

I see what you're saying about somebody suddenly cutting in front of you, with the concern that one's first thought could be that something went wrong with his car when it did something unexpected.

I firmly believe that overtaking should be a 100% voluntary, 100% driver-controlled action. Not a default result of moving to an empty lane where with a higher speed setting the car takes over and does what it assumes you wanted it to do. There are times when for good reason I will either pause before passing or accelerate a good bit more briskly than any programmed acceleration.


I suppose that might be possible in a sit-up-tall minivan, SUV, or truck, but I can't see any reasonable alternative places for your right foot in a car where you sit as low as you do in a Mustang. Dunno, maybe that means I've found a better seat position for me than others have for them?


I am assuming that a car smart enough to apply the brakes is also smart enough to cut power so that it isn't working against itself. Even TC systems work both the power and the brakes under some circumstances.


I think we'll have to agree to disagree.


Norm

Just to let you know... acc is not going to brake for you... deceleration is not just going to happen because some Jackwagon slows down after getting in front.... your car is still going to coast to speed relying on the engine braking to slow down and that specifically I can guarantee you will be braking... positive control is the key and not relying on tech to do it for you. I know I quoted you but it is more to the other guy...

Sponsored

 

[Helios1234]

I firmly believe that overtaking should be a 100% voluntary, 100% driver-controlled action. Not a default result of moving to an empty lane where with a higher speed setting the car takes over and does what it assumes you wanted it to do. There are times when for good reason I will either pause before passing or accelerate a good bit more briskly than any programmed acceleration.

For proper overtaking, I agree. It's more if you want to get to the speed you intended to go at where the car in front might not allow you to. Not necessarily overtaking as such. Again it really depends on what the road situation is. There are some good videos out there showing exactly how ACC can help.

I suppose that might be possible in a sit-up-tall minivan, SUV, or truck, but I can't see any reasonable alternative places for your right foot in a car where you sit as low as you do in a Mustang. Dunno, maybe that means I've found a better seat position for me than others have for them?

My Mondeo had a fair bit of space and RHD may have helped!

I think we'll have to agree to disagree.

Ha, probably

 

[Helios1234]

Just to let you know... acc is not going to brake for you... deceleration is not just going to happen because some Jackwagon slows down after getting in front.... your car is still going to coast to speed relying on the engine braking to slow down and that specifically I can guarantee you will be braking... positive control is the key and not relying on tech to do it for you. I know I quoted you but it is more to the other guy...

The car will brake for you though. As an example in my dad's Mondeo with just standard CC, if you set the speed to say 50mph and you start driving down a slope, the car will brake to maintain the speed, and you can physically feel the brake being applied under your foot! And it's also why ACC has collision mitigation system built in. If the car in front of you brakes hard, and for some reason the driver isn't aware or hasn't reacted in time, the car will warn you so the driver can react and brake harder. It will also pre-charge the brake in that situation. But ACC is also a safety measure because it makes you drive with a lengthy/safe gap behind the car in front. This gap is more than enough for you to react and come to a stop should the car in front do something stupid.

ACC is a genuine driver aid, not a distraction or something to make you complacent. But there's a degree of common sense that still needs to be present when it's in use.

Again though, I'm not saying everyone should spec this. I'm just addressing those who are criticising it without not knowing what it really does.

 

[Seabee1973]

The car will brake for you though. As an example in my dad's Mondeo with just standard CC, if you set the speed to say 50mph and you start driving down a slope, the car will brake to maintain the speed, and you can physically feel the brake being applied under your foot! And it's also why ACC has collision mitigation system built in. If the car in front of you brakes hard, and for some reason the driver isn't aware or hasn't reacted in time, the car will warn you so the driver can react and brake harder. It will also pre-charge the brake in that situation. But ACC is also a safety measure because it makes you drive with a lengthy/safe gap behind the car in front. This gap is more than enough for you to react and come to a stop should the car in front do something stupid.

ACC is a genuine driver aid, not a distraction or something to make you complacent. But there's a degree of common sense that still needs to be present when it's in use.

Again though, I'm not saying everyone should spec this. I'm just addressing those who are criticising it without not knowing what it really does.

This will NOT brake for you... read it up in the owners manual for the mustang... it only precharges the brake system

 

[wilkinda65]

I have adaptive cruise on my Fusion. When driving on the highway and a car cuts in-between you and the car in front of you and changes the spacing you selected between and the car in front of you it WILL brake and slow you down. the collision avoidance system is what pre-charges your brakes but DOES NOT brake for you.

 

[Helios1234]

I have adaptive cruise on my Fusion. When driving on the highway and a car cuts in-between you and the car in front of you and changes the spacing you selected between and the car in front of you it WILL brake and slow you down. the collision avoidance system is what pre-charges your brakes but DOES NOT brake for you.

This!

 

[methodfilter]

This will NOT brake for you... read it up in the owners manual for the mustang... it only precharges the brake system

Oh it definitely puts on the breaks, been cut off a few times by slow moving cars and had the Explorer slow down rapidly.

 

[Esfoad]

I think some of you are mixing up 2 very different systems. The Adaptive Cruise Control uses the front radar to determine distance from your vehicle to the one in front. If someone cuts in front of you or if traffic suddenly slows or stops it will apply the brakes. The other system is the Collision Avoidance System. This is the one with the bright red LED lights and an audible sound that warns of possible danger ahead. This system does NOT apply the brakes, it pre-charges them so they react quicker when/if you apply the brakes. My 2010 SHO has both systems and I'm pretty sure the operation is the same on newer Fords. But it is 2 completely independent systems.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

This will NOT brake for you... read it up in the owners manual for the mustang... it only precharges the brake system

That's obnoxious if it's true. I would think the most useful time to have ACC would be in stop-and-go traffic, where you're going ten mph half the time and stopped dead the other half of the time, where you could just set yourself to be ten or fifteen feet behind the car in front of you and then leave your feet off the brake and the accelerator and just let the car itself handle the creeping forward while you sit behind some construction logjam for the next hour.

Of course, that would only work in a car with an automatic, not a manual.

 

[FiveLiterDreamer]

I think some of you are mixing up 2 very different systems. The Adaptive Cruise Control uses the front radar to determine distance from your vehicle to the one in front. If someone cuts in front of you or if traffic suddenly slows or stops it will apply the brakes. The other system is the Collision Avoidance System. This is the one with the bright red LED lights and an audible sound that warns of possible danger ahead. This system does NOT apply the brakes, it pre-charges them so they react quicker when/if you apply the brakes. My 2010 SHO has both systems and I'm pretty sure the operation is the same on newer Fords. But it is 2 completely independent systems.

This is correct they are two seperate systems to my knowledge there is not a way to get one without the other at this time. The ACC can slow the vehicle down to a speed of I believe 20 MPH before driver intervention is required (this is when collision avoidance kicks in)

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

This is correct they are two seperate systems to my knowledge there is not a way to get one without the other at this time. The ACC can slow the vehicle down to a speed of I believe 20 MPH before driver intervention is required (this is when collision avoidance kicks in)

Yeah, that seems dumb. Why shouldn't you be able to just set it for, say, 40 mph, and then let it handle all the acceleration and braking on the rest of your commute? Unless you're the first car at a red light, I suppose.

 

[Seabee1973]

The system does not apply brakes....lol. it uses the engine braking to slow the vehicle down... in other words... it lets off the gas much like when you are going down a hill with cc engaged but gravity makes you go faster... or going up hills where the gas is applied.... some down shifting occurs depending on the grade

 

[Seabee1973]

It uses the adaptive part, radar to get you spacing and speed and the adjustments related to that.... there are systems that do brake for you though that I have seen on the infinity and a few other cars but this system it's not one of them

 

[Seabee1973]

Another thing... if you are one of those people that are using this adaptive cruise control especially in stop and go traffic...PLEASE STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!! In this situation it is downright pathetic not to have positive control of your car.... especially when using it in less than preferred weather conditions and in this case, I will be in my truck...the damage to your shiny new mustang will definitely be the whole top part of the hood...

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Another thing... if you are one of those people that are using this adaptive cruise control especially in stop and go traffic...PLEASE STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!! In this situation it is downright pathetic not to have positive control of your car.... especially when using it in less than preferred weather conditions and in this case, I will be in my truck...the damage to your shiny new mustang will definitely be the whole top part of the hood...

Cruise Control of any kind should never be used in adverse weather conditions. If you start to lose grip on the pavement, you need to be in perfect control of the drive wheels and the steering immediately; cruise control is in no way whatsoever suited for those conditions. I always shut off cruise control at even a hint of rain.

But when you're sitting in regular-old rush hour traffic, like this, where you never get over 10 mph for hours at a time, the type where you don't hit the gas pedal for two hours because you never go fast enough to get above idle, ACC would be a godsend:

Sponsored