Adaptive Cruise Control

[deeps29]

I believe it sense the slower car in front of you and slows you down until it no longer sense that car, then cruise control returns you to the pre-set speed from before.

People can correct me if I am wrong!

Yes. ACC slows down your car up to 20 mph (as in case of Ford's ACC). After that ACC kicks out of cruising mode and CMS takes over if driver does not react in time. However I'm not sure if Ford's system applies brake autonomously or not (to bring vehicle to full stop).

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[scottpe]

So I decided to do some rough calculations on my own, based on my average driving speeds on both city streets and freeway in my area.

The average times I've been finding for a driver to actually engage the brake pedal once a threat is recognized is between .25 and .75 seconds (this probably depends on age and physical ability). So let's assume the 'best case' scenario of .25 seconds.

The description of the Collision Mitigation feature implies that, upon detection of an imminent collision, the brakes are pre-charged and begin to be applied the instant the driver lets off the throttle. So based on this, the assumption is that the system effectively will decrease the time required to apply the brakes by ~.25 seconds.

So based on that, I arrived at the following:

Highway: average speed 75mph = 109.1 feet per second x .25 seconds = 27.28 feet saved by this feature.

City: average speed 45mph = 65.5 feet per second x .25 seconds = 16.38 feet saved by this feature.

IMO, those are significant numbers, and EASILY could mean the difference between a collision and driving away unharmed. Even if you cut those numbers in half, it's still pretty significant if you ask me.

 

[RisingForce]

So I decided to do some rough calculations on my own, based on my average driving speeds on both city streets and freeway in my area.

The average times I've been finding for a driver to actually engage the brake pedal once a threat is recognized is between .25 and .75 seconds (this probably depends on age and physical ability). So let's assume the 'best case' scenario of .25 seconds.

The description of the Collision Mitigation feature implies that, upon detection of an imminent collision, the brakes are pre-charged and begin to be applied the instant the driver lets off the throttle. So based on this, the assumption is that the system effectively will decrease the time required to apply the brakes by ~.25 seconds.

So based on that, I arrived at the following:

Highway: average speed 75mph = 109.1 feet per second x .25 seconds = 27.28 feet saved by this feature.

City: average speed 45mph = 65.5 feet per second x .25 seconds = 16.38 feet saved by this feature.

IMO, those are significant numbers, and EASILY could mean the difference between a collision and driving away unharmed. Even if you cut those numbers in half, it's still pretty significant if you ask me.

Wish it also worked when a deer jumped in front of you. Would have helped alot with my 13 SHO. :doh::headbonk:

 

[scottpe]

So I decided to do some rough calculations on my own, based on my average driving speeds on both city streets and freeway in my area.

The average times I've been finding for a driver to actually engage the brake pedal once a threat is recognized is between .25 and .75 seconds (this probably depends on age and physical ability). So let's assume the 'best case' scenario of .25 seconds.

The description of the Collision Mitigation feature implies that, upon detection of an imminent collision, the brakes are pre-charged and begin to be applied the instant the driver lets off the throttle. So based on this, the assumption is that the system effectively will decrease the time required to apply the brakes by ~.25 seconds.

So based on that, I arrived at the following:

Highway: average speed 75mph = 109.1 feet per second x .25 seconds = 27.28 feet saved by this feature.

City: average speed 45mph = 65.5 feet per second x .25 seconds = 16.38 feet saved by this feature.

IMO, those are significant numbers, and EASILY could mean the difference between a collision and driving away unharmed. Even if you cut those numbers in half, it's still pretty significant if you ask me.

A thought I wanted to add is that even if the system does not prevent a collision it still will have started slowing the car down sooner, which means the vehicle will be traveling at a lower speed when the collision occurs, likely reducing the severity of the impact. A few MPH can be the difference between life and death or serious injury in some collisions...

It's definitely all food for thought.

 

[Grimace427]

So I decided to do some rough calculations on my own, based on my average driving speeds on both city streets and freeway in my area.

The average times I've been finding for a driver to actually engage the brake pedal once a threat is recognized is between .25 and .75 seconds (this probably depends on age and physical ability). So let's assume the 'best case' scenario of .25 seconds.

The description of the Collision Mitigation feature implies that, upon detection of an imminent collision, the brakes are pre-charged and begin to be applied the instant the driver lets off the throttle. So based on this, the assumption is that the system effectively will decrease the time required to apply the brakes by ~.25 seconds.

So based on that, I arrived at the following:

Highway: average speed 75mph = 109.1 feet per second x .25 seconds = 27.28 feet saved by this feature.

City: average speed 45mph = 65.5 feet per second x .25 seconds = 16.38 feet saved by this feature.

IMO, those are significant numbers, and EASILY could mean the difference between a collision and driving away unharmed. Even if you cut those numbers in half, it's still pretty significant if you ask me.

While I don't know the specifics of the Ford system, from what I've learned on Adaptive Cruise from other OEM's is that it isn't to avoid the collision altogether but rather to reduce the impact should the driver completely fail to react to the impending situation.

When in traffic, the system can react to some changes on the road such as slowing vehicles and respond by slowing the vehicle even to a complete stop. However if an object suddenly appears in front of your vehicle the system will only attemp to alert you until a preset distance/time to collision before acting and applying the brakes. At that point the collision is inevitable but the system can at least attempt to reduce the severity of the collision.

To say the system reacts faster than a normal driver isn't quite accurate because the engineers design it to keep the driver in as much control as possible and only act when it is clear the driver won't/can't.

 

[Grimace427]

A thought I wanted to add is that even if the system does not prevent a collision it still will have started slowing the car down sooner, which means the vehicle will be traveling at a lower speed when the collision occurs, likely reducing the severity of the impact. A few MPH can be the difference between life and death or serious injury in some collisions...

It's definitely all food for thought.

I agree.

 

[scottpe]

I agree.

Funny. We were basically typing the same thought at the same time. Great minds... ;)

 

[Grimace427]

Funny. We were basically typing the same thought at the same time. Great minds... ;)

Indeed.

 

[souprmage]

I believe the feature will impact insurance rates to some degree, so it's a plus. If it prevents an accident, it's a huge plus.

The other parts are less interesting to me, but cool toys, so what the hell. I'm in!

 

[GiddyUp15]

Not singling you out, but rain sensing wipers??? How lazy have we become as drivers?

When I bought my Fusion, I thought rain-sensing wipers, BLIS, and rear camera were lazy and pointless, but I had to get them in a package to get heated seats...but now that I have them, I love them!

1. When driving in heavy rain/snow on highway, and you go by a semi and it dumps a bunch of rain/snow on your windshield (or on a regular road when a car going the other way dumps a bunch on you)...I can't believe how fast the rain sensing wiper react! They go on full-blast right away and I can concentrate on driving with both hands on the wheel. I hate driving rental cars that don't have this. Even just driving in rain when you approach another car and have to constantly change the wiper speed...it's just nice to not have to concentrate on those things and pay more attention to my phone (JK...I mean the ROAD!)

2. BLIS is a nice back-up to checking the blind spot, though i still use the blind spot mirror (on driver's side anyway). The part I like most is the cross-traffic alert when backing out of a parking spot or driveway...it has saved my ass (and my car's ass!) several times now.

3. Rear camera is also great for backing out of areas, and now that I have a little trailer for my Fusion to haul random stuff every now and then, backing up with it is great.

I've never used ACC, but I could see the benefit, and I love techie stuff anyway so I want to get everything on my new car

FYI...to the OP...it is "brakes" not "breaks"...sorry, I used to be a brake engineer so that mistake always grinds my gears

 

[TheOneDoubleN]

 

[GiddyUp15]

LMAO...that's EXACTLY where I got that from :lock1:

 

[souprmage]

GiddyUp, that's some good information. I hadn't thought of all those, but makes me glad I added that to my package more than just the collision mitigation aspect. Esp, considering how much it rains in Oregon.

 

[Old 5 Oh]

This is why I will be getting a 300A rather than a 400A or 401A. All these @&^#$ toys bug the snot out of me! Leading the list is Automatic Temperature Control. Which is NOT automatic, nor does it control the temperature to my taste. It's ALWAYS doing the wrong thing. I have had it on consectutive vehicles: 2002 Mountaineer, 2004 Infiniti G35, 2007 Lincoln MKZ. I will not be having it on my 2015 Mustang.

 

[GiddyUp15]

This is why I will be getting a 300A rather than a 400A or 401A. All these @&^#$ toys bug the snot out of me! Leading the list is Automatic Temperature Control. Which is NOT automatic, nor does it control the temperature to my taste. It's ALWAYS doing the wrong thing. I have had it on consectutive vehicles: 2002 Mountaineer, 2004 Infiniti G35, 2007 Lincoln MKZ. I will not be having it on my 2015 Mustang.

I think they work much better than they used to. My wife's 98 Accord isn't the greatest at it, but my Fusion (2011) works great...plus the two zones are great for when your wife isn't happy with your temperature choice

I hate in the winter in any other car when I blast the heat and then driving down the road I all of the sudden start sweating, then you have to dick around with the temp and fan settings every now and then. I never mess with it in my Fusion...just leave it at the same temperature everyday...the only time I turn it off is if it is windows-down weather.

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