Adaptive Cruise Control

14968 Views 35 Replies 11 Participants Last post by Grasshopper, Mar 28, 2018

Swdea

Discussion Starter · Feb 4, 2018

My wife has a 2012 Audi A6 with adaptive cruise control. I hate it. Sometimes it slows the car down if there is a car next to it. Even though you can adjust the distance of the sensitivity, in my opinion it's annoyingly sensitive. How is the 718 adaptive cruise control? Is it over sensitive? My order is in and I am within the window to make changes and am having last minute second thoughts.

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Mrrippry

· #2 · Feb 4, 2018

I have and never use it. I like have full control of car.

Rippey

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trusted

· #3 · Feb 4, 2018

Don't have ACC on my Cayman. But in general the systems came a long way since 2012. Drove a Macan, Levante and new CX5 all with adaptive cruise control. Worked reasonably well in all three with the Levante surprisingly having the best system imho. That being said I don't see the benefit of ACC in any sports car unless you do a lot of multi lane highway/freeway driving with it. But why would you do that in a 718?

Reactions: 1

Ironman

· #4 · Feb 4, 2018

trusted said:
But why would you do that in a 718?

Exactly! Porsche makes this technology available in the 718 and 911 models, at significant cost to the buyer, because it has already been developed for their SUV and Panamera models. So for them it's pure profit for each 718 ordered with ACC.

It's easy to get carried away and forget that Configurator dollars are real dollars. Would you open your wallet and hand a dealer $1670 cash for ACC? If it's really worth it to you then that's perfectly fine. Also options depreciate much faster than the car itself.

johan

· #5 · Feb 4, 2018

I had ACC on my 718B and it worked good and with out any hickups.
Good sensitivity and range so it worked, but i never used it....

Grasshopper

· #6 · Mar 19, 2018

I've got ACC on my new 718 Cayman (which I've only just bought). Unfortunately I've yet to get it to work. I tried it out yesterday and it flatly refused to play ball - after I pushed the button and took my foot off the accelerator the car just slowed down! Great. I've been wondering if pushing the button doesn't actually activate the cruise control. It talks in the manual about making the ACC "ready". Do you have to flip the stalk up to "resume" it to get it actually working? I'll try it out when the snow clears - currently snowed in. So much for global warming. If you have to flip the resume stalk then I suggest that Porsche stop calling it "resume" and call it activate or something - and rewrite the manual too. On every other car I've used pushing the button is sufficient to get C/C working.

Whether it'll be useful or not I don't know yet, but I mainly bought it because you get PAS (Porsche active safe), which may save the odd bump or two - only has to save one bump to pay for the ACC. Also when you deduct cost of normal C/C the ACC option on the 718 is quite cheap - exactly the same kit costs double that on a 911.

One possible problem with ACC comes to mind. I notice that the useless manual says that ACC doesn't work in heavy rain or poor visibility. Why not? I thought that was one thing about radar that it penetrated raindrops and fog etc. The radio still works in rain after all. Also, if the ACC kit decides unilaterally to not play ball because of inclement conditions does the ACC default to ordinary C/C so that you can still cruise without pressing the throttle? Or does it mean that you simply don't have C/C. If so then that is a real bummer.

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JakiChan

· #7 · Mar 19, 2018

I'd heard a rumor that PAS/ACC is a no-no if you want to track the car. Like some clubs won't let you track at all if you have those options.

johan

· #8 · Mar 19, 2018

JakiChan said:
I'd heard a rumor that PAS/ACC is a no-no if you want to track the car. Like some clubs won't let you track at all if you have those options.

Could be that some systems brakes even if the system is not on.
My wife´s VW Golf does that if you push it hard in to corners and there is a guard rail, **** dangerous if you ask me...

Grasshopper

· #9 · Mar 19, 2018

johan said:
Could be that some systems brakes even if the system is not on.
My wife´s VW Golf does that if you push it hard in to corners and there is a guard rail, **** dangerous if you ask me...

ACC on the 718 Cayman gives you two features both of which depend on the radar sensor located beneath the front number plate. The first feature is obviously the ACC itself, which allows the car to follow a car in front and brake down to a standstill (if necessary) and start off again. This is basically about stage 0.5 on the 5 stage car autonomy list - and this is about as far as Porsche have got so far. A standard Mini offers more.

Porsche ACC does not operate unless specifically selected - or, in my case, even when specifically selected. In other words it's OFF most of the time unless you manage to turn it on. No one in their right mind would turn it on when using the car on a track.

The other feature it offers is PAS (as I've said). This is ON all the time - according to Porsche anyway. I haven't yet been able to verify that, but I'll check it out because some of what Porsche say is not true in my experience. What this does is use the permanently active radar sensor to detect when the car is in danger of hitting the car in front and give an audible warning and prepares the brakes. If you persist in what the Porsche software thinks is dangerous driving it will give a jolt on the brakes. But it doesn't stop you - it just tries to make you aware of a possible problem. This seems reasonable to me.

Whether this actually works properly or not I have yet to find out. I can see the problems with the car taking control over from the driver because I was once given a Mercedes courtesy car which had a feature which tried to decide if you needed to an emergency stop by measuring how quickly you moved your foot from the accelerator to the brake. If you did it very quickly it immediately applied emergency brakes - which it did when I braked for roundabout. Seriously dangerous - they don't offer this feature any more. The Porsche's approach seems fairly cautious by comparison. My concern is that the PAS will kick in when I approach a corner - with a hedge behind it like a lot of country roads in the UK - at speed.

When I work out how to use it and the snow clears I'll report back.

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johan

· #10 · Mar 19, 2018

Grasshopper said:
ACC on the 718 Cayman gives you two features both of which depend on the radar sensor located beneath the front number plate. The first feature is obviously the ACC itself, which allows the car to follow a car in front and brake down to a standstill (if necessary) and start off again. This is basically about stage 0.5 on the 5 stage car autonomy list - and this is about as far as Porsche have got so far. A standard Mini offers more.

Porsche ACC does not operate unless specifically selected - or, in my case, even when specifically selected. In other words it's OFF most of the time unless you manage to turn it on. No one in their right mind would turn it on when using the car on a track.

The other feature it offers is PAS (as I've said). This is ON all the time - according to Porsche anyway. I haven't yet been able to verify that, but I'll check it out because some of what Porsche say is not true in my experience. What this does is use the permanently active radar sensor to detect when the car is in danger of hitting the car in front and give an audible warning and prepares the brakes. If you persist in what the Porsche software thinks is dangerous driving it will give a jolt on the brakes. But it doesn't stop you - it just tries to make you aware of a possible problem. This seems reasonable to me.

Whether this actually works properly or not I have yet to find out. I can see the problems with the car taking control over from the driver because I was once given a Mercedes courtesy car which had a feature which tried to decide if you needed to an emergency stop by measuring how quickly you moved your foot from the accelerator to the brake. If you did it very quickly it immediately applied emergency brakes - which it did when I braked for roundabout. Seriously dangerous - they don't offer this feature any more. The Porsche's approach seems fairly cautious by comparison. My concern is that the PAS will kick in when I approach a corner - with a hedge behind it like a lot of country roads in the UK - at speed.

When I work out how to use it and the snow clears I'll report back.

It happend to me once in my 718BS that had the radar, a car just turn in right in front of me an a quick jolt to the brakes was applied.
I did not have the ACC on at the moment.

The best thing to do is to try it out and se how the car behaves.

JakiChan

· #11 · Mar 19, 2018

Grasshopper said:
The other feature it offers is PAS (as I've said). This is ON all the time - according to Porsche anyway. I haven't yet been able to verify that, but I'll check it out because some of what Porsche say is not true in my experience. What this does is use the permanently active radar sensor to detect when the car is in danger of hitting the car in front and give an audible warning and prepares the brakes. If you persist in what the Porsche software thinks is dangerous driving it will give a jolt on the brakes. But it doesn't stop you - it just tries to make you aware of a possible problem. This seems reasonable to me.

The inability to turn it off is the problem, and why some clubs won't let you track a car with that feature. Unexpected breaking on the track is a really bad idea.

Plus, that Cylon eye thing is hella ugly.

Reactions: 1

Malcolm E Cay

· #12 · Mar 19, 2018

I have adaptive cruise control on my VW Passat company car.

Adaptive Cruise us the most hateful, spiteful development on any vehicle ever.

It is of no use whatsoever. Just makes people lazy and rely on the cars tech more and more rather than stay alert and drive the blooming car correctly.

I am not a fan.

Grasshopper

· #13 · Mar 20, 2018

JakiChan said:
The inability to turn it off is the problem, and why some clubs won't let you track a car with that feature. Unexpected breaking on the track is a really bad idea.

Plus, that Cylon eye thing is hella ugly.

You can barely see it unless you're looking for it. Get used to it because car autonomy is on the way - by legislation if necessary. I suspect that AEB (autonomous emergency braking) will become mandatory in the next few years. It's already on many cars, though not the Porsche. Everyone complained about seat belts when they were introduced but they don't complain now. They only have to save your life once for them to be worthwhile.

As for PAS it doesn't actually brake the car - like you say it gives a jolt preceded by an audible warning, so Porsche have stopped short of AEB. But as I've said I haven't yet used the car enough to comment on how well Porsche have implemented this feature. Presumably if better software becomes available it can be downloaded at some point - at least that's what Tesla do. As cars become more like computers more car manufacturers are going to have to start doing this. It may well be that ACC/PAS can be easily updated to provided more autonomy functions at some future date.

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XK4

· #14 · Mar 20, 2018

JakiChan said:
The inability to turn it off is the problem, and why some clubs won't let you track a car with that feature. Unexpected breaking on the track is a really bad idea.

Plus, that Cylon eye thing is hella ugly.

It appears that you can turn it off (from page 36 of the online manual):

Switching adaptive cruise control (ACC) on and off

Switching adaptive cruise control (ACC) on
Press button R on the control lever.
The gray status display appears on the multifunction display.
Adaptive cruise control is ready.

Switching adaptive cruise control (ACC) off
Press button R on the control lever.
A message that ACC is switched off appears on the multifunction display.
The desired speed setting is deleted.
The desired distance is reset to the default value.

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Viffermike

· #15 · Mar 20, 2018 (Edited)

I state the below out of Moderator Mode:

Grasshopper said:
You can barely see it unless you're looking for it.

For some, perhaps. For many aesthetes such as myself, it slaps me in the face when I see the front of a 718 with one on it. So while this may be true for you, it is not for me, @JakiChan, and others.

What I feel Porsche should have done with that lower area is hide it behind slats (as it does with the side intake areas, which are functional), mesh, or some other low-profile masking. I'm sure Porsche didn't do something like that for two reasons: aerodynamics and cost. As it is now, that area is the one spot on the car that I'm not fond of, big honkin' black radar dome or no.

Grasshopper said:
Get used to it because car autonomy is on the way - by legislation if necessary.

If what happened in Arizona yesterday is any indication, maybe not as quickly as some think -- and certainly not as widespread as most think. This is not the place for a discussion of that, however, so carry on.

Reactions: 1

JakiChan

· #16 · Mar 20, 2018

XK4 said:
It appears that you can turn it off (from page 36 of the online manual):

You can't turn off PAS, and PAS is what gets you banned from the track.

trusted

· #17 · Mar 20, 2018

JakiChan said:
You can't turn off PAS, and PAS is what gets you banned from the track.

You sure can:
Page 272 | 2017 718 Cayman Manual | Porsche iManuals

JakiChan

· #18 · Mar 20, 2018

trusted said:
You sure can:
Page 272 | 2017 718 Cayman Manual | Porsche iManuals

From that page:

"Switching Porsche Active Safe (PAS) prewarning on and off

Vehicles with adaptive cruise control (ACC).
Information
The latent warning and prewarning are deactivated by default. The acute warning is active and cannot be deactivated."

trusted

· #19 · Mar 20, 2018

JakiChan said:
From that page:

"Switching Porsche Active Safe (PAS) prewarning on and off

Vehicles with adaptive cruise control (ACC).
Information
The latent warning and prewarning are deactivated by default. The acute warning is active and cannot be deactivated."

What are you trying to say? If PAS is off, everything PAS is off:
"When all Porsche Active Safe functions are switched off, the gray symbol appears in the status area of the multifunction display."

When PAS is on you can choose to activate/deactivate the latent warning and prewarnings. The acute warning cannot be deactivated when PAS is on.

Makes sense now?

JakiChan

· #20 · Mar 20, 2018

I still don't trust that it's completely off. The last thread on saw on other sites showed PCA waiting for confirmation from PCNA. They've banned active safety devices from their track events.

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