Jump to content

Fabia SEL Cruise Control


Recommended Posts

Hello Fabia Owners

 

I am hoping to move over from the Citigo crowd and I am currently choosing the spec on my new car.

 

It will almost certainly be a 1.2 SE L DSG but there are still some options that I can't get clear information on.

 

I am trying to find out if the standard cruise control/speed limiter uses the brakes to control the speed of the car (down hills etc), this would be the determining factor between choosing the standard cruise control and the Adaptive version which I am certain does use the brakes to control the speed of the car and the distance to the car in front.

 

My dealer says that it can NOT use the brakes but it seems to me that the speed limiter would be pretty useless if that was true.

 

I would love to hear from any current SEL owners to clarify what the standard cruise control can do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am not an owner, but the standard cruise control brings the speed up to the set one or back down to it but not by using the brakes.

Nice engine fitted to a dsg, feeds in fuel and air just as you would with the throttle, reduces fuel and air if going too quick, 

knows the angle of the dangle as well going up or coming down hills.

 

Driver needs to still be in control, switch off or touch the brakes if going around a sharp bend or off a cliff because there is no GPS or Radar feeding information.

 

PS 

As the manual says (paraphrase)

do not use Cruise Control in adverse weather, heavy rain, snow, ice etc where you need to be in control as the system is 'Simple' not 'Simply Clever'.

Edited by Offski
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought it was the SE that has a speed limiter and the SEL that has cruise control only. I had the se mk3 dsg TDI and really liked the speed limiter for average speed camera locations, but if you did go down a steep hill it would creep over the limit and you got a tone to warn you. It did not use the brakes to regulate the speed only the throttle.

Edited by POWYSWALES
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The standard CC/SL does not use the brakes.

On SL - if you are over the "set speed", like when going down a hill, or you set a speed that's lower than your current speed - then, it'll just "bong", and flash the green (System Active) light until the speed drops below the "set speed".

So - you need to use the brakes going down a hill.

The SL is great around town - it doesn't cancel when you brake - like CC does. It just limits you from accelerating beyond the set speed.

 

The standard CC doesn't use brakes either.

 

(p.s. when you get car and are reading the manual, note that they've done a partial translation of the book from German : it interchangeably refers to the CCS and something called the GRA -- Cruise Control System and GRA is the German equivalent - but they don't tell you that !!! Took me a moment or three to figure what GRA was! )

Edited by Dithane
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Adaptive cruise control only adjusts the speed relative to a vehicle in front, so descending a steep hill with ACC set to 60 mph and no vehicle in front even with ACC the car will exceed the 60 mph set in this respect it is no different to normal CC or Speed Limiter.

 

Speed Limiter and CC work as described by previous poste. I was initially disappointed that the SE didn't have CC but am now quiet fond of SL, much more useful than I thought it would be.

 

Regarding ACC - check out the posts on the other VW forums regarding the undocumented characteristics  of ACC: paper bags blowing across the carriageway and  heavy rain for example.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have cruise control on my Polo and if you brake it turns itself off and only resumes if you switch it back on again. I assume that it is similar on the Fabia SEL. You can adjust the speed in 1mph increments or 5mph on another switch. All on a multi function steering wheel. 

 

I test drove a Golf Match with adaptive cruise control and didn't like it. Too autonomous! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cruise control switches off when braking (not when pressing the clutch though!)

Speed limiter does not switch off when you brake, it keeps on limiting the maximum speed you can drive

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cruise control switches off when braking (not when pressing the clutch though!)

Speed limiter does not switch off when you brake, it keeps on limiting the maximum speed you can drive

That's exactly how my SEL works too, except the clutch part (as I've got the DSG) Edited by VinzClortho
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I personally regret not specifying ACC on my SEL - for me, standard CC does not really suit normal UK motorway traffic with all the chopping and changing happening ahead of you, so that I am having to constantly adjust or override it. Traffic on US freeways, generally, is much more suited to standard CC. I have noticed that even with a manual gearbox, there is much less engine braking available in 6th, so there is a tendency for the speed to build up on steeper downgrades. I would like to see an indicator on the DOT matrix display to show when regenerative braking is available/happening - along with the reinstatement of the SOC meter.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was driving a VW loaner last week and no idea what 'Smart anti accident braking system it had', but as i was driving carefully a Gritter lorry drove towards me and the bl00dy car applied the brakes & i thought WTF, need to get the owners manual out and before i got a chance some ice came off a car i was coming up behind and the brakes came on again.

 

Temp was about 5*oC but road was much colder and obviously this cars system was pure crap and dangerous.

Told the sales person and she said never really noticed. 

Edited by Offski
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys, my first post here.

 

I have had a Fabia for a couple of months with ACC and I just wanted to address some points above:

 

Adaptive cruise control only adjusts the speed relative to a vehicle in front, so descending a steep hill with ACC set to 60 mph and no vehicle in front even with ACC the car will exceed the 60 mph set in this respect it is no different to normal CC or Speed Limiter.

 

Speed Limiter and CC work as described by previous poste. I was initially disappointed that the SE didn't have CC but am now quiet fond of SL, much more useful than I thought it would be.

 

Regarding ACC - check out the posts on the other VW forums regarding the undocumented characteristics  of ACC: paper bags blowing across the carriageway and  heavy rain for example.

 

ACC does apply brakes when going downhill even if there's nobody in front, mine is set to the most economic setting and allows exceeding the set speed by 2km/h before it applies some brake.

 

Also to my surprise if you spec ACC you lose regular CC and SL which is kind of weird, I only have the speed limiting thing in multi function display which only beeps at you and doesn't cut off acceleration when exceeding the set speed.

 

No problems with paper bags as of yet, but in very heavy snowfall (I live in Finland) the system will refuse to work. It doesn't even work as regular CC which kinda sucks, but luckily this has happened only once for about 10 minutes.

 

I personally regret not specifying ACC on my SEL - for me, standard CC does not really suit normal UK motorway traffic with all the chopping and changing happening ahead of you, so that I am having to constantly adjust or override it. Traffic on US freeways, generally, is much more suited to standard CC. I have noticed that even with a manual gearbox, there is much less engine braking available in 6th, so there is a tendency for the speed to build up on steeper downgrades. I would like to see an indicator on the DOT matrix display to show when regenerative braking is available/happening - along with the reinstatement of the SOC meter.   

 

I'm overall very happy with ACC and it's definitely a must have in the future, but just wanted to let you know that it's not as smooth as I'd like when people regularly change lanes in front and exit to ramps.

The system is quite fond on keeping the distance to the car in front and sometimes brakes quite heavily when somebody changes lane too close to you and a human driver would just allow the cars closer for a while.

Also when the car in front exits to the ramp ACC sometimes thinks you are still following it and applies brake. I think this is because the system works in bends so it has to allow some lateral movement of the car in front.

 

So on a motorway where people rarely exit and change lanes it's very good, but on ring roads etc. it could use some smoothing. Yet I still use it nearly every day on the ring I road around Helsinki (The busiest road in Finland) and am very happy with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting information. Our Fabia SE has the sensor under the front number plate for the 'proximity warning, no CC (or ACC) but does have SL which allows acceleration up the set speed but not beyond unless you floor the throttle to over-ride it, the MFD also has the beep warning if you exceed the set maximum. I've yet to discover whether the proximity sensor will apply the brakes although I have had the dashboard warning a couple of times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting information. Our Fabia SE has the sensor under the front number plate for the 'proximity warning, no CC (or ACC) but does have SL which allows acceleration up the set speed but not beyond unless you floor the throttle to over-ride it, the MFD also has the beep warning if you exceed the set maximum. I've yet to discover whether the proximity sensor will apply the brakes although I have had the dashboard warning a couple of times.

The front sensor (middle of bumper) operates the front assist - which will apply the brakes if the system thinks you are about to hit something. It appears to operate in two stages 1- warning (visual and audible), 2- braking, if you haven't started to brake and the gap is still closing.

I have only had mine operate the brakes once - where the car ahead of me was turning off to the right and it didn't think I was able to fit through the gap on the left (there was room, just) They appeared to go into full ABS mode!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Something I found last week. On the SEL where you get cruise control, its not instead of speed limiter, its in addition to it. You can swap between the two with an extra button on the stalk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had a chance today to see how SL reacted on a downhill section where the speed would naturally increase above the 40mph limit imposed. It was attempting to control the speed by using the gearbox, DSG starting descending through the cogs at a rapid rate - by the time it got down to 3rd - I decided to take over!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 years later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Community Partner

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Welcome to BRISKODA. Please note the following important links Terms of Use. We have a comprehensive Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.