Lane Assist Poll (just out of interest)

[Neily03]

Yes - but it's a lot more clicks and turns, especially the Maxidot is displaying something else at the time and you want to return to it after changing the LA state.  Again from memory, assuming it's on one of the Driving Data display modes to begin

1. Click the back button
2. Down on the wheel one click to Assist 
3. Press wheel to select:  LA display shows 
4. Up or down on wheel to show LA on/off checkbox
5. Press wheel to check/uncheck the checkbox
6. Press back button twice
7. Up on click on wheel to return to Driving Data
8. Press wheel to show driving data

 

I can do all that without taking my eye off the road but it still requires more attention than I would like.  A single button somewhere would be so much better.

 

But you don't need points 3 or 8, after you scroll to the item you want it will automatically open after a second.

[alancha]

But you don't need points 3 or 8, only you scroll to the item you want it will automatically open after a second.

Well I didn't know that.  That's two useful things I've learned just from this forum thread!

 

Thank you.

[kitset]

Sorry to be dumb, but is Lane Assist and option or standard? I thought it was a (fairly expensive) option. If it is an option, aren't people annoyed to have paid for something that's rubbish? If it's standard, I need to have a better look through my infotainment!

[Neily03]

Sorry to be dumb, but is Lane Assist and option or standard? I thought it was a (fairly expensive) option. If it is an option, aren't people annoyed to have paid for something that's rubbish? If it's standard, I need to have a better look through my infotainment!

 

It's standard in the UK on the vRS and i think L&K.  You'll know if you have it as you'll the large camera unit infront of the rear view mirror.  Also it's far from rubbish.

 

[TomLux]

LA was fitted on the VRS demo car we tried (it's not a standard on the VRS in Luxembourg, only on the L&K). I found it distracting on normal roads as it intervened as soon as I was not exactly in the middle of the road, plus the nudges felt a bit like being the ball in a flipper game. The reason we didn't chose it in the end for our VRS was because I wasn't confident that it would find it's way on the motorway in the rain. We drive a lot on motorways in Belgium and they tend to have quite a few roadworks with temporary lane markings and I was afraid the system would go mental (especially with rain, where even I sometimes have problems telling which lane we are supposed to follow). Hence  for a motorway feature it would be switched of most of the time.

Then again we only tried it for a few minutes and depending on the driving habits of other users it can be useful.

And who knows, for the next car it might be THE standard if Google, Mercedes, Audi etc. have their way ;-)

[kitset]

It's standard in the UK on the vRS and i think L&K.  You'll know if you have it as you'll the large camera unit infront of the rear view mirror.  Also it's far from rubbish.

 

 

Ah, thanks Neil. That'll be it, it wasn't standard in NZ. Probably because we don't have a lot of motorway and dual carriageway, which seems to be the environment where it's most useful. My assertion of it being rubbish was based on the comments in this thread where most seem to have it switched off permanently. Glad to here that it's useful for some.

 

Cheers

[Neily03]

Ah, thanks Neil. That'll be it, it wasn't standard in NZ. Probably because we don't have a lot of motorway and dual carriageway, which seems to be the environment where it's most useful. My assertion of it being rubbish was based on the comments in this thread where most seem to have it switched off permanently. Glad to here that it's useful for some.

 

Cheers

 

According to the poll 37% don't use to more people do than don't.

[kitset]

According to the poll 37% don't use to more people do than don't.

 

Doh   ! I probably should have looked at the poll rather than just reading the comments...

[alancha]

LA was fitted on the VRS demo car we tried (it's not a standard on the VRS in Luxembourg, only on the L&K). I found it distracting on normal roads as it intervened as soon as I was not exactly in the middle of the road, plus the nudges felt a bit like being the ball in a flipper game. The reason we didn't chose it in the end for our VRS was because I wasn't confident that it would find it's way on the motorway in the rain. We drive a lot on motorways in Belgium and they tend to have quite a few roadworks with temporary lane markings and I was afraid the system would go mental (especially with rain, where even I sometimes have problems telling which lane we are supposed to follow). Hence  for a motorway feature it would be switched of most of the time.

Then again we only tried it for a few minutes and depending on the driving habits of other users it can be useful.

And who knows, for the next car it might be THE standard if Google, Mercedes, Audi etc. have their way ;-)

 

Yes - what you describe is exactly what I have found.  However, on the advice of WiggosSideburns I've now turned off adaptive lane assist but haven't yet driven on a road where I can test it.  I am hopeful it will remove the annoying nudges while I'm still well within the lane but provide a useful safety net if I ever lose concentration and drift out of lane.   You're right that it probably won't work in some conditions such as those your describe but that's surely not really a problem - as I see it, a safety net that's there most of the time is better than no safety net at all.

[TomLux]

 - as I see it, a safety net that's there most of the time is better than no safety net at all.

Agreed, but I couldn't see myself leaving in switched on on B-roads, thus not using it much at all. As for the safety net: That's why I took the Frontassist / ACC instead.

[alancha]

Agreed, but I couldn't see myself leaving in switched on on B-roads, thus not using it much at all. As for the safety net: That's why I took the Frontassist / ACC instead.

Yes - LA was standard equipment on my VRS but I wanted Front Assist too, but it was temporarily removed as an option when I ordered mine (December last year) - a real disappointment.

[h3srr]

Hi

I thought I would add my pennies worth. I bought my vRS mainly for my frequent trips to my place in France. 400 miles door to door, with 350 on motorway/autoroute. I love the way it will steer the car if required, plus I do find that it has greatly improved my line discipline, i.e. I always now always use my indicators when changing lanes. As I mostly travel on my own, it's very nice to know the car could steer its self, plus warn me with the bleep it's taking over!!

I have had no problems with road works, yellow lines instead of white. Been very pleased and once I turned it on, it has not been turned off.

My opinion, as it's been asked for!!

Steve

[Yogi-Bear]

it's very nice to know the car could steer its self, plus warn me with the bleep it's taking over!!

 

I do hope you keep your hands on the wheel... but it sounds like you don't, as it bleeps at you.  Oh, and the bleep is it telling you to take over the steering, because it's realised you haven't put any input in recently and it's not designed to steer the car for you, just nudge you if you drift.  That's why it's called lane assist, and not self-steering.

[h3srr]

Yes I do keep my hands on the wheel, but I find it alarming/ interesting/maybe useful that if you do take your hands off the wheel, the car is clever enough (if you are doing over 40mph) to steer its self!!

If I was able to order ACC then the car would also brake by itself.

If you link that into the satnav info, you are getting into a self driving car!!! Which is coming.

Home James, just be careful of those who are driving there car by them selves!!!!!

Steve

[ednmra]

Way, way too many electronic toys on modern cars - but then I don't like touch screen phones either, and laptops that you finger scroll, and when you sneeze the blinking thing suddenly goes into another program...................

[TomLux]

and when you sneeze the blinking thing suddenly goes into another program...................

 

Well you shouldn't sneeze on the screen ;-) . But I agree. I'm actually not a great fan of touchscreens in cars. On my current Scirocco and Audi I can change everything on the radio "blindly" but switching something off or changing while driving in "touchscreen cars" is quite dangerous since you have to move your eyes from the road way to often.

[alancha]

Well you shouldn't sneeze on the screen ;-) . But I agree. I'm actually not a great fan of touchscreens in cars. On my current Scirocco and Audi I can change everything on the radio "blindly" but switching something off or changing while driving in "touchscreen cars" is quite dangerous since you have to move your eyes from the road way to often.

I agree too.  In fact I've thought for a long time (long before iPads and the like appeared) that touch screens are ergonomically poor when mounted vertically as you have to use your whole arm to position your finger at a precise point on the screen.  The reason they work well on a tablet is because you usually have it close to you and either on your lap or lying flat or only slightly tilted on a desk so that your arm is supported and operating the device is mostly just a finger action, which is easier and much more precise.

 

Off topic I know, but I believe this is one reason why the recent attempt to foist touch-screen laptops on us was misjudged.  The screen on a laptop is at the wrong angle and too far away for this to be convenient or comfortable - just like the screen in our cars.

[alancha]

Do you have Adaptive Lane Assist turned on (you can't tell through the Maxidot - look in the Car settings on the infotainment screen)?  I've tried it a few times and found it to be a bit annoying, but turn the 'adaptive' bit off and it becomes a much better system, IMHO.

 

OK - this weekend we visited friends in Dorset, which involved driving a couple of junctions on the M3, then 30ish miles on the A303, followed by rural A-roads and country lanes.  I kept LA on the whole time but with Adaptive LA turned off as you suggested and I'm very happy with it now. It's just as I would like - uninstrusive, definitely not trying to interfere all the time but still gently there when appropriate. I'll probably leave it set like this the whole time now.

 

Driving on A roads with LA did show up one very minor design issue that I hadn't noticed before, related to overtaking on a single carriageway road.  Before pulling out to overtake I indicate, which correctly disables LA temporarily.  However, when pulling back in I don't indicate left, so LA doesn't understand that I actually intend to cross the centre-line and so it resists.  It's not a serious problem but is a reminder that however clever these assist systems are, they're never going to be perfect.

[h3srr]

alancha

As I said before - its good, you now to need to use lane discipline, which we as English are very poor at. Comments from our European colleagues please? We need/should indicate to move out/overtake and indicate to move back in.

After driving for nearly 45years, my new vRS is trying to teach me how to be a better driver!!

Steve

[ArvidG]

 However, when pulling back in I don't indicate left, so LA doesn't understand that I actually intend to cross the centre-line and so it resists.  It's not a serious problem but is a reminder that however clever these assist systems are, they're never going to be perfect.

 

 

We need/should indicate to move out/overtake and indicate to move back in.

 

Learned 32 years ago to indicate if you are moving  your vehicle sideways, out of your lane.

 

I still do.

 

Both ways.

 

ArvidG

Edited 4 November, 2014 by ArvidG

[alancha]

alancha

As I said before - its good, you now to need to use lane discipline, which we as English are very poor at. Comments from our European colleagues please? We need/should indicate to move out/overtake and indicate to move back in.

After driving for nearly 45years, my new vRS is trying to teach me how to be a better driver!!

Steve

 

 

Learned 32 years ago to indicate if you are moving  your vehicle sideways, out of your lane.

 

I still do.

 

Both ways.

 

ArvidG

 

Well I suppose we'd better not get sucked into a big debate about driving technique but when I started driving (43 years ago) I definitely learnt that whereas on a dual carriageway or motorway overtaking consists of two lane-changes and therefore you should indeed indicate for both, on a single-carriageway road the indication is used to tell everyone that you're about to overtake. The overtaking manoeuvre consists of briefly using the other side of the road to move past a slower vehicle and then moving back onto your side of the road, so a single right indication at the start makes it clear that this is what you're going to do.  Even if you didn't indicate at all, once you're on the wrong side of the road it's surely completely clear to all around that you're overtaking and therefore about to pull back onto your own side, so indicating that move back to the left is superfluous.

 

Evidently though, different people were taught different things, so I've just googled to see if I could find a definitive answer.  Interestingly, the Highway Code doesn't appear to make it clear either way and other sites and discussions either say that the left indication is optional (e.g. http://www.drivingtesttips.biz/when-to-signal-when-driving.html) or not recommended (see this inconclusive discussion: http://www.advanced-driving.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17), but there's clearly no hard and fast rule about it.  I think I still have a copy the police Roadcraft manual at home - I'll try and check that and see what they say when I get a chance.

 

I remember discussing this question with a friend who was an IAM instructor some years ago, who told me that their recommendation was that even overtaking on a motorway you should only indicate the right lane-change, as the subsequent move to the left is implied. Personally, I don't agree with this, as it may not always be clear to everyone around that you're in the middle or right lane as part of an overtaking manoeuvre, and therefore about to change lane to the left.

 

I'm surprised really that this simple question doesn't seem to have a clear answer.

 

BTW - yesterday I drove from Hampshire to Birmingham on a mixture of rural roads and the M40, with LA on the whole time and I am completely happy with it, and glad to have it now.

[h3srr]

Hi

I know this is a bit off topic, but it have noticed that when driving in France, which I do a lot, the French on two lane autoroutes when overtaking will leave their indicators on for the whole overtake move! Not just for a lane change!plus they on the whole seem to be more patient to sit behind someone who is in front overtaking - rather than setting behind a foot off your rear bumper flashing headlights.

Steve

[Yogi-Bear]

plus they on the whole seem to be more patient to sit behind someone who is in front overtaking - rather than setting behind a foot off your rear bumper flashing headlights.

 

This is true... until you get anywhere near Paris, then all bets are off!

[decuk]

Lane assist has been on constant for around 5 months now. I almost don't know it's on now, except for lane change etc.

However I have now turned it off due to my early starts and the roads being occasionally icy. It occurred to me "I" could misinterpret assist operation for an icy patch on curve.

[kallekilponen]

Learned 32 years ago to indicate if you are moving  your vehicle sideways, out of your lane.

 

I still do.

 

Both ways.

 

ArvidG

I've been driving for about 12 years here in Finland. I was also taught that if the car moves sideways, you need to indicate. It's illegal not to.

 

And as for leaving your indicator on like in France, the old law used to recommend that here as well, but not nowadays...it's still legal to do so if you wish, but it may be a bit distracting.