Hi all

 

I have a 65 reg Octavia with front assist and have just recently experienced it invoking the emergency brakes without any warning.

I was driving slowly down a road behind a cyclist and going over speed humps and was about to start to accelerate so that I could overtake the cyclist and carry on my way.

Without warning my car ground to a halt and the red Front Assist warning was promptly displayed to me. At this point the driver behind starts beeping as he thinks I cannot drive and he nearly rear ended me.

What worries me is that I cannot recall being close to anyone or anything coming in front of me and the fact the car just stopped also caused possible dangers of being hit from behind.

What I suppose I want to know is;

Could speed humps affect the radar and when the car is on the downward part of the hump

With the wind and weather so anything affect the radar

I've not had it do anything like that and I know that it won't stop when I'm driving at a higher speed but it has made me worry and now think whether I want it even activated on the car.

 

All comments/thoughts welcome

I have had first stage activation of my front assist when near cyclists wearing reflective items and right by a police car dealing with an incident at the side of the road (mines a Golf) but same system.

Not got to putting brakes on yet but had the big red symbol on my dash!

I'm convinced it's something to do with highly reflective surfaces effecting the radar but who am I to know anything. It has happened 3 times and each time there were reflective things within my vision.

Edited 12 January, 201610 yr by Defenderben

I had a Qashqai with "Forward emergency braking".

It had to have a software update / recall for, what i suspect, was something similar.

 

I can't find them right now but there were a couple of dashcam videos on Youtube.

They showed people waking down the path in reflective gear and this appeared to cause the car to brake (certainly nothing was in the path of the cars).

 

Appreciate it's a different vehicle but i suspect Defenderben is correct about certain "reflective" surfaces upsetting the system.

Edited 13 January, 201610 yr by AlleyCat`

I would contact your dealer right away, and I think the reflective material could be the cause, although I would expect large road signs to cause it as well, although they are quite high so the radar might not see them. I tried this system once and switched it off.

 

1: I don't trust it

2: When I can't keep a car safely on the road between two white lines, and or at a safe distance from other road users, I'll let DVLA have my licence and take the bus.

3: I don't trust computer systems after seeing a Tornado aircraft going into panic mode, when the EWS triggered due to a police radar gun.

Hi. I got Front assist, Lane assist and ACC on my Octavia III, but Front assist seems that doesn't work. Car doesn´t break or warn at all. ACC is great when is working. Sometimes it sees the car in front of me and starts breaking, when suddenly vehicle disappear from radar visibility (physically it´s still there) and car starts speeding up like no obstruction there. It happened even with a bus in front of me and not once. Car was delivered without radar bumper surrounding cover, looks like they forgot to fit it. Dealer supplied, but no change in operation. Does anyone had same or similar experience? Thanks.

3: I don't trust computer systems after seeing a Tornado aircraft going into panic mode, when the EWS triggered due to a police radar gun.

 

Sorry - going off topic - but I'd love to hear more details on this if you actually witnessed it, as I always believed such reports were false urban legends, e.g. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/techno/radar.asp

I brake-tested the guy behind me when the front-assist considered a crisp-packet rolling in the wind to be a threat.

 

I do wonder what would have happened if he hit me, insurance wise etc.

It seems most people have forgot the "only a fool breaks the 2-second rule, and double it if it is wet".

 

I seem to have got too fixated on how close cars now drive behind. I should not have but I tried it, and I could not relax at all driving 1 car length off the bumper ahead.

 

I say keep a 'normal' gap and just relax!   

 

57

 

3: I don't trust computer systems after seeing a Tornado aircraft going into panic mode, when the EWS triggered due to a police radar gun.

 

Were you also in a lighthouse that the USS Nimitz demanded change it's course?

Normally Front Assist System should only react on moving objects so stationary speedhumps & street signs shouldn't cause a problem.

However, as you suggest reflective jackets or things which are flexible or small may trick the radar into think the object is moving very fast because the reflective surface changes angle very quickly.

 

I'd ask the dealer about it, perhaps your front-assist module has an older software or hardware version & there is an update available.

Good luck though beause with these things it can be difficult to get a dealer to agree to look into it.

Hi. I got Front assist, Lane assist and ACC on my Octavia III, but Front assist seems that doesn't work. Car doesn´t break or warn at all. ACC is great when is working. Sometimes it sees the car in front of me and starts breaking, when suddenly vehicle disappear from radar visibility (physically it´s still there) and car starts speeding up like no obstruction there. It happened even with a bus in front of me and not once. Car was delivered without radar bumper surrounding cover, looks like they forgot to fit it. Dealer supplied, but no change in operation. Does anyone had same or similar experience? Thanks.

 

I would take it back to the dealer & ask them to recalibrate the radar.

The behaviour is clearly not correct.

If you put the ACC view on the MFD maxidot you can show them the vehicle popping in and out of view to help convince them its not working properly.

There have been a few threads on ACC issues before, my own car did something similar about a year ago but in that case there was a car in front of me that suddenly decided to indicate his intention to turn left by braking, I wasn't that close to his car but the red warning light came on and my car came to a very sharp stop, quite alarming really. Personally, I don't think that the ACC on my car is that great, it came on the very first time that I drove it although in that case it was just the red warning light but there wasn't anything in front of me at all just a car going the other way on a country road and it came on quite a few other times in that first year but never with anything really close to me or any noticable danger.

 

Of course at launch Skoda decided not to put in the warning light for ACC into the car instruction manual and every time I asked my dealership what it could be I was given a different answer from their service department. The best answer was it's to do with your Adaptive Cruise Control ( re above incident ) interesting theory except my car doesn't have ACC and even if I did would I be driving around in a 30 zone using ACC!

 

One interesting thing regarding the ACC was that it was not available at all for a large part of 2014, which may well suggest a technical issue with its operation in the earlier mk 3 cars? I should really get mine checked out whilst it is still under warranty, along with the handbrake which is really not all that great on my car. I asked the dealership to tighten the cable up at the last service but I don't think they did, the handbrake hits off of the centre armrest if you pull it on full, which you really need to if you want to avoid rolling back on any steep hill, it creaks and groans quite a lot. Odd way to design a handbrake that can be fouled by the armrest sliding up and down, mine has a permanent dent in its handle from hitting off the armrest.

Sorry - going off topic - but I'd love to hear more details on this if you actually witnessed it, as I always believed such reports were false urban legends, e.g. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/techno/radar.asp

I thought the same, a Facebook myth.

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There have been a few threads on ACC issues before, my own car did something similar about a year ago but in that case there was a car in front of me that suddenly decided to indicate his intention to turn left by braking, I wasn't that close to his car but the red warning light came on and my car came to a very sharp stop, quite alarming really. Personally, I don't think that the ACC on my car is that great, it came on the very first time that I drove it although in that case it was just the red warning light but there wasn't anything in front of me at all just a car going the other way on a country road and it came on quite a few other times in that first year but never with anything really close to me or any noticable danger.

Of course at launch Skoda decided not to put in the warning light for ACC into the car instruction manual and every time I asked my dealership what it could be I was given a different answer from their service department. The best answer was it's to do with your Adaptive Cruise Control ( re above incident ) interesting theory except my car doesn't have ACC and even if I did would I be driving around in a 30 zone using ACC!

One interesting thing regarding the ACC was that it was not available at all for a large part of 2014, which may well suggest a technical issue with its operation in the earlier mk 3 cars? I should really get mine checked out whilst it is still under warranty, along with the handbrake which is really not all that great on my car. I asked the dealership to tighten the cable up at the last service but I don't think they did, the handbrake hits off of the centre armrest if you pull it on full, which you really need to if you want to avoid rolling back on any steep hill, it creaks and groans quite a lot. Odd way to design a handbrake that can be fouled by the armrest sliding up and down, mine has a permanent dent in its handle from hitting off the armrest.

It may be just because it's late but I can't make sense of this post. You say that your cars ACC did something about a year ago then went on to describe Front Assist then you say your car doesn't have ACC and then say you need to get your ACC checked under warranty. Sorry if I have misread/misunderstood.

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I would take it back to the dealer & ask them to recalibrate the radar.

The behaviour is clearly not correct.

If you put the ACC view on the MFD maxidot you can show them the vehicle popping in and out of view to help convince them its not working properly.

 

I´ve been there 4 times already, they took the car for tests and checked the calibration. They seen the issues, but was told it works fine to them. Car was delivered without radar cover (nobody noticed that!!! except me), so i think it could get slightly damaged on transport, who knows. Sometimes it works sometimes doesn´t. Definitely it´s something wrong with that. Now going to request to replace the radar under the warranty so fingers crossed.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2swon4jtou89vd1/File%2031-01-2016%2C%2011%2017%2022.jpeg?dl=0

 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s74f39mud25jrvg/File%2031-01-2016%2C%2011%2016%2034.jpeg?dl=0

Edited 31 January, 201610 yr by iceyuk

Like Jono, my brakes activated due to a moving metallic crisp packet. That does not seem right.

... and Elvis is alive and well and living on the moon, and Freddie Starr ate my hamster.

One interesting thing regarding the ACC was that it was not available at all for a large part of 2014, which may well suggest a technical issue with its operation in the earlier mk 3 cars? 

 

Well, the Mk.7 Golf has had ACC as standard on all but the basic S and Bluemotion models in the UK since launch, so I doubt it. I'd heard about supply shortages for a bit?

Yep, definitely just parts shortages and not technical problems.

Yep, it was still there on the Golf, VW just hogged all of the stock.

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In response to OP. In a word. YES!

Had the use of an Octy with this for a few days a couple of months back. Hated it. Worse situation M23 onto M25, motorbike (accelerating away from me) undercut me, but by some distance, as I was accelerating onto the M25, the car broke and I lost all momentum as I entered the flow of M25 traffic. Absolutely garbage for motorway driving. Can see the benefit for inner city situations though.

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Resurrecting this thread as it is pertinent to the question I have on front driver assist without ACC (in city situations).

I've only just bought an Octavia and on the drive home from the dealer there was the typical situation of a driver in front of me sharply braking to turn left and I saw it happening, but the brake assist got to the brakes prior to when I would have, with the usual thudding of the system. Question I have is just as ACC has a distance tolerance adjustment, does the front driver's assist emergency braking have a similar adjustment? I'm not counting on it but would be good to know (and adjust).

31 minutes ago, SkodaAsh said:

Resurrecting this thread as it is pertinent to the question I have on front driver assist without ACC (in city situations).

I've only just bought an Octavia and on the drive home from the dealer there was the typical situation of a driver in front of me sharply braking to turn left and I saw it happening, but the brake assist got to the brakes prior to when I would have, with the usual thudding of the system. Question I have is just as ACC has a distance tolerance adjustment, does the front driver's assist emergency braking have a similar adjustment? I'm not counting on it but would be good to know (and adjust).

 

No sensitivity adjustment is possible. I've had it activate in similar scenarios and you just get used to it. If you dab the brake then it doesn't activate.

Okay. Thanks ahenners. So any use of the brake assumes full response to the driving situation then. That's fine. Not an issue.