The only accidents I have ever had are traffic nose to tails. One in 1991 and the other in 2002. As I get older I am more at risk of attention deficit, as are we all. I have a M<k 3 pre facelift 2.0 Octavia 4x4 with rear parking indicators, but no Front Assist. Is this available as a retrofit ? I'm not really bothered about the adaptive cruise control side of things. 

 

I suspect the answer is no, and if its yes I suspect its quite a price, but does anybody know the state of play on this one ?

Would imagine it is possible, but haven't seen it done. It won't be cheap, and as a front assist owner I'd happily go without it. Certainly wouldn't pay big money to retrofit it.

 

What speeds were your previous accidents at? It only provides braking at fairly low speed, it warns at higher speeds still but no intervention.

The first was quite a bang, and I was at a loss to explain how I did it, until a witness said the other car was rolling backwards at the same time. I'm still not exonerated, but it explained a lot. The second was tiny. I knocked a chip of paint the size of a finger nail off the rear plastic bumper of a Golf. No dent, but there was a bit of crazing in the paint of my plastic bumper, so 2-3 MPH. Didn't stop the damn woman successfully claiming whiplash......but it was in 'those' days when lots of people were at it.  We were both pulling out into a busy A road and I thought she had gone.....she changed her mind...and I was busy looking down the road for oncoming traffic. Mea Culpa and all that, but she milked it.

I'm pretty sure I remember reading on here someone had their radar unit stolen and it was around £800 just to replace the part.  Whether or not the unit can be mounted in a standard bumper grill or you'll need a new one is another consideration......

 

Not sure if FA uses the camera too and then there's calibration which can only be done by Skoda.

 

I reckon even best case scenario, self-fit without needing a new bumper and getting Skoda to calibrate you'd be looking at over £1000 :(

Well my thoughts were similar, but I don't actually know, so I did wonder if anybody had done it. On my last Alfa the cruise control kit was just plug and play and only about £60 as all the software was in the ECU anyway....then somebody (not me) wrote it off....thankfully without writing herself off.

The AEB in these early cars (early by Auto Emergency Braking standards) are not very good. It only warns and primes the brakes, it doesn't auto brake until the accident is unavoidable. I wouldn't spend extra money on it unless it can prevent most nose-to-tail accidents autonomously at any speed. The Volvo and Nissan system are much better. The 2018 Leaf 40kWh can autonomously brake at the last second and stop just in time.

 

The Skoda front assist in my '63 reg O3 won't activate in the 2 mph collision you've mentioned. I know because during the snow, my brakes locked up and I went into a wall at such speed, front assist did not even give me a warning.

This must have been the post I read about the stolen radar

 

 

55 minutes ago, wyx087 said:

The AEB in these early cars (early by Auto Emergency Braking standards) are not very good. It only warns and primes the brakes, it doesn't auto brake until the accident is unavoidable. I wouldn't spend extra money on it unless it can prevent most nose-to-tail accidents autonomously at any speed. The Volvo and Nissan system are much better. The 2018 Leaf 40kWh can autonomously brake at the last second and stop just in time.

 

The Skoda front assist in my '63 reg O3 won't activate in the 2 mph collision you've mentioned. I know because during the snow, my brakes locked up and I went into a wall at such speed, front assist did not even give me a warning.

 

It doesn't intervene if you are already braking.

 

I've had it kick in before when someone tried to brake check me. It definitely kicks in and kicks in hard well before an accident is unavoidable. I've also had it dab on fairly aggressively when closing in on a car in front turning into a side street.

 

Also running a 63 plate.

Edited 12 July, 20187 yr by ahenners

I have checked with my dealer a while ago, and they were 100% positive that retrofit OEM unit is not possible. But, what some garages are offering is installing 3rd party unit and integrating it properly like an OEM. This is worth to investigate, but take in account the price and investment that will not be returned (unless it saves your life).

 

A friend of mine has such an OEM unit, on a different brand, and I follow up closely all imperfections of the system. In my point of view this technology still has a lot to learn and improve. He has many false alarms and issues in the dense traffic, on snow and strong rains, which puts under question - why should I need this system in the first place, since it fails in conditions it is most likely I will need it. When it is clear skies and nice bright weather, then such a system works perfectly - when it is actually not really needed.

 

9 minutes ago, ahenners said:

 

It doesn't intervene if you are already braking.

 

I've had it kick in before when someone tried to brake check me. It definitely kicks in and kicks in hard well before an accident is unavoidable. I've also had it dab on fairly aggressively when closing in on a car in front turning into a side street.

 

Also running a 63 plate.

That's my experience of it too......  If I'm approaching stationary traffic and maintaining speed it warns me (I bottle it an apply the brakes before they kick in).  When I'm approaching stationary traffic but running down to a stop, even if I'm not on the brakes it doesn't warn me although again, I probably go for the brakes before I get that close.

 

FA has stepped in once though and I didn't have a clue why at first.......  I was turning left at a roundabout in lane 1 exiting into lane 1, the car in lane 2 came with me and nudged ahead, in the photo below I was roughly where the blue car is and the other car near the white mark.

 

At that point the warning went off and I nearly headbutted the steering wheel with how hard the car slammed on.

 

 

 

It was only after the event I realised that I was accelerating and the FA probably thought I was going to T-bone the car in lane 2.

 

OK, it was a false alarm but worked very effectively none the less

 

also, while we are talking about this, as someone with collision avoidance, i believe its the same radar unit as ACC (compared my unit with scans)

 

anyone know if front assist can be upgraded to ACC, not sure if its just a stalk addition or if its a coded feature.

1 hour ago, neomancer said:

also, while we are talking about this, as someone with collision avoidance, i believe its the same radar unit as ACC (compared my unit with scans)

 

anyone know if front assist can be upgraded to ACC, not sure if its just a stalk addition or if its a coded feature.

 

I think I recall seeing a post about this too..... was over £1000 to upgrade as you potentially have to upgrade the ABS pump depending on what model/options you have, as well as coding.

surely its the same ABS pump as it already controls the brakes for collision avoidance. 

 

I read something about retrofitting front assist which makes sense about the ABS, can't imagine what would be different about the pump...

 

5 minutes ago, neomancer said:

surely its the same ABS pump as it already controls the brakes for collision avoidance. 

 

I read something about retrofitting front assist which makes sense about the ABS, can't imagine what would be different about the pump...

 

Here was the link from another post (if it still works) http://go/?id=38947X1001323&xs=1&isjs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vagcars.dk%2Fphpbb%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ff%3D23%26t%3D120516%26start%3D60&xguid=ed54d7bc762631b51611f39f49eb1d05&xuuid=e186eebe4a21875c1dbefdeefad08ac1&xsessid=&xcreo=0&xed=0&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.briskoda.net%2Fforums%2Ftopic%2F314945-retrofitting-acc-adaptive-cruise%2F%3Fpage%3D2&pref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.briskoda.net%2Fforums%2Fsearch%2F%3F%26q%3DACC%2520retrofit%26search_and_or%3Dor&xtz=-60&jv=13.6.5&bv=2.5.1

thats one messed up link :P

 

Would have thought the upgrade expense prohibitive. As you have mk3 Octavia it'd be much easier and perhaps just as cheap to part-ex your car for one that already has front assist.

 

My experience of it - not sure I trust it to be honest - seems inconsistent. Sometime warns me when I approach another car then again sometimes ignores it. Also find this with parking where front sensors ocassionally go off, sometimes if I'm creeping up slowly on an object there's no pre-warning at all - then all of a sudden they go crazy to the 'STOP! dont move an inch further or you'll crash" point. I wouldn't trust the system tbh.

 

Only time system took over was when I was reversing a few weeks ago. Warnings started when it detected objects, and bleeps got faster the more I reversed - that's what I'd expected. Then all of a sudden the car stopped with me being thrown forward in my seat. Immediately assumed I'd hit a low lying rock or fence post, went out to inspect the damage but the car was perfect. Only then did I realise it must have been the rear assist kicking in (an optional extra on my car). Feels a tad weird when it happens but if system works correctly then suppose it's a good idea.

 

I know a few elderly drivers who eventually gave up driving after a few minor bumps (usually at roundabouts) as it dented their confidence so front assist might be worthwhile.

 

  

Edited 12 July, 20187 yr by Guest

3 minutes ago, Scot5 said:

Would have thought the upgrade expense prohibitive. As you have mk3 Octavia it'd be much easier and perhaps just as cheap to part-ex your car for one that already has front assist.

 

My experience of it - not sure I trust it to be honest - seems inconsistent. Sometime warns me when I approach another car then again sometimes ignores it. Also find this with parkingwhere front sensors ocassionally go off or sometimes if I'm creeping up on an object there's no pre-warning that I'm getting closer but sensors go off at the loud 'STOP! dont move an inch further or you'll crash" point. I don;t have that much trust in it.

 

Only time system took over was when I was reversing a few weeks ago. Warnings started when it detected objects and bleeps got faster the more I reversed - that's what I expected. Then all of a sudden the car stopped with me being thrown from my seat. Assumed I'd hit a low lying rock or post or something, went out to inspect the damage and the car was perfect. Only then did I realise it must have been the rear assist kicking in (an optional extra on my car). Feels a tad weird when it happens but if system works correctly then suppose it's a good idea.

 

  

When I let mine park itself I obviously reversed a bit faster than it was comfortable with and it did the same, I too wondered what I'd hit as I was nowhere near anything at that point!

18 hours ago, alfalincs said:

The only accidents I have ever had are traffic nose to tails. One in 1991 and the other in 2002. As I get older I am more at risk of attention deficit, as are we all.

 

Driver training and having a look at some options might also be worthwhile. Organisations like RoSPA and the IAM have local groups, which you could investigate.

 

e.g. The RosPA West Yorks group would probably cover Harrogate.

https://www.roadar.org.uk/groups/north-east/west-yorkshire-drivers-riders.htm

 

While car tech has undoubtedly saved lives and help reduce collisions, there's a case for saying that upgrading the driver and their skills can have a benefit too

51 minutes ago, Wardy said:

 

Driver training and having a look at some options might also be worthwhile. Organisations like RoSPA and the IAM have local groups, which you could investigate.

 

e.g. The RosPA West Yorks group would probably cover Harrogate.

https://www.roadar.org.uk/groups/north-east/west-yorkshire-drivers-riders.htm

 

While car tech has undoubtedly saved lives and help reduce collisions, there's a case for saying that upgrading the driver and their skills can have a benefit too

 

I havn't hit anything for 16 years now, so I'm not exactly a serial offender with two dings in 47 years of driving......including 20 years as White Van Man who allegedly go around looking for cars to bump into.

5 hours ago, alfalincs said:

 

...including 20 years as White Van Man who allegedly go around looking for cars to bump into.

 

are you suggesting white van drivers are aware of other road users?

Edited 12 July, 20187 yr by Guest

21 minutes ago, Scot5 said:

 

are you suggesting white van drivers are aware of other road users?

You'l have to explain....what other road users ? 

Front assist retrofit is available. 

Absolutely everything is possible to retrofit - it just comes down to price.

Did you manage to find part nr and part price? I'm also looking to retrofit one to my Karoq 2019 1.6 TDI DSG

I too was looking to retrofit ACC. I alreaady have FrontAssist but I haven't figured out yet if it just a matter of adding the new stalk with the ACC + coding, or there are additional cables and equipments to be added. Kufatec sells some complete kits but including the radar unit which I suspect I don't need. Have tried to ask a dealer here in Romania but I guess I wasn't convincing and they said they don't know and were lazy to investigate