Probably a stupid question, but bear with me please as this is my first post. I cannot work out if my 2016 1.5 SeL Octavia hatch has ACC or not. I've had the car a year, and thought it did at first because I used to see some convoy-like symbols appearing in the dash. I've also had the 'closing too fast on other vehicle' warnings a couple of times (and only a couple of times), but not lately!

 

Part of the problem is that I've driven the car so little this year with all the various lockdowns that I've never really had the chance to test it. It does have normal cruise control, and that works. But I cannot see how ACC would be activated, unless it is automatic.

 

Could it have been de-activated somehow, or is it just that my reading of the manuals is wrong, and this model doesn't have ACC. Thanks for any advice.

If the steering wheel has three stalks then you have ACC - only two and it’s normal CC. 

Thanks for that. Ok so seems I only have normal CC. That's funny though, I could have sworn there was something extra originally - I remember I used to keep catching it with my fingers.

Maybe that was the speed limiter underneath the CC stalk?

It might be front assist that you have.

Adaptive cruise control has a stalk that looks like this...

 

 

I think it's adaptive by default, not sure if you can make it behave like normal cruise control. 

SEL spec in the UK briefly got this as standard. Mine has it and for me it's now a must have feature.

20 hours ago, RB79 said:

I think it's adaptive by default, not sure if you can make it behave like normal cruise control. 

You can't, and why would you want to? On UK roads adaptive cruise control is so much more useful than normal cruise control - having gone from a car with normal to a car with adaptive I would never go back.

3 hours ago, PetrolDave said:

You can't, and why would you want to? On UK roads adaptive cruise control is so much more useful than normal cruise control - having gone from a car with normal to a car with adaptive I would never go back.

Exactly so. I can't understand some of the nonsense on here about 3 stalks - I haven't yet found an Octavia with that. I did buy the car because it was supposed to have ACC, it's just that in this awful year for a variety of reasons I've hardly driven at all. And more recently when I looked for the facility, couldn't seem to activate it.

 

I think it's entirely possible that I've been ripped off, and at some point a less than scrupulous mechanic has changed the stalks over. This has happened to me before - the cruise control in my previous Saab mysteriously disappeared after a repair, and it was a while before I noticed (fortunately the car was still under guarantee). This sort of stuff has gone on in the motor trade for years - one more reason why I generally don't trust dealers.

 

So I suppose my real question now is, can I buy and fit an ACC stalk and activate ACC. The car should have the software, it certainly has the radar or lidar box in the front.

I have a 2019 SE-L with the front assist but no ACC. It was an (expensive) option. 

You may be able to get it as an upgrade but this may take some doing, more than a simple coding change.

Edited 26 December, 20205 yr by TDIum

It is more than just a stalk as it is a different control unit for ACC. I would imagine it has been miss-sold as having it. Skoda can tell you what it came with from the factory if you contact a dealer or Skoda direct.

4 hours ago, Paul20 said:

Exactly so. I can't understand some of the nonsense on here about 3 stalks - I haven't yet found an Octavia with that. I did buy the car because it was supposed to have ACC, it's just that in this awful year for a variety of reasons I've hardly driven at all. And more recently when I looked for the facility, couldn't seem to activate it.

 

I think it's entirely possible that I've been ripped off, and at some point a less than scrupulous mechanic has changed the stalks over. This has happened to me before - the cruise control in my previous Saab mysteriously disappeared after a repair, and it was a while before I noticed (fortunately the car was still under guarantee). This sort of stuff has gone on in the motor trade for years - one more reason why I generally don't trust dealers.

 

So I suppose my real question now is, can I buy and fit an ACC stalk and activate ACC. The car should have the software, it certainly has the radar or lidar box in the front.

Three stalks isn't nonsense - if there are 3 stalks then the Octavia has cruise control, check the type of stalk to see if has ACC (has a distance adjuster on the top).

 

I think it's pretty clear you have either been ripped off, or more likely yet another dealer with appalling car knowledge thought the car had ACC when it doesn't.

 

ACC requires a FeC (Feature enabling Code) so the only way to retrofit it is if Skoda do an official retrofit kit - and AFAIK they don't.

I'm puzzled by your query as I have a November 2017 1.5 SEL DSG and I have this because my order was made around August 2017 originally for a 1.4 SEL DSG and I changed the order because the 1.5 engine was announced and available in the UK. I don't understand how a 2016 model can have a 1.5 engine.

 

If you have ACC it tells you on the screen something like "ACC activated" comes up.

 

Definitely three stalks.

 

 

 

Edited 26 December, 20205 yr by YMe

There is a lot of confusion here...

 

A 2016 car can’t be a 1.5, they didn’t come out until the 2018 model.

 

Front assist (where you have the radar on the front for emergency assistance) is a separate option to ACC, though all cars with ACC have it, many cars only have front assist.

 

Front Assist is standard on the facelift SE-L and I believe the MY17 pre facelift SE-L but ACC never has been. The only specs that had ACC as standard were the FL SE-Tech and L&K.

 

ACC isn’t a plug and play job and even though you have front assist you will still likely need a new ABS pump, rear ABS sensors, a new radar, stalks and ODIS-E activation as the MRR radar’s have FeC’s to deal with.

 

If the car has 2 stalks it has regular cruise. If the car has 3 stalks it has ACC. Unfortunately the odds that your car does have ACC but has the wrong stalks is vanishingly slim. ACC settings are adjustable in the driver assistance menu in the radio and Maxidot. Far more likely the dealer who sold it to you thought that presence of the radar meant it did. You can check with a Skoda dealer who can check the cars PR codes and that’ll show if it has the PR for ACC.

 

As for making an ACC equipped car behave like it has normal CC, (for the avoidance of doubt in case this option is considered) it cannot be done without swapping the radar back to an FA only radar, extensive recoding and even then you will likely be faced with an array of fault lights. ACC coding is present in at least 6 modules on the car.

Just to add some information from my experience about ACC. 

Coding (expect from FeC) is very easy, because on the internet is a lot of guides, how to do it. The only problem for me was ABS. I found on the internet a coding table how exactly should I set the bit in certain byte.

About ABS. I have automatic transmission, which means, that my car should have follow to stop function, but my ABS is not prepared for this. To avoid changing ABS unit to the one with more PINs, I decided to change the coding to ACC w/o Follow-to-Stop (ACC is working for me between 25-160km/h). 

To sum it up - it is not necessary to change ABS unit, if you know how to code it to work without Follow-to-stop function. Rear ABS sensors - I am not sure about it, I didn't change it (maybe I already have the right ones)

Not all ABS pumps will take that change unfortunately. My vRS has a basic MK100 pump which will not accept the change for ACC even without follow to stop. Some people will get away without changing the pump, if you have self parking (PLA 3.0) for example you will likely have the right pump anyway but on the whole, it’s a gamble. Changing the pump on a petrol car is easy, on a diesel car it involves removing an engine mount.