I hate it. Despite setting it to “adapt” as late as possible, it still adapts far too early. I’ve had conventional cruise on cars for years and it’s almost a point of honour to switch out as late as possible without braking and without anyone else in the car noticing. I’m quite “adept” at it.

Not ACC. It slows the car down so imperceptibly that I end up accelerating to catch up to the speed I’d originally set it.

I’m thinking of asking my garage to change it when I have the car serviced.

Do you think they’d agree to? Or will there be some elf n safety issue?

m

Me too! Can’t stand it when someone takes a slip road off the motorway and it slams the brakes on even though the way in front is clear!

Best thing since sliced bread if you hate it then it's because you arnt using it properly.

Using ACC how far in front of you is the car in front at 70 mph

Nick_H

Thank you for the helpful comment. I regret that I am using it “properly” yet I still hate it.

I infer that you like it and, if so, I’m pleased for you.

 

Stonekeeper

I take it you’re asking me the distance between my car and the vehicle in front at 70mph.

Sadly, I can’t tell you that (I’m sitting in my armchair) but I think it would be quite difficult to gauge, wouldn’t it?
However, what should the distance be, would you say, at minimum and maximum settings on the ACC?

 

m

 

 

The recommended is 2 seconds of time

 

https://www.iam-bristol.org.uk/index.php/articles/associate-s-guide/64-the-two-second-rule

 

At seventy miles an hour your car covers 62.5 metres.. Average car length is 4.5m so nearly 14 cars.

 

many drive closer than that which results in

 

 

 

I doubt your garage will change the settings.

 

3 hours ago, PlatinumCupraR said:

Me too! Can’t stand it when someone takes a slip road off the motorway and it slams the brakes on even though the way in front is clear!

Using OBDEleven or VCDS u can disable the undertaking prevention, so it's not reacting to cars in the adjacent lane.

 

@Millster - the garage won't change ur ACC behaviour.

Edited 25 September, 20241 yr by JR RS

You can also give it a little dab on the throttle and it will ignore the slow car leaving the motorway exit and/or allow your car to undertake another.

 

I thought ACC was pants at first, but now I hate driving my wife's car with only basic CC.

Adaptive is brilliant (once you learn it's quirks).

I love it too. I am a paraplegic so the ACC and lane assist are ideal for me. Without ACC etc., having one hand on the steering wheel and one on the brake/accelerator, is very tiresome on medium to long journeys. Oh, and don't get me talking about the exorbitant cost of hand controls -$6500 for what you see in the image.

8 hours ago, JR RS said:

Using OBDEleven or VCDS u can disable the undertaking prevention, so it's not reacting to cars in the adjacent lane.

Yeah, I am new to ACC and I've noticed this is one feature that I do not feel very comfortable with, so I did exclude it.

I also feel now 'weird' driving some other car with standard CC, feel something is 'missing'. It is a very valuable feature.

 

The fact of hate or no hate, I do not think it depends on whether is used "right" or not. We need to consider that when we are driving, we are "active users" of the road, we got eyes to see what's up, and since we got brains (sort of!) we can evaluate driving patterns, speed and behaviors of others with brains (sort of!) around us.

ACC has got only camers for eyes, and a radar for distance, and based on these inputs has to map the surrroundings and match car behaviour to what is going around us, which sometime could be unpredictable and we might not like  ....

Plus, I am sure a manufacturer that provides such device will err on the conservative side, lest someone trust too much the system without paying sufficient attention, or without the sufficient skills, and then have a problem and blame the manufacturer. We all read from time to time some Tesla Autopilot mishap ....

 

i turned the buoy of a 6months ownership and clocked 12K km, mostly open road with ACC on. I passed the love/hate moment, I got a better understanding of how it works and reacts, and based on that I think more of a "co-pilot support to driving" than not a "fit and forget" device. If you keep yourself correctly engaged, a good "symbiotic" relationship can develop ... and it can be rewarding and also fun!

 

I give two examples of things that work very well for me ....

A say I am driving on the highway/motorway, two lanes, ACC on, 130kph. Say way ahead, truck or slow vehicle pulls from right lane to overtake, I see it is doing maybe 90, I can let the ACC do its thing but I sometimes I do not really like its approach, especially with large vehicles, kinda slows down too much too early ... so in that moment I flick down the switch to 120 ... slows down ... 110 ... slows down ...and then very  subtly settles at maybe 90/95 .... smooth, and my passengers (extremely bothersome wife especially!) don't feel a thing and there is no nagging, and I did not felt that bothering sensation ...

Now I once settled is time to flick the lever up to again 130, and the moment the slow overtaking vehicle is out of the picture, here we woosh again to speed. If I want to quick it up, I bring the speed manually and then "let go" and ACC takes over again. Easy ...

 

B say I feel I want to drive more spiritedly, especially in some roads with little chance to overtake and slow traffic, so you need to be closing the gap with traffic and so on. It happens rarely, but if I do, I keep ACC on, system keeps braking to hold the distance, but I give gas to 'be ready'. Don't know how to explain it, but you end up in a sort of "tug of war" with the car, which is amusing, not to say you do have the benefit of keeping the electronic aids on. Sometimes I will just switch it off, but when on provides a reassuring feeling as well.

 

Only drawback I found so far to ACC is that seems to be a source of increased brake wear, expected due to the way the system works ...

A very good analysis from @leolito and I too use some of the techniques he describes. I also love how ACC maintains the speed limit whilst descending hills, something my other cruise control cars do not do.

10 hours ago, JR RS said:

Using OBDEleven or VCDS u can disable the undertaking prevention, so it's not reacting to cars in the adjacent lane.

 

@Millster - the garage won't change ur ACC behaviour.

I'm sure that if you have an indicator on the undertaking prevention is disabled, might need to check that next time i'm out.

I know having the RH indicator(in the UK) on whilst closing up on a vehicle seems to inhibit the ACC from kicking in.

Thank you everyone. Special thanks to Ieolito for excellent explanation (in what probably isn’t his/her first language).

My real issue with ACC is (for example): going uphill at 70 in the inside lane of a three lane motorway. A long way ahead is a lorry which I know is going slower than 70 but there’s a lot of traffic in the middle lane (especially the full-time middle lane users) going a little bit more than 70. 
I could just speed up but, hay, I’m on cruise. The trouble is: I’ve forgotten that ACC slows the car down imperceptibly and, before I know it, the car is doing 63 when I’m still miles away from the lorry. I just hadn’t noticed and it annoys me for being such a twit.

I do my very best never to brake on the motorway because I believe it causes those back-ups that we all hate; you know - the ones where there isn’t any apparent reason why your queue of traffic has slowed appreciably. I’m also conscious that, although I’m aware that my car will travel 25-30 metres braking in the dry at 70, the vehicle in front is moving too. So, actually, I have a lot more leeway. After all, our notional lorry, even travelling at 50, will take longer than my car to stop at 70 all things being equal.

Anyway, there we are; some love ACC, some don’t. I just wish I had conventional cruise without some algorithm deciding for me when it was going to slow the car. I’m just better at doing that.
And, on that note, I expect we’ve all read and succumbed to the baleful effects of ADAS, notably “lane assist” (which I have on my Fiesta and which has been permanently switched off after it tried to steer for me on the car’s first day). If the car I wanted to buy did not have some way of switching off lane assist (and I mean a button not stabbing at some screen to try to get through sub-menus - probably on the move….), I wouldn’t buy it. I’ve learnt how to deal with front assist but it still catches me off guard, like a horse shying at a paper bag, and I find myself asking my car (yes, quite dotty) “what on earth is the matter? For goodness’ sake stop over-reacting”.

By the way, this is my first Superb (after a sequence of 5 Octavias) and I like it very much (I don’t hold ACC against it!). I went back to diesel too this time. Goodness, I’m glad I did. I love the torque (so, I’d probably like an electric car; it just wouldn’t do 700 miles on a “tank” would it?!).

best wishes

m

 

 

@Millster , just out of idle curiosity what distance setting do you normally run at ? Personally I  normally run at 3 (ie in the middle)



I've also learned to notice when the Detected symbol pops up in the centre of the dash (sorry cant find a pic of that but its the  pic of a car with a couple of curved lines showing a vehicle in front has been detected) which I use as an alert to consider changing lane , flicking the indicator on allows the vehicle to start accelerating iof the speed has dropped below the set threshold)

I find the ACC very good. But you have to bear in mind it is a driver assist system, not an autopilot. You still have to drive the car and manage the issues mentioned by the detractors, but this can be done smoothly and not noticeable to passengers. I find it reassuring that on a long motorway drive, if I slightly lose concentration for some reason, it is watching the vehicle ahead and will clap on the brakes if necessary. One can reasonably sit closer than 2 seconds to the vehicle in front because probably 3/4 second of that is for human reaction time, which the electronic machine doesn’t suffer from.

IMHO the distance the system leaves set at 3 is just about spot on , you just need to find one of those sections of motorway where they conveniently put Chevrons on the floor in order to allow people to check the calibration ;o)

Other than that I also (and my GF hates this) use it in slower moving traffic in 30MPH zones, so much less stressful in shuffling along slowly traffic

I use something called a foot. Works every time and reacts just how I want it to.

5 hours ago, Winston_Woof said:

@Millster , just out of idle curiosity what distance setting do you normally run at ? Personally I  normally run at 3 (ie in the middle)



 

 

@Millster do you change the distance that is reacts to as above? It very much sounds like this is your issue and it's set too long.

Your original post says you have it set to be "late". This is the terminology used in the system to change its behaviour rather than the distance it uses to hold the car in front.  I have mine set to "early" or whatever the term is but a relatively short distance. This allows a smooth transition but not too far off the car in front.

31 minutes ago, MarkyG82 said:

 

@Millster do you change the distance that is reacts to as above? It very much sounds like this is your issue and it's set too long.

Your original post says you have it set to be "late". This is the terminology used in the system to change its behaviour rather than the distance it uses to hold the car in front.  I have mine set to "early" or whatever the term is but a relatively short distance. This allows a smooth transition but not too far off the car in front.

Actually there's another thought.

ACC uses the radar to set the following distance  but..

Forward Assist (independent of ACC )  also uses the Radar  and doesn't that use terminology such as Early or Late to refer to when/how it  warns you?


That being the case I wonder if the OP is just slightly confused and he/she has the Forward Assist at "Late" (ie wait until the last minute to warn you) and the ACC Distance at an unknown value (possibly set at max gap) ?

 

10 minutes ago, Winston_Woof said:

Actually there's another thought.

ACC uses the radar to set the following distance  but..

Forward Assist (independent of ACC )  also uses the Radar  and doesn't that use terminology such as Early or Late to refer to when/how it  warns you?


That being the case I wonder if the OP is just slightly confused and he/she has the Forward Assist at "Late" (ie wait until the last minute to warn you) and the ACC Distance at an unknown value (possibly set at max gap) ?

 

 

No that cant be right :  I regret that I am using it “properly” yet I still hate it. 😆

I generally like ACC especially on motorways. However occasionally mine has a "mind of its own" e.g I was driving the Carmarthen by pass . Set ACC to 63mph after a few hundred yards the car accelerates to 70 mph. I knock it back to 63 and once again it after a few hundred yards it accelerates back up to 70mph.  No road side speed limit sign changes. Any ideas?

Most vehicle collisions happen when they are too close together 😉

8 hours ago, Millster said:

My real issue with ACC is (for example): going uphill at 70 in the inside lane of a three lane motorway. A long way ahead is a lorry which I know is going slower than 70 but there’s a lot of traffic in the middle lane (especially the full-time middle lane users) going a little bit more than 70. 
I could just speed up but, hay, I’m on cruise. The trouble is: I’ve forgotten that ACC slows the car down imperceptibly and, before I know it, the car is doing 63 when I’m still miles away from the lorry. I just hadn’t noticed and it annoys me for being such a twit.

(far from first language, indeed 🤪) I know what you mean, but there are two things: first check what settings you got for ACC. Mine was set as 'early' and I put it on 'late', and the distance is as short as possible. This keeps the system engaged, but not so invasively as to really be a hindrance to the way I like to drive - actually when system is off or I drive the other car, I am taking far more chances than with the ACC .....

The second thing is, see how in this case is not really the machine's fault, you can "assist the driver assist" 🤭 by being proactive and make some manouver to get out of the slow lane problem without upsetting too much your driving flow ... usually when I am in a case like yours (often, here traffic is hellish and we seldom have three lanes, which makes matters worse), I will watch the gap on the left lane and when I can I slip in, leaving ACC on. Usually is a quick glance (twice!) on the mirror, a blip on the throttle, slip in, let ACC keep the distance, and here we go ...

Many cases I need to keep a closer distance than what ACC likes, I try to avoid such situations but sometimes is not possible ...

 

I just wish I had conventional cruise without some algorithm deciding for me when it was going to slow the car. I’m just better at doing that.

I also would prefer a less "preventive approach", especially in a wild place such as the one I am living, which is fairly incompatible with automated machinery 😁

For example to drive it in the traffic here using the ACC is a gamble, I often get honked at because it keeps "too much" distance, go figure

The best way to balance, I found is to be a more "proactive" and engaged in how the ACC works and responds. I actually got to like it, to work like this.

I've made half of my 12K km solo on long highway trips, and this back and forth with the ACC together with good tunes on the media storage makes long trips much more entertaining 🙃

 

notably “lane assist” ...

I like the feature, but as mentioned above, it is incompatible with the local traffic ... I turned it off.  had it on for like a month or so, but ....

I switch it on again when I go abroad in more civilized countries, or when the wife is at the wheel, she likes it.

On the other hand, I admit makes me a more "lawful" driver, since instead of battling the wheel, is the time when I really DO use the indicators all the time ... shame on me!

 

Edited 26 September, 20241 yr by leolito

I've come to use the closest position on ACC for most things. Anything else and the behaviour described above - too far away and yet already decelerating to match the vehicle ahead - is true. There's also a setting in the individual drive modes, where you can set it for comfort, sport, normal, eco (I think), or at least my Kodiaq has that, so I'd expect a profile Superb to have it too. I tend to have a lot of situations where I'm rapidly approaching a slower truck and want (and have free lanes) to pass. Dropping the speed too much is unnecessary in this context.

 

51 minutes ago, vade04 said:

I generally like ACC especially on motorways. However occasionally mine has a "mind of its own" e.g I was driving the Carmarthen by pass . Set ACC to 63mph after a few hundred yards the car accelerates to 70 mph. I knock it back to 63 and once again it after a few hundred yards it accelerates back up to 70mph.  No road side speed limit sign changes. Any ideas?

 

In the UK, the detents on the cruise stalk are 5mph, no? So how are you getting it to 63? push down twice and then pull three times towards you? is there any link between pulling it and the speed increasing?

(in km/h countries, it seems to be 10km/h. and you can get singles with buttons on the wheel in modern VWs or pulling the stalk in the older ones. Yes, I do drive too many rental cars... )

55 minutes ago, vade04 said:

I generally like ACC especially on motorways. However occasionally mine has a "mind of its own" e.g I was driving the Carmarthen by pass . Set ACC to 63mph after a few hundred yards the car accelerates to 70 mph. I knock it back to 63 and once again it after a few hundred yards it accelerates back up to 70mph.  No road side speed limit sign changes. Any ideas?

Mine does it the other way around, will suddenly indicate something like "bend ahead" and drop speed. Sometimes there is no bend ... but I noticed most times, happens on new streches of road, which perhaps are coded somehow in the GPS which I suspect is very connected to the system.

I suspect also some day will be SO connected we will not be able to go past a posted speed limit, regardless of how correct it is for that road....