These are just simple switches within the software. Pretty much you just need to untick a box to disable an already enabled feature.

Adding a feature is a bit more difficult as you don't know exactly what other things you need to change in order to get it working and on newer models they made it more difficult to enable features.

Edited 2 June, 20251 yr by MrSecretPotato

20 minutes ago, MrSecretPotato said:

These are just simple switches within the software. Pretty much you just need to untick a box to disable an already enabled feature.

Now I understand. You mean changing settings in the user interface. I was thinking you meant changing the source code, as there are some places that do hack the actual source code and firmware.

Hi

Really appreciate your comments and when I get home will investigate further

No, nothing like that. VAG cars use coding and adaptations for features and internal settings, and you're simply changing that with the software like VCDS or Carista.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a lot of options and it can be dangerous if you don't set it up right, or brick your car until it's sorted, but when you know what you're doing, it's almost as simple as ticking a box here and there.

Edited 2 June, 20251 yr by MrSecretPotato

Yet more on ACC I'm afraid. Joining the M25 yesterday at 6:30am, traffic already building up, I gradually made my way over to the fast lane with ACC on. The speed of the line traffic of traffic was typically varying between 50-70mph, changing by the minute and without ACC I would have found the journey quite tyring and irritating. Finding I can trust the ACC to work in most situations, I definitely was able to concentrate more on the traffic events happening around me (e.g.motorbike zooming up fast between me and the adjacent lane with very little space to spare). At one instant the lane speed suddenly dropped to below 30mph and of course the ACC, already logged on to the car in front, reacted instantaneously, much faster than I would have done.

So I'm sticking to my guns - I like ACC. A pity it can't disengage/recognise a vehicle faster as is desirable - I believe Volvos do this better.

1 hour ago, croquemonsieur said:

At one instant the lane speed suddenly dropped to below 30mph and of course the ACC, already logged on to the car in front, reacted instantaneously, much faster than I would have done.

The problem is these systems, for legal reasons, assume that the driver is fully alert and instantly able to take over. This is not something Civil Airline autopilot assumes, and they have more time and space.

Whilst the ACC might react faster than you might have done, it still has to maintain a legal safe distance, so if it doesn't react the driver can still react safely according to the law. IE the legal safe thinking distance and breaking distance etc. Therefore if the ACC fails for any reason at any point the liability is the drivers not to hit anything. Hence, the problems with different thinking/breaking distances in different countries, where the car could travel through several countries in Europe without stopping and "resetting".

My worry is that with ACC, lane assist with an automatic gearbox, drivers will lose concentration and not pay attention, which could lead to far worse accidents. Which will all, legally, be the driver's fault.

On 31/05/2025 at 23:51, OldKaroq said:

This is one reason im sticking with my 22 SEL. After fighting the steering with a loaned Octavia I was put off that function for life!!

Well if you drive straight you wont notice it because it only works when you wander. Its great. I live 100km out of the city and can drive there with feet off the pedals with lane assist and ACC doing their thing. I have ACC set to closest as where I live if you leave half a gap someone will try and fill it. Lane assist allows me to relax and let car cruise along happily and just nudge me if vagaries in the road surface push me around a bit. I cant understand why people dont like it. Mostly it seems to be poor driver habits like gripping the wheel in a death grip. Inattentive drivers that let car wander around and failing to read the road ahead in case there are brake lights showing because something has happened.. When I started driving buses the first thing the boss drummed into me was "READ THE ROAD" not the car in front but 6 cars ahead so that if they start to brake you do to. So many only drive as far as the front of their bonnet and wonder why they have to slam on the anchors suddenly when had they been looking ahead they would have seen a line of brake lights and done the appropriate thing earlier..

27 minutes ago, Exkiwi said:

Well if you drive straight you wont notice it because it only works when you wander. Its great. I live 100km out of the city and can drive there with feet off the pedals with lane assist and ACC doing their thing. I have ACC set to closest as where I live if you leave half a gap someone will try and fill it. Lane assist allows me to relax and let car cruise along happily and just nudge me if vagaries in the road surface push me around a bit. I cant understand why people dont like it. Mostly it seems to be poor driver habits like gripping the wheel in a death grip. Inattentive drivers that let car wander around and failing to read the road ahead in case there are brake lights showing because something has happened.. When I started driving buses the first thing the boss drummed into me was "READ THE ROAD" not the car in front but 6 cars ahead so that if they start to brake you do to. So many only drive as far as the front of their bonnet and wonder why they have to slam on the anchors suddenly when had they been looking ahead they would have seen a line of brake lights and done the appropriate thing earlier..

Im pleased the driver aids work for you, and make life easier. But im firmly in the other camp. If im driving the car, im driving. Im not reading the newspaper, im not surfing i am watching the road and concentrating. The Octavia I mentioned was loaned to me while my Karoq was serviced, so i could drive the 10 miles home and back again. The lane assist was switched on, and I couldn't find out how to switch it off. It was tugging my grip this way and that way, I never felt in control. It felt a dangerous journey. Can it allow for swerving for a deep pot-hole and a wobbly cyclist? Or would it pull your steering wheel back? I have been driving since I was 17, so thats 50 years now. I read the road, leaving a good distance behind the car in front so achieve a smooth drive.

Chills - true, there's an optimum level of driver assistance, too much and you stop taking an interest in the road, but too little and unless on a rural A road, surrounded with scenery, with nice sweeping bends and not too much traffic - driving at it's most enjoyable, possible even with a manual car - things soon becomes frustrating and tiring and you (well I) begin to lose concentration. When in a stream of traffic, I find I'm still watching 6-20 or more cars ahead of me and sometimes notch the speed setting down gradually 1mph at a time if I think I might soon have to slow. Without ACC I don't think I was quite so attentive. Additionally constantly having to manually change gear on a longish journey, with it's accompanying cramp in my left leg, is a tedium I was so glad to escape from, years ago when I went automatic. So for me, I reckon that ACC takes me nearer that optimum level of assistance for staying alert.

With the sort of distance my ACC maintains to the car in front with ACC set at default (this distance increases as the road speed increases), I wouldn't have had any trouble slowing sufficiently if for some reason the ACC failed in that fast decelerating situation I described, but it has never let me down in such a situation. Maybe though that's a good reason for not resetting ACC to reduce the distance to car in front and make it faster acting. The only trouble with the default setting is that it encourages cars to move into my lane in front of me - but I try not to get annoyed and ACC helps here (in staying calm) - I don't own the fast or any other lane and other drivers have as much right to use it as me.

Exkiwi - interesting to read a positive (but seemingly minority) view on lane assist. To satisfy my curiosity, I would have had it on my car, if I'd had the choice, just to make up my own mind.

43 minutes ago, OldKaroq said:

Im pleased the driver aids work for you, and make life easier. But im firmly in the other camp. If im driving the car, im driving. Im not reading the newspaper, im not surfing i am watching the road and concentrating. The Octavia I mentioned was loaned to me while my Karoq was serviced, so i could drive the 10 miles home and back again. The lane assist was switched on, and I couldn't find out how to switch it off. It was tugging my grip this way and that way, I never felt in control. It felt a dangerous journey. Can it allow for swerving for a deep pot-hole and a wobbly cyclist? Or would it pull your steering wheel back? I have been driving since I was 17, so thats 50 years now. I read the road, leaving a good distance behind the car in front so achieve a smooth drive.

Oh come on Do you think I'm in the back seat having a snog or something. Im watching whats up ahead of me all the time as I was taught and quite often my wife says "Brakes" when Ive had them on or ready to go on for 30 secs or more. When you are driving 15 ton of bus with 40 people in it its your job to concentrate, which despite me saying I am relaxed I am always attentive. If i was sitting there like a statue staring out the screen I wouldnt be able to last 13 hour shifts You learn to do it easy. As far as your experience of 10 miles was concerned it hardly gave it time for you to get acquainted and yes if you move around in the lane it wont do anything unless you go close to the lines.Also there is degrees of when it will come in early med or late So if its on early it will be more noticeable than if its on late. Without knowing how the car was set its hard to say . MIne is set to late so i can deviate around a pothole without it intervening. Sound like it could have been set to Early Only since you were 17 !!!! I got my licence when I was 15 1/2 in NZ in a truck and have only had 2 accidents in 68 years of driving. Both were due to tiredness on long Taxi shifts.

14 minutes ago, Exkiwi said:

Oh come on Do you think I'm in the back seat having a snog or something. Im watching whats up ahead of me all the time as I was taught and quite often my wife says "Brakes" when Ive had them on or ready to go on for 30 secs or more. When you are driving 15 ton of bus with 40 people in it its your job to concentrate, which despite me saying I am relaxed I am always attentive. If i was sitting there like a statue staring out the screen I wouldnt be able to last 13 hour shifts You learn to do it easy. As far as your experience of 10 miles was concerned it hardly gave it time for you to get acquainted and yes if you move around in the lane it wont do anything unless you go close to the lines.Also there is degrees of when it will come in early med or late So if its on early it will be more noticeable than if its on late. Without knowing how the car was set its hard to say . MIne is set to late so i can deviate around a pothole without it intervening. Sound like it could have been set to Early Only since you were 17 !!!! I got my licence when I was 15 1/2 in NZ in a truck and have only had 2 accidents in 68 years of driving. Both were due to tiredness on long Taxi shifts.

Well I did find your post patronising, mentioning poor driver habits and inattentive drivers.....

I guessing the Octavia I loaned was definitely set to come on "early"!! To be fair I think a "late" setting would be much more acceptable. But not needed for the driving I do, having only driven in the UK.

"Sound like it could have been set to Early Only since you were 17 !!!!" Not sure what you mean by this?

Im no luddite, im not against progress. The Kia Sportage I had detected every car that was overtaking me on the motorway, making me jump with the sudden warning chime. Yes, I know there is a vehicle passing, I can see it, etc. I havnt used cruise control for years. I somehow manage without it. Conversely my Karoq has a DSG gearbox, im happy to trust it to change gears for me.

Hopefully relying on these gizmos won't make drivers lazy and sloppy, like not indicating on roundabouts etc....

32 minutes ago, OldKaroq said:

Well I did find your post patronising, mentioning poor driver habits and inattentive drivers.....

I guessing the Octavia I loaned was definitely set to come on "early"!! To be fair I think a "late" setting would be much more acceptable. But not needed for the driving I do, having only driven in the UK.

"Sound like it could have been set to Early Only since you were 17 !!!!" Not sure what you mean by this?

Im no luddite, im not against progress. The Kia Sportage I had detected every car that was overtaking me on the motorway, making me jump with the sudden warning chime. Yes, I know there is a vehicle passing, I can see it, etc. I havnt used cruise control for years. I somehow manage without it. Conversely my Karoq has a DSG gearbox, im happy to trust it to change gears for me.

Hopefully relying on these gizmos won't make drivers lazy and sloppy, like not indicating on roundabouts etc....

Oh Dear I missed a Full stop between Early and Only My keyboard is nearly as old as me so misses sometimes. As far as the comments are concerned they were generalizations and not necessarily aimed at you but if you think they do Well!!! ...... I have had a few loan cars and not all have been what I liked but all were better than walking and I accepted them for what they were. 10 miles isnt enough to form an opinion and the setting was able to be changed. I was slinging off about you getting your licence at 17 when I had mine a lot earlier. A bit of offbeat humour that seems to have got stuck in an English mist LOL I was doing a milk run before I went to school from 11 and Dad made me get the licence so he could have a holiday and have a free driver. Have owned over 35 cars in my driving life and the Tiguan and Kamiq are by far the best

2 hours ago, croquemonsieur said:

Chills - true, there's an optimum level of driver assistance, too much and you stop taking an interest in the road, but too little and unless on a rural A road, surrounded with scenery, with nice sweeping bends and not too much traffic - driving at it's most enjoyable, possible even with a manual car - things soon becomes frustrating and tiring and you (well I) begin to lose concentration. When in a stream of traffic, I find I'm still watching 6-20 or more cars ahead of me and sometimes notch the speed setting down gradually 1mph at a time if I think I might soon have to slow. Without ACC I don't think I was quite so attentive. Additionally constantly having to manually change gear on a longish journey, with it's accompanying cramp in my left leg, is a tedium I was so glad to escape from, years ago when I went automatic. So for me, I reckon that ACC takes me nearer that optimum level of assistance for staying alert.

With the sort of distance my ACC maintains to the car in front with ACC set at default (this distance increases as the road speed increases), I wouldn't have had any trouble slowing sufficiently if for some reason the ACC failed in that fast decelerating situation I described, but it has never let me down in such a situation. Maybe though that's a good reason for not resetting ACC to reduce the distance to car in front and make it faster acting. The only trouble with the default setting is that it encourages cars to move into my lane in front of me - but I try not to get annoyed and ACC helps here (in staying calm) - I don't own the fast or any other lane and other drivers have as much right to use it as me.

Exkiwi - interesting to read a positive (but seemingly minority) view on lane assist. To satisfy my curiosity, I would have had it on my car, if I'd had the choice, just to make up my own mind.

Thanks some dont know how lucky they are these days The driver aids mostly are great and a big improvement over the Bedford truck I got my licence in in 1956 On the hill start I got the the handbrake on too hard and the cop had to release it for me as my hand wasnt strong enough. Still got passed though LOL. I only use ACC on the highway and never around town. I like lane assist and a fair few of the other 30 odd mods I did to the Tiguan.

I'm one of the KISS brigade. I turn off lane assist and stop/start the second I switch on the engine and before I move off. I buy the most basic model I can. My car has a key. You can keep most of these so called driver aids and other gadgets. Works for me and I've had no issues with my last 3 new cars, my Ford Focus went 10 years with no issue, and still going strong 2 years later as sold it to a friend. Our nearly 7 year old Karoq has been bombproof and so has my 2 year old Kamiq.

Many of the driving aids are great and can be used or not used as needed, location, weather, road types, which country or continent you are on.

That is properly developed and engineered ones.

Then we have VW Group, the EU / Europe / UK and some of the total sh!te on some models now 2024/25.

Really not fit for purpose.

There are other manufacturers cars with good or very good systems and some also sh!te, or just that on some models.

Now among the EV,s there are the easy select 1 or several items not enabled, or hit one button and enable or disable, and some are a real mystery and you just leave as and adapt.

I mean here others cars borrowed cars, ones you are not living with for long, so you adapt as the car requires,