Adaptive cruise control

[fordyken]

Happy report here, I’m kind of an older guy who has been in the auto industry all my career, mostly Ford. I just finished a 2700 mile road trip with my 2019 ranger lariat and I can truly say that the best advancement in a long time is the adaptive cruise control. Best thing since sliced bread. It made the lonely roads of Nevada, Utah, Idaho and California a much better drive.

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[wanted33]

My first introduction to the ACC was in my wife's Mustang. At first I didn't think I was going to like it, but then I got the hang of how it reacted. I like it now.

 

[rang19ca]

I like the way ACC works, until someone pulls into the lane in front of me going slower
Ha Ha.

 

[HenryMac]

I personally hate adaptive cruise control. We bought an XL on purpose just to avoid all the technology that comes on the XLT and Lariat.

Hell... the accident alert went off the other day... we were traveling up an inclined section of road, in town, driving 25 mph with the cruise control on, with nothing at all in front of us. Only thing I can figure is it saw the sun reflecting off an overhead power line that was crossing the road?

 

[wanted33]

I like the way ACC works, until someone pulls into the lane in front of me going slower
Ha Ha.

Yeah, that will put your jewels in your pocket when a knucklehead just to pass you then immediately slows down for the off ramp.

 

[landiscarrier]

I personally hate adaptive cruise control. We bought an XL on purpose just to avoid all the technology that comes on the XLT and Lariat.

Hell... the accident alert went off the other day... we were traveling up an inclined section of road, in town, driving 25 mph with the cruise control on, with nothing at all in front of us. Only thing I can figure is it saw the sun reflecting off an overhead power line that was crossing the road?

I’m not a fan of it either. I’ve tried it and tried it but just not a fan. I live in NE Pa with a lot of, we will say, aggressive NY and NJ drivers and people just don’t leave space in front of you. The ACC is constantly braking....it gets kinda’ annoying to me.

 

[AzScorpion]

I’m not a fan of it either. I’ve tried it and tried it but just not a fan. I live in NE Pa with a lot of, we will say, aggressive NY and NJ drivers and people just don’t leave space in front of you. The ACC is constantly braking....it gets kinda’ annoying to me.

It's the same out here. They will cut in front of you then slam on their brakes or worse, tailgate you so close you couldn't slip a piece of paper between you.

I tried the ACC for the first time on our trip. It was nice on the wide open roads in AZ and Ut. Since it was the first time using it I forgot it was set to the max distance. So when I was approaching a slower vehicle and noticed I wasn't going but slowing down I was like wtf?? Then I realized it was my own stupidity for not changing into the left lane. Worse part was I did it several times!

 

[slowmachine]

I use ACC nearly every time that leave the house. We live in a rural area, with lots of 40-55 MPH two-lane roads with few passing zones. You get in the line of cars and drive whatever speed they are going. ACC excels in this scenario. It’s less useful on the interstate, for the reasons mentioned above, as the Ranger is constantly slowing to maintain the preset distance from whatever just cut me off.

 

[gfitzge2]

For me its frustrating when my cruse is set to 73 on a 70 MPH highway. My passenger inquires why we are only going 65. Oh crap, we have settled in behind that semi and are going his speed. How long has this been going on? The ACC nanny is at it again. Maybe this is when the driver alert system should announce in its best Fred Sanford voice "hey dummy, pay attention to your driving" . All in all its not a bad feature but I do turn it off in certain situations.?

 

[UncleBob]

I was introduced to the feature with my bride's Sonata and I 'generally' like it. One feature of the Sonata version I like is the ability to switch between the ACC (they call it Smart Cruise Control) and regular cruise control.

With both vehicles I notice that when on down hill grades and gravity has caused you to pick up speed, the feature will apply the brakes when you exceeds 2 MPH over the set speed. I find that annoying. I would rather that be my decision if I want to apply the brakes under those conditions. Not to mention that when you are at speed with nobody in front of you, you tend to piss off the driver behind you wondering why the hell you put on the brakes. I usually tap CC off and resume after reaching the bottom of the grade. When I remember.

The braking from the lane changers can be annoying too. Maybe it would be nice to have a button on the steering wheel that you could press and hold to allow coasting to allow for the vehicle separation to increase instead of braking when you realize that braking would not be necessary.

But overall, I am glad to have the feature. I allows me to maintain both speed and vehicle separation as conditions change.

 

[slowmachine]

I was introduced to the feature with my bride's Sonata and I 'generally' like it. One feature of the Sonata version I like is the ability to switch between the ACC (they call it Smart Cruise Control) and regular cruise control.

With both vehicles I notice that when on down hill grades and gravity has caused you to pick up speed, the feature will apply the brakes when you exceeds 2 MPH over the set speed. I find that annoying. I would rather that be my decision if I want to apply the brakes under those conditions. Not to mention that when you are at speed with nobody in front of you, you tend to piss off the driver behind you wondering why the hell you put on the brakes. I usually tap CC off and resume after reaching the bottom of the grade. When I remember.

The braking from the lane changers can be annoying too. Maybe it would be nice to have a button on the steering wheel that you could press and hold to allow coasting to allow for the vehicle separation to increase instead of braking when you realize that braking would not be necessary.

But overall, I am glad to have the feature. I allows me to maintain both speed and vehicle separation as conditions change.

The Ranger owner's manual explains how to switch between ACC and normal cruise control.

 

[UncleBob]

The Ranger owner's manual explains how to switch between ACC and normal cruise control.

Thanks for making me aware of that. I had not noticed that. I will look into how easy it is.

 

[Stickflinger]

Also not a big fan of the ACC. I have turned it off so Normal CC is all that I use now, BUT I still get an annoying warning that I have the ACC OFF... Is there anyway to make this warning go away forever ? Very tired of all the warnings this things gives me while driving. Last thing you want to do when driving is look down and acknowledge something you thought you had turned OFF.

 

[tentspast]

ACC is an absolute godsend in parts of the world like ours where speed limits are heavily policed and brutally enforced. There are cameras mounted behind roadsign gantries and overpasses, completely unmarked camera cars (innocent-looking SUVs and midsize wagons) as well as every police car is equipped with radar, not just the highway patrols. Oh, and radar detectors are very much illegal and the highway patrols are equipped with radar-detector-detectors (ask me how I know ? ). I got clocked and fined by a camera at 104km/h in a 100 zone a while ago, 1 demerit point and a $200 fine. Now had I been doing 110 it would have been 3 points and $330, had I been doing 120 it would have been 3 months license suspension and $330. The ACC does most of my driving for me now and the speed sign recognition is also very much appreciated.
**Sorry about the long rant...!

 

[rang19ca]

ACC is an absolute godsend in parts of the world like ours where speed limits are heavily policed and brutally enforced. There are cameras mounted behind roadsign gantries and overpasses, completely unmarked camera cars (innocent-looking SUVs and midsize wagons) as well as every police car is equipped with radar, not just the highway patrols. Oh, and radar detectors are very much illegal and the highway patrols are equipped with radar-detector-detectors (ask me how I know ? ). I got clocked and fined by a camera at 104km/h in a 100 zone a while ago, 1 demerit point and a $200 fine. Now had I been doing 110 it would have been 3 points and $330, had I been doing 120 it would have been 3 months license suspension and $330. The ACC does most of my driving for me now and the speed sign recognition is also very much appreciated.
**Sorry about the long rant...!

When i visited Australia, years ago, I remember seeing all the speed camera signs and thought about how tight they are on you guys. I am sure it sucks.

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