Crash avoidance / automatic braking - has anyone tried it?

DIYAndy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2019
Threads
66
Messages
542
Reaction score
499
Location
Ohio
Vehicle(s)
Ford 2019 Ranger XL
Occupation
Content Provider For SPAM
Vehicle Showcase
1
This is one safety feature (on all trims) that really sold me on the new 2019 Ford Ranger.
Has anyone encountered any obstacles which triggered automatic braking?
Sponsored

 

HighFivenWhiteGuy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2019
Threads
4
Messages
141
Reaction score
125
Location
Renton, WA
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger Lariat FX4
Occupation
Engineer
This is one safety feature (on all trims) that really sold me on the new 2019 Ford Ranger.
Has anyone encountered any obstacles which triggered automatic braking?
So far I have gotten a warning (flashing red with beeping) when going around a sharp corner with a car parked close to the road. I wasn't going to hit it but I was very close to it. I'm guessing the system gives a warning then only intervenes if a collision is deemed imminent?
 

Stic-o

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2018
Threads
42
Messages
707
Reaction score
1,037
Location
Lake View Terrace, CA
Vehicle(s)
'99 Explorer ,'92 Bronco, '91 Navajo, '19 Ranger
Vehicle Showcase
1
I've had it go off a few times. It's kind of annoying. You can change the sensitivity in the cluster.
 
OP
OP

DIYAndy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2019
Threads
66
Messages
542
Reaction score
499
Location
Ohio
Vehicle(s)
Ford 2019 Ranger XL
Occupation
Content Provider For SPAM
Vehicle Showcase
1
I am going to ask my salesperson to demo this critical safety feature (by himself) by pulling up to the dealership fancy showroom at high speed! I believe his response would be - no way! :thumbsdown:
 


rwjrn

Active Member
First Name
Robert
Joined
Feb 23, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
33
Reaction score
61
Location
SF Bay Area
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ford Ranger
I had the warning lights go off while going into a turn lane with stopped traffic on the right. No braking though. The automatic braking does work well when using the adaptive cruise control. I still hover with my foot over the brake until it engages.
 

Jimiv123

Well-Known Member
First Name
Jim
Joined
Jan 13, 2019
Threads
1
Messages
79
Reaction score
84
Location
Dallas, TX
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ford Ranger Lariat, 501A, FX4, Sport Package, Magnetic
Occupation
IT Grunt
I thought i'd share a couple of instances where I experienced crash avoidance and automatic braking.

Crash Avoidance
A couple of weeks ago while using adaptive cruise control on a service road, going 60mph with a car 3 lengths in front of me, that car was cut off and slammed on the brakes. I bridged the distance very quickly with my Lariat. It immediately muted sound, gave the collision alert. I reacted by slamming on the brakes. Later not knowing for sure if automatic braking actually kicked in. I had not hit the brakes that hard yet and was amazed how well the truck handled. Smooth yet hard braking. The nose barely drove downward. No locking! Very smooth yet quick stop. I could have sworn that it swerved to the right a litte bit to avoid a car in the left lane. Not totally sure. I was amazed overall.

Automatic Braking
Today, again using adaptive cruise, i was in the right lane getting ready to take an off ramp. So again there was a car 3 lengths ahead. Everyone ahead was slowing gradually to take the off ramp. First thing i thought was, this will be a great test of automatic braking. And it was. When the cars in front started braking, my truck gradually started braking. I did not touch the petal at all. The closer i got to the car in front, the more aggressive the braking got. I kept my foot off of the brake as long as possible. The truck kept a safe distance from the car ahead, and reduced my speed adequately. Then i completed the stop. It was pretty cool!!!!! This time, no collision alerts.
 

mike

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Threads
11
Messages
287
Reaction score
219
Location
Hawaii
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger Lariat Supercab, Nissan Rogue
I thought i'd share a couple of instances where I experienced crash avoidance and automatic braking.

Crash Avoidance
A couple of weeks ago while using adaptive cruise control on a service road, going 60mph with a car 3 lengths in front of me, that car was cut off and slammed on the brakes. I bridged the distance very quickly with my Lariat. It immediately muted sound, gave the collision alert. I reacted by slamming on the brakes. Later not knowing for sure if automatic braking actually kicked in. I had not hit the brakes that hard yet and was amazed how well the truck handled. Smooth yet hard braking. The nose barely drove downward. No locking! Very smooth yet quick stop. I could have sworn that it swerved to the right a litte bit to avoid a car in the left lane. Not totally sure. I was amazed overall.

Automatic Braking
Today, again using adaptive cruise, i was in the right lane getting ready to take an off ramp. So again there was a car 3 lengths ahead. Everyone ahead was slowing gradually to take the off ramp. First thing i thought was, this will be a great test of automatic braking. And it was. When the cars in front started braking, my truck gradually started braking. I did not touch the petal at all. The closer i got to the car in front, the more aggressive the braking got. I kept my foot off of the brake as long as possible. The truck kept a safe distance from the car ahead, and reduced my speed adequately. Then i completed the stop. It was pretty cool!!!!! This time, no collision alerts.
If it was me driving I would have had my attention further down the road and wouldn't have been surprised by the person in front getting cut-off. I would have recognized the situation way before and backed off. I know this because I frequently run in to these type situations.

Recently, I was on the highway going home and maybe 200 feet in front of me a Toyota truck snapped its axle and barely controlled driving it into the center barrier. The location was in a spot where people are accelerating it is just over a bridge where people are not necessarily paying attention. I immediately put my emergency flashers but could tell from the hoards behind that they were not paying attention. I ended up lengthening my stop AND moving over to the left against the divider as much as possible. The guy behind me not paying attention ended up beside my passenger door. Probably too oblivious to silently thank me. What would the fancy Ford system done in the same case? I am going to guess it wouldn't have done the extra move to save getting rear-ended.

I have been teaching my wife how to drive and one of the things I showed her was smooth braking that when you come to a complete stop it's imperceptible that I have stopped. No dive or final small snap. I then showed her that same thing during a simulated panic stop with the same result. Simple brake modulation.

You are making my case that as more and more people buy into these systems, driving skills will be lost (note, I am not saying yours are). Safe vehicle travel will continue to increase, but drivers with skills and using critical thinking will decrease i.e. drivers as a whole will be less skilled (worse) than in the past.

It is actually pretty cool to be part of a dying breed. I hope I can defeat as many "safety" features as possible.
 

mike

Well-Known Member
First Name
Mike
Joined
Nov 8, 2018
Threads
11
Messages
287
Reaction score
219
Location
Hawaii
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ranger Lariat Supercab, Nissan Rogue
I remember years ago when living in Virginia and had my 1999 Ford ranger...it was a rainy morning with pretty heavy traffic. On the wet tunnel down portion, traffic suddenly stopped dead. Traffic all around, a semi next to me furiously down shifting, cars behind me and a silver Mercedes in front. I worked the brakes and extended the braking distance to where I just softly kissed the bumper of the Mercedes while I got slammed from behind (by a 90s camaro)...5 cars involved. The Mercedes didn't have a scratch. I literally explained the whole incident in clear detail...in front, beside, and behind me. All corroborated by tunnel pictures. Noone else involved had a clue. I was the only person not held unaccountable.

Wonder what the fancy Ford system would have done in that situation? Probably would have stopped shorter possibly involving more cars and maybe even the semi.

I will trust myself, thank you.

Of course, in the future, it won't matter when inserted into the traffic grid with all cars talking to one another. Cars will be nothing more the automated personal mass transit.

Enjoy your trucks and freedom!
 

Beebe

New Member
First Name
Howard
Joined
Dec 3, 2018
Threads
0
Messages
1
Reaction score
7
Location
Arizona
Vehicle(s)
Harley RoadKIng
This is one safety feature (on all trims) that really sold me on the new 2019 Ford Ranger.
Has anyone encountered any obstacles which triggered automatic braking?
This pre-collision sys. works. I took a test drive with two knucklehead salesmen both of them started playing with the infotainment sys. and not watching the road and I was in the backseat the car in front of us locked his brakes up before I could yell stop the alarm went off and the abs sys. stopped the Ranger just in time. I reported both salesmen to the General Mgr. and had a few choice words for those two knuckleheads. The pre-collision sys works flawlessly.
 
OP
OP

DIYAndy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2019
Threads
66
Messages
542
Reaction score
499
Location
Ohio
Vehicle(s)
Ford 2019 Ranger XL
Occupation
Content Provider For SPAM
Vehicle Showcase
1
Quote "I took a test drive with two knucklehead salesmen both of them started playing with the infotainment sys. and not watching the road and I was in the backseat the car in front of us locked his brakes up before I could yell stop the alarm went off and the abs sys. stopped the Ranger just in time"

Goes to show that inattentive driving - the 2019 Ford Ranger saved the day! Now you can text and drive (not recommended) at the same time!
 

NordicPC

Member
First Name
Nate
Joined
Jan 14, 2019
Threads
0
Messages
10
Reaction score
11
Location
Boone, NC
Vehicle(s)
2019 Ford Ranger
I just wanted to chime in and say that I used to love to drive. My '98 Ranger short-cab, short-bed, 4.0L, 4x4, Off-road, manual was a ton of fun. Honestly, even with only about 160hp, the gearing was excellent and I can't say that with 310hp in my '16 Canyon I have half the fun driving it. I've had 2 Nissan Frontiers in between, one with the manual 6-speed and one with the auto 5-speed, and I think it was the auto 5-speed that finally did me in. Plain and simple, I don't like driving anymore. I just don't. I'm always fighting the stupid transmission, asking for power and getting it 3 seconds and two gear shifts later. If I'm in manual mode, I have to keep an eye on the dashboard to see what gear I'm in, instead of just reaching down and feeling a shifter. It really doesn't help that I live in a place where almost all of my driving is on 2-lane highways where people constantly drive 40-45 in a 55 zone. The first thing I did on my test drive with the Ranger was drive to work. It was about an 8-mile drive through town, on a highway, in a mix of 35, 45 and 55 mph zones. I set the cruise, told it 2 car lengths, and finally my rage was gone. I didn't fight with the transmission once. I didn't ever even have to ask for power. It just did it. And I didn't care that the slow tourist ahead was going 10 under, because I didn't have to deal with it. The truck did.

I then went down a back road that was very twisty and had some fun with her. And she was fun. But I hardly ever get to do that in real life any more.

So yeah, I'm the kind of guy that used to pride myself on knowing how fast I was going by the sound of the engine. I have never hit a car, nor has a car ever hit me. I have never had a speeding ticket, despite topping out that '98 at over 100 mph a few times on I-85 because I knew what Police Interceptor headlights looked like in my rear view. I took a ton of pride in my skills, but now I just want to get to work and not get pissed at all of the other drivers on the road. I want my truck to do the work, and that is why I can't wait for my new Ranger.
 
OP
OP

DIYAndy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2019
Threads
66
Messages
542
Reaction score
499
Location
Ohio
Vehicle(s)
Ford 2019 Ranger XL
Occupation
Content Provider For SPAM
Vehicle Showcase
1
Since the base Ranger trim model (XL) has no auto cruse control - it does not need/use the cruise control for crash avoidance / automatic braking - this safety feature is on standby all the time. Correct me if I am wrong. Other manufacturers use the automatic cruse control for automatic braking.
 

JohnR

Member
First Name
john
Joined
Feb 11, 2019
Threads
0
Messages
8
Reaction score
7
Location
Arkansas
Vehicle(s)
2019 ranger sport, 13 f350 platinum,18 300c,89 gmc skoollie bus
The first time that the adaptive cruise kicked in(cruising interstate at 75)give me a freaky feeling, hard to put faith into a truck doing things for you the first few times, as someone else said I hovered my foot over brake pedal to be ready. Had a car make a right turn in front of me the other day, I was far enough back that I didn’t think I would have to brake just get off of the throttle a second but the car suddenly braked hard and before I could brake the truck started braking hard for me instinctively I hit the brake pedal and swerved out a around the car, so yes it definitely works. The adaptive cruise takes out the frustration of canceling and resuming cruise on 2 lane or interstate driving. I give it thumbs up!
 
Last edited:

THLONE

Well-Known Member
First Name
Thom
Joined
Feb 12, 2019
Threads
10
Messages
1,456
Reaction score
2,167
Location
Tucson,AZ
Vehicle(s)
68 Chev C-20, 2019 Ford Ranger XL 4X4
Occupation
internet wise guy
Vehicle Showcase
1
But officer it wasnt my fault ,the truck malfunctioned.
Sponsored

 
 



Top