Adaptive Cruise Control - How Much Do You Trust it?

mamejunkie

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So I tried it a few times on wide open roads where there very little cars on the side (just in case it F up). Seems okay but had 2 experiences that still gives me pause on using it more.

1) A car merge in front from another lane and the system warn me and basically turned off and had me take over. Not really a problem with the system but drivers diff need to still be focus on what's going on.

2) This is the scarier one. The road I started to curve but it wasn't able to stay within the lane I was in. It was drifting to the other lane....road turning but car going straight. Luckily there was no one next to me.
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benk016

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Adaptive cruise control just controls your speed. Not your steering. You need lane keep assist turned on for that to happen.
 

Fat Mach

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It's quite the thrill trusting your first "panic stop" with adaptive cruise control. Just hover your foot over the brake pedal and pucker.
 

AllenXS

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It has been useful as an assist, just like the imminent crash alert.
 


Major

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I had it on my Prius and it worked extremely well. I haven't used it yet on the MACH-E.
 

JellyBelly

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Lane centering and lane keep need more attention especially on curving roads. Adaptive Cruise control again needs attention with not being to able to respond quick enough if cars get in front of you suddenly or system not detecting black vehicles in dark and white vehicles in daylight sometimes. Both these need us to pay attention.
 

JCHLi

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I trust it for what it is supposed to do, assist me. I wouldn't close my eyes or take my focus away.
 
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mamejunkie

mamejunkie

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Adaptive cruise control just controls your speed. Not your steering. You need lane keep assist turned on for that to happen.
I may have use the wrong label. The bubble was on and it was steering.
 

breeves002

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I've had very few issues with the system, but if you understand how it works it is entirely safe.

Adaptive cruise is great and I've never had a time where it couldn't stop in time. However if you're coming up on a stationary car really fast it only sees it when it gets in range of the radar...then it'll slam on the brakes. You should use it as an aid and still pay attention.

It is especially useful on the interstate. I find it easier to use than Tesla's auto steer (not autopilot where it changes lanes for you which I hate personally). It also seems to work just about as well as Teslas auto steer. I personally have a bad habit of not paying attention on the interstate when I set adaptive cruise with lane centering. I had it in a 2020 escape hybrid I previously owned and used it extensively in that.

Sometimes on sharp curves at higher speeds it can have an issue but it usually freaks out as it sets off the lane assist and wants you to take over. Since your hands are already on the wheel you should be nudging it to help.

When they release the handsfree later this year I suspect it will work very well and have no issues on the mapped interstates.

Side note. I hate Tesla auto steer off interstates. It sucks. It slams on the brakes for any moderate curve and won't let you set it more than 5mph over the speed limit. Ford doesn't care, it just disables if it can't do what you want it to do - which is why you pay attention while using it as an assertive feature, not self driving. Same with the Teslas. It is an assistive feature, not self driving.
 

Gino_A

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I've used adaptive cruise control with lane-centering extensively on the freeways. I trust it 98%. I only switch it off if I see traffic stopped ahead of me and I am traveling at a high rate of speed. Once it warned me that I was going to crash was imminent because the road was starting to curve left and cars were parked along the right side of the road. I guess it didn't see any lane markings on the right and it wasn't planning on turning to the left. It seems that the system works best when it sees both lane markers.
 

ChasingCoral

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The Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Centering work great together on interstates. In our trip down I used them almost exclusively while driving, so I've put in more than 1,100 miles with it. It worked like a charm. There are things to get used to like remembering you will start slowing very gently as you approach a car and forget you are now going 10 mph slower than you intend. I struggle to find just how tightly to hold the wheel and often get chided for not holding it enough, even when I am. I'm looking forward to replacing the "gentle touch" on the wheel with the gaze sensing.

The Intelligent Cruise Control is excellent as well. It's great on smaller roads, and even on interstates, to remind you when you move from one speed zone to another. However, it often detects speed signs on frontage roads or local lanes. In Florida there are many cases where there is a local lane or frontage road at 55 while the Interstate is 70. It's a shock to suddenly slow down by 15 mph for no good reason.
 

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Adaptive cruise control just controls your speed. Not your steering. You need lane keep assist turned on for that to happen.
Agreed. This suggestion will help.


I use ACC all the time now. Probably 70% of my driving is with that enabled. Love it!
 

Ma9573

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I have a 2016 Energi right now, so have never been able to experience adaptive cruise or lane centering. I finally got a new model year rental, a Toyota Highlander, for my drive from SF to Portland, Seattle, Tacoma, and now Eugene, headed back to SF today. I'm hoping that the Mach Es solution is better than toyota's. Some notes on its lane centering:

* The lane assist is super "bouncy" for lack of a better word. It ping pongs the car from side to side in the lane at times and was pretty freaky lol

* There were times on gentle curves it went over the lane line. Scary when there's a car next to you!

* On more pronounced, yet still not aggressive curves it slams the breaks, which can be quite jolting.

* The worst might be when in the right lane and there's an exit without it's own dedicated lane. It starts to drift towards the exit before correcting.

Overall this is like a 1600 mile round trip and it was decent, but in the end I just used the adaptive cruise most of the time. Although it's very conservative with the distance it keeps from a car in front of you. I'm not good at guessing distances, but if I had to guess, I'd say it keeps you 37 miles behind the forward car lol. I'm sure there's a setting to adjust that distance, but I didn't bother scrolling through the unfamiliar menus.

If the Mach E can handle the turns better and lesson the ping pong effect, I'll definitely be excited for it.

**Edit - found how to lessen the gap between cars**
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