Dumping BlueCruise

[kens]

Wow, so instead of explaining, you just decide that I shouldn’t be here? I’m just asking because I really want to understand. If there’s a real difference between BlueCruise and using a weight, I’d love to hear it.
A lot of people in this thread think BC isn’t worth it, and from what I see, the main advantage is just not having to touch the wheel, which is what the weight trick does too. If I’m wrong, why not just explain it? If you’re so sure and know the real reasons, wouldn’t it be more useful to share them instead of just saying ‘go to Reddit’?

I’m here to learn, not to argue. If there’s something important I’m missing, I’d actually like to know.

My head cannon is that it is probably a reaction to the early days of Tesla when idiots would do it so they could crawl in the backseat, or take a nap. I've never seen a good explanation for why some react so strongly though, so I could be way off.

I hope folks who know better than I give you an adequate explanation of how the system works. I've never seen anyone explain the difference in hands free Bluecruise and hands on with a weight. As far as I know the safety systems all work the same, with eye nanny working and on in both cases and the only difference being torque/resistance monitoring is sometimes added. In either case we are supposed to be fully aware of what the car is doing and be ready to take over, the safety either way would seem equal.

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[SonicBlue]

I hope folks who know better than I give you an adequate explanation of how the system works. I've never seen anyone explain the difference in hands free Bluecruise and hands on with a weight. As far as I know the safety systems all work the same, with eye nanny working and on in both cases and the only difference being torque/resistance monitoring is sometimes added. In either case we are supposed to be fully aware of what the car is doing and be ready to take over, the safety either way would seem equal.

The Adaptive Cruise and Lane Centering work exactly the same, with the obvious exceptions that Hands On lacks three optional features: in-lane positioning (moving over slightly for large trucks), predictive speed assist in curves (way too extreme, which is why it can be disabled), and assisted land changes.

Nobody - not Ford, not anyone - has ever provided any evidence to the contrary.

But, Hands Free BC can only be used on divided highway zones, whereas Hands On with Ankle Weight can be used anywhere. Thus leading to a greater risk that tech failure would result in crossing the centerline.

That risk is mitigated by the fact that you still need to have eyes on the road in either instance - and the eye nanny functions the same regardless - but I guess the risk of crossing the centerline cannot be mitigated entirely.

There is also the more vague risk of people making dumb modifications to their steering wheel - if they’re gonna try this what other hacks might they try - but that’s pretty vague.

Finally, there’s the classic “good luck explaining that ankle weight to the police or your insurer if you get in a wreck.” Well, yeah. There is higher risk of liability when not using a manufacturer’s tech as intended and bypassing a safety feature. But from an academic standpoint this has no bearing on actual risk of a wreck.

 

[Sikkun]

As far as I know the safety systems all work the same, with eye nanny working and on in both cases

Eye nanny is deff seems not as strict in hands on mode as it is in hands off. At night I literally can’t use hands off due to my prisims, lazy eye, whatever else makes the camera think I’m not looking forward. But hands on I have no problems with at night…so the nanny seems to be happy enough with torque even when it’s not happy with my eyes.

At least that seems to be my experience.

 

[ATL]

The Adaptive Cruise and Lane Centering work exactly the same, with the obvious exceptions that Hands On lacks three optional features: in-lane positioning (moving over slightly for large trucks), predictive speed assist in curves (way too extreme, which is why it can be disabled), and assisted land changes.

I think there's one more, that might be critical for anyone who wishes to crawl into the back seat (!!!). Resuming speed after a stop doesn't happen after more than a couple of seconds, outside of HF mode. So your car will stop with the traffic in front of you, but not go again.

We won't even talk about handling red lights without traffic... ?

Overall, I think I'm relatively happy with the eye cameras keeping people engaged with the road.

 

[SonicBlue]

I think there's one more, that might be critical for anyone who wishes to crawl into the back seat (!!!). Resuming speed after a stop doesn't happen after more than a couple of seconds, outside of HF mode. So your car will stop with the traffic in front of you, but not go again.

We won't even talk about handling red lights without traffic... ?

Overall, I think I'm relatively happy with the eye cameras keeping people engaged with the road.

But you can’t crawl into the back seat using Hands On with Ankle Weight. The eye nanny doesn’t allow that.

Not only is it impossible with the eye nanny, it would be suicidal. This leads to a different issue: that Adaptive Cruise Control is much more limited than people think. It doesn’t even pretend to be FSD. It responds ok to slower traffic, but is useless for stationary objects, traffic lights, and, as you mentioned, resuming from a stop. But that is a different issue.

With Hands Off BC or Hands On Ankle Weight, either way you have to be sitting in the driver seat looking at the road. This is one of the reasons I’m a big fan of Ford’s eye nanny. It works really well, it makes us safer, and it also helps Ford avoid a lot of the lawsuits that have hampered Tesla!

 

[kens]

The Adaptive Cruise and Lane Centering work exactly the same, with the obvious exceptions that Hands On lacks three optional features: in-lane positioning (moving over slightly for large trucks), predictive speed assist in curves (way too extreme, which is why it can be disabled), and assisted land changes.

I would note that assisted lane changes works for me in 'hands on' when I'm on an otherwise Bluecruise highway that's in 'hands on' mode for whatever reason.

But, Hands Free BC can only be used on divided highway zones, whereas Hands On with Ankle Weight can be used anywhere. Thus leading to a greater risk that tech failure would result in crossing the centerline.

I have had an instance where 'hands on' attempted to cross the center line; at that spot train tracks crossed the road at an angle and the system must have mistaken them for lane markers.

I also have a section of Bluecruise highway that the speed needs to be below 68 for the system to make the curve, it usually slows down, but not always. I let it run one time at 70 and it drove past the line and was headed off the road until I added torque.

This leads to a different issue: that Adaptive Cruise Control is much more limited than people think. It doesn’t even pretend to be FSD. It responds ok to slower traffic, but is useless for stationary objects, traffic lights, and, as you mentioned, resuming from a stop.

Curious what is considered a stationary object? Mine will respond and stop for cars that are stationary, at lights, etc.

Eye nanny is deff seems not as strict in hands on mode as it is in hands off. At night I literally can’t use hands off due to my prisims, lazy eye, whatever else makes the camera think I’m not looking forward. But hands on I have no problems with at night…so the nanny seems to be happy enough with torque even when it’s not happy with my eyes.

Good info. I know I've seen the eye nanny work around town, but didn't know it might be less sensitive. I don't try to push the limits, but sometimes just changing the radio or HVAC set it off for me.

 

[Tampamike]

I'm not paying $50 to use Bluecruise for my 5 miles of interstate commute to office.

The counter weight works great, and my hand is still on the wheel and eye nanny is fully functional. I drive with my left hand on the wheel at 8 rested on my knee. Without a counter weight it is constantly nagging me to put my hand on the wheel.

Also, I'm on 1.3 and the car still hugs the right side of a lane to the point I'm literally fighting with the steering if my hands are at 10 and 2.

So, you need a weight for your “5 miles of interstate commute?” Just me, but I’d probably just drive for those awfully long 5 minutes And just endure the fatigue.

 

[Track9979]

My 3-yr BC deal ends in June '26. I saw an offer in the Connected Services area of the FordPass app to add one more year for $0. I signed up already. You may want to look for this.

Thanks. Just extended mine to 2028.

 

[SonicBlue]

Curious what is considered a stationary object? Mine will respond and stop for cars that are stationary, at lights, etc.

In my experience, ACC will slow down for cars that are also slowing down, and will go all the way down to a complete stop. But it still takes some initial motion of the object ahead for the car to latch on. Based on my limited testing, my ACC has not initiated for cars that were already stopped. Have you experienced something different?

People relying on ACC to detect stopped objects has likely caused a number of accidents and deaths.

 

[Mach-Lee]

In my experience, ACC will slow down for cars that are also slowing down, and will go all the way down to a complete stop. But it still takes some initial motion of the object ahead for the car to latch on. Based on my limited testing, my ACC has not initiated for cars that were already stopped. Have you experienced something different?

People relying on ACC to detect stopped objects has likely caused a number of accidents and deaths.

It can detect stopped cars, but only at close range. If you’re going faster than about 30 MPH it won’t be able to detect and react in time. It certainly will not at highway speeds. If you engaged behind a stopped car, it will not proceed forward.

 

[kens]

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In my experience, ACC will slow down for cars that are also slowing down, and will go all the way down to a complete stop. But it still takes some initial motion of the object ahead for the car to latch on. Based on my limited testing, my ACC has not initiated for cars that were already stopped. Have you experienced something different?

People relying on ACC to detect stopped objects has likely caused a number of accidents and deaths.

It has been stopping for me when I come up on cars already stopped, I rarely have issue with is behavior. I'll try to pay more attention to the speeds it's stopping for stationary cars though. It's been most obvious when approaching from a curve that the car doesn't see anything in it's path until it comes around far enough.

Most of the time it's a little more aggressive in stopping than I'd like, and a little too slow starting again. I've been using one bar for distance and am switching to two to see how much it changes the behavior.

 

[kens]

So, you need a weight for your “5 miles of interstate commute?” Just me, but I’d probably just drive for those awfully long 5 minutes And just endure the fatigue.

I get where he's coming from, and he did say that his hands are on the wheel and eyes on the road. Seems he is indeed driving those miles.

The system is not sensitive enough for him, does the same to me as I tend to hold the wheel the same way he does. My touch is also light enough that it false alerts unnecessarily, and often.

 

[EVJoe]

I just wish mine worked so I could experience it, non functional from day 1, dealer never could fix it.

 

[kens]

I just wish mine worked so I could experience it, non functional from day 1, dealer never could fix it.

That sounds like a legit reason to explore a buyback.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I just wish mine worked so I could experience it, non functional from day 1, dealer never could fix it.

Do me a favor and turn the lane centering on from the steering wheel, not the menu. Then try using it again.

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