Mach E in stop and go traffic?

[Jimrpa]

I use adaptive cruise control with lane centering when I have to go to my office in center city Philadelphia, which means very annoying traffic that can be cruising along at a “speedy” 35 miles an hour on the “expressway” one moment, only to come to a standstill the next moment. It handles it well. The ONLY caution I have is that you do have to set the following distance a bit closer (I usually leave the following distance at 4 bars, but for morning commutes, I tighten it up to about 2 bars). As others have explained, this is because people will dart into the gap, causing the adaptive cruise control to rapidly brake. As others have said, it will bring the car to a complete stop, then start the car moving again, if the stop was for a few seconds (I think 30 seconds is the limit). Beyond that, all you have to do is hit the “resume” button on the steering wheel once traffic is moving again to “wake it up”. Finally, this is NOT self driving - it’s just a driving assistance system. You must keep your hands on the wheel at all times. Later this year, Ford is releasing a more advanced driver assistance system called BlueCruise that others have talked about. It’s very important to remember that BlueCruise is NOT self driving. It’s just a more advanced driver assistance system. You are still driving the car and, if BlueCruise detects you aren’t driving the car, it will disengage (after first trying to get your attention).

Sponsored

 

[Moogly]

Hey All!

I'm considering buying a mach e and had the privilege of test driving one yesterday. Living in Dallas, one major use case I can't ignore is dealing with stop and go traffic. Has anyone tested the mach e in significant traffic?

During my test drive, I found that I had to tap the resume button after every complete stop and had to put my hands at 10&2 on the wheel every 30-60 seconds. Has anyone experience the same and found a way around them? I'd love for the car to do just handle the stop and go automatically just like a Tesla would. Similarly, I'd love to to let the mach e know I'm paying attention without having to put both hands at the top of the wheel.

What have your guys' experience been like?

Was the cruise setting in Intelligent Cruise or Adaptive Cruise? I would try the same out with Intelligent Cruise.

 

[jimbobiii]

The cruise works great for me in stop and go traffic. I use it with the tightest follow distance. Used it around LA a lot

 

[dml105]

When you use ACC in stop and go traffic, do you hear a clicking noise near the axles as the car switches from decel to acceleration?

 

[malthusunc]

Probably not what you are asking - but after several weeks of convincing the wife to let me "consider" getting a Mach-E, we found one to test drive in Charlotte, NC. It was a terrible experience with the traffic, etc. Part of it was there were a lot of things I didn't know about the car, part of it was scared to death someone was going to run into me, not being able to floor it, etc. Didn't sell her at all.
Luckily, about a week later, I found one closer (a loaner that we could use if we let them change the oil in my convertible mustang) and we were able to take it out for about an hour and a half around Lake James and in the county (backroads, etc.). It was amazing. That sealed the deal. Bought one the next weekend.
Anyway, now that I have driven it and am familiar with how everything works, it would be fine driving in tight traffic. But I agree with others and don't know if I would use the cruise control in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

 

[macchiaz-o]

When you use ACC in stop and go traffic, do you hear a clicking noise near the axles as the car switches from decel to acceleration?

I think the noise you're referring to is the vehicle prepping the parking brake or something similar, to be ready for impending heavy brake activity. If you decelerate without cruise control (aka coast and/or regen) you will not hear that sound.

 

[zhackwyatt]

Was the cruise setting in Intelligent Cruise or Adaptive Cruise? I would try the same out with Intelligent Cruise.

The only difference between the two is that intelligent will set the cruise control speed based on reading the speed limit signs. Adaptive ignores the speed limit.

 

[waldo1949]

Hey All!

I'm considering buying a mach e and had the privilege of test driving one yesterday. Living in Dallas, one major use case I can't ignore is dealing with stop and go traffic. Has anyone tested the mach e in significant traffic?

During my test drive, I found that I had to tap the resume button after every complete stop and had to put my hands at 10&2 on the wheel every 30-60 seconds. Has anyone experience the same and found a way around them? I'd love for the car to do just handle the stop and go automatically just like a Tesla would. Similarly, I'd love to to let the mach e know I'm paying attention without having to put both hands at the top of the wheel.

What have your guys' experience been like?

Why is that important? Your hands have to go someplace. From the video I saw, Tesla does not appear safe without drive involvement

 

[Luke]

Really? I don't recall seeing that anywhere. There are lots of mentions of stop-and-go for BlueCruise, I was assuming it would work in situations like that.

I’ve been testing the pilot assist for 2 months now. I notice if the car stops for several seconds it would require the click on resume for the car to continue. But once in a stop and go traffics at the interstate it did do that and don’t not complain I was not touching the wheel, even after 1 minute. I assumed that was because the low speed (under 20mph).

 

[Woeo]

This is my issue as well. If I allow the car to maintain distance in heavy traffic then others cut in front of me at the slightest opening.....then the car slams on the brakes. I have already had two near misses where drivers behind me had their wheels locked up trying not to rear end me.

I don't think the Mach-E is doing anything wrong. It is driving sensibly. It is the other wreckless drivers all around me that are on the knife edge between a near collision and calling a tow truck.

One can use the accelerator while in adaptive/intelligent cruise control to drive faster than the car ahead without disengaging the system, which will close the gap a bit. Helpful when you have the follow set to a reasonable distance but have come upon a scenario where a
smaller follow distance would keep lane changers at bay. When the accelerator is ultimately released the car will begin slowing/braking. This technique can be used to keep a known threat from having room to slip in.

 

[gnaark]

Hey All!

I'm considering buying a mach e and had the privilege of test driving one yesterday. Living in Dallas, one major use case I can't ignore is dealing with stop and go traffic. Has anyone tested the mach e in significant traffic?

During my test drive, I found that I had to tap the resume button after every complete stop and had to put my hands at 10&2 on the wheel every 30-60 seconds. Has anyone experience the same and found a way around them? I'd love for the car to do just handle the stop and go automatically just like a Tesla would. Similarly, I'd love to to let the mach e know I'm paying attention without having to put both hands at the top of the wheel.

What have your guys' experience been like?

Hey, I live in Dallas too (West Village) and I have a Mach-E.
I think it's great for high traffic like on 75, I set the car with Copilot 360 on and I get a very safe feeling if someone cuts in my lane it brakes for me and I am much less frustrated by traffic in general because the car handles the hard work for me.

I recommend setting the "follow" distance to minimum authorized (default is maximum, like 3 bars) so it doesn't brake all the time if someone cuts in the lane to merge into another one.

As for the hands, you don't need to go 10-2, I usually drive with only 1 hand on the wheel or like 2 fingers + elbow on window trim. Copilot 360 is fine with that.

 

[Timelessblur]

Hands do not need to sit at 10 and 2. Just having one hand sitting side of the wheel with the weight of the hand gives enough.
As for the stop and go yeah if you come to a complete stop you have to hit the resume button but it gets up to speed on its own. I have used it in stop and go and that part is not that bad just tapping the resume button.

 

[scubadev]

Hands do not need to sit at 10 and 2. Just having one hand sitting side of the wheel with the weight of the hand gives enough.
As for the stop and go yeah if you come to a complete stop you have to hit the resume button but it gets up to speed on its own. I have used it in stop and go and that part is not that bad just tapping the resume button.

Thanks! So is the steering wheel looking for a minor force to be applied, a particular hand position, or both? I'm not looking for hands free driving, but I tend to drive from the bottom of the steering wheel in traffic when not a lot of steering is required.

 

[JamieGeek]

Thanks! So is the steering wheel looking for a minor force to be applied, a particular hand position, or both? I'm not looking for hands free driving, but I tend to drive from the bottom of the steering wheel in traffic when not a lot of steering is required.

Just a force, your hand can be anywhere on the wheel.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Hey All!

I'm considering buying a mach e and had the privilege of test driving one yesterday. Living in Dallas, one major use case I can't ignore is dealing with stop and go traffic. Has anyone tested the mach e in significant traffic?

During my test drive, I found that I had to tap the resume button after every complete stop and had to put my hands at 10&2 on the wheel every 30-60 seconds. Has anyone experience the same and found a way around them? I'd love for the car to do just handle the stop and go automatically just like a Tesla would. Similarly, I'd love to to let the mach e know I'm paying attention without having to put both hands at the top of the wheel.

What have your guys' experience been like?

Yep. Definitely used my Mach E in stop and go traffic. I think it behaves fine. It will auto resume speed after stopping up to about 30 seconds. Beyond that you have two options: you can press the resume button or you can tap on the accelerator. Either one reinitiates ACC/ICC (I usually use ICC).

10 & 2 is definitely not necessary. I usually use a grip more like 8 & 4 or 7 & 5. That will keep the tension sensors happy.

Sponsored