The VIOFO A229 and Adaptive Cruise Control in a CUPRA Formentor
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- Опубликовано: 5 фев 2025
- Adaptive cruise control has come on leaps and bounds over the last few years, but it's still got problems. In this video I also look at the benefits of having 2K footage front and rear from the VIOFO A229 Duo.
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I drive an articulated lorry, mainly Mercedes Actros, and these are very clever with their adaptive cruise control systems. I find it particularly helpful when navigating 50mph average speed checks on the motorway as traffic generally seems to bunch and speed varies between 35-50 but I'll always be a safe distance from the car in front.
Our Mercedes also have the feature where it slows you for corners, it also does the same for roundabouts but personally, I turn this off, I'd much rather navigate a roundabout at my own pace as it needs to be a dynamic assessment. The adaptive cruise picks the same speed regardless of conditions. I also find that it starts braking too late for corners and roundabouts and makes for an uncomfortable journey.
The most impressive part of the adaptive cruise on the lorry is that; the system has all roads mapped so it knows where uphill and downhill sections of road are and it adapts your speed accordingly on approach. For example, when you're about to reach the peak of a hill on a dual carriageway, the system will come off the gas and allow the speed to drop 2-3mph as it knows it'll make this up when you start going down the hill. Mercedes trucks also utilise a system called "eco roll" where the truck is effectively "coasting" on downhill sections, this reduces engine wear and increases fuel economy.
The only downside I have experienced a few times is when the car in front of you is exiting off and reducing speed on an exit slip, the ACC is still locked on to them and slams the brakes on unless you intervene! I've also had false triggers from the emergency braking system, sometimes the reflection from traffic signs at night or certain motorway bridges, can set it off.
Not many people have mentioned a HUD. A Head Up Display. This is a really good 'Assistance System'. Ashley didn't mention this on this video. Though we think he has it on his Golf GTI. He didn't mention if the Formentor had it. I'd put this near the top of my "extras list"; along with Adaptive Cruise Control. Because if you use the ACC with the HUD, you see all the ACC parameters directly in front of you along with vehicle speed, and Traffic Sign Recognition info - all straight in front of you; keeping your eyes on the road. Making the ACC much easier to use. I use the ACC all the time! But keep a very good lookout, and switch it off instantly if I perceive any hazard...! Keep up the great work Ashley.
My last 2 work cars had adaptive cruise.
You could even follow busy traffic and up to stop lights and it would be in full control.
A bit nervous the first few times,allowing it to slow down and stop on its own, but it was spot on, every time.
I’d certainly choose it as an option.
Totally loved it.
Although they never had bend detection - that just seems odd!
Great video Ashley. The Cupra system seems very similar to the Merc system. I love adaptive cruise. I use it, as you say, to reduce cognitive load, so that I can concentrate more on the things that will keep us all safer.
Great video, Ashley! Having spent considerable time with standard ACC on the last-gen Cupra Leon, I wasn't sure how I'd appreciate the "Travel Assist" on the Formentor, but I find myself using it more often then not on longer stretches of road. Having the reliable ACC coupled with a degree of automated steering really does eliminate almost all monotonous loads from highway cruising. It has its moments, as does any automated system, but I've not had any trouble unlike the dreaded lane keep assist. With more than 300 horses ready to leave the gates on the inevitable B roads, it's always great to still feel fresh, alert, and ready to enjoy the car.
The ACC view on the digital cockpit is a good shout when using the system or Travel Assist. It provides a clearer picture of what the car detects around you and makes it easier to configure distance control, etc.
I have ACC on my 2018 golf r with DSG gearbox and for motorway driving it is brilliant. Once you understand how to use it and how it works it makes long drives so much easier. The great safety feature of it is that it can slow the car when traffic in front of you has slowed almost before you have noticed it slowing and can bring the car to a stop if necessary. You still have to remain alert though. Remember,it is a driver aid and does not mean you can switch off when using it
From around 3:24 onwards, excellent example of practicing what you preach re: don't "stare" in your mirrors for prolonged periods but rather, alternate quickly between front-back-front-back. Also, great job of including over the shoulder blind spot check as well as checking drivers side and centre mirrors, whilst still maintaining awareness of what's in front.
I have a VW Golf Mk8 and I've found that if you have ACC and lane assist activated you certainly need to have your wits about you, as you have no idea how these systems will react in both normal and abnormal driving situations. I was in what I thought was a 'low risk' situation driving straight ahead on a motorway, when two cars (one slightly ahead and one slightly behind) which were in the exit lane suddenly decided that they needed to go straight ahead and swapped into my lane (straight ahead) - this left very little distance both in front and behind my car. The collision alarm (it's deafening) and red warning symbol activated and I sensed that my Golf was going to do an emergency stop which would have caused the car behind to 'rear end' my car - fortunately, I immediately turned off the ACC.
Lane assist is insane, I have had several events where I needed to move out of danger (flooding and obstacles in the road) and cross the centre white lines and lane assist has activated to keep me in the lane. Fortunately, the VW Golf Mk8 yields if you resist it, but I have driven a VW Up and that fought 'tooth and nail' my attempts to drive out of danger.
I have come to the conclusion that neither of these systems can cope with either normal or abnormal driving situations.
Volkswagen ID cars you have five distances and three modes (eco, comfort, sport) for the cruise control. The eco-mode has bit longer distances, but it doesn’t try to keep the car a head strictly on the line, it kind of filters away small variations. Really nice on motor way traffic.
I always use eco on the motorway but I've not been able to work out what the comfort mode (D) actually is or how it differs. All I know is that it fairly consistently gives more than 60 mpg.
@@fedoracay it just reduces throttle response in gasoline cars. In ID series it also weakens the climate control and reduces how much the headlights turns on bends. This is why you should set the eco ACC from the individual drive mode, so you can have all the other settings on comfort.
Haven't used ACC myself, but my friends car has it. They complain how it works, but I think its how they use it. They move to overtake, but leave a small gap (say 4-5 car lengths) before moving over, and the system slows down the car as they've gotten closer to the vehicle in front.
One argument I want to make around ACC is about following distances. If you set the follow distance to the shorter limits, then the system SHOULD (and I don't know of any manufacturers where it doesn't) increase the frequency of the ranging laser/infrared pulse. This means that as you get closer, the system's response time drops. And the truth is that a correctly set up system CAN react far faster than any human, no matter how skilled and alert. That isn't arguable, that's just physics and biology.
The issue is conflicting signals or changing circumstances - sometimes my ACC is hesitant to accelerate as hard as I would to match speeds if the lead car does (for example, getting back up to 70 after a 40 temporary on a motorway). Alternatively, it sometimes slows more than strictly necessary if someone cuts back in quickly after an overtake, because the system wants to regain it's follow distance. That follow distance would be there in a second because the overtaking car isn't going to brake to match my speed, they are passing me, but the system is just being cautious.
Equally some users report that ACC doesn't always read road signs for speed changes - that's a seperate system to ACC (there's a sign-recognition system that hooks into GPS devices), but the point still stands. Keeping you at an incorrect speed isn't useful, but it's up to the driver to be monitoring the environment. I often use cruise control to keep me SLOW after motorway driving, because town speeds suddenly feel way slower even if your speed is still high (30mph feels like walking pace after 70mph for hours).
For me, ACC is absolutely useful - you just have to know how it works and what circumstances it's useful. If you don't do that, it's like complaining that ABS brakes are stupid because when you stamped on them in the snow, you didn't stop. That isn't the ABSs fault.
Hello sir, just seen you in Widnes 12.05hrs. Pupil done a last minute swap to the right lane on approach to a roundabout bottom of Kingsway, I was behind you and I done the same 😂 as the left was only going left lol.. even though I taught in widnes (past)for years I still got caught out..love the channel 👍
I find adaptive cruise and an auto box really useful in "stop start" motorway traffic jams. I'm always ready to brake in case it does something unexpected, but so far I've never needed to.
@5:26 it's little squares that are greyed out and filled in to say how far away you are from the car in front rather than just lines, which is hard to see on that specific view but can be seen on the "ACC View" a bit better!
Toyota Safety Sense has 3 distance settings; 3, 2 or 1 second behind the car in front. I use the 3 second setting all the time, no exceptions.
It does not slow the car down when approaching a bend, however, if you try and increase the speed setting whilst taking a bend, it will wait until you are past the bend before accelerating. It would certainly never slow you down on a motorway to 44 mph unless the vehicle in front had also slowed down.
My opinion is that ACC will save many lives. BUT you must still remain alert to what traffic behind is doing. But that is the case whether you have cruise control or not.
The other aspect to it is that if you follow the speed limit signs, it should save people from accidental speeding tickets, by ensuring you don't drift over the speed limit in a momentary lack of attention. The other aspect to ACC is fuel economy. Again, on my Toyota, if you choose eco mode the fuel consumption figures can be quite amazing. The computer will always be more efficient at controlling speed than a right foot.
Regarding using ACC in slow moving traffic. A big yes from me. It makes for a much smoother ride. No braking and acceleration input required from the driver. Your distance is always safe to the vehicle in front. If the slow moving traffic arrives at a roundabout, I tend to switch off the cruise control, to have much better driver control of the emerge and exit from the roundabout. Once the roundabout is successfully negotiated, I turn it back on again, no problem.
Regarding lane departure assist, again Toyota has nailed it. It is a simple push button switch. Turn it on if you want it, off if you don't. Just like any other accessory. I use it very little, if ever.
I've used the Golf MK8 adaptive cruise control along Snake Road (Peak District) and it worked surprisingly well, especially the slow down for bends feature. Complaints would be that it left things a little on the late side and compensated by being hard on the breaks but I never felt unsafe. I actually used the ACC and the lane assist together along Snake Road and it meant that I had to do minimal in terms of input. I remember being very amazed by it all and thinking to myself that I'm driving the future.
I did have a few issues in daily use, there were some spots on roads where it would read speed limits wrong and try to slow down but it was easy enough to override when paying attention.
My current car (Kona N) has ACC but no slowdown for corners and no variable speed limit, It's the one thing that I miss from the Golf. I did look at one of those Formentors. The top spec are apparently very quick off the line but it's the issues with the Golf and the fact they share a lot of things that put me off. I'm happy I did end up with the Kona N, just as quick, not far away in features and the price was £3k less for a new one than a used Formentor.
I use hand controls so adaptive cruise is a real advantage for me as it saves wear and tear on my shoulders. I use it in heavy traffic as well as it stays on even if you stop in a queue.
I rented one of these in Spain at the end of 2022 and really liked it, I thought the adaptive cruise worked quite well there on the motorways - even the fairly substantial steering assist around the bendy motorways. Didn't rely on it, but definitely let it steer (with me hovering over the wheel to take control any moment) itself for a good while.
I don't currently own or need a car, but I did come back from that Spain trip thinking about buying one of these Cupra Formentors, it was a nice car - as mentioned - they're well equipped for their price.
Great Video CUPRA Formentor is a great looking car 😍 My 08 Civic has cruise control but ive never used it before, that VIOFO A229 dashcam looks great, footage is very clear and its more then enough, don't think you really need 4K, whenever I need am getting a dashcam will prob get a A229
The ACC system on my mazda 6 has always been really good, makes driving much easier and is especially good in stop and go motorway jams. Very good system.
The adaptive CC on my MG4 is very good. It seems to adjust the gap as to the speed you are going. I have it set to the biggest gap and it adjusts the gap wider at speed and close when you slow down. It does try to go too slow on bends though.
I have a friend who used to set his VW ACC to the shortest distance just because it would likely annoy the person he was following. I tutted my disapproval. Not driven with him since lockdown, so I've no idea if he's matured. Personally, I don't understand why it's possible to set ACC to a distance _less_ than that recommended by the HWC. I've often wondered if that is why so many people seem to drive too close without actually getting into aggressive tail-gating. My car is old school (2008) and only has CC or speed limiter, and it's got a few more years in it before I think of changing - all things being equal, but I do think adaptive cruise is a really useful idea.
This video caught my eye. I’m a bit of an enthusiast with an older car, yet it does happen to feature both ACC and LKA. It’s a 2007 Lexus LS460. I would guess that I’ve got one of the oldest iterations of this technology.
I use the ACC quite a lot, and it does make my longer journeys a lot more relaxing. With that said, I never enable the LKA, nor do I fully trust the ACC. The following distances are fine, and I’m happy to use a bit of manual throttle to keep it going when I overtake, but sometimes it will miss (or slowly react to) hazards.
It doesn’t react to corners quite as aggressively as the Cupra seems to; it simply won’t accelerate whilst on a bend, instead opting to wait for the wheel to be straightened up first. My advice? Just keep your wits about you and I reckon it makes for a fantastic cruising experience.
The other thing I’ve noticed is that ACC will disable itself during adverse driving conditions (extreme downpour, crosswinds etc) and require the driver to retake control. I’m all for this, especially given the risks of having the car attempt to keep itself on the throttle when surface water is about.
Loving the content as always, Ashley.
All the best to you!
i feel a basic cruise control system should be on every vehicle as standard as it would save on fuel costs for a lot of people and espcially help drivers that speed in long 30mph zones.
Adaptive cruise control, my brothers Volvo V90 2019 model has it, we have done some long journeys this year in that car from Scotland down to England and back, i hated it. i felt it would cut in and slow down too soon for my liking, it made me work harder i felt to drive using it. even with the bars set to the minimum distance for following. where i would choose to pull out for an overtake it would start to slow down for vehicle in front before that, then when i put my foot on the throttle it would drop a gear, burn more fuel, didnt flow very well for my driving style. the other annoying thing is its 5mph + or - when hit the button to up or lower the speed limit set on it.
but i do understand these ACC will be the new safety star ratings and cars without them will get a 1star rating automatically (even if it was a 5 star car before) because the car can stop itself in such a short distance using the ACC.
im more of an old school driver i guess and like to be in control and its my choice to stop as at the end of the day i take in all the info and drive the car, not the computer. i currently drive a Ford Transit MK7 with Cruise control fitted to it and love it the way it is. i press + button once for 1mph (which is handy if i about to overtake a lorry while i cruise at 60mph and want to go to 62 or 63mph just to help speed up passing the lorry then back in and down to 60mph to minimise my effect of flow in outside lane).
my brother loves the tech, i see some flaws that manufacturers could have allowed for (like the +5mph only, they could make it a setting in the computer that you pick what you want it to be) and its the good old, like it or lump it, this is the tech, here you go and deal with it and although its youre car, you only get to customise certain things.
I had ACC on my old 2017 Seat Leon FR and I LOVED it. Long motorway trips were a breeze but did have to be mindful of the lane keeping assist when it got confused and would try to throw you off the road. Unfortunately I had to sell it for financial reasons and after using a car that has bog standard cruise control I absolutely could not do without it now. Issue is, I seem to the the only person in the world that bought a Leon with ACC!! I genuinely could not find a used one that had it added as an option for so long. I managed to pick up a 2020 First Edition the other week which had it as standard and happy I managed to get everything I wanted :) Good to be in a Leon again, but it is a shame a Formentor was way out of my budget. Would have loved one.
You're not alone. My father's VW T6 has a similar interface - which I got completely wrong the first time around. It was far, far, close than you were here.
For me personally, adaptive cruise control isn't something that is top of my option list. Call me old fashioned but when I am driving and things get busy on the motorway I like to be in control of the speed of the vehicle so if I have had cruise control on, that gets turned off and my feet do the accelerating and slowing. That is my personal choice and I am fully aware there are those out there that love this system more than sliced bread, everyone is different and we all like different things 👍
There was one concerning part for me, that on the face of it looks good but I have a question as to how close the car will get, and that was when you signalled to change lanes it increased the power back to what it was before. With how many gap closers there are out there, if you was to signal to change lanes and it applies the power back, how many people would think to keep looking in front thinking the adaptive cruise control is slowing them down? It is something that I would have to experience myself to fully appreciate I think and until then I have reservations against it. I would much rather the car keep the safe distance as set and wait for the lane change to complete before applying the power. If you need the power to overtake beforehand then use the accelerator manually. Again, as above, this is my opinion
This will be more common as the older vehicles are slowly removed from the roads and I hope the technology can last that long without becoming problematic as the vehicles get older
I have been driving vehicles with ACC for the past 5 years (Hyundai and Kia) and found that they work even in heavy traffic areas, they pick up on vehicles cutting in in front and recreate the space cushion. In a city environment they bring the vehicle to a complete stop if the vehicle in front has stopped and advise that the vehicle in front has started to move.
This year I have also been driving a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and have been favouring the limit function. The vehicle detects the speed limit and displays it on the dash, and I then set the limit to the road limit. I have the regen set to on, and when I approach a speed reduction I judge the distance required to bring my speed down by the time I pass the sign.
I would encourage everyone to use whatever technology is available to them in their vehicle it will be paying more attention than most drivers seem to pay.
After watching one, any of your videos I walk away felling quite pleased that I have learned something.👍
Amazingly my 2009 Ford Mondeo has radar adaptive cruise, used it yesterday for 30+miles up the A55, brilliant bit of kit...
Great video especially as we’re looking of upgrading our car in the near future. The only thing my car has that I like (the wife hates 😂) is a O/D button to give a little extra boost when overtaking. The revs shoot from 2k to 3.5k and it’s like having my very own NOS button 😂 I must admit with the wife with me 99% of the time I only tested it once on the A6 in Stockport when it changed to 70mph when doing 50mph and the road was clear,no bends etc. as most cars are fitted with some sort of cruise control (ours isn’t as it’s the older mk2 CRV not the facelift) I really like the look of the feature for longer journeys
If you like having a "boost button" then I'd recommend something from the N range from Hyundai. They have a big red button on the steering wheel which drops the car into the lowest gear (unless you've got a manual) and turns all the driving aides to sport mode. It also overclocks the engine, giving an extra 20bhp.
Let's just say that much fun has been had with that button and leave it at that...
@@J1mston Wait until the government introduces road pricing everywhere, you won't be allowed to have fun in cars then 😿
@@TestGearJunkie. Hopefully my fellow countrymen and women will see how damaging a policy like that is and vote against it when they can. But let’s not get too political and leave it at that.
hi Ash, I have ACC in my Kuga, and i love it and use it all the time. even when towing my caravan.
Ashley: "One of my son's cars"
Me: How many cars does your son have?
Ashley: "Lily, one of my son's girlfriends"
Me: Ah, Ashley has more than one son! (I hope!!) 😂
Great vid as usual. I still only have standard cruise control so this is good to know for when I get a newer car.
Maybe it’s sons’ not son’s.
I love the ACC in my Ford Fiesta (manual). It takes the strain off at the 2-way roads where it is not allowed or impossible to overtake. Also it has saved me when I was looking away for a split second and it braked massively because of a car in front, that I not had seen yet, that was moving very slow on the motorway.
On the other side, you have to learn and 'play' with it. For instance, using your accelerator to overwrite it when wanting to overtake and moving your car out to lane 2 precisely in a gap between 2 cars.
It also can be very frustrating when the car in front is not using (A)CC and doesn't keep to the same speed and therefore you car brakes a little big every (e.g.) 30 seconds.
I have a 2008 and it great. It’s got three positions and I set mine to furthest away. I also find it useful in town for 20mph level!
I have only used acc on a suzuki hybrid rental. Quite good and intuitive, felt essential because if you took your foot of the gas without it on, the regen would start and slow you down with a bit ot a jolt. So you would get on the gas again, then lift off once up to speed and it would jerk again. Made my wife feel quite sick. Very smooth with acc on.
Got ACC on my golf love it especially on longer motorway trips
I use cruise often, whenever I get the opportunity. Obviously with caveat of safety and surrounding traffic. I recently had the use of a new Yaris for a few days, which had adaptive cruise. I struggled at first with it slowing the vehicle when I didn't want it to, especially as I was about to overtake another vehicle. Because it was a hire car and I only had it for a week, I didn't start messing about with distance settings. After a few days, I started to get used to its operations, as Ashley has in the video.
I actually found the lane assist was more problematic, as it only allowed me to switch off the active lane control feature not the whole system.
I know what you mean, running a Yaris. There is a straight forward “cancel” button on the wheel that switches off the cruise control (without applying the brake, which does the same thing), but it can intervene a bit on approaching something like an HGV and planning to overtake it. One needs to plan ahead early enough to avoid that, or just press the C button and use the accelerator and do it manually.
Enjoyed the Kia Video couple of weeks back.
Thinking of the Cupra Formentor V2 (150bhp) as the next car. Got too start saving up a decent deposit for it first thing. Did a test drive on one, the VWs and Audis are too overpriced.
So ended up that’s what sold it for me.
Currently driving a SEAT Arona, so keeping that for now.
I drove a mate's car (Seat) with adaptive cruise control. The smallest following gap was about four seconds, which is nice and safe in principle, but in reality quite impractical, because other drivers would constantly overtake us and get into the gap in front of us, slowing us down and thereby invoking more overtakes.
Seemed like that smallest gap in the Cupra was about 1.5 seconds, which is uncomfortably close indeed. That issue with the bends is annoying too. Perhaps in the future they could work out a way to connect it to the sat nav to be able to select more appropriate speeds.
I had a Suzuki with adaptive cruise control. I left it on in heavy traffic and it worked fine until the car in front pulled off. The car went into first gear and accelerated at full throttle down the inside lane. When I most needed it to work in poor visibility it came up with a radar problem. When I contacted Suzuki to ask why, they told me the radar did not work in poor conditions.
Love using ACC on my Volvo V90.
Slows on bends but seems more gentle than your tests
I bought a 'proper' Cupra over other performance cars because it was auto (for the commute) and the adaptive cruise works amazingly in slow moving traffic, slap it on and sit back watching mirrors while the car pulls along at 2mph. Brakes are good enough to where at the shortest setting you'll brake faster than everyone else. For distance - count the 2 second gap and you'll see that it's sat at a comfortable 2 missisippi.
I was sad that you weren't driving down the A229 😆
I've been using ACC for several years first in my ioniq hybrid and now in my ioniq electric and in between I had a Volvo V60 with normal cruise and I really missed my ACC. I use it a lot, it works well in heavy traffic, it brings you to a stop when traffic stops, when it starts again just flick the switch on the wheel or tap the gas and it starts following the vehicle ahead. I'd like to underline that even though I use it a lot, it's always in the front of my mind that I am the driver and not the computer and that I don't absent myself from the driving process and you should be constantly monitoring what's the environment and the car's reaction to it and be ready to step in and take action when things don't feel safe.
Someone at Cupra must like cycling. Formentor is a very popular ride on Mallorca.
My Dodge Challenger has it (in the UK), it's generally very good. I tend to have mine on the middle distance option (for the Dodge), as I find if I leave it on the longest distance, I'm gaining on a car in front, and just as I go to change lanes, it detects the car in front and slows down which makes for a jerky ride as I have to apply throttle to override. If I leave it on the mid distance, I tend to move out to overtake before I trigger the ACC to slow down. If it looks like I'm going to be following the same vehicle for a while without an overtake, I'll just hit the button to increase the distance to max.
It's been great on my commute, which for the last few years included 4 or 5 miles on the M27 that had road works and a 50mph limit (average speed camera enforced). It was one longish gap junction for me and I could just set the ACC and have it follow the vehicle in front without having to keep watching my speed so closely and forget about the average speed cameras watching. Much more relaxing.
It doesn't do lane assist or slowing for corners (I'm glad) or emergency stops for you, it just lights up BRAKE! in big red letters on the dash if it thinks you might hit something.
I have ACC (but not lane assist) in my automatic 2019 Golf. I think it is excellent technology which def encourages safe driving. One thing you do have to be aware of is that other drivers often are not comfortable with cars that drive a constant speed and will try cutting in front. Which is fine, but Ive had a couple of occasions where I've had to slam the breaks quite hard because I didnt think the ACC would react in time. Which means you drive a lot with a foot hovering over the brake pedal in anticipation of something happening.
One of the benefits of such kit is that it is possible to have one’s foot on top of the brake if need be, thus shortening reaction time a bit, while maintaining a steady speed. The other side of that is it extends the time needed to accelerate quickly, of course. Depends what the risk is.
I have ACC on my mk 7.5 Golf GTI and in general the system works well. I think it's great if you're on a really long journey and you don't have any time constraints and you want to make life a little bit easier by sitting with the lorries. The only thing I've noticed in my golf is that sometimes the radar doesn't pick cars up early and then it will brake harshly to keep the distant you have set ... Which isn't ideal! Apart from that, it's a nice option to have especially when roads are quieter. Would never personally use it if it's busy and you're trying to make progress.
I have ACC on my B6 Passat, one of the earliest VW cars to get it.
I use it everywhere, both on the motorway and around town. It reduces the cognitive load of keeping within the speed limit, regardless of the speed other drivers do. It has also saved me a few times where the driver in front has braked harshly to manoeuvre without signalling.
One negative I have noticed is reduced fuel economy. So many drivers are terrible at maintaining a constant speed, and drift up and down by 5/10mph. Without ACC I would maintain the same speed and let the car from front move closer and further away. With ACC continuously matching the car in front, you are constantly reducing speed and then accelerating again, wasting fuel.
The system in the Cupra Formentor is the same as the one in the Golf 8. I had a Golf 8 in the past couple of years and it was downright dangerous, detecting random speed limits, like 100mph and flooring it (I had a Golf R so you can imagine that was rapid). It also randomly braked hard, at one point nearly causing a crash in the outside lane of the motorway while I was trying to get past a lorry. It would even do random hard braking when cruise control was not on and nearly everything was failing constantly every few minutes. I sold the car after not too long as I genuinely feared for my safety. I would not touch any vehicle based on the Golf 8, or with VWs new systems. A massive downgrade from the last-gen system
That all sounds extremely scary.
I have a 2012 VW Arteon, which I think has something similar. I have definitely experienced similar issues. While they are helpful and can take a load off, I do view these systems very much as a tool to assist, but they are not hands off. I am always ready to take control back or make an adjustment if there's anything I am not happy about. I frequently find I am engaging and dropping out of it as the risk situation develops. In some situations, I prefer the limiter over the adaptive cruise.
I agree, the older system my MK7 golf (pre facelift) has is alot better than the newer system since it doesn’t change the set speed unless changed by the driver or approaching a vehicle, even then when it gets to a vehicle it actually keeps the car 3 seconds behind in clear weather
Mine will detect the speed limit, but the driver has to press a button to confirm. Had a couple of instances on the motorway in road works where it's seen the 10mph sign within the closed of works area and asked if I want to apply the new speed limit! 😲
Yes generally the system from the Mk7 Golf era of VW products is very reliable and I think it is quite telling that a lot of their new products still use it. I think the worst thing really was that VW customer services were not interested about all the issues and never even offered any goodwill gesture. My car was off the road for months waiting for parts which never fixed the issue, so I just had to sell it and lose a lot of money.
Thanks, I was having a couple of chats around dashcams just yesterday.
The only adaptive cruise control driving experience I have had was several years ago, in an auto Mondeo estate a friend owned. I found on busy motorways, with frequent lane changes or slowing of other vehicles, that the Mondeo slowed to harshly and when the vehicle cutting from the outer lane to the slip lane across my front was clear it then accelerated like a bat out of hell. Not impressed then and wary of putting it on the tick list when I next change my car. Cruise yes. Adaptive?
My Ford S Max that I bought in 2011 had Adaptive Cruise Control, and my 3 cars since I insisted on it. I use it all the time. Mostly on full distance. The only thing I did not like was when in slow moving traffic they would turn off at 15 MPH. Now my Tesla can stop and it stays on. Brilliant
Golf GTI mk 7.5 ....ACC is spot on .......... Very interested in a dash cam (front and rear) too, will have a look at a few reviews of this one. Regarding the lane assist, on the Mk 7.5 it can be turned off (all the time) in the menu system, surprised you have to code it on a MK8.............
They are superb in Traffic, I did a video on a 1.4Tsi Golf with DSG and it just followed the traffic, slowed down, stopped and moved off on it's own (also stopped and started the engine) as and when the traffic did. Not as good in a manual obviously but that is just another reason to buy an Auto these days. 100% agree on it reducing cognitive loads, same with having an Auto, anything that reduces what you need to concentrate on allows you to pay more attention to surroundings, anticipation etc etc. Quick word about the gaps, it doesn't measure the gap in distance, it uses time, the smallest gap you can set is 2 seconds and IIRC 3, 4, 5 and 6 seconds is the option. Staggering to think this tech was invented in 1992 (Mitsubishi) and is only really seeing proper adoption by other manufacturers recently, I am guessing because it had to integrate with brake assist systems to work properly.
Much easier with electronic throttle bodies too, becoming common over sort of the last 15 years
Thanks Ashey
Looks a nice car, very similar to the system in my Dad's 2017 Ford Kuga ST line X
My hyundi had it and my toyota has it,used it for 5 years now I like it but you need to learn how to use it and it can catch you out especially if you like overtaking, I have no problem with it 😀
My MG4 has ACC ... and it does the same thing on bends in the road - slows you down. I'm surprised that the VAG system also slows you down as much as it does. Then again, I think the MG4 uses a Bosch system, and maybe VAG cars use the same system?
PS - I do use ACC a lot on motorways, and even around town. 🙂
One problem I’ve found with my ACC is that it sometimes picks up pedestrians on the pavement and slams on the brakes unexpectedly. The main benefit, for me, is that I can rest my right leg, especially in slow/stop/start traffic.
The collision detection in some of the trucks I drive can be quite alarming sometimes, when cars etc cut in too close when passing!
adaptive cruise is good, unless you get the idiot that overtakes at 71 mph for the passed 7 miles pulls in way too soon, and then slams on the brakes to do 60-65 mph. the other down side I wouldn't trust it is on approch to an obstruction like stationary traffic on the motorway, as you will plough up to it at a rate of knotts before the car picks up stationary traffic, simular thing to a car waiting at a set of traffic lights on a dual carriageway. it is handy and nice to drive with adaptive if the traffic allows you to use it properly, just disabling it when the conditions require a slower smoother slow down. can be a bit jerky on the slow down as well. as for lane assist, I quite like it on mine, as keeps you centre of your lane, but on bends can send you a bit too wide or hug the dashed line for the centre of the road, but on country lanes can be annoying with lane departure warnings while passing branches etc too close to the road on the left. I had adaptive cruise control on my last car, it was good, but would jerk the car when it picked up a slower moving vehicle, the new car I got isn't so much of a jerk, but yes find that both cars follow traffic way too close, but there again like to see what is happening infront of the vehicle infront also, so that not jamming on the brakes because the vehicle infront is asleep to stationary traffic that a relaxed driver would have seen usually 10 seconds before and already started reacting to. so until probably fully automated cars plus 10 years I wouldn't trust it completely, but a nice feature to have.
I have has ACC on various vehicle since 2012. Always use it. ACC has improved, not perfect. I have a VW ID3. Somethings you didn’t mention that are on the ID3 but maybe on the Cupra: speed management following the vehicle in the next offside lane, avoids undertaking; speed limit recognition, the car speeds up or slows down automatically as speed limits change; the ACC will bring you to a complete stop in a queue and start moving again when the queue moves. Downsides: on the M4 the car says the speed limit has changed to 50mph when it hasn’t. A404/M40 junction it reduces your speed for the bend to a ridiculously low speed. These are all mapping issues. Disconcerting: exit a 30mph limit and car accelerates to 60mph on a road that is narrow or bendy! Changing the gap between vehicles in front is easy once you get used to using it. Switching off either the bend limits or offside following with just a dab of the accelerator. Turn off the set speed with a dab of the brakes. Now, lane keeping assist, I frequently turn it off. Irritating.
Does the Cupra or your golf have the travel assist system? It would be great to see your opinion.
Happy Thursday everyone, hope all are well.
This is going to be one for later as too much is broken at work at the moment. Got the notification while filling the caffeine receptacle so thought I’d say “Hi” to everyone
👋
Greetings Bob and hope your day starts to fall in place ok.
Are you saying you are the receptacle? 🤔
@@ibs5080 Thank you Ib, slowly getting things fixed and enough is working once more to be able to have some food while watching this video. Hope all is well with you
@@thomaselliot2257 I would be the next receptacle after filling the other one 😉
@@smilerbob that's you finished work for the day yay😃
I had adaptive cruise on my Merc. It was ok but I've found I have a system that's better. It's called my right foot. It works for many more circumstances than ACC does. It's not something I'd pay for with the exception of one niche situation: crawling motorway traffic at less than 20mph. The combination of ACC and assisted steering is brilliant! Look mum! No hands or feet! I went nearly 5 miles with no stress. That's so unlike me in traffic jams.
I have a 23 plate Honda CRV. I use ACC quite a lot on long distance trips. I cannot use it with Lane Keep Assist turned off.
I find ACC very useful but, the 2 things I don't like are the distance it sometimes chooses when following - it will often get slightly closer than I'd like and then brakes more harshly when it needs to. If the distance it chose was further it could slow down rather than brake. It will also sometimes react negatively to uneven road surfaces.
For some time I've been thinking about asking you about ACC. You've answered all but one of my questions in this video. The one thing you didn't cover is foot positioning - what would you suggest? (For info, the slightest tap of the brake on the CRV will cancel ACC).
Different cars require different foot positions. Hover between gas and brake is a good start 👍
@@ashley_neal Exactly what I've ended up doing!
Dashcam footage seems clear enough from what we've seen.
How well does it perform in the dark? A follow-up Vid might be worthwhile.
I've used standard Cruise control before now but have my doubts about the "adaptive" bit. It isn't a feature that I would use.
Stay safe out there 👍
The ACC in my Ioniq 38kWH works well, but I’ve not experienced it slowing down for corners yet, and in your video mine wouldn’t have slowed down for that sort of bend that caused yours to slow. Maybe do a video on self steering with ACC and LKA activated, the Ioniq does it quite well, but it’s not something I would trust or use in anything that wasn’t a very quiet road.
The massive and honestly quite dangerous flaw of cupra’s ACC (with the lane hold assist) is that it has a tendency to understeer if the curves are too tight or if there r too many curves in succession at high speeds. So when I tried it, there r many sections of highways (in Austria) where I just had to switch it off to prevent crashing into the crash barrier or swerve into the overtaking lane. But tbh, the sections where this happens r even challenging for many human drivers as well. It’s not that uncommon to see ppl slow to half their initial speed and keep braking in the curves or sometimes struggling to stay in their lanes on that particular section between Vienna and Graz so I’m being kinda harsh on the ACC system.
The Adaptive Cruisecontroll in my Renault Megane does also speedup if you put the indicator out. According to the manual it is to build speed to overtake, what is logical. However it bothers me when I change lanes to go on a sliproad to leave the highway. In that sort of instances I don't want it to speedup, but to slow down. Now here in The Netherlands sliproads are usually long enough. But I do drive sometimes in Germany, where the sliproads are short. And then it is not save if it builds up speed when you put the indicator out. I have my Megane now for 2 years (I love it by the way) and have trained myself that at the sametime when I put the indicator out for a sliproad, I switch off the Adaptive CC and take over the car.
I use ACC all the time on my Audi. It is fairly similar to the Mercedes system in that everything is operated on its own stalk under the indicator stalk. I hate cruise control systems with push-buttons because they are not easy to operate and more often you need to glance at them.
I had a cupra as a hire car last week and felt the adaptive was following too close. This was the first time I've had a car with adaptive cruise control so it's was probably my unfamiliarity of the system
Recently drove from Eastbourne to near Lossiemouth in Scotland, the ACC on my car took a lot of the mental workload out of the drive but one of the sensors did temporarliy fail on the M6 at 70 mph causing the brakes to slam on until I tapped the brakes. Luckily there wasn't an audi or a bmw behind me!
I have it on my 5th generation Renault Espace, it’s not a model that’s sold in the U.K, I live in France. It’s really good but the only downside I find is if the car in front leaves the motorway or dual carriageway the ACC detects them slowing down on the slip road and brakes which is potentially dangerous and would confuse the driver behind.
I use the adaptive cruise everywhere.
In a 20/30 zone I can be looking for hazards instead of at the speed, it's easy to knock off if I need to slow.
On a country lane it will just follow the car in front at a safe distance and won't close under braking.
Not quite as useful overtaking on the motorway since the car is not the most powerful and needs a bit of a run up.
my one has 3 distance settings, you can set the automated distance to short, medium and long,
The short gives you about a 3 second gap [so it is on the right side of the 2 second rule], the medium is OK, would be good for wet weather conditions.
but the long distance setting is a pain and almost unusable because it leaves a huge gap in front so people behind get frustrated and over take then cut in front of you,
so your car keeps having to brake every time someone pulls into the gap in front of you.
[if you are the outside lane overtaking a long queue in the inside lane this long setting could be a bit dodgy because if someone in front on the inside lane pulls out in front of you, your car then brakes and surprises anyone following from the rear coming up behind you]
System on mine shows the setting on the dash, 4 dashes is furthest away. Whilst you may feel close what you won't realise until you may need it is how quickly and how hard the system can apply the brakes. The distances also changes with speed, so set to maximum the gap at 70 the vehicle in front os further away than the same setting at 30.
My system is camera not radar based and one camera detects brake lights. As soon as the brake lights of the car in front light up the car will slow and very quickly if required, far quicker than a driver ever will.
Great in slow moving traffic queues. Set it and it just keeps up. Stop and handbrake is applied automatically, stop start operates. When car in front moves off flick the resume button and the car retstarts, handbrake comes off and it moves off again.
When the system is set braking is also assisted if you use the brakes manually and you can feel it.
As soon as I indicate to overtake the system 'forgets' the car in front and will increase speed to allow the overtake.
I recently did close to 500 miles from northern Scotland and used cruise for the majority of the trip.
Oh just to add, this is standard fit, no need to tick any options boxes!
Since January this year I’ve been getting used to “Dynamic Radar Cruise Control” (same as ACC) on a Toyota Yaris. The buttons and control switches are on the opposite side of the wheel to yours. The manual has a long list of “get out” clauses about it. No surprise about that, and I’m content with it overall. However, although I’ve adjusted it to the maximum distance setting it can be a bit tight depending on the weather, road surface condition, and the gradient. It’s set up to about 50 metres at 50 mph, which is just about in line with the HoC recommendation (with no adjustment for gradient etc).
In the manual it says: “Do not use dynamic radar cruise control with full-speed range in any of the following situations. Doing so may result in inappropriate speed control and could cause an accident resulting in death or serious injury”, followed by a list of 12 items that I’m not going to post here, but it is a good system most of the time, and some of the notes are kind of defensive for them. Its an assistance system, and it is still our responsibility to supervise it overall.
It has turned out to be useful, along with “Lane Trace Assist (LTA)” on long trips. It’s also useful on some fairly long downhill stretches for maintaining the speed within the limit and maximising recharging the traction battery. I have come across a few oddities with the radar device on one or two roads with tight curves and other obstructions that are actually off route, which it responds to when it shouldn’t though.
As someone who does a lot of motorway miles, I don't think I could opt for a car without ACC. I've had 3 VW Golfs and 1 Skoda Superb, all manufactured between 2014 - 2016 - I've noticed the lowest distance you can set on these cars is an exact 2 second gap, and every notch up is an extra 2 second gap. I haven't driven any of the later models which take bends etc into account, but to be honest I imagine this would be more of a hinderance than a help.
I have it in my Audi A6 and to be honest use it almost all the time, even in city traffic. I have to say though that even on motorway I have it set to the shortest distance and to me it still seems long enough.
I have a fair bit of experience with ACC in trucks:- some makes (when we have hired) are great, one of our regular makes is, ahem, lacking. (I think it’s running on Windows 95 with an equivalent processor… way slow!)
I’ll use it but I still keep full control as it has limitations. My personal car has basic Cruise Control, again I use it, but will often alternate twixt CC & limiter dependent on traffic conditions.
Active Lane Departure systems, naaah mate. Had a few occasions where that would have contributed to a collision. I’ve had to swerev suddenly cos some numpty decided to change lanes next to me without indication or reason.
1:13
When Ah werr a lad, cruise control was either careful use of your foot, or in certain older vehicles, a brick on the gas pedal!
I will have more to say later
Tesla; acc +- auto steer down to start-stop. Issues: 1) the follow distance is not speed sensitive, 2) in slow moving traffic the acceleration/deceleration rates are far to aggressive giving a bit of a rollercoaster ride. 3) only the “enhanced” autopilot (£££) will lane change on indicate. Ashley, you had a Tesla, how does the Cupar compare?
I like speed limiter functions better than cruise control. It feels more natural, removing the need to keep an eye on your speeding creeping up too high on the motorway. And your feet are in the normal place - for me (and probably everyone I guess) I think my braking reaction time is slower in cruise control than normal driving/speed limiter.
Adaptive cruise control is the autocorrupt of the car. My main issue is that it overcorrects.
When there's a queue, it slows down more than the cars in front, slowing the ones behind me even further and creating a longer queue. Then it accelerates quicker than the cars in front as the distance got greater, so everyone directly behind me is back up to speed right before the adaptive cruise control brakes harder due to the car rapidly approaching the queue in front again. It's a dangerous feedback loop, increasing differences in speed which can result in collisions many cars back.
I always try to anticipate on decreasing speed further up the road, slow down early, but slow down less and to stay close to the average speed, which decreases risk and increases flow down the line.
Often when there's no queue, I want to overtake but there's someone overtaking me first. The thing already starts slowing down while I just want to keep my speed to nicely merge in a second. If I were to put my signal on, the car overtaking me would've freaked out.
Two things of interest for you Ashley: the swinging apple would get you a fine in Australia as we aren't allowed to have anything swinging in the driver's view; and I HATE steering wheels that aren't round. You would drive on wheel the shape of the Formentor steering wheel so why have one for the driver? As an extra point, I'd like to see lat/long/time/speed on the camera images as they're useful for evidence if needed.
I hate those swinging things as well..! I think the options for the camera display include lat/long, it certainly has speed/time on mine, not sure about the rest.
The Cupra system here seems quite similar to the one in my GR Yaris. The default is too close for motorway driving. Actually I quite like it for longer journeys. It becomes a bit of a game of how to get in and out without being slowed, but since you're more worried about surroundings than managing speed. Mine doesn't attempt this bend ahead nonsense though.
Modern cars are a bit rubbish for this. The pre collision assist in most is too sensitive, and goes off well before an actual accident is even close, the lane assist is annoying on the warning mode, and horrible to use in lane centering mode on normal roads.
Unfortunately with my car, this stuff cannot be coded out easily though third party solutions are available to issue CANBUS commands to turn off lane assist, stop start, etc. No, I don't want my performance orientated engine turning off whilst it's working its way up to full operating temperature, thanks.
Just be thankful you got these cars before the speed limiter tech comes in
driving my VW ID.4 around sunbury-on-thames along the A316, it somehow manages to picks up 5mph and attempts to slow down the car. Driving to Bristol on the motorway, it wanted to go at 50mph all the way there and on the return journey back to London, it somehow managed to pick up 100mph as the speed limit (maybe detected a max kmh limit on a back of a lorry? and wanted to accelerate upto that, so I have ended up turning off the ACC driving aid.
when we bought my wife's car, I was hoping we'd be able to get a model with adaptive cruise control, but it wasn't available for the one we selected. I prefer to use cruise control, when appropriate, because it lets me delegate the manipulation of the throttle, without taking away control of my speed. and in fact, I like to see how far I can travel with only adjusting the setting on the cruise control, instead of having to press pedals. and barring traffic lights, I can, in good traffic, drive for miles without needing to accelerate or slow more abruptly than the cruise control does it. in normal traffic, some days I can't go a hundred feet without needing to override it and brake.
Nice car, don't think I've come across one before. Don't have adaptive cruise control on my car, it's probably a bit too old for that (2014) but it does have 'standard' cruise control. The camera is ok, but I need an internal one more than I need the higher resolution at the rear, which is why I went for the T130. I've no complaints about the quality of the rear footage from mine, well not so far, anyway, I've not had any incidents where I've needed it (yet..!)
I've a MG. HS-Auto with adaptive cruise, and use it at every possible opportunity, in town, motorways, out in the countryside... driving at the speed limit, means I'm the slowest on any journey..
Nice timing!
Nice view in the sunset (sunrise)?🙂
@@thomaselliot2257 Thanks! Sunset, it's 20 Stories in Manchester if you're curious 😄
@@RajR96 here is me thinking it is somewhere abroad. I'm surprised . Especially with your exotic looking cocktail .Manchester of all places. Thanks for letting me know👍
🥇 for being first by the way 😄
Just have a basic 6 year old Hyundai l20 with no cruise control , adaptive or otherwise. It only has done just over 29500 miles so I probably won't bother changing until I need to get an electric vehicle, if I am still alive and driving. Nice video (a la Chillies) though 🙂
I'll be in my box before they force an electric vehicle on me 😠
@@TestGearJunkie. you will still be able to drive petrol and diesel cars, just won't be able to buy a brand new one.
@@thomaselliot2257 Suits me, most if not all new cars are crap now.
Sorry Ashley I don’t like cruise control, let alone AA . But I love what I had in one car. Max speed button. I could slow down letting of gas pedal, or press gas it down for cruising . Perfect when on motorway when 50 limit. Or round town at 30.
Yeah, I like the speed limiter function as well, I've used it in hire cars. Sadly my current car doesn't have it, although it does have (normal, not adaptive) cruise control.
I'm not a fan of assistive cruise, it uses the brakes (or regen probably, in newer vehicles than I've driven) to match speed with the vehicle in front (even slightly will cause the brake lights to illuminate, affecting traffic behind and hurting mpg) and it also requires you to pay attention to your speed more than regular cruise control (kinda defeating the object of workload reduction imho) - it lets the vehicle in front control your speed, and if they're inconsistent with speed your speed becomes inconsistent (I believe this is probably a factor in middle lane hogs not realising they're in the wrong lane tbh). I much prefer to set my cruise to my chosen speed and then unset it with a press when I start to close on another vehicle (the aim being to coast down to match their speed without braking and without getting too close), if I can't just change lane and pass without coming out of cruise. Then I either right-foot my speed until I can get into the passing lane (accelerate and "resume" cruise) or set cruise to the new lower speed and wait for the opportunity - depends on what the traffic behind is doing and what I'm seeing beyond the car in front.
I'd probably like ACC for busier situations, like long average speed areas where traffic isn't necessarily doing the posted speed limit and where there isn't the proper "each lane to the right is generally overtaking the ones to their left" type of situation (traffic clumps in these situations). I normally use the speed limiter (at least in my work vehicles, my car doesn't have that) to keep the max speed down, and then use the accelerator mostly to control actual speed (avoiding the brakes unless needed).
As I know it is not possible to turn off the Lane Assist control permanently on the Formentor. Probably something to do with NCAP. I hate lane control.
Interesting
Being just slightly older my car has standard cruise, and lane warning (not assist) and active collision avoidance upto 30mph with just warning over 30mph. And both those systems are active in cruise control.
A lot of people in U.K. seem to hate cruise control in any form.
I tend to use it a fair bit ….it also saves a little fuel, at least on modern cars.
I can engage cruise control at 20mph and once switched on, I can manually adjust down to 18mph….which might be useful in wales U.K. (rolling out 20mph wherever there’s a 30 zone).
while I like adaptive cruise I never fully trust it. in my Tiguan i have had countless times when it's just shot off well above the speed limit because it misread the signs etc or just gets it wrong, especially with temp speeds on the motorway. sometimes just doesn't recognise the sign and tries to keep me at 70.
I'm not bothered about all the big touchscreen and lane assist stuff, but adaptive cruise is the one new thing I wish our old car had. Slowing you to 28mph on a motorway grade road for no reason is worrying though, and people say these systems are ready to be mandatory would you believe!
The standard one It's rare you can use it for very long unless traffic is light, and it adjusts very slowly and crudely so usually have to deactivate then get to a new speed before reactivating. Also useless going downhill. Does that adaptive cruise also slow you down hills to remain at the set speed?