Driver assistance features, radar cruise, lane keep, etc.

I can't answer, but I was literally in the middle of drafting a very, very similar inquiry when this popped up as a notification.

If I am allowed to expand on the question, I would love to see pri-pri, especially pri-pri Advanced, driver assist features compared to Chevy Volt Premier - and if there are any plug-in hybrid not too far out of the price range.

Reducing mental fatigue in long trips is also a priority for me, but also reducing overload and surprises in local errand driving. I've driven safely for over fifty years, but have been losing confidence lately, for a variety of reasons, and am ready for some additional assistance.

My wife's car went OOS, not worth repairs, a couple of weeks ago. She took over mine, while I drive a borrowed car, which I rather like, but makes obvious that manual-transmission is no longer a good choice for me. That led me to thinking going the other direction would be a worth considering, and the household finance & accounting office is nudging me along.

 

I can tell you that if you read a lot of other threads on here, LKAS doesn't exist on the Prius - it has Lane Departure Warning, but no Steer Assist, that works in any serious way.... BUT it does have Automatic Braking, although someone on here in the thread "Totaled Prime" says they hit a WILD BOAR and the safety features didn't work as expected... oh and on the Advanced Model, you get BSM - Blind Spot Monitoring and also Cross-Traffic Alert!

 

The cruise control is great, you stay back a set distance and it's very reliable, the lane departure warning is bothersome and noisy, I leave it off, with the cruise control I find cars following tend to drift back and not tailgate as much, because I'm not tailgating, yes tailgaters are gonna tailgate, but they get to pass if they want...

 

The lane keeping is more of a hazard than a safety feature.

The cruise control is ok, but I live in an area with a lot of traffic and the freeways have curves. Both of which are quite problematic for the car.

Automatic braking can be annoying if you’re an aggressive driver but that’s the one safety feature I’m happy about.

 

I'm also happy for the auto-braking - it's insulated me from a sudden rear end collision and stopped lots of little bumps trying to park with limited sight lines. Also, the bright headlights and high beam assist have been wonderful aids to night driving compared to my 2009 Prius. I also like the blind side monitoring.

I've never used cruise control in any car I've owned so can't comment about that.

 

you should start a private conversation with bob wilson, he has both prime and i-3. or just read his threads, he covers everything in great detail.

 

He is a retired engineer.

 

I find the radar cruise control works well, except on more congested roads. It is just doesn't stay close enough to the car ahead for me.

 

That's a matter of opinion. I like the distance.

But sadly, you are correct. Most people behind me cannot stand the distance, and in some cases induce bad behavior.

 

Do folks have any experience how the distance that the Toyota sets in its ACC (radar cruise) compares to other manfuacturers ACC, eg Honda?

 

Here are my 5 cents:
The most useful features in Prime Advanced (in my subjective order):

1. DRCC - well worth despite its limitations,
2. Rear cross traffic alert - fantastic feature - it even detects pedestrians crossing behind the car (despite manual says otherwise)
3. Intelligent clearance sonar - very useful, but need to be disabled if anything is mounted on the hitch if installed (e.g. bike rack in my case)
4. BSM - nice to have, but can by fully surpassed by proper convex mirror insert
5. LDA w/SA - it is functionally just warning system as Tideland Prius described,
6. Simple Intelligent Parking Assist - haven't tried that yet (and don't think I will ever try)

 

DRCC is a driver assist feature, and it works if you use it as intended. I drove 120 miles on partly congested highways without disengaging it once. Very nice.

All the other features are safety features, not driver assist features. Lane departure alert and sway warning basically tell you that you aren't paying attention (or are asleep). Steering assist just gives you a little extra time to get alert again after LDA or sway goes off. And it does work exactly as they describe.

 

Does anyone know how the DRCC on the latest Honda cars compare to what we have in the Prime? Driving 120 miles on that system alone is pretty sweet - do other manufacturers have similar high quality implementation or is Toyota ahead here?

 

From what I've read from many websites, Honda's Adaptive Cruise is not as good as Toyota. Toyota has one of the best systems from the mainstream brands, especially because of the full stop function. The Honda's system is prone to being jerky and glitchy. Toyota's is smooth from my experience, but it's no substitute for driving. My one complaint for my Prius' DRCC is that it is not aggressive enough, even in PWR mode. It maximizes MPGs more than I'd like.

Honda does have a better lane keep assist. It pretty much drives itself on a straight or slightly curved road. The LDA in the gen 4/Prime is pretty pathetic/glitchy/almost useless, unfortunately. The gen 3 had a better, more aggressive system.

 

Lacking in the "steering assist" or in the warnings? I'm not looking for lane-holding, but I would really like an effective and early wake up call if i am drifting - it's time to exit the freeway, exit the vehicle, and re-evaluate priorities of schedule vis-à-vis safety.

 

It's really great at that.

 

Thank you, that's good to know. The carmakers have got to be concerned about people treating lane-holding as if it were fully automated driving, ala the well-publicized Tesla incident. I think I'd rather not have lane-holding myself unless it clearly accompanied by warnings. Stick-shaker kind of stuff.

 

I had a 2010 V equipped with dynamic cruise and LKA. I now have a 2013 3 and really miss those features. They worked really well, and the LKA did turn the steering wheel back into lane. The automatic park long worked well, but it was more of a,toy. I really miss the LED headlights.

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