Dynamic cruise control

I also get odd response when going around a curve and the radar sees the car in the adjacent lane. DRCC is a feature, but not a mature technology.

 

The option is always available to switch between standard CC and Dynamic, or not to use CC at all. Immature technology or not, I think that Dynamic mode is a decent improvement over standard CC. The owner's manual explains that it might not work well around tighter turns in the road up ahead, or in bad weather.

 

It is.



Biggest annoyance for me is probably when someone cuts in from another lane and the car almost panic stops. If you're anticipating it, you can over ride it with the throttle.

 

Oh, so that's the "clicky button". lol

 

Yeah. Someone else used the term earlier and I couldn't think of the right one so I plagiarized. On-off button. DUH!! Hooda thunk it?

 

I gave it a test in some heavy rain during rush hour just to see how it does and was surprised how it reacts and not in a good way. It will lose the car in front and start speeding up which can be pretty problematic if you're in heavy traffic. I guess if there's too much rain or water over the sensor it refracts all the radar and it just doesn't know any better because it's not like there's something covering it telling the sensor 'hey something covering me!', it's just getting a 'nothing's ahead of you, none of radar is coming back so I guess it's clear'. Obviously using any type of cruise control in bad weather is a bad idea. You don't know if you'll hydroplane on the highway or the wind blows something into your lane. But at least DRCC will disengage when the traction control is tripped. So if you hit a deep puddle or drive over some gravel in a turn it'll turn off. I wonder if future versions could tie in the rain sensor with the cruise control system so if it is noticing a buttload of rain it'll turn off cruise control and give you a warning not to us cruise in that type of weather.

 

I heard a rumour that it turns off if the wipers are on high, but I haven't tested that.

I was abusing it at a drive through the other day, using it to hold the brakes. The line was taking forever, and I got a message that said "cruise control off. Shifted to P position. Depress the brake pedal and shift to Do to restart." So I guess it times out if you're stopped for more than a couple minutes.

 

CC isn't for use in heavy rain or when the roads have snow or ice. Doesn't matter if it is DCC or regular.

 

I have found it isn't for use in many places other than open highway in clear weather and not a lot of sharp curves. Vehicles in front can easily cause a very heavy braking, where none is required. The settings seem overly touchy - instead of a gradual slowdown, on mine it seems like all or nothing when you hit the magic distance threshold. I'll give it a fair shot on an upcoming trip, but it's a pretty primitive implementation of DCC in this car.

 

That is true if you come up on a car going quite a bit slower or someone merges in front of you. Or, as noted before, a car is getting in the off ramp and slowing while not moving over quickly enough for your closing speed.

 

The camera doesn't seem to be doing anything to help, other than maybe seeing which way the road curves and checking if the stuff ahead of you is in your lane or not. But even for those things I'm not sure it is helping at all.

 

Windshield camera is for LKA, and not DRCC.

 

And they sadly dropped LKA from the Gen III. the Prime only has LDA

 

I used dynamic cruise control every day when commuting in/out of NYC. Going through the tunnels at rush hour (which I desperately tried to avoid, but sometimes...), I would just set the cruise at 30, and then just keep toggling the pip whenever traffic started moving. I let the car do the stopping and holding for me. When you're doing a mind-numbing 3/4 hour trip through a 1 1/2 mile long tunnel, no lane changing, etc. it's the only way to go.

Of course, on the approach you have to worry about idiots who walk between the cars in traffic. The radar doesn't detect them at the edges of the car so if you're just pipping away you may hit someone (granted it's only about 1 mile per hour and it's their fault, and you're probably in a bad mood anyway from sitting in traffic, but still... they might smudge the paint).

 

Thanks. I always get those two mixed up. Wish they'd just combine the two and call it LKDA.

 

I wish they had LKA on the Prime. I'm really tempted to pay the $700 and get openpilot lane keeping. I'm not there yet, but I'm tempted.

I have both a Prime and a 2010 Advanced Tech Package. Sadly the 2010 keeps you in the lane much better than the 2017 prime. I'm sure its just software, and maybe due to some liability, but they missed an opportunity here. The DRCC is so much better in the Prime than in my 2010 ATP... it goes all the way to 0mph (but you have to tap the gas to get it to resume), the 2010 only uses DRCC down to 25mph, then it turns off.

The lane detection is much better on the 2017, but the lack of lane keeping makes it a bit "meh". On my 2010 you have to manually activate it every trip (always on in 2017), and its really only good in ideal conditions, but with LKA on it takes a lot of fatigue out of driving long distances. You still have to have your hands on the wheel, but the amount of force required around bends is so much less than the 2017 since the 2010 is steering (nowhere near perfect) for you.

With auto-parking (a feature I dont use often), the Prime is much easier. The Gen III is more versatile though. In the Gen III there is more user input needed, but that means you can define where you park better. Dont get me wrong, its way more difficult and slower to use. The Prime is MUCH more intuitive and better at actually performing the task, but it wont do it if no cars are around. The Gen III will do it whether cars are there or not, but it requires more user input.

The Prime definitely has the hardware to do better, I wish they took advantage of it.