Anyone use Proactive Driving Assist (PDA)?

Does it work on curves? That is one thing that is lacking in TSS 2.0 that I have turn off DRCC on curves.

 

Yes and no. Depends on the curve. Mild curves worked pretty reliably for me down the OR and CA coast. Especially on highways. I was using all the features of adaptive cruise control and experienced very active slow downs just prior to curves and it would keep in the lane, if there was striping as well as the auto following.
However, on smaller sharp curving roads it was like an amusement ride (or flying with a very new student pilot) what with needing constant attention and high alertness to take over in a split second. It would try to take on a sharp turn but but then give up halfway through the turn and point the car towards the ditch or across the centerline into oncoming traffic. I found it kind of hilarious but certainly laced with danger. The auto following also did some unusual things when the car ahead disappeared behind a big redwood tree on a sharp turn.

 

OP asked about PDA (I’m assuming w/o cruise on). I do find the braking in traffic something to deal with—I just brake earlier or use a little gas pedal input to override it. I’ve noticed PDA help with input to prevent lane departure but not what I would call following a curve or breaking for curves. That’s just my observations. IIRC braking assistance stops at 10 MPH.

 

I turned it on to try it, and I agree, the assistance to stop when there's a car ahead of you does feel fairly abrupt. I'll have my foot on the brake, gliding when I see cars stopped well ahead of me and, I feel like I'm slowing down with light brake pressure just fine. Car disagrees and wants to stop sooner - like you said - feels like a novice driver with a heavy foot takes over.

It's a bit abrupt and I haven't gotten around to playing with the sensitivity yet. But it reminds me of when people start driving, they brake heavy at the start, then let off the pressure once they've cut speed hard to slowly approach. Vs smoothly decelerating the entire way.

 

I am not sure what people consider normal slow-down approaching stopped traffic or a red light, but around here, many people drive very fast and then brake at the last second.

 

Regarding PDA on curves, it sounds like Toyota's driving automation is still far from prime time and the new TSS 3.0 not worth upgrading from my TSS 2.0. Perhaps TSS 4.0 will make things work better, but Toyota is moving at glacier speed on this; so, I won't hold my breath. TJA—25 mph, really?—is such a joke, and “J” perhaps stands for joke.

 

I was not completely pleased with the 2017 version of TSS. It worked great on the freeway most of the time, but radar cruise needed to be "off'" when I was in the northern California mountains and sharing the roads with 18 wheelers. It's responsiveness in the carpool lane in LA was much too aggressive too.

IT works much better on my 2024 Prius Prime. I think that the aggressive breaking may be caused by the "following distance" feature. If you have the gap set too small it will maintain speed until it's too close and requires hard braking.

The 2024 Prius Prime with TSS 3.0 handles traffic much more smoothly than previous models. I've only driven 1250 miles this week, but I really liked the way the car handled both freeway (I-5, grapevine, state rt 73) and stop and go in San Diego as well as the LA basin.

I noted last night that the car did a great job of decelerating as it approached a line of cars stopped at a traffic signal. It was a 1 mile stretch of 45 MPH traffic in 3 lanes so I was accustomed to using cruise control in that area. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that the DRCC was toggled off and the car was still gently slowing as it approached the last car in the lane.

I'm still learning, but so far I'm very, very happy with the way driver assistance was configured for my new ride. It's exactly what I wanted... I think.

 

I don’t like it at all. You can disable it but once you start the car, it automatically turns back on. I guess it’s just something that I need to get used to.