HSI and LKA/DRCC

This sounds like a fairly serious annoyance. If you are using the normal (non-DRCC) cruise control can you display the HSI without any interruptions or problems?

Is the DRCC still a worth while option? I may still be able to cancel the AT Package if it isn't.

Another question, what happens if I am on a two lane road and push my foot to the floor to pass a slower car ahead of me? is the DRCC going to try to brake to keep me from running into the car at the same time I need power to get around him? That could be a dangerous situation.

 

Like Paradox has written, I will cycle through the display options, stopping at the one I want for a continuous display. This overrides the LKA display. The problem is that the LKA display reverts everytime it is activated (not often) or it loses its view of the lane markers (much more often, depending on the roadway).

I don't really understand what you are doing, here. If you don't want the cruise control, you don't have to use it. Turn the LKA on, and it will stay on. If you drop below 45 and then return to 45 or better, are you concerned you won't have LKA? I didn't know there was an issue that way, and I don't recall the LKA turning off automatically.

More to the point, why not set the cruise to the top speed you'd go, and then let it slow you down to avoid running into the vehicles in front of you?

I haven't used the non-DRCC cruise control, so I can't offer any real answer, here. I wouldn't consider using the "regular" cruise control again -- ever.

I find the LKA to be a great safety feature, but the DRCC is THE reason to have the AT Package.

I've not had any problem driving around traffic this way. On the side: If you need space to race the car up to a very high speed in order to pass, you likely are taking too many risks. The Prius has plenty of passing power. I didn't really believe this and almost ran up a truck's tail gate, because the car accelerated so quickly! (And that was my 2007, not the 2010!)

Agreed on the ATP. It isn't cheap, though.

I've not even tried the IPA (parking).

 

Thanks a lot nparker13 and a priori you guys have convinced me once again that I made a good decision with the ATP. Sure wish my car would get here so I could quit second guessing myself.

 

Thanks for testing that, that seems to be the way it should work.

 

The owners' manual is so full of caveats about LKA and what any
given piece of roadway looks like, that it seems more like a
liability than a feature. And the auto-distance cruise control
thing doesn't leave *nearly* enough space.
.
_H*

 

What do you mean, hobbit?

Is this a bit of farce over the amount of room left in the manual after discussion of these items, or do you mean to say the DRCC doesn't allow you to stay far enough back of other vehicles?

If the latter, I'd disagree. One problem I faced when using the "farthest distance" setting (for lack of looking in the manual for the appropriate term!) is that I was so far back other cars would move in behind the vehicle in front of me. The problem is that my car would recognize the presence of the new vehicle and apply brakes to assure the measured separation.

Of course, it would be different in Boston, because at least three or four cars could (and likely would try) to fit into that same space!

 

According to the NCF, the distances at 50 MPH are about 100, 130,
and 160 feet. At that speed that's 1.4 sec, 1.8 sec, and 2.2 sec.
None of those are NEARLY enough following distance to really be
safe -- even though "two seconds" is often taught as a minimum,
this does not give many folks enough time to react if a vehicle
ahead suddenly has a problem or a stupid moment. I suggest a
minimum of three, and in practice usually am five seconds back
before I feel anything like comfortable.
.
The answer for people cutting into the gap is to make the gap
BIGGER. I do this all the time in tight Boston traffic and elsewhere
and it works just fine for me, allows many other people to do
the routing *they* need, and helps overall traffic move better.
Read the seminal article for more on why this works so well.
It also allows much better planning ahead when you're driving
for efficiency. And I expect, nay, demand, the same courtesy
in return [not that I get that too often by default].
.
Truckers are taught much larger gaps -- baseline 2 seconds up
to about 30 mph, and add a second for each ten over that, yielding
5 - 6 at highway speeds. Then they promptly forget all about
that once they get released onto the roads on their own. But
there's sound reasoning behind the intent, and I am occasionally
relieved to see truckers who have remembered these lessons and
are being totally mellow and courteous on the road.
.
You will not convince me that DRCC will make ANYONE safer,
unless ALL the vehicles in a given line had such systems built to
a common spec with time- and experience-proven reliability. And
none of it really takes lane changes by others into account.
.
_H*

 

I've typically found myself "comfortable" when the following distance is covered in 3 seconds or more.

The fact is that the Pre Crash System's computer is able to react more quickly than can I. I've experienced this twice already (once when I was following at the Long distance and once at the Short distance). I am fine with the following distances for purposes of my own safety, unless I have people tailgating me. In that situation (one to which you refer later), the problem still isn't the DRCC system but the people behind me. I've got to get them around me in order to feel safe.

I agree with this, and I've followed it. It doesn't work so well with the DRCC IF I also am trying to maximize fuel economy, because the computer doesn't know (as you've noted) that someone next to me may be jumping in front of me. I can see this and begin to slow or coast so as to avoid braking -- the DRCC computer only brakes to avoid a possbile collision.

Won't try! (Particularly since you've told me I can't convince you.).

I rely on the computer to work well enough to apply the brakes fully and quickly when call upon -- whether the command comes from my own foot or another computer interpreting the radar data.

 

Perhaps you don’t see it that way, but I do. I have experienced the safety and fuel efficiency benefits of DRCC, and I’ve reported both earlier.

No doubt it is a convenience. I’ve reported several times before that I love this feature for many reasons, one of them being that I arrive at a place, after a long drive, feeling much more relaxed and less tired than after having driven a like distance without using the DRCC.

At the same time, it is a safety feature for, among other reasons, the one you’ve noted in your post:

The Pre Crash System is part of or related to the DRCC. While it does operate independently, it is one of the great features that comes with the DRCC. Regardless, the fact that the car will slow IMMEDIATELY to compensate for the actions of the car(s) in front of you is a safety feature. The DRCC’s radar will find this change before you are ever able to read any drop in speed. The compensation made by your car is a real safety feature.

The “mitigation†statement is quite true when applied to an unavoidable crash, but the system does provide other warnings and helps that allow the driver to, perhaps, avoid the pending crash.

I’ve never claimed the DRCC would maximize fuel economy. I still believe (contrary to what some have actually claimed) that driving without the cruise control on allows a driver to have the greater flexibility required to truly maximize fuel economy. At the same time, the use of the DRCC when following drivers who are driving in a way that is more fuel efficient (large trucks, for instance), does help to increase your fuel economy compared to a steady-speed cruise control. There is the added benefit that a large truck’s frame will break the wind resistance you face – even at the Long distance setting.

The DRCC is a beautifully enhanced cruise control. It allows the driver to operate the car in a more relaxed environment and within a safer framework. In conjunction with driver operation and input, the DRCC system also can provide for a way to use cruise control with greater fuel efficiency than automobiles which do not have the DRCC system.