Car and Driver on adaptive cruise control

[Kendahl]

In his column in the December issue of Car and Driver, Patrick Bedard recounts his unpleasant experience with adaptive cruise control in a Jaguar XJR. (The column should be available on their web site in a couple of months.)

In one situation, Bedard was going 75 mph in the left lane on a winding section of interstate when the Jag suddenly nailed the brakes. The adaptive cruise had decided that a slow moving 18 wheeler was moving into Bedard's lane. In reality, the truck was just starting into the next curve. The G37 manual warns that adaptive cruise is not reliable on winding roads.

Fortunately, you can turn off the G37's adaptive cruise by holding down the On/Off button for more than 1.5 seconds, by covering the sensor, or by skipping the technology package (my choice).

In general, I agree with Bedard's distaste for electronic nannies that attempt to overrule my decisions as the person behind the wheel.

Bedard also claims that Infiniti's adaptive cruise uses a laser beam whose wavelength matches that of laser speed guns. Therefore, he says, it sets off people's laser detectors. Hardly good manners. On the other hand, I wonder if it would jam a laser gun.
Modified by Kendahl at 5:28 PM 11/8/2007

[torbach1]

My experience with the adaptive cruise control on the '07 G35x has actually been very good - even on winding roads. Prior to this I never liked cruise control because I had to keep braking any time a car would move into the lane ahead of me. Now I don't have to worry about it because of the adaptive cruise control. So far I have not had any problems with winding roads either.

Regards,Tamir

[dseag2]

I saw that and personally thought it was an idiotic statement because you CAN disengage the Adaptive Cruise Control by continuing to press the On/Off button down. I have had ACC on my last two M's and agree with his frustrations with it. However, you can disengage it. Magazine writers need to research these things out before making blanket statements.

[RedG37SNC]

Called Inteligent CC on the G37, I find it great. I only had to manually adjust once on a 150m trip I just took and really probably didn't need to then, just the guy pulled in front of me and by reflex I hit the brake. I almost passed on the Tech package, glad now that I didn't.

[joe603]

How does it work with a manual if the system slows you down to bog the engine down in a high gear?

[Kendahl]

According to the manual, the intelligent cruise control shuts off when your speed drops below 20 mph. In top gear, that's barely idle speed for a G37 engine.

[AZhitman]

zerothread/298287

[RedG37SNC]

Interesting read, kind of glad my ICC will cause speeders and other careless drivers to think again, wish it had a rear emitter..lol. I just had a "driving expert" do a honk worthy close pass taking advantage of the nicely maintained distance I now drive thanks to ICC from the driver ahead. Trying to minimize those paint chip blues.Another advantage of ICC with this car is that there's alot to do thanks to the audio/nav system to pull your eyes off the road, it's nice to have robo car always looking ahead. Granted I don't rely on it but I'm glad it's there should I get distracted. We all know that never happens.

Modified by RedG37SNC at 7:20 PM 12/19/2007
Modified by RedG37SNC at 7:29 PM 12/19/2007

[Kendahl]

I'm with AZhitman on this.

I briefly considered the technology package for the swiveling headlights, but decided they didn't add enough to justify the price. The intelligent cruise was a disadvantage and I would have taped over the sensor to permanently disable it.

If I am using cruise control on the interstate and catch up to slower traffic in my lane, my preferred action is to move to a faster lane, not to slow down. With conventional cruise control, I know that the car will maintain a constant speed. With intelligent cruise, I have the added mental work load of predicting what it will do.

Infiniti seems to be headed toward more and more of this. The FX series has something called Lane Departure Warning. A small camera in the rear view mirror feeds a view of the road to image analysis software. If the software thinks the car is drifting out of its lane, it issues audible and visible warnings. Infiniti has become confident enough to extend this to Lane Departure Prevention in the upcoming EX35. If the software thinks the car is drifting out of its lane, it will apply differential braking to nudge it back again.

If you read the owner's manual, you will find that your car contains a "black box" that records speed among other things. This information can be downloaded by police and lawyers. (An electrical engineering geek could make his fortune with a gadget to clear the recorder.)

I don't mind electronic gadgets that help me exceed my own limits as a driver. ABS is the best example of this. It lets me approach the limit of adhesion closer than I could without it. Dynamic stability control (VDC) can do the same in corners provided it is smart enough to tell the difference between hard driving and loss of control.

I am very much worried about proliferation of electronic nannies. One insurance company is promoting a recorder that keeps track of distance, speed, acceleration, braking and cornering. At this time, it is voluntary. But, I could see them requiring it of their clients and, if they don't like what they see, they would raise your premiums or cancel you. (One of the reasons I stay with my current insuror is that they have never raised our premiums after a speeding ticket. It appears that they place more emphasis on the fact that we have never been at fault in an accident.)

I can imagine top speed, acceleration, braking and cornering being limited by the computer instead of by the car's physical limits and the driver's skill. At that point, why buy a G? Any cheap tin box big enough to haul you and your stuff would be just as good. Before buying my G37, I briefly considered looking for a mid sixties Jaguar XKE. The G37 won out because it combined performance with practicality. But, if electronic nannies turn everything into a Prius, I would go with the Jag.

[RedG37SNC]

Good point, however if the other lane is clear, you just move to it and the car accelorates to your max cruise setting. The beams focus is only a lane wide. On my daily drive on the beltway the right lane is always going to be more congested so this is rarely an option.

ICC also doesn't jerk you around, it doesn't make radical changes right off so you have time to move to another lane without the car smashing on the breaks and then rapidly accelorating, its a pretty smooth transition. Good for gas mileage too.

I'm all for technology, but I do require it to have an off switch and this does either by taping the break or holding the button.

If the black box is in our future I'm sure we'll be seeing it on all cars by law before it's used by the police. It's actually not a bad idea, if you're guilty.. you're guilty, however if you're inoccent wouldn't it be nice to have proof?

And the truth shall set you free.