Hi everyone. This is my first post here and I apologize if this issue has beeen brought up before.

I was just wondering if anyone here had had any trouble with the "smart" cruise control. This evening my wife and I were driving on the highway with the cruise engaged. We were headed west and the sun was almost directly in front of us (about 45 minutes before sunset). All of a sudden the cruise control disengaged and the little MPH display (with the car distance control) started flashing. Toggling the system on an off didn't help. I was simply unable to restart the cruise control.

I thought there was a major malfunction somewhere until we turned out of the sun and I was able to engage the cruise once more.

Basically, I think the sunlight confused the distance sensor so the system had to disengage itself.

I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced this.

Ryan
Modified by Ryan B at 4:59 PM 11/1/2005

Welcome to NICO, Ryan!

I hope that someone can comment on this item.

My guess is that it is an infra-red laser based intelligent cruise control and the sun (along with some model car/SUV LED lights, by the way) may indeed confuse it!

Not sure what the cure is! If one is available, that is.

Z

Thanks for the reply. It wouldn't have been such an issue except that you cannot (to my knowledge) disable the "intelligent" portion of the cruise control. The entire cruise control system was shut down.

The owners manual does list this "direct sunlight" as a possible issue with the ICC and also the LDWS;

the ICC can be turned off by hitting the ICC distance setting until the three bars are gone, then it goes into conventional mode;

The owners manual has a better description of how to do this than what I can provided;

As a side note the system is actually VERY finiky; Motorbikes may or may not be detected which the manual does mention, and also trucks pulling flat deck trailers will likly result in incorrect operation (it will apply brak for a second, then gas, and bounce back and forth between)

I would suggest EXTREME attention to the system while its in use. Its actually not that smart; it only bases it decisions on the distance to the object in front of you, which it may or may not understand how far away it is; Rain, Sunlight, bends in the road, headlights etc ALL effect it.

It also can not tell than if someone cuts you off but is going the same speed or a little faster that it doesnt have to jam on the brakes, scaring the crap out of the person behind you.

All in all, great idea, but there is not much "I" in "ICC"

tk

I probably should have read the manual before posting here. I've only had the car for a month now and I've yet to really dig into it.

Thanks for the heads up regarding motorcycles and flatbed trucks. I guess I'll have to stay awake after all...

Ryan B wrote:Thanks for the reply. It wouldn't have been such an issue except that you cannot (to my knowledge) disable the "intelligent" portion of the cruise control.

To turn on the normal cruise control, i.e., without the Intelligent portion, simply press and hold the Main Cruise On/Off for about 1.5 seconds. See your manual page 5-29 for the detailed instructions for this mode!

Z

Ryan B wrote:I probably should have read the manual before posting here. ...

RTFM?!?!?! What fun is that?????

I loved finding things out about the car without 'reading the f'ing manual'... Although the less pleasant items learned were not quite as much fun (obviously.)

Without reading the manual fully, sometimes you find out things years after purchasing the car!

Just yesterday (two years after the purchase of my M45), I was skimming the manual and noticed that the radio buttons on the steering wheel do something that I accomplish quite differently - with more effort as a result!

If you quick-press the channel skip buttons, it simply goes to the next (up or down) pre-programmed station. But, if you hold it down for more than about 1.5 seconds, it scans to the next available signal (up or down). Lot easier than starting from the Audio button on the console and using the toggle!

I wish I had known this second capability sooner than now! Funny thing is that I did read the manual "properly" when I got the car ... but obviously missed this.

Z

Hi,

I have used mine about three times now and each time it has been fairly accurate. In fact, I'd say I am pretty pleased with it. Each time was in broad daylight.

I was tracking behind a bunch of cars doing about 70mph, and we were all approaching a traffic light (red) it was a blast to watch the car take over and brake from 70 down to about 30mph, before I applied the brakes.

Also I went from the right lane, with a car in front of us, set @ 70, but the car in front was going about 60, as soon as I went to the left lane to pass, the car picked up to 70 very quickly. (good stuff)

A funny one was we were behind a large SUV, towing a large cabin cruiser, that had our car going NUTS...... Okay, I'm done.

that will also happen in the rain if that little window near front license platecan not see forward, speed sensing cruise will stop working.when you turn on cruise control hold the first button down a little longer and it will stop looking forward and go the speed you set it atof course then it will not slow down for car in front of you

larry.contrisciano wrote:I was tracking behind a bunch of cars doing about 70mph, and we were all approaching a traffic light (red) it was a blast to watch the car take over and brake from 70 down to about 30mph, before I applied the brakes.

Wow, we truely are getting lazy. Our damn cars have to start braking for us!

Damn, just pay attention.

The day my car starts driving itself is the day that that car goes up for sale

PoorManQ45 wrote:The day my car starts driving itself is the day that that car goes up for sale

Has it left the driveway recently?

Just kidding!

Seriously, Larry is only pointing out its capabilities and how well it functions. Nobody that I know of with the auto cruise-control uses it for actual braking when driving - it just keeps things on an even keel so that you do not have to disconnect and reconnect the cruise like on non-auto cruise control cars.

Z

szhosain wrote:
Seriously, Larry is only pointing out its capabilities and how well it functions.

Z

EXACTLY, well put. I thought that would be an obvious point. I DON"T use the cruise to brake and/or drive. In fact in the 34+ years I have been driving I have used "cruise control" oh, about 50 times.

Thanks for covering my back!!!!