I find that the only time I use the intelligent cruise is when I'm on rural 2 lane roads.

What I find is that when I'm on the interstate it's a complete mess.

Longest setting
This seems to not be as spastic on the brakes, which is good. The bad part is that it leaves so much room that other cars will pull in front of you and at that time it jams on the brakes to create a good distance. It also leaves so much room that it will slow you down before you move over to the left lane to pass.

Middle and Shortest setting
I don't really notice a difference between these two. If you are in any kind of traffic, it is constantly braking. I wouldn't mind this so much but I have a feeling that the people behind me think I'm a complete idiot when my brake lights come on every 50 feet. Where a normal person would coast at times, the intelligent cruise seems to only have two modes, brake and accelerate.


Do you use it? Do you find it to be intelligent?

I actually like it. A LOT. And I brag about it to all of my non-Infiniti friends.

I do agree that sometimes needlessly SLAMS on the brakes, but those times aren't that common and the other times where it works outweighs those bad times.

I use it both in traffic and in high-speed interstate cruising. Heck, I even use other system (bottom button right side of the steering wheel, not sure what it's called) in conjunction with cruise in heavy traffic and the car will stop and go by itself. I moved from Albany, NY (traffic isn't too bad) to Newark, NJ for 2 months for work (thank God August 7th is coming up - hate NJ) and I sit in traffic constantly on the Garden State Parkway or I-78. With both of these modes set to on, and cruise set to like 40mph, traffic is much easier to stomach than without.

I do not have this feature on my Infiniti, but I do have it on my Subaru and it behaves exactly the same as you describe. I only use the shortest setting and only for long drives when I am not in a hurry or stop and go traffic on two-lane roads. I love it for the stop and go traffic - just sit there and let the car move up and then stop on its own like I'm sitting in a train...that I have to steer. Most other times I avoid it like the plague. It behaves like a driving student, hitting the brakes too often and staying too far back.

I tend to use it on the shortest setting with the emergency stop thing on, too. While true, if allowed to come up on someone slower, the braking is a bit abrupt, but the converse is when the hole to slide over a lane to pass isn't quite clear yet, you maintain speed until you're close and can often change lanes without slowing down. If it slowed down early, it would interrupt that flow.

When there is someone in front of me and I know I won't be able to change lanes before I reach them, what I'll often do is cancel the cruise at the point where I'd ordinarily let off the gas. Once I coast down to a similar speed, I'll resume the cruise. It sees the car ahead and doesn't do anything other than maintain until I can pull over a lane.

Honestly, I think that's the best it can do without being aware of traffic in multiple lanes and manage steering between them. I don't know that any changes would make it better.

The only thing I wish is that the car would know that if there is throttle input (meaning my foot actively on the gas) that it would override the car...cause with that emergency stop thing, sometimes I forget I have it on once traffic clears up and I go to make a quick lane change and the car fights the crap out of me. Almost caused an accident once like that lol.

IlyaKol wrote:The only thing I wish is that the car would know that if there is throttle input (meaning my foot actively on the gas) that it would override the car...cause with that emergency stop thing, sometimes I forget I have it on once traffic clears up and I go to make a quick lane change and the car fights the crap out of me. Almost caused an accident once like that lol.

Yup, same in the Subaru. Active accident avoidance drives me more crazy then anything. One of the reasons I looked for an M with the big engine but without the gadgets. It's my oversized drivers car.

I only use it when in congested highway traffic but not if I am going cross country on a highway with little traffic.
It took me a while to figure out how to enable cruise without the Distance Control - which was holding the steering wheel Cruise button for a few seconds and it activates normal / unsmart cruise.

Any other way to disable the smart cruise?

^^ did not know that. Interesting.

Also, I understand the premise behind active accident avoidance...someone could in theory fall sleep behind the wheel and keep throttle input going, etc. But damn it's annoying lol.

I have the same complaint as you lot. I use the intelligent cruise and the lower right button on the wheel. The lower button (maybe diff from newer models) just seems to be an active lane maintenance device to keep the car in the center of your lane. The intelligent cruise not only brakes in instances where coasting would do fine. but it also brakes when I'm in the far left lane and the road bends to the left - as if it detects the car in the next lane over instead of just watching in front of my car.
Still, I use it on long interstate roadways where there are few other cars in my lane and it does fine. Bottom line is, in my opinion, there is NO mechanical or electric system that can duplicate a human driver. It can only assist.

The new Audi that drove from LA to Vegas with zero driver input is the future. Pretty soon we'll fill our cars up, give it a destination, and go to sleep while it does all of the work...communicating with other cars in handshake agreements, etc. to share lanes, intersections, etc. It's coming. I'd say within the next 15 years.

I never imagined using cruise on a busy hwy , i am surprised to see how many use the feature differently than i do. When i am on 4 or 2 lane with medium or low traffic i use it on the shortest distance setting and i have no problems at all. When i roll up on another vehicle going slower it cuts my speed when i have lane departure on and use my turn signal i can switch lanes and pass without any problems.

I wish there was some way that the cruise would tell you when it's applying the brakes. I wonder what it looks like from the car behind as far as brake lights?

dmclone wrote:I wish there was some way that the cruise would tell you when it's applying the brakes. I wonder what it looks like from the car behind as far as brake lights?

I was curious too and have verified (via reflection in a semi's chrome grill) that our lights turn on with intelligent cruise on but also with accident avoidance on. I started to use the features much more once I knew that was the case because I was also worried that they weren't turning on and someone would rear-end me (older cars with cruise, it doesn't engage the brakes).

My car come equipped with this but I don't think I have the guts to actually use it. LOL

But it's good to know that it will trigger the brake lights on the rear when the system is applying the brakes. I noticed that in the last few days the dash light "IBA Off" has been flashing randomly as I have driving around. I hope it's not something I need to be concerned about.

I actually tested the intelligent cruise control for a complete stop. I, of course, did NOT have Fetucini in the car at the time (I knew it would be quieter that way, LOL). I was on a surface street with it set to 40 mph (speed limit) and barely any traffic. As I approached a traffic signal with a car already stopped at the signal ahead, I kept my foot about 1mm above the brake pedal, ready to pounce and wincing the whole time. Sure enough it stopped the car leaving about half a car length of space. As for what people see behind you at motorway speeds, they see brake lights whenever the system engages. Some even go around you probably thinking you're afraid and brake-happy. That is why I only use it with light traffic and switch to regular cruise or OFF when traffic is heavy.

CRV_33 wrote:My car come equipped with this but I don't think I have the guts to actually use it. LOL

But it's good to know that it will trigger the brake lights on the rear when the system is applying the brakes. I noticed that in the last few days the dash light "IBA Off" has been flashing randomly as I have driving around. I hope it's not something I need to be concerned about.

FYI, for anyone reading, when IBA goes on and off or stays off for a few minutes at a time...it's because of glare. I get this when my car is driving into direct sunlight. It just means the sensors can't pick up the road and therefore it disables itself. Soon as I enter shade and road is visible to the computer, IBA re-engages.

Hahah ok that makes total sense becauseI was actually driving towards the sun as it was setting.