Janello

You bring up some valid points to consider. For the record, I don't trust computers in planes. I drive everywhere I go or I try my best not to go. No one has ever clapped because I successfully pulled in my driveway. There have been a few times I have gotten in the 500 mile per hour tin can that happens to travel at 30,000 feet in which I don't know if the guy up front has just done a line of coke or not.... and each time I did, I hated every second of it! :-P

joebird

FYI, here's a video showing how this is supposed to work. This is obviously a European model in the video...I'm not sure how if at all the US system might differ:

thedjm

This is what I experience myself. While the ACC portion of this system works like normal cruise control and disengages with the application of the brake, the collision avoidance system (or whatever they call it) actually works in unison with your own braking in a situation.

That said, it's still a small comfort given how close I often feel to a real collision despite this engagement. I'm certainly not going to test it completely.

thedjm

And that's really the crux of the matter. I don't have enough information on what the ACC considers a 'physically impossible situation' vs 'always brake before allowing a collision'.

And without that guarantee, I'll always brake myself.

I'd like to see some more 'crash tests' from Audi that demonstrate more scenarios. That might give me some more assurance of what to expect from the ACC and the braking guard.

snagitseven

I have learned how to anticipate and compensate for some of the ACC shortcomings. For example, if someone cuts in front, I simply give the accelerator some gas which temporarily overrides the ACC braking as I more gradually fall back to the preset distance. Same if the car in front suddenly takes off. Pressing the gas pedal will not disengage the ACC as does pressing the brakes, it just overrides the ACC until you lift from the accelerator.

The video fails to mention that tapping the accelerator after stopping behind a tracked vehicle will also re-engage the ACC, same as pulling the stalk. Like the previous example, I sometimes give it some gas as well to get the car moving sooner than the ACC would engage as the car ahead pulls away then lift off the pedal gradually to let the ACC take over again.

DB22

I operate utilizing the same "workarounds" as yourself and frequently think that it wouldn't take much to improve it. (maybe 11th grade instead of 10th?)

DB22

It is interesting that he enables with the cruise stalk but he also uses the big stalk above it to re-activate. I do not know if the large left stalk is indicators or wipers in the UK. Somebody from the UK please chime in.

The video also states that the hi-res camera in the mirror does recognize lane change indication of adjacent vehicles. It must differentiate the amber from the red of brakes or lights which in this country is going to be an issue so they probably deleted that attribute here. Maybe a VCDS mod is brewing here?

DirkM

The "automatic go" mentioned in the video is not present in US models with ACC, at least my 2012 doesn't have automatic go.

joebird

Yeah, I don't have mine yet (around a month to go), so I cannot test myself yet to compare to the video. Not sure (like others) I'd want to try the ultimate test of not braking / 100 % trust the car with my new purchase :-)

snagitseven

At some point after you get your car, you'll dip a toe in the water and take a chance and see that it works. Then in time with more use, you should become confident it will work every time.