zigurat

I am aware that Traffic Jam Assist is active until 40MPH, and Lane Keeping Assist kicks in at higher speeds. However, how do they differ in the driver experience? It seems in both cases, the car accelerates and brakes, and steers for a short period with hands off the wheel.

In both modes, there is a reminder to take over steering after a few moments if you take your hands off the wheel. I know the car does not provide a fully autonomous experience, but what is the difference in the user experience, if any, between the two modes?

SYMAWD

TJA primarily follows the traffic in front of you while LKA uses the lane lines instead.

superswiss

So, I'm driving an A4 loaner at the moment with all the assist features and I tried traffic jam assist for the first time. I totally understand where you are coming from. I'm a bit disappointed with traffic jam assist.

As you correctly stated, it constantly complains to take over steering every few seconds. Resting your hand on the steering wheel is not enough. I have to actively move the steering wheel a bit.

My understanding is that the main difference is that traffic jam assist orients itself by the cars around you, so if another car swerves into your lane it automatically takes evasive maneuvers, where at higher speeds it solely orients itself by the lane markers.

You can feel this difference, the car constantly makes minor steering adjustments to keep itself centered between the cars on your left and the cars on your right. My first reaction was actually, that the car drives a little bit like a drunk person. Not too extreme, but it seemed to make unnecessary minor steering corrections.

jallen0

I keep hoping for a software update that will allow this to go for 60 seconds without moving the steering wheel. My guess is that it will not happen.

Dasaint

There is code to extend the times iirc

RickObe

The coding I think you're referring to is:

A5/Front Sensor Driver Asst
Adaptation
Dir. Stab. Assist Driver Inact Deact Threshold
change from "medium" to "late"

For my Q7, it seems to have extended the "hand off the wheel" time from about 6 seconds to about 11-12 seconds. Better than nothing.

Slightly off topic: I would love to find coding to extend the 3 second timeout for the adaptive cruise to resume driving after coming to a stop. I understand it's longer in Europe. Three seconds in the US is just too short.