navin in KC

The car configurator shows the "Audi active lane assist" that comes with the "Driver Assistance Package". With this option while driving on the highway, how does it do? (someone walk me through this, please.)

the_duke

It will allow you to take your hands off the wheel for a few seconds. It is not autonomous driving like a Tesla.

frybear

If it's like the loaner I had, you can set the cruise and take your hands off the wheel. When you move out of your lane, the car bumps you back into the lane. Worked well but it's all based on how well the lines are on the street/highway from what I understand. So, in other words, don't trust it fully to drive for you. It's a gimmick that I like.

MP4.2+6.0

Basically, use it long enough and you may get busted for DUI...

Frankly, they need to find some better programmers too who actually think through big picture what they are trying to do. What it does is look for the lines on road and if it approaches one, corrects the other way. Imagine it just like a bowling ball bouncing off some gutter bumpers back into the lane. But like the skittish bowlers or little kids needing the bumpers, the inexperienced programmers left out a few obvious lines of code. That is, it does not then do what seems obvious to me: look for other side lane line and calculate to recenter. Instead it just "bounces off" the lane line and with a new steering angle now set holds there and slowly meanders toward the other one if it is a straight road. Same pattern repeats. Just like a drunk...

I tried it on a lonely road and slowly fed it into one line side or the other, and that's what I found. It can be useful for a long drive to pick up some inattentiveness. But then if you don't signal a lane change, steering also feels a little squirrelly and not like it should be if you get near lane lines but just push/steer through. A little disquieting if you don't remember that and are sensitive to road feel minute by minute.

navin in KC

thank you for the input, MP4.2+6.0. This is very helpful.

lgball

I have the same experience in my 16 as MP4.2. I've atually worried about getting pulled over for DUI when I've been experimenting with it. "Seriously officer, it was the car driving, not me!"

I also drove a loaner 17 Q7, which stayed in the lane beautifully, so the next gen should be much better.

RED HORSE

The other thing mine does, if you have it engaged driving down the interstate and come to an exit where there isn't a white dashed line through the exit lane, the car tries to take you off the highway and down the exit ramp. Kinda funny now that I figured out what it was doing. If just follows the solid white line and goes right down the exit.

mikey94025

IMO the Audi lane assist (in my 2015 S8) is far inferior to my previous 2012 Mercedes. I always disable lane assist in my Audi because it makes the steering wheel feely "loosey goosey" when it detects a lane, almost like loosing control and feel as it tries to take action. In contrast on my Merc it would just signal the existence of the lane with a "hard knudge/shake" and I never felt like losing control. I wish the Audi had more of a signaling effect like the Merc and then I would use it.

superswiss

Not well, and it's not intended to. Some people may think it's bad programmers, but it's not. It's deliberate. The systems in the A8 are Level 1 systems. They are purely meant to assist the driver and take some of the load of the driver. None of it is meant to drive the car by itself. Tesla's system is Level 2. It's ambitiously called Auto Pilot, but that's very misleading. You can't safely take your attention off the road as some recent accidents, including a death have shown. At Level 3, we are starting to see some autonomous driving capability in limited environments such as freeways. Level 4 is almost autonomous driving and Level 5 is full autonomous driving. We have ways to go before we are there. It's good to understand the SAE classification for autonomous and assisted driving.

Level 0: Automated system has no vehicle control, but may issue warnings.
Level 1: Driver must be ready to take control at any time. Automated system may include features such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Parking Assistance with automated steering, and Lane Keeping Assistance (LKA) Type II in any combination.
Level 2: The driver is obliged to detect objects and events and respond if the automated system fails to respond properly. The automated system executes accelerating, braking, and steering. The automated system can deactivate immediately upon takeover by the driver.
Level 3: Within known, limited environments (such as freeways), the driver can safely turn their attention away from driving tasks.
Level 4: The automated system can control the vehicle in all but a few environments such as severe weather. The driver must enable the automated system only when it is safe to do so. When enabled, driver attention is not required.
Level 5: Other than setting the destination and starting the system, no human intervention is required. The automatic system can drive to any location where it is legal to drive.

MP4.2+6.0

All fine, but again crap programming. As I mentioned, the fix to have made it better has nothing to do with not having car try to drive it self. To me, incompetence and oversight said bluntly. I think very well documented in the many critiques about VAG+Audi in the TDI fiasco in other technical realms. Another poster's mention that it tracks a line right off an exit sounds like basically a defect as well; I think Tesla either had or modified their programming in that regard to do that only if signal was activated. As also pointed out, apparently in Q7 they already tweaked the system for better lane tracking. Other example would be brake guard or brake assist, or ACC, all of which function at more advanced levels than lane assist. If you want to use the SAE scale I would call any of those about a 1.5, while lane assist about a .5. Sure it's an evolution, and ACC is now second generation on D platform as an example, but when they design insularly you can get these kind of misses. And, the systems are not at the same level in the car. Most pretty well done albeit not yet well integrated, but it is somewhat more a hodgepodge. Nav is essentially completely un-integrated so far to either the safety or control systems or adaptive learning. Presumably one of the major legs of the D5 rev soon to come, and a lot deeper than virtual dash gee wiz effect.

Definitions aside, virtually every review I have seen on A8/S8 says about lane assist, "step 1, read manual to figure out how to deactivate." I think that is a little harsh, but it is what they virtually all say. At least an enthusiast magazine market fail. They tend to over describe the feedback the system gives as you (intentionally) cross a line--tending to say it sort of jerks the wheel from you. Instead, it is pretty subtle, and if you don't know system is on may wonder if something is wrong like a tire going flat or something. They also seem to sense that the steering gets a little uncertain but don't try to describe it; that is the less satisfying thing to me.

Yes, I am a fan of safety systems. Not a fan of Tesla (or Merc. of late to some extent) over promoting theirs, and definitely not a fan of what seems to be underneath a lot of these longer run: affirmatively not paying attention, texting, surfing one's brains out, and who knows what else--running real risks to others around them and way beyond just themselves. Unfortunately happening in spades already--and with death rates climbing for the first time in many years to show for it--but systems that effectively coddle it yet more are not a good result to me.