tjacoby

I'm using ACC more and more, it's not perfect but does reduce fatigue for those boring multi-hour drives. It could recognize turns in the road and cars merging better. It does recognize speed better than I can, especially when the car I'm following hits their brakes but doesn't actually slow down, and is also good in heavy rain/mist/fog.

russbert

I noticed that as well in the A8 loaner I had while waiting to purchase my RS3. I had a large pickup truck (Ford 150 or Chevy Silverado, don't remember) that while taking an exit, it must have altered its driving line or something to cause the radar reflections to change because the ACC hit the brakes on the A8 rather sharply which I did not appreciate! I was just glad no one was following too closely.

Thanks for replying as I never experienced it during rain / mist / or fog so it's good to know that the ACC system works well in those conditions as well. Overall, I must say I liked it better than I thought I would.

tjacoby

The scenario I don't like, is if I'm in the left hand lane overtaking a much slower car in the right line, with the road turning to the left. ACC will hit the brakes to match the speed of the slower car through the turn, and then accelerate out of the turn when the road is clear. the speed differences can sometimes be 'interesting'.

I'm also curious how often the brake lights are activated on the car when ACC is engaged - I've no idea, and don't think there's any way of knowing from the driver's seat except for the obvious braking feel. I suspect the car

russbert

I would NOT like that first scenario at all as I'm almost always faster than the other car(s) through curves (mostly because I grew up on extremely narrow / curvy roads)!!

OK so what's the **rest of the story"?? I suspect the car ..... what? Inquiring minds want to know.

Flying Scotsman

I can relay my opinions on Mag Ride on a FL S3 .....comfort is too soft and bouncy on uneven roads (great for speed bumps), dynamic is too harsh for city roads, great for smooth twisty roads, auto is a good compromise. This is what I setup in my individual mode, auto for suspension, transmission/engine and steering and dynamic for quattro and engine sound for everyday driving and when I am on great driving roads, I switch to dynamic for all modes.
I did not order ACS, as I prefer to be in control and honestly do not like the nanny aids that are common on modern cars, such as lane control. That one scares the hell out of me as I see cars wandering all over within the confines of lane markings and I have no knowledge if the driver is drunk or just not paying attention.

tjacoby

yeah - it's a downside of the tech. I'm sure there'll be a future version (level 3 autonomous maybe?) that detects lanes. I think the new A8 is capable of L3. right-hand curves are fine, only the left caused problems.

"I suspect the car..." was probably something like - I suspect the car is braking more often? your guess is as good as mine!

russbert

So let me first admit I've never been to your fine city so why are the city roads so harsh? Potholes? Concrete / Asphalt? As I said in my post previously I definitely don't like comfort mode when the roads are uneven or too curvy either. I was hoping that others would chime here as well about their impressions re: the three different modes.

I drive in Individual mode almost exclusively as well with the only difference from yours being I have steering in dynamic mode. I liked someone's idea (sorry, can't remember whose) about also having the suspension in dynamic so they could quickly get the entire car into Dynamic Mode just by pulling back on the shift lever (S). However, even though dynamic is "less" firm than my previous lowered 911, the RS3 is still too firm for the majority of roads we have around here so I haven't (and probably won't) move to that Individual setting. It's definitely an intriguing idea though.

I'm not a huge fan either of nanny aids as you called them which is why I didn't get it as well. But they are nice from time to time (especially traveling South on I-75 last weekend going into Atlanta). I did also experiment with the A8's lane assist and it was again better than I expected. First it did keep the car "between the white lines" without too much wandering and it was nice to see the car given a written and audible alarm if you don't provide any steering input within about 25 seconds. But I would have liked to see the car from behind to see how much it really did wander from time to time. Others, any comments?

russbert

Hmm, I didn't encounter that situation in the A8 but as I thought about it more I-65 South (from Huntsville, AL) isn't that curvy so that may be why I didn't encounter that issue. Again, thanks for mentioning it.

Flying Scotsman

I can relay my opinions on Mag Ride on a FL S3 .....comfort is too soft and bouncy on uneven roads (great for speed bumps), dynamic is too harsh for city roads, great for smooth twisty roads, auto is a good compromise.

So let me first admit I've never been to your fine city so why are the city roads so harsh? Potholes? Concrete / Asphalt? As I said in my post previously I definitely don't like comfort mode when the roads are uneven or too curvy either. I was hoping that others would chime here as well about their impressions re: the three different modes.

Response to Russbert
Vancouver has as do most cities it's share of potholes and ripped up and badly repaired roads from roadworks etc. The suspension set in dynamic becomes crashy over such road surfaces, especially on the rear suspension. As far a "nanny aids" are concerned, I have heard of a few malfunction horror stories on another Audi site...brakes being applied at full force for no reason, that would be fun on icy roads. Yes, I know that technology with algorithms work faster than a human but they have no emotion and will veer a car into nasty circumstances for crash avoidance manoeuvres, until the technology has advanced beyond these early stages, I will give it a miss. Also the possibility of hacking these systems, makes me nervous, regardless of soothing industry talking heads
A probably over anxious Scotsman.

russbert

+1 As an CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) I *always* worry about things being hacked, especially given the last large DDOS (Distributed Denial Of Service) attack was made using refrigerators, etc that carelessly IMO use the Internet without the proper security precautions. I've also been watching the new "signal booster" attack that is occurring on some of these newer cars with keys like ours that allow thieves to boost the signal from your key (your car is parked outside, while you and your car key are inside) which allows them easy access to your car and drive it away.

What other Audi site are you referring to? At this point this is the only one I'm following so I'd be interested in other opinions re: other Audi sites (good or not so good). Thanks.