justintimeLA

Can anyone share their experience with the Traffic Jam Assist in the 2017 A4 Prestige in significant stop-and-go traffic, like the kind we see here in Southern California? I'm trying to decide if it's worth ponying up the addition money for the Prestige model over the Premium Plus for a (36 mo / 10k miles) lease.

thanks.

Mitchfin

I'd say read this thread

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...tance-2899323/

jeh

I have a Prestige with the Drivers Assistance package... the ACC and "Traffic Jam Assist" works really well in Seattle traffic. I cannot say if its worth it for a leased vehicle... I was already planning on getting a Prestige because I wanted a HUD, so for a $1500 option it was a bargain.

sounds like you will have regret if you move on a car that doesn't have it.

justintimeLA

The problem is that I've stretched before to get options that weren't all that great in the end. And I haven't seen the difference in lease costs between the Prestige and Prem Plus models yet. If price were no object, I would hold out. My last two cars have had ACC for freeway speeds which I have enjoyed. And even if the car can't gently glide me through 101 rush hour traffic while I snooze in the back, there are great benefits to a system that could reduce my chances of smashing bumpers in crowded freeway traffic. But... I may be able to find the same amount of enjoyment with that money elsewhere.

thanks for your thoughts.

Nullman

You might want to check out this thread (and others) in the Q7 forum (same tech): https://www.audiworld.com/forums/q7-...ssist-2901012/

I was reading about it in there as more people had it earlier, some saying they use it daily on their congested commute. The only reason I got Prestige was to get this feature, but I don't have my car yet.

I used to live in LA, so I know your pain. I still drive in heavy traffic on my daily commute, in a manual B8, so I can't wait until I get my car.

iron_man

I have the Pilot Assist in our new Volvo XC90 and it works great. I use it all the time during commutes. I let the car do it's thing and it's pretty good - no accidents yet ! (Knock on dashboard...) We're supposed to be getting a software upgrade that will allow it to go up to 80 MPH without any vehicles present so looking forward to that. I don't have my A4 yet so not sure how their traffic jam assist compares.

steelersmb@gmail.com

So yesterday I was fortunate enough to sit in Atlanta traffic and I have to say, I was really impressed with the traffic jam assist. I drove for about 10 miles without having to touch the brake or gas pedal. Since it was my first time using it, I was a little nervous about it at first and kept my foot near the brake but it worked perfectly. The only complaint I have is that if you sit for 3 seconds without moving you do have to pull the handle to reactivate it. Not sure why this is a limitation but I will say it made sitting in traffic a little more bearable.

rentonrenton

that's exactly the limitation I got in my 2018 Q5. In traffic jam assist, if you (and the entire traffic line you are in) stopped and sit there for a while, then if the car in front of you start driving, your car won't follow him automatically. What I do to reactivate it is to give the gas pedal a little tap. I will try to pull the handle next time.

VM

The virtual cockpit will tell you "ACC: automatic go". Once it shows that, you need to either hit resume on the cruise control stalk or tap the gas to get moving.

I believe the amount of time before it does that can be adjusted with OBDEleven, I am not sure.

This is a safety feature, really - they're probably worried about the driver not paying attention while the car is stopped, so they want to make sure the driver is back paying attention before the car starts moving again.

NorthwestB9

It's an awesome feature and it works really well. Just a few days ago, I went on a trip to Seattle, a round trip of just under 400 miles and I used traffic jam assist and adaptive cruise control almost the entire way there and back. There's very little difference between ACC and TJA as they transition seamlessly together (one's for faster traffic and the other's for slower traffic). It's definitely relaxing and it works really well. It handled fast traffic, slow traffic, bumper to bumper, and sudden stops in front of you. If the car believes it can't stop in time, it'll beep at you and you take over, but it rarely found a situation it couldn't handle. I think it asked me to take over once during the whole trip, and that was because it lost track of the lane markings, but it found them again a couple of seconds later. I did hit the brakes twice when huge trucks cut in front of me, but I did that out of reflex. I think the car could have handled it on its own. But I came away quite impressed. During the 9 1/2 hours I spent driving, I think I had my feet on the pedals for maybe 15 minutes of that, and that was only because I got lost and took over full control to find out where I was going, since I took a wrong turn trying to get to the hotel. If you have the opportunity to get ACC/TJA, do it. It's well worth it.

My wife commented that the car handles slowing traffic better than I do, since she thinks I brake too late.

The effectiveness of it makes me believe that full autonomous driving is a lot closer than I thought it could be.