Adaptive, Over-Reactive Cruise Control - 2014 BMW i3 Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Adaptive, Over-Reactive Cruise Control - 2014 BMW i3 Long-Term Road Test

The adaptive cruise control on our 2014 BMW i3 overreacted five times in a 40-mile stretch of empty freeway.

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longtimelurker

This behavior and that in other LT cars, such as slamming on the brakes at the entrance to parking garages, sharp turns, etc. make me think that autonomous vehicles that are everyday-useful are a bit further out than their proponents suggest.

Rear-enders are already the most common types of crashes, and they are for the most part the fault of the car that's following...if we add to those a whole new category of rear-enders that are due to the behavior of the car that's leading...not good.

kirkhilles1

Yep, this is why Tesla's new 7.0 software is a big deal. If it works as well as it should, it'll be light years ahead of the systems by current manufacturers and help push them to catch up.

vvk

Subaru EyeSight the the best system available. It utilizes a color stereo camera patent originally developed at Stanford. You guys should to an article comparing them. Everybody seems to be jumping on this bandwagon lately.

schen72

vvk said:

Subaru EyeSight the the best system available. It utilizes a color stereo camera patent originally developed at Stanford. You guys should to an article comparing them. Everybody seems to be jumping on this bandwagon lately.

Is a camera based system really superior to a radar based system? For example, I know the new Acuras use both radar and a camera for their auto-brake systems.

longtimelurker

Yes, Acura does use both a camera and radar...and it doesn't sound as though it works that well...

http://www.edmunds.com/acura/tlx/2015/long-term-road-test/2015-acura-tlx-indecisive-adaptive-cruise-control.html

And couple this kind of thing with the spotty performance of lane-keeping systems, with their dependence upon lane markings that may or may not be present, and may or may not be obscured by reflections if wet, or covered up by snow even if they are present, and I think my own hands and feet are going to be handling the impact-avoidance duties for awhile yet.

markedwards

The i3 uses a camera-based system, mounted in the rear-view mirror housing. It is susceptible to muck on the windshield, glare, and other high-contrast situations. When it disengages, there's an audible warning, messages on the screens, and forward acceleration stops. It doesn't apply the brakes but the regenerative braking is strong enough that it can feel that way. With mine, the only times it has disengaged have been when I was driving directly into the setting sun. I can't recall using mine at night so I can't speak from personal experience. I'd imagine at 4 A.M., oncoming traffic or moving between well-lit sections to dimmer underpasses (or vice versa) could impact the system's ability to "see" its surroundings.

legacygt

Subaru's eyesight is fine. It's economical. It's mostly effective. But it's not perfect. The cameras take up space (although the new ones are somewhat smaller) and the system is impacted by environmental conditions (such as sun).