Adaptive Cruise Control.....Yay or Nay?

[mikeru82]

Yeah, but if I start $4,000 lower, my final haggle will be that much lower, too.

(If it were just a few hundred bucks and sold as a standalone, I'd do it. I won't do Level 2 (too many issues with touch-screens in past cars). So, it's out, for me.)

All the uconnect screens are touch-screens, even the 5 inch display.

 

[c3k]

All the uconnect screens are touch-screens, even the 5 inch display.

Okay...I'll answer.

Touch screens have no tactile or haptic feedback. You MUST look where you're touching, while you're touching. I don't like that while driving.
A simple example should suffice. A complete automotive climate control only needs 5 controls, made up of 2 switches/buttons and 3 knobs: AC on/off; Recirc on/off; fan speed knob; temp knob; outlet selector knob. These can be of different sizes and textures. A quick glance, grab your knob, twist to your heart's content while eyes are on the road. Not so with a touchscreen. (Three clicks of the temp knob drops my temp by 3 degrees. Easy peasy.)

Screens? Sometimes it takes multiple touches. Sometimes a finger just misses. Sometimes a glove doesn't work. Sometimes glare obscures the screen.

I was dazzled by the modernity of my first touchscreen...and the empty promises of software updates and upgrade. (Ford MySync, I'm calling you out.)

Navigation update for $400???

My vehicle is not my entertainment center. It's my vehicle. Do THAT first and best. Don't try to ooze into a space better taken by consumer devices. I'm not buying a truck to watch a movie. A screen is nice for setup menus...accessed by a button is just fine. (VW does it with a stalk/steering wheel buttons.)

Screens in vehicles are not for me...

 

[mikeru82]

Okay...I'll answer.

Touch screens have no tactile or haptic feedback. You MUST look where you're touching, while you're touching. I don't like that while driving.
A simple example should suffice. A complete automotive climate control only needs 5 controls, made up of 2 switches/buttons and 3 knobs: AC on/off; Recirc on/off; fan speed knob; temp knob; outlet selector knob. These can be of different sizes and textures. A quick glance, grab your knob, twist to your heart's content while eyes are on the road. Not so with a touchscreen. (Three clicks of the temp knob drops my temp by 3 degrees. Easy peasy.)

Screens? Sometimes it takes multiple touches. Sometimes a finger just misses. Sometimes a glove doesn't work. Sometimes glare obscures the screen.

I was dazzled by the modernity of my first touchscreen...and the empty promises of software updates and upgrade. (Ford MySync, I'm calling you out.)

Navigation update for $400???

My vehicle is not my entertainment center. It's my vehicle. Do THAT first and best. Don't try to ooze into a space better taken by consumer devices. I'm not buying a truck to watch a movie. A screen is nice for setup menus...accessed by a button is just fine. (VW does it with a stalk/steering wheel buttons.)

Screens in vehicles are not for me...

Nice simple answer LOL. I completely with you BTW. Actual switches and knobs are less distracting, give feedback, and you know at a glance what the controls are set to. I made the comment because you simply said you don't like touch-screens.

 

[FubecaDez]

I have ACC on my new Rebel and my wife’s Ford. I really like it and use it all the time.

The slow down speed up thing in heavier traffic can be somewhat annoying but on long highway/interstate trips outside the heavy city traffic, if you have situational awareness and are paying attention to traffic flow in front and behind you, it’s easy to proactively “play” lane changes and avoid it.

I also realized a benefit I hadn’t thought of before. My last trip to the big city was very, very foggy, especially on the interstate segment of the drive. Like less than 1/4 mile visibility. I get nervous in those kind of driving conditions because people drive too fast. How many news stories have we seen about major multi-car pile ups in these conditions? The radar sensor on the ACC did a great job of picking up the vehicles in front of me I could barely or not see to help me maintain a proper safe distance. Still worry about the idiot behind me not paying attention but at least in front the ACC provided an extra level of safety if things came to a quick halt.


2020 Ram Rebel - Granite Crystal Metallic
Level 2 and Rebel Equipment Groups
5.7L Hemi (non-eTorque)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very, very quickly this became a 'must have' option for my wife and me. It's really great + the forward collision warning.

 

[Bigtone]

My 3 other vehicles have ACC and Forward Collision alert. The collision alert has alerted me a few times of the car in front slowing down before I noticed it. I can see how potentially it can help prevent an accident. As far as the ACC, I find myself using the conventional cruise control. Just not a fan of ACC.

 

[Cysix]

I'm considering ordering adaptive cruise control for a new Laramie. Does it work well? Any issues to be aware of?

Thanks.

Cruise control is made to lessen the burden on the driver. Adaptive CC simply allows you that much more comfort/relaxation. Used it extensively on recent around the country trip and it truly helps. Lane keep assist is similar, but a bit more annoying on anything but freeways/straight roads (I keep it off most of the time). With both on, ok it's not Tesla auto-pilot, but it certainly makes hours droning freeways more comfortable and safe. If you do a lot of highway/freeway driving it's worth it.

 

[bskubon]

Best feature ever. In fact, I vote this and especially the forward collision warning and breaking be put on every new vehicle in the US. People are so distracted these days and my guess is that’s not all that expensive to put on a vehicle.

 

[Andymax]

Another HARD YES vote. I have 5 years of using on my recently sold Grand Cherokee and it was an absolute MUST have when shopping for my new-to-me RAM 1500 Laramie. FWIW I do about 52K/year of highway driving

 

[MilehighRam]

I'm considering ordering adaptive cruise control for a new Laramie. Does it work well? Any issues to be aware of?

Thanks.

F*** YES!

 

[DevinB]

I, after much back-and-forth, eventually opted for 'yay' and included it in my recent 2021 1500 Limited Order. Though I don't see myself using it regularly on the highway under normal conditions, I'm hoping that I'll like it in slow or stop-and-go traffic when I get stuck on I405 or I5 in SoCal. Plus it was included in a package that had something else I wanted (surround view cameras...mainly wanted front camera for close parking situations).

Hope I like it.

 

[auggiedoggies]

Love my ACC, it works really great!

 

[Andymax]

I'll bet you a dollar that you'll use it way more than you expect. Enjoy!

 

[NoCigar]

I'm considering ordering adaptive cruise control for a new Laramie. Does it work well? Any issues to be aware of?

Thanks.

It's great when towing in the slow lane and approaching big Rigs here in CA
The big surprise is when crossing lanes on a multiple lane road and passing through a lane with a slow vehicle as you cross that lane it will slam the breaks on just be aware!!!

 

[Boston]

Hell yes to ACC.

I do a 2k round trip every 6-8 weeks often solo. Choice of two vehicles. One vehicle has ACC one doesn’t.

I first used ACC in a rented Volvo in England. Took me about 30 Miles to figure out what all the beeps were for.
Latest add has ACC and it massively helpful to have the extra pair of eyes on the traffic and road. Especially after many hours on the road.

 

[RammyShand]

ACC is a must!

 

[Le_Slacker]

Around 10 years ago I rented the smallest car I could rent - did that frequently and often was upgraded for free because they were out of the small ones.
Got upgraded to a MPV (I think)- used it all weekend, and when came time for the 1200 kms round trip, i realized NO cruise control at all!!!
Worst rental ever!!!

ACC is awesome!

 

[392DCGC]

Worth it? Yeah, I'd say so. It's a nice lazy feature. But the feature itself is lazy (seemingly moreso than other FCA products I've owned)... meaning, it drives me mad how slow it is to respond to changing situations, and the range is pitiful. Seriously FCA. A full redesign with all new hardware for this system and it performs this bad? Give me a break.

Say the vehicle in front of you stops. It will creep up slowly, and take a good 5 seconds longer than a normal human being to finally stop creeping and come to a halt. Then you go to resume when they start moving (either pressing gas or resume button). Again, it is PAINFULLY slow. Makes you sit there looking like an idiot for a good 3 seconds before it decides to barely start moving. I end up flooring it half the time in frustration. This makes NO SENSE considering it is a freaking computer system with range detection capability that has far more insight and speed to detect what is going on than a person does. And yet, it behaves like a 15 year old behind the wheel for the first time. Aside from that, my other complaint is the range. I think it should be able to detect vehicles further out. And the follow distance settings are a joke... should be named ***-rider close, stupid close, close, and kinda close. 4 levels of adjustment and the furthest is barely at my level of comfort. That combined with the poor range makes it stop aggressively if a vehicle in front of you is slowing down, most of the time anyway, making for a jerky/not so smooth experience. I want to be further from the vehicle in front of me. Who at FCA thinks that is a bad idea? Tailgating does not get you there any faster. Give me a larger safety buffer, and keep my truck cleaner/damage free from the car in front of me kicking crud up.

I've had this system in a few SRT and Jeep products and while it wasn't much better in them, it seems worse in these 5th gen trucks (I've owned a few of them and they have all behaved like crap). I also have plenty of miles with other brand systems, Tesla and Volvo of particular note. In short, I hate it in this RAM. But I wouldn't want the truck without it, crappy as it is. Lane Sense another massive steaming pile of crap, but I appreciate the little bit that it does work.