strange people in Alyesbury

[Capra]

I can just see all the other cars pulling in front and sending you further back in the lane as your system wants to maintain a nice safe gap to the car in front.

 

[alexanderfoti]

I can just see all the other cars pulling in front and sending you further back in the lane as your system wants to maintain a nice safe gap to the car in front.

That's what you do when driving "manually" though. If a car cuts in front, you would reduce your following distance back to a normal safe value, or change lanes?

 

[Blobcat]

I can just see all the other cars pulling in front and sending you further back in the lane as your system wants to maintain a nice safe gap to the car in front.

But you're not going "further back" you're still going forwards your brain is just telling you you're going backwards as your eyes are telling it all these cars are going in front of you and your falling behind. Horrible things brains at times

 

[Capra]

That's what you do when driving "manually" though. If a car cuts in front, you would reduce your following distance back to a normal safe value, or change lanes?

No, what I mean is, you know when you leave a nice safe gap, there is always someone wanting to fill it, then you pull back again, and so on.

 

[Capra]

But you're not going "further back" you're still going forwards your brain is just telling you you're going backwards as your eyes are telling it all these cars are going in front of you and your falling behind. Horrible things brains at times

Yep you're right there. How many drivers these days leave those two chevrons between the car in front?

 

[alexanderfoti]

No, what I mean is, you know when you leave a nice safe gap, there is always someone wanting to fill it, then you pull back again, and so on.

Such is life on UK roads.

I adjust the gap on the distronic if I feel a car is going to inject into my following distance. Even the shortest distance is still 2 seconds.

 

[Capra]

Such is life on UK roads.

I adjust the gap on the distronic if I feel a car is going to inject into my following distance. Even the shortest distance is still 2 seconds.

I didn't realise you could adjust them. I've never driven a car with it. Once they are running will they follow the cars speed in front? And then come to a complete stop in heavy traffic?

 

[keefysher]

Yep you're right there. How many drivers these days leave those two chevrons between the car in front?

My Distance Pilot (Distronic) is set to the 2 second rule. As Alex post above, also the 2 second rule. We just use the tech to maintain it.

Perhaps as the tech becomes more commonplace, the tw4ts who jump into the gap will begin to understand how much more effective maintaining a gap is. Fortunately with the emergency braking and other aids the car will deal with aforesaid tw4ts, even if the other tw4t behind that hasn't also kept the gap busts a vein trying to apply their brakes to match my auto braking system.

Another thing the Distance Pilot gives, is just how poor at maintaining a constant speed the human is.

DP really does make driving less hassle. Combined with watching the 'race to a stop' drivers, driving becomes enjoyable again

 

[Capra]

I bet when the car is breaking automatically that must be a strange feeling?

 

[keefysher]

I didn't realise you could adjust them. I've never driven a car with it. Once they are running will they follow the cars speed in front? And then come to a complete stop in heavy traffic?

There is a clue in the names of the system, Distronic / Distance Pilot. Distance from vehicle. Yes they accelerate / decelerate with the vehicle in front. Complete stop in traffic. DP combines the radar and the cameras so the car reads the road.

Even more useful when towing a damn great big caravan.

 

[keefysher]

I bet when the car is breaking automatically that must be a strange feeling?

You soon become accustomed to it. And no, the brake pedal doesn't move.

Wait till you let it drive itself using the other tech. For testing, taking hands off the wheel on a private motorway/road is interesting the first time, after 7 minutes the car will remind you to hold the wheel.

 

[Capra]

You soon become accustomed to it. And no, the brake pedal doesn't move.

Wait till you let it drive itself using the other tech. For testing, taking hands off the wheel on a private motorway/road is interesting the first time, after 7 minutes the car will remind you to hold the wheel.

So there are systems now available that mean you can take your hands off the wheel? How accurate are they at following the correct lane, do they require good quality road markings etc?

 

[keefysher]

So there are systems now available that mean you can take your hands off the wheel? How accurate are they at following the correct lane, do they require good quality road markings etc?

The law doesn't allow you to take your hands off, yet. However the systems facilitate it now, ready for change.

There are loads of 'test' drives out there to see online.

 

[Naraic]

No, what I mean is, you know when you leave a nice safe gap, there is always someone wanting to fill it, then you pull back again, and so on.

What are other drivers supposed to do with "your" gap?

Are you saying that if you have overtaken someone on a motorway you should stay in the overtaking lane rather than fill in "their" gap?

Are you not allowed to overtake the car in front on a single carriageway road because the car in front is maintaining a safe gap and it's "his" not yours?

I have heard this nonsense before. Leave a bigger gap so that other drivers can safely overtake and pull back in. No one owns the gap in front of them...though many think they do.

 

[Capra]

What are other drivers supposed to do with "your" gap?

Are you saying that if you have overtaken someone on a motorway you should stay in the overtaking lane rather than fill in "their" gap?

Are you not allowed to overtake the car in front on a single carriageway road because the car in front is maintaining a safe gap and it's "his" not yours?

I have heard this nonsense before. Leave a bigger gap so that other drivers can safely overtake and pull back in. No one owns the gap in front of them...though many think they do.

I was meaning from an undertaking point of view, I should have made this clear. No, if someone is going faster than me and are indicating to pull into my lane then I let them in.

 

[LostKiwi]

So there are systems now available that mean you can take your hands off the wheel? How accurate are they at following the correct lane, do they require good quality road markings etc?

Tesla have a pretty much autonomous mode already. JLR are developing theirs at present and if you drive round Coventry you can see test vehicles out and about gaining real world experience.
Other manufacturers are doing the same and some are further along than others. Expect to see the first fully autonomous vehicles with 5 to 7 years (though still with a drive to over ride the system) and totally autonomous systems in 10 to 15 years (or earlier perhaps).

 

[Botus]

I don't get it, is the problem that your car is detecting the car ahead on another lane?

...well I didn't edit LostkKiwi's post

I really meant everyone in front can't stay at a sensible speed and you end up going slower... when you realise the next lane is doing 20 MPH more than you so you have to interact with the car to get back to speed safely

the specific point about picking up other traffic in other lanes was not an issue in the BM but I got it quite often when I got this one, its was back at dealership 3 times for this before I owned it.... (all this rubbish about must have geometry spot on then get the loan kit of Merc GB sent to the dealer to set it up etc. I just got my torx screwdriver out and set it up till it does things pretty much the BMW way (in the BM manual it even said "you" should check its pointing the right way).

My set up reduced the amount of hesitation from lots, to a brief moment and the occasions from all the time, to once in a 25 mile trip. I very occasionally get a Van or MPV give is a minor scare where the car hesitates for a split second but its a million times better than the way a Merc tech can do it

 

[Capra]

Tesla have a pretty much autonomous mode already. JLR are developing theirs at present and if you drive round Coventry you can see test vehicles out and about gaining real world experience.
Other manufacturers are doing the same and some are further along than others. Expect to see the first fully autonomous vehicles with 5 to 7 years (though still with a drive to over ride the system) and totally autonomous systems in 10 to 15 years (or earlier perhaps).

Do they have a big red button to stop in case of an emergency, a bit like when operating industrial equipment?

 

[LostKiwi]

Do they have a big red button to stop in case of an emergency, a bit like when operating industrial equipment?

Called a brake pedal..

 

[Botus]

when you have had ACC a while, it literally feels no different to driving with conventional cruise control, its just when the car in front fails to maintain the same speed, your car very subtly does the same so you don't have to keep cancelling it

on both the BM and the Merc there is a user selectable gap. On BMs it defaults to position 3, about a 3.2 or so second gap, with one further back and two closer. Its rather annoying it doesn't default to 2 (the first time each drive, you have to change it). Position 2 is about right if its raining and position 1, the closest, is good on busy roads to reduce the likelihood of idiots wanting to cut in. Here it will not go closer than the 2 second rule. Which means on the M11 the inbred's round Stanstead keep cutting in anyway.

The Merc has more settings but will remain on whichever you selected. About 2 clicks back works well in traffic and is mostly OK on the motorway, again the closest setting is the 2 second rule


as alexander says, you can set the display to always show what it sees and the gap to the next car, if the beige car vanishes you know its lost the plot and you'll need to do it, this happens at mini roundabouts where the car can suddenly be out of the radar's field of vision. This doesn't feel dangerous, its just what happens. Like when you put your foot on the brake, it just brakes …. its no different with ACC