Adaptive Cruise Control

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vimy

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Looking to swap my A3 Hatch for the Saloon before the end of the summer,
As I do a lot of motorway miles I was thinking about investing in the Adaptive Cruise Control feature however I am skeptical about how good it actually is.

I drive on the A406 during rush hour times, so constant stop and starts with a manual is taking its toll on my left arm (lol).

Has anyone actually go it here? What are your thoughts...
How fluid is the system? I see that on the Golf mk7's if you want it to start off again at a stop it will prompt you everytime which in IMO is a bit counter intuitive.
 
A406 in rush hour?

Spend the money on the s-tronic.

The ACC is nice to have but the auto box takes so much stress out of London driving.

Your left arm is for operating the MMI!
 
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Amazing doesn't begin to describe it.

I drove in my friends S3 hatch the other day. You just set the speed and distance then let the car drive. He drove from Croydon to Brighton (30 miles) without touching the pedals.
 
I have the ACC on my A3 and I also have s-tronic. The two work well together. I was sat in a traffic queue the other day and once ACC was engaged as soon as the car in front moved forward so my car started by Start/Stop and moved forward with it and then stopped when the other car stopped, just as it should do.

I have also found it useful at times when there is, for example, a 50mph speed limit through roadworks. Once set, if the car in front is going a bit less than 50 my car just follows it at the same speed. On my previous A3 with the normal cruise control I needed to keep touching the brake as I got closer and then resetting the cruise control. All very straightforward and smooth. I'm not sure how well it would work with a manual gearbox but I'm sure someone else will comment.

When I went to an Audi Aftersales Evening at my dealers last week one of their Master Technicians connected my car, connected my car to Audi in Germany using the internet and activated the additional ACC menu which allows me to set the default distance from the choice of four. See the thread about Audi Aftersales Evening for more details.
 
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Sorry my fault I should have made it clear I'll be getting S Tronic as well, that's the only way the car can stop and start using ACC which is primarily what it will be used for.
Does the ACC disengage when at a full stop and has to be manly re-activated like the golf?
 
I think you need to spec the hold assist with s-tronic and ACC to get it to stop and move off automatically without touching the pedals.
 
leosayer1 said:
I think you need to spec the hold assist with s-tronic and ACC to get it to stop and move off automatically without touching the pedals.
Click to expand...

This is the first I've heard of this, could you tell me where you got this info from? It's not stated on the website (unless I missed it)
 
I took a look at the owner's manual and there's no mention of needing hold assist with ACC so I was mistaken.
 
leosayer1 said:
I took a look at the owner's manual and there's no mention of needing hold assist with ACC so I was mistaken.
Click to expand...

I have s-tronic and Hold Assist on my A3 but I don't use the Hold Assist. I leave it switched off all the time as I prefer the cars ability to 'creep' in tight manoeuvring situation and when I'm putting the car in the garage. I find in tight situations you have to apply the throttle and then the car moves forward quite quickly, whereas with it switched off, I just need to take my foot off the brake and the car 'creeps' slowly forward which is exactly what I want. When I stop in other situation I just click on the parking brake.
 
For tight manoeuvring like parking I also prefer to turn the hold assist off but for normal driving I leave it on.

I wouldn't say the car moves away quickly but you have to be gentle with the accelerator pedal if you want to make smooth progress from standstill with hold assist. Doubly so if the engine is stopped due to the stop start system.
 
I've got acc and just want to check something that you probably know h5djr :) in stop start traffic, if stationary for more than 3 secs I have to resume by either tapping the accelerator or pulling the acc lever. Is that how yours works?
 
andywil13 said:
I've got acc and just want to check something that you probably know h5djr :) in stop start traffic, if stationary for more than 3 secs I have to resume by either tapping the accelerator or pulling the acc lever. Is that how yours works?
Click to expand...

That's not something I've noticed. I'm sure that I just activate the ACC and not had to do anything, even when the engine has stopped with Start/Stop and I'm sure I've been stopped sometimes for more than 3 secs. I know, according the the Owner's Manual, the system will deactivate in the car is stationary for over 3 minutes, for safety reasons, but the need to do something if I'm stationary for just 3 secs rather defeats the object.
 
The manual says this is the case (the 3 second thing). If you pull back on the stalk while still stationary it will extend the time to 15 seconds.

ACC with a manual is still great, but it does sound like you want an s-tronic.
 
cemerson said:
The manual says this is the case (the 3 second thing). If you pull back on the stalk while still stationary it will extend the time to 15 seconds.

ACC with a manual is still great, but it does sound like you want an s-tronic.
Click to expand...

I cannot find any reference to the 3 secs in my Owner's Manual. What page or section is it in?
 
I can't remember, I just remember reading about it / seeing it. Maybe it was elsewhere, not the manual? The A6 I had at one point with ACC and multitronic worked like this, and there is a demo video around showing this behaviour too. Maybe the A3 is different.
 
Hmm no definitive answers, I take it not many people use ACC? lol

One thing that never crossed my mind, what happens when ACC slows the car down to a stop on a hill? Does it require manual intervention to stop it from rolling down the hill?
 
It does cutoff after 3 secs. I use it all the time, once you come to a complete stop it displays automatic go or something on the screen then after 3 secs the ACC light stops detecting the car in front and you have to touch the pedal or pull back the ac clever. Its a safety feature
 
Joetidman said:
It does cutoff after 3 secs. I use it all the time, once you come to a complete stop it displays automatic go or something on the screen then after 3 secs the ACC light stops detecting the car in front and you have to touch the pedal or pull back the ac clever. Its a safety feature
Click to expand...

Thanks for clearing that up, could you tell me what happens if the car stops on a hill?
 
There's no difference if you're on a hlll or not. After the 3 seconds the car will no longer automatically start moving, but the ACC still holds the car on the brakes. If during that time you push the ACC lever forwards and release it (to deactivate ACC) it will apply the parking brake instead (I don't have hold assist, so I'm not sure what happens with that).
 
Joetidman said:
It does cutoff after 3 secs. I use it all the time, once you come to a complete stop it displays automatic go or something on the screen then after 3 secs the ACC light stops detecting the car in front and you have to touch the pedal or pull back the ac clever. Its a safety feature
Click to expand...

I will have to find a traffic queue and try it out with mine. I sure the last time I used it in a queue I did not have to do anything to get my car to start and follow the car in front and I was stopped more more than 3 secs. I remember demonstrating it to my wife who was in the passenger seat and I took my feet away from all the pedals. Her comment at the time was that it seemed rather scary and it seem the car was driving itself. The only mention of time I can find in the Manual is the on p121 where it says that the ACC will deactivate if the vehicle remains stationary for over 3 minutes.

In the section on Vehicles with automatic gearbox is says:

When the Start/Stop system is active, the engine is switched off under certain conditions. The engine can be switched on again...
- by the start/stop system
- if the vehicle in front drives away
- if you pull the lever to position 2
- if you tap the accelerator pedal

Some experimenting required. Now where can I find a traffic queue :)
 
Follow the wifey in her car
Activate ACC
Get her to stop longer than 3 secs

:)
 
andywil13 said:
I've got acc and just want to check something that you probably know h5djr :) in stop start traffic, if stationary for more than 3 secs I have to resume by either tapping the accelerator or pulling the acc lever. Is that how yours works?
Click to expand...
It's how mine works. (stronic + ACC + hold assist)
 
veeeight said:
Follow the wifey in her car
Activate ACC
Get her to stop longer than 3 secs

:)
Click to expand...

I was just thinking along the same lines. When we do something like that some people often do a double take because our number plates are almost the same - H5 DJR and H5 JHR.

I will try with Hold Assist both on and off as I tend to drive most of the time with it switched off.
 
Last week I got a lift with a friend who used ACC for a full hour from Docklands to Herts. It worked perfectly and I was very impressed and I would not hesitate to recommend it to those who fancy having it.
But, ACC is total anathema to me and I spent the whole journey freaking out and clutching the grab handles for dear life!
 
snakehips said:
Last week I got a lift with a friend who used ACC for a full hour from Docklands to Herts. It worked perfectly and I was very impressed and I would not hesitate to recommend it to those who fancy having it.
But, ACC is total anathema to me and I spent the whole journey freaking out and clutching the grab handles for dear life!
Click to expand...

My wife loves it. I'm still getting used to it. There are situations where it could be potentially dangerous - car infront using slip road the system holds lock too long and brakes hard - or the car infront goes around a tight bend and the system looses lock and starts accelerating.

I'm not sure I would spec it on my next car. It would not suit the traffic I'm usually in or the way I like to drive. Perfect for my wife who drives on good A roads or dual carriage way and does not overtake much.

Are other people finding it smooth in stop start traffic? I just feels like it is having several goes on the brake = not smooth.
 
Thanks
Joetidman said:
It stops and holds on the brake automatically!
Click to expand...

Does the Hill Start option and any extra functionality in conjunction with Adaptive Cruise control or the S tronic gear box?

Man the amount of technology in these cars these days, only a few more years and I'll be able to get some more sleep while on the way to work :laugh:
 
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I would imagine that very few of us with ACC S-tronic, but without hold assist actually miss it - I certainly don't. However, those who have it have been very vocal about the benefits, and for ~ £90 they say it gives you the option - you can always turn it off.
 
constvoid said:
I would imagine that very few of us with ACC S-tronic, but without hold assist actually miss it - I certainly don't. However, those who have it have been very vocal about the benefits, and for ~ £90 they say it gives you the option - you can always turn it off.
Click to expand...

I have the Hold Assist option on my A3. I also have ACC and s-tronic and personally I leave the Hold Assist switched off all the time as I prefer they way the s-tronic behaves without it. If I want to 'hold' the car still for any length of time I prefer to using the Parking Brake.
 
Essentially the hold assist will stop the car from rolling when you've come to a stop?(Without foot on brake or parking brake enabled)
 
I believe so, yes, but as Dave R said in the post before yours, some prefer not to use it. I guess it requires a certain amount of gas to start moving again, so those who prefer the old fashioned automatic / S-tronic method of releasing the brake and letting the car creep would find it frustrating.
 
My car is proving a little problematic when pulling away in reverse whilst on a hill as I find that the handbrake is released when I start to release the clutch instead of it waiting until the car is moving. This results in rather a panic as I attempt to stop the car rolling into anything in front of it by rapidly moving my right foot onto the brake. Not sure if this is normal behaviour for the handbrake...
 
I find the trick is to give it a bit more accelerator than normal and be 'confident' and quick with the clutch, but not so much that you stall! It's natural after a bit of practice.
 
Think I'll have to give that option a miss then, seeing as I'll be crawling in traffic most of the time :(
 
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