Adaptive Cruise Control - Worth It On The 1.4 Manual?

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natebrice

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Hello there!

I'm reaching the absolute limit of my company car budget and can't decide on a final option between the Interior Light Package or Adaptive Cruise Control. My head is telling me the ACC, but my heart is saying interior light package!

I know the ACC is particularly useful with DSG as it will obviously switch up and down gears in heavy congestion while maintaining a safe distance - is it still worth it on the manual however or am I better giving it a miss (and getting the fancy lighting)?
 
I have a manual and ACC is great! It's really useful, even on a manual. What other options do you have? Any non essential ones you could drop to get both?
 
Thanks - sound like it's the most practical option of the two. When do you find yourself using it most?

As for other options, I've got the Comfort Pack, Tech pack, lumbar support and Audi Sound System which are pretty much all essentials for me.
 
I use mine all the time really, anything that isn't a junction! Good for villages, country roads (especially when following someone who slows down for corners and makes your car do the same) and motorways!
 
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Great, might opt for that over the lighting then :)
 
Yeh, both are good options, and the Interior Lighting Pack looks really nice, but if I had to choose it'd be the ACC... always practicality and usefulness over looks for me!
 
I know I want the lighting now, but when the novelty wears off I'd probably wish I had the ACC - especially in the Summer months!
 
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natebrice said:
Hello there!

I'm reaching the absolute limit of my company car budget and can't decide on a final option between the Interior Light Package or Adaptive Cruise Control. My head is telling me the ACC, but my heart is saying interior light package!

I know the ACC is particularly useful with DSG as it will obviously switch up and down gears in heavy congestion while maintaining a safe distance - is it still worth it on the manual however or am I better giving it a miss (and getting the fancy lighting)?
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I find the ACC really useful. I drive motorways, country roads and towns. I agree that the S-Tronic option must be amazing, but most of my driving is at speeds where the ACC is a great asset with my 1.4 Manual.
 
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I went 1.4 manual and its the next thing I would have specced on the list as I can see it wold have been useful. Having said that car still drives great without it. For me I was at the limit of what I wanted to spend and there were other thing higher on the wish list at the time. If I did it again though I would probably try and stretch the budget to accommodate it, but you do have to stop somewhere, well most of us anyway.
 
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I use ACC in all limits, if you're following a queue of cars or want to stick at a certain speed, it is fab; really pleased I spec'd it.
 
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It's a nice 'toy'. I have it on my A3 and use it in long traffic queues or to maintain the limit through roadworks. Personally I think the implementation was better on the Golf I test drove with the ACC controls on the steering wheel rather than on a separate lever.
 
I only have the basic cruise control, however I think my comment is relevant to ACC as well. One of my (few) gripes with the A3 is that there's no footrest next to the accelerator pedal for when the cruise is engaged. I don't particularly like having my right foot flat on the floor; rightly or wrongly I feel it will take me longer to reach the brake in an emergency. As a result of this I don't use the cruise a huge amount in my A3, as compared to previous car (which did have a footrest) where I used it all the time.
 
driver_tim said:
I only have the basic cruise control, however I think my comment is relevant to ACC as well. One of my (few) gripes with the A3 is that there's no footrest next to the accelerator pedal for when the cruise is engaged. I don't particularly like having my right foot flat on the floor; rightly or wrongly I feel it will take me longer to reach the brake in an emergency. As a result of this I don't use the cruise a huge amount in my A3, as compared to previous car (which did have a footrest) where I used it all the time.
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That's one thing I miss between my previous A3s and my current 8V. In the previous cars I used to rest my right foot against the wheel arch when using cruise control but now there is nowhere to rest it. I like my foot to be near the pedals so that I can easily use the brake if necessary and I find having it flat on the floor quite uncomfortable. When I use the ACC I tend to have my foot hovering over the throttle pedal which is not that comfortable.
 
h5djr said:
That's one thing I miss between my previous A3s and my current 8V. In the previous cars I used to rest my right foot against the wheel arch when using cruise control but now there is nowhere to rest it. I like my foot to be near the pedals so that I can easily use the brake if necessary and I find having it flat on the floor quite uncomfortable. When I use the ACC I tend to have my foot hovering over the throttle pedal which is not that comfortable.
Click to expand...

What! No footrest, didn't notice this on the test drive.

Will have to lie my foot down instead and hope the ACC never fails
 
I didn't spec ACC on my 1.4 COD manual - just the standard cruise control in the Comfort Pack. But with hindsight I think I probably should have done, especially as it was offered for just £250 extra by the dealer at the time.

I hesitated on it because I don't do much motorway driving and didn't think it would work so well in a manual car. Part of me was also suspicious about the tech and relinquishing braking control to the car.

But two months in and having seen how well everything else is working on the car, the idea that it would get the braking wrong seems daft. Also, even the little motorway/faster road driving I end up doing would still benefit from ACC.

So if you are going to be in the car a lot then I would agree that ACC would be preferable to interior lights (but they are also good!).
 
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