Adaptive Cruise Control

[h5djr]

Once again I am asking you chaps with 8v A3s for some information to help me make my decision.

If you have ACC fitted do you like it and also how is it controlled, from buttons on the steering wheel as in the Golf VII or by a steering column lever similar to the cruise control on my existing A3. I've done a search and found a scan of part of the Owners Manual but it only shows ACC as being controlled by a steering column lever.

 

[cuke2u]

Hi, hopefully you find this Google Translate translated electronic manual of some help...

 

[h5djr]

Hi, hopefully you find this Google Translate translated electronic manual of some help...

Thanks, I have already downloaded a copy but I wondered if that was the only method used especially when the Golf does it using the MF Steering wheel. I am also interested in what members think of the system. Is it worth the extra cost. I only tend to use my present cruise control on my motorway journeys across France and Germany and to control my speed in 50mph roadworks etc.

 

[A3L]

Have the system on my a3.

The ACC is controlled by a seperate lever, not on the steering wheel.

How i think about it? It works quite well, but you see that the ACC is looking strictly to the safety regulations. You can adjust the distance between your car and the car in front. But the closest distance is still enough for someone to squeeze in to, which results in your car is braking, and again taking distance. But this can be simply corrected by the driver by throtteling with the pedal or the lever itself.

 

[Silky-S3]

ACC is great, much better than I thought it would be. So good in traffic jams. It's the same cruise lever as the 8P but just with a distance switch on top of it.

 

[Anarch]

I'm considering whether it's worth getting ACC with manual gearbox, has anyone tried it ? I think the main question is whether on a highway the last gear is flexible enough, so it's not necessary to change it every minute.

 

[h5djr]

ACC is great, much better than I thought it would be. So good in traffic jams. It's the same cruise lever as the 8P but just with a distance switch on top of it.

If I go for an new A3 it will definitely have s-tronic so it should also be useful in a traffic jam.

 

[Silky-S3]

If I go for an new A3 it will definitely have s-tronic so it should also be useful in a traffic jam.

Yer, without s-troinc it wouldn't be as good. Auto stop/go is fantastic!

 

[A3L]

I have manual shifting with ACC, maybe thats why i am not that enthousiastic about it

 

[siouxchief]

I am due to order a manual A3 on Saturday with ACC as i heard great reviews about it. Would people thing I'm better of using the money for other extras since I'm ordering a manual?

 

[cemerson]

ACC is still brilliant in the manual, I'd keep it

 

[cemerson]

I'm considering whether it's worth getting ACC with manual gearbox, has anyone tried it ? I think the main question is whether on a highway the last gear is flexible enough, so it's not necessary to change it every minute.

I find it's generally fine, keep it in 6th most of the time. If the traffic slows a bit I drop to 5th, but its not enough of a nuisance to bother me really, you mostly can leave it in one gear.

 

[cemerson]

Have the system on my a3.

The ACC is controlled by a seperate lever, not on the steering wheel.

How i think about it? It works quite well, but you see that the ACC is looking strictly to the safety regulations. You can adjust the distance between your car and the car in front. But the closest distance is still enough for someone to squeeze in to, which results in your car is braking, and again taking distance. But this can be simply corrected by the driver by throtteling with the pedal or the lever itself.

I keep mine in distance 2 and have never had this problem. Cars pull in front of you if you haven't caught up with the car in front, but I want a gap there to be honest - most people don't seem to have a clue what a 'safe gap' means and drive far too close. It's a great way to regulate it, and completely stress free as well when the car handles it for you.

 

[Anarch]

I find it's generally fine, keep it in 6th most of the time. If the traffic slows a bit I drop to 5th, but its not enough of a nuisance to bother me really, you mostly can leave it in one gear.

Thanks a lot !

 

[Joetidman]

I keep mine in distance 2 and have never had this problem. Cars pull in front of you if you haven't caught up with the car in front, but I want a gap there to be honest - most people don't seem to have a clue what a 'safe gap' means and drive far too close. It's a great way to regulate it, and completely stress free as well when the car handles it for you.

So you can regulate the distance you keep? Can you also regulate the speed at which the car tries to 'catch up' when a car pulls over?What happens when someone emergency brakes in front? Does it brake heavily too?

 

[cemerson]

So you can regulate the distance you keep? Can you also regulate the speed at which the car tries to 'catch up' when a car pulls over?What happens when someone emergency brakes in front? Does it brake heavily too?

Yep all of that. You have a choice of 4 distances and can choose between comfort, auto and dynamic in drive select

 

[Joetidman]

Yep all of that. You have a choice of 4 distances and can choose between comfort, auto and dynamic in drive select

Ah thats good, should make me safer on the A1 when I drive to work at 5:45am!

 

[cemerson]

I keep mine in dynamic mostly, even in that mode it doesn't go crazy - quite comfortable. I definitely feel a lot safer with it on, and if I'm (for example) using the MMI to change my music or use the sat nav or something, it 'keeps an eye on things' as it were so if the car in front starts slowing down the car will just manage it. Never thought I'd be using it as much as I do! There's whole stretches on the way home (and I'm talking about A-roads and villages, not motorway) that I just don't have to touch the brake or accelerator, just let the car do it all.

 

[Joetidman]

I keep mine in dynamic mostly, even in that mode it doesn't go crazy - quite comfortable. I definitely feel a lot safer with it on, and if I'm (for example) using the MMI to change my music or use the sat nav or something, it 'keeps an eye on things' as it were so if the car in front starts slowing down the car will just manage it. Never thought I'd be using it as much as I do! There's whole stretches on the way home (and I'm talking about A-roads and villages, not motorway) that I just don't have to touch the brake or accelerator, just let the car do it all.

That's just astonishing when you think about it!

 

[ddscot]

Kind of is but I know what he means, took me a while to get used to not looking at the gadgets in the car while driving, as for ACC I never bothered but I didn't realise changing gear and dipping the clutch didn't disengage the cruise like my last car so maybe it would have worked for me in a manual more than I thought, at the time I thought without an auto what was the point with the kind of traffic I drive in daily.

 

[Daz Auto]

Have the system on my a3.

The ACC is controlled by a seperate lever, not on the steering wheel.

We didn't like the controls on the wheel of the Golf we test drove. Though I suppose we would have gotten used to it eventually.

 

[h5djr]

We didn't like the controls on the wheel of the Golf we test drove. Though I suppose we would have gotten used to it eventually.

I must admit I quite liked the steering wheel controls on the Golf, but it does make for a very busy collection of buttons. I've not yet had the chance to drive an A3 with the ACC but I'm sure I would be happy with the lever control as it's much the same, but more sophisticated, than the cruise I have at the moment.

 

[Higgy87]

I've got the ACC on my company car (golf) and it's brilliant, highly recommend it!! On our own A3 has got the standard cruise control, but wished it had the ACC. It's a shame the A3 doesn't have it as as standard like the golf!!!

 

[cemerson]

The only difference between the ACC stalk and the standard cruise control stalk is that there is a rocker switch on the top of it used to change the distance setting.