Pilot assist in crawling traffic - your opinion?

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DanishPastry
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Post by DanishPastry »

Another question from a prospective buyer, if I may.

Really like the sound of adaptive cruise control; not had it on a vehicle before. All straightforward at 70 mph on the motorway, but how about traffic jams and crawling traffic?

With a manual transmission (my preference), it seems driver support doesn't function under 20 mph. Obviously it can't change gear, or stop without stalling, which limits what it can do.

Thinking about it, manual transmission seems to remove a big chunk of really useful capability. maybe I need to rethink...

How useful do you find slow-speed semi-autonomous driving?
Can the car really semi-self-drive in stationary to crawling traffic (if automatic)?

TIA
MY2020 R-Design

goi
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Post by goi »

I am driving cars with adaptive cruise control now for over 5 years. For me it makes no sense to have an adaptive cruise control without automatic gearbox:
- During low speed situations it should change to lower gears automatically and
- with increasing speed it can switch to higher gears automatically until it reaches the pre set speed limit
This works well for me the past years: From 0 to 180 km/h the system worked reliable.
Long story short: If you prefer a manual gear, I would suggest not to buy the adaptive cruise control, as it lacks most of its function. If you want to have adaptive cruise control, I would suggest you choose an automatic gearbox.

Just my 2 pence.
since 2023: XC40 Pure Electric Twin Motor Ultimate MY24
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eugen61
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Post by eugen61 »

I fully agree with Goi. If you get manual gearbox, you could leave out adaptive cruise control, but I strongly recommend the Intellisafe Surround option (Blind Spot Information System with Steer Assist, Cross Traffic Alert with Autobrake and Rear Collision Mitigation).
DarrenF
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Post by DarrenF »

I am another person agreeing with goi.

Had my car for 9 months and drive on the M25 and through the road works on the M23 all the time - the ACC makes it so simple and stress free, especially in traffic with the car automatically slowing you down from 70mph to a standstill and back up to your set speed limit. The auto gearbox on the XC40 is smooth and does a great job 99.9% of the time. I have always driven manuals so it took a little while to adjust my driving to the auto gearbox to get the most out of it.

The access road where I live is a bottle neck - at busy times of day it can take 15-12 minutes to drive a mile, this is also where ACC comes into its own.
XC40 T5 R-Design Pro in Bursting Blue with Convenience, Intellisafe Pro, Winter Plus and Xenium Packs and a few other bits. Ordered July'19 picked up end of Nov'19.
DWB
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Post by DWB »

Agree with all the points points above, ACC is not fully functional with a manual gearbox and your money would be better spent on other options packages.

I’m obviously bucking the general wisdom but I still prefer a manual shift myself - work car is automatic, personal is manual. I do fully see the appeal of automatic but I miss the sense of ‘control’. Plus there is the extra cost for Automatic (about €4K in my market) which admittedly, is not an issue for everyone.

If money and that sense of control are not issues for you, I’d suggest going automatic. In addition to the ACC, you can also use things like remote start to warm/cool the car in advance.

This will probably be my last manual shift car, I suspect by the time I next change my car around 2025 it will be pure electric and manual shifters will have gone the way of the dodo.
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DanishPastry
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Post by DanishPastry »

TVM; your messages have been really helpful.

As it happens, I have a 3-day test drive booked in about a month (if it doesn't get cancelled by Corvid) and Volvo have assigned an automatic. I was going to ask to change that but now I'll stick with the auto and see how I get on.

The additional agony is that when I was sure about manual transmission, that made engine selection a choice-of-one.
But, if I can live with auto-trans, then T3 or B5 also work (B4 rather falls between stools for me).

B5 would be nice but AWD on a Volvo that will never go off-road seems pointless. Also it forces either R-Design (I *hate* 'privacy glass') or Inscription (I dislike leather seats).

Have looked at ordering from Ireland as I'd heard they have everything as individual options, but that seems not to be the case.

Who'd have thought that spending £35-40K on a new car would be so difficult.
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blastpipe
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Post by blastpipe »

AWD is not just about offroad though. AWD gives so many benefits as soon as there is an element of slip power switches...so no more wheelspin when you try and pull out on a hill/loose gravel chippings...much improved power distribution when going around roundabouts etc...then when you park on the wet grass at an event..no problem getting off again however much it rains. Most of the time it is FWD but it will also send power to the rear if it senses a loss of grip. Great system.
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DWB
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Post by DWB »

DanishPastry wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2020 8:45 pm Also it forces either R-Design (I *hate* 'privacy glass') or Inscription (I dislike leather seats).
The Momentum spec comes with textile/canvas seats. & you can add a fair bit of the missing features back in as extras...
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Silver Moose
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Post by Silver Moose »

Agree with comments above - you really won't regret going auto.

Pilot Assist is not just great on motorway - it's also a boon for something like a 40mph stretch of dual carriageway and, with an auto, it will cope with slowing traffic, right down to standstill.

Also, as stated, remote start becomes available. You may only really really value this a few times a year (depending on where you park your car) but......it's the one single feature that stops me straying towards some other brands - so nice to walk up to your defrosted car whilst Mr Audi is frantically scraping his windscreen :lol:

PA is not the smoothest driver in start/stop situations and there WILL be times you prefer to leave it off but.......it's so great to have it as an option - you will never turn back.
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