Highway driving discussion

[EOD Guy]

Cpt Trips:

I didn't know that and really didn't pay attention. I def will pay attention next time.

I literally drove 2.5 hours from the dealership to the house, went to sleep and left at 4 am the next morning on a 6 hour ride to FL. I was learning on the fly......LOL

I did let it drive it's self for about 70 miles (first 30 were interesting and worrisome) I really enjoyed being able to open a snack package with worrying if I had started drifting.

 

[LCMud]

I don’t think there is a single piece of technology that you can turn off that I have left on. I use the regular rear view mirror. I don’t like adaptive cruise control. I turned off all the assistive stuff. The features are interesting but if you’re older and accustomed to regular driving, they are somewhat annoying. Totally understand that it is probably a generational thing.

Actually, IMO the safety systems are more useful to a senior citizen than a youngster. Youngsters have fast reflexes and are hopefully wide awake. I remember an older friend of mine, I think he was about 70 at the time, fell asleep in his older porsche with cruise on and went into the guard rail. Adaptive cruise and lane assist that pretty much won’t happen. The car is just so much safer than the old cars, no comparison.

 

[Fort7365]

I commute on I95 in VA (absolutely awful if you haven't had the pleasure). The "self driving" is a god send. The camera can get a bit overzealous with alerts sometimes but I'll take that 10 times over for being able to let the car do most of the driving/traffic

 

[TLC]

I commute on I95 in VA (absolutely awful if you haven't had the pleasure). The "self driving" is a god send. The camera can get a bit overzealous with alerts sometimes but I'll take that 10 times over for being able to let the car do most of the driving/traffic

North of Richmond? If so, I couldn’t agree more. I95 from Richmond to Baltimore is by far the worst driving in the US. Doesn’t matter if you take 895, 695, 495 or any other, they all suck.
So you’re saying the highway drive assist actually makes that drive better? I’m intrigued. Does it handle traffic jams well?

 

[Fort7365]

North of Richmond? If so, I couldn’t agree more. I95 from Richmond to Baltimore is by far the worst driving in the US. Doesn’t matter if you take 895, 695, 495 or any other, they all suck.
So you’re saying the highway drive assist actually makes that drive better? I’m intrigued. Does it handle traffic jams well?

Yessir. Fredericksburg area. I've let it drive me the last 2 days and it will go all the way down to stop and go and handle it like a champ. I just keep 1 finger or my thumb lightly on the wheel and let it do it's thing.

I still keep my feet by the pedals because I don't 100% trust it yet, but I've yet to have to intervene.

Edit: I meant to add this. It took me a while to figure out but I noticed the LC will actually show you on the gauge cluster when the brake lights are on. It's nice to know when the cruise control is braking so that I can check behind me.

 

[TLC]

Oh I turned that thing off right away. It’s a little weird to figure it out (you have to go through the options menu behind the steering wheel) but it massively improves the quality of your experience.

When you disable the driver monitoring camera, do all of the driver assistance features still work? (Like adaptive cruise and lane centering, traffic jam assist, etc)

 

[EOD Guy]

When you disable the driver monitoring camera, do all of the driver assistance features still work? (Like adaptive cruise and lane centering, traffic jam assist, etc)

Not on mine......

(edit) I assume you are talking about the steering wheel eye camera......

 

[Impatient]

When you disable the driver monitoring camera, do all of the driver assistance features still work? (Like adaptive cruise and lane centering, traffic jam assist, etc)

I don’t know. I turned all that stuff off too. I just want to drive and be left alone.

 

[Fort7365]

When you disable the driver monitoring camera, do all of the driver assistance features still work? (Like adaptive cruise and lane centering, traffic jam assist, etc)

I think the only thing that gets deactivated is the Traffic Jam Assist if yours is equipped with it.

 

[Hump77]

Yessir. Fredericksburg area. I've let it drive me the last 2 days and it will go all the way down to stop and go and handle it like a champ. I just keep 1 finger or my thumb lightly on the wheel and let it do it's thing.

I still keep my feet by the pedals because I don't 100% trust it yet, but I've yet to have to intervene.

Edit: I meant to add this. It took me a while to figure out but I noticed the LC will actually show you on the gauge cluster when the brake lights are on. It's nice to know when the cruise control is braking so that I can check behind me.

Good to know. I’m in Charlottesville but heading up there to Wolftrap for a show next month and was hoping it may be slightly less stressful this time.

 

[b407driver]

I also played the luddite when my wife first got her new RAV4 Prime with all the new whiz-bang features. After about two months some of the features became indispensable, especially on long highway trips. There's a learning curve for most of it, and admittedly some of it is just annoying.

I encourage owners new to this to learn the adaptive cruise system (including to always lead with your blinker so the car doesn't fight the lane change). You can use the trailing distance setting to pretty much control the car the way your foot would, but it takes both attention and foresight to get right (variable traffic, etc.). The one thing you really gotta watch your ass on is when traffic comes to a stop at freeway speeds, but at too far a distance for the vehicle to 'know' it; I'm pretty sure it would be able to stop, but it would be unnecessarily exciting.

Either way, you still need to pay attention and monitor your surroundings, but some of these systems can be a benefit to most all drivers if you learn to use them, and really take some of the workload.

 

[Altitude]

My wife has a highlander with all this stuff. I came from a Grand Cherokee Overland Diesel with some of this stuff. I never cared for the LDA, LTA, and other stuff on the highlander, because 99% of my driving was the jeep. But now that I have a LC, it took a couple of thousand miles and 4 400-mile trips to get comfortable with it and this last 400 mile trip, I was really enjoying it. It is loud at highway speeds, but I found that If I am on an empty highway for long stretches, I retract the side-view mirrors and that cuts down on some wind noise (I also have the port-installed roof rack).
Something I have noticed, with ACC, the vehicle decelerates so gently as you approach traffic, that sometimes you don't realize forget you are no longer going 75, but perhaps now doing 68 - And after following for a couple of miles, you realize you are not at speed and then move over and pass.
The one function I am not using is the PDA Proactive Driving Assist function. I don't care for the way in which it brakes and steers on curves.

(Off topic)

Your avatar. Level 42 fan?

 

[jnsplace]

I've had the line and speed assist on my Subie since 2016. Funny how long that tech has been around.....
I will say, the cruise control assist is my favorite thing. Sure is nice on long interstate rides, to set it and just drive. The lane assist, meh. I think most of the time it's annoying, I turn them off in the winter due to snow making it's own lines. I guess it depends on how intrusive it is. I'm more concerned about the speed "assist" that is making its rounds through places like EU?? no thanks.

 

[b407driver]

I wish you could set the ACC to, say, +5 over the speed limit, or whatever. Now that would be useful.

 

[EOD Guy]

I wish you could set the ACC to, say, +5 over the speed limit, or whatever. Now that would be useful.

Not sure what you mean......

 

[b407driver]

Not sure what you mean......

If the speed limit is 65, you'd set the cruise control to +5 (instead of 70), and then if the speed limit changed to 55, the vehicle would automatically decelerate to 60. Might help driving through Texas when every frickin' podunk town had a cop and a 45 mph limit.

 

[EOD Guy]

I mean I guess, but not something I'd want.

 

[Trailman]

If the speed limit is 65, you'd set the cruise control to +5 (instead of 70), and then if the speed limit changed to 55, the vehicle would automatically decelerate to 60. Might help driving through Texas when every frickin' podunk town had a cop and a 45 mph limit.

Mercedes have had this feature for a while. Definitely doable with the system Toyota has. Just need to program it

 

[laughnpup]

We just got back from a 5600 mile trip and even though I did all the driving, my wife and I were both very pleased with the comfort and driving tech of the LC. We both have back problems and felt comfortable in the seats and did not need any additional lumbar pillows which we always used in our Jeep Grand Cherokee. The driving automation for adaptive cruise is excellent and the HUD heads up display is also really nice. It wasn’t until late in our trip that I realized I could adjust the location and brightness of the HUD which made it far more useful to me.

On the downside, there are some weird things about the passenger side though like the lack of a nearby volume control and the fact that it’s almost impossible to see anything on the dash.

However, the airflow seats which are also in the back seats are fantastic. We also love the front A-pillar handles to grab on to help step in the vehicle. All in all, we are going to put a lot of miles on our LC and they will be the most comfortable miles we have ever driven.