Automobiles

[Matthew Strongin]

I had mine a couple weeks ago hit the brakes with full force for no apparent reason. I turned the system off. I still got a warning this morning but no automatic braking. The system got confused at an intersection in a curve with a car in the left turn lane and the driver ahead of me being uncertain about what he/she was confronting. I could process the situation but the computer in my car is programmed to react differently hto am a human might. But I’m a pretty engaged driver and to your point, I know many are crazy distracted.

I didn’t hate the warning but I’m Leary of the automatic braking. That said, I know why it exists and I think it will improve over time. I’m glad I’m still able to disable it though. The day may come that we are no longer allowed to disable these things.

Part of the problem is that the emergency braking systems are too quick to react. Pair this with the fact that not all cars have the systems or have the systems enabled. So when your car slams on the brakes because someone squeezed in front of you on the highway and the person behind you isn't paying close enough attention, it's not hard to end up in a bad situation. Before we figured out how to turn it off, our Grand Cherokee slammed on the brakes in multiple situations at highway speeds because someone pulled in front of us even though there was no risk in the situation until our car suddenly decelerated.

[Lionel]

Shit, I have to figure out if my S4 Avant has this stupid emergency braking. I hope not. I have turned off lane assist as well, ultra annoying.

[NYCfixie]

Another vote for no emergency braking systems. When we had a Volvo S60 and I was driving from NJ into NYC on a daily basis for a short period of time, the car's computer did not know the difference between an impending accident and "normal" merging while trying to get into the Lincoln Tunnel. Too often it would slam on the brakes and I would almost get hit by the car behind me.

...I strongly disliked the lane assist and automatic emergency braking is a hazard IMHO...

...while the auto braking on our Volvo is better than what we had on the Jeep (which was terrifying, but could be disabled), it's not good. Given the way people drive here, I think it's more of a liability.

Part of the problem is that the emergency braking systems are too quick to react...

[twowheels]

Lionel, your S4 surely has the slam on the brakes because of a shadow and scare the shit out of you system. My 2018 Golf R has it and I turned it off as well as the grab the wheel out of your hand when you are changing lanes and don't signal quite early enough to satisfy the computer system. OTOH, I like adaptive cruise control. And, I like the digital dash and being able to put the nav map on the display with the tach and speedo. I also like the DSG transmission. It's a lot nicer than the abysmal and weak VW manual transmission, which I had in my 2017 R.

I'm leery of self driving cars, about as leery as all the numbskulls who can't put their phones down while they drive their cars.

[dgaddis]

These stories of auto-braking slamming on the brakes for no reason are not at all uncommon. Sounds like 2021 is the year to buy a car: "In a deal its backers called "unprecedented," automakers agreed last year to make the technology standard on all cars by 2022. "- Automatic braking sometimes brakes for nothing

Also, don't be this guy, don't put your life in the hands of autobraking technology.

[jerk]

i won't even use cruise control. it makes me feel uncomfortable and like i don't have control over my car. i can't imagine using lane assist or automatic braking on a car. that being said- were the car completely autonomous- sign me up. that'd be awesome for long stupid boring drives.

the more i drive it- the more i love this little 2008 Cayman. sure- it's got a pre-PDK slush box. it's not an S- so it has the little 2.7 6- but damn if it isn't a great driving car. it sounds good. it handles great- it has a real steering rack and it even has normal sized wheels with plenty of sidewall.

i'm working on selling my amazing Mustang- because I just don't race it or use it enough and i'm done with modding it and strangely- there seem to be people who want to buy it. Anyway- that money will go into the fun car/bike fund and I'll probably do something really stupid like buy RUF wheels for the Cayman just because they look so cool- but part of me thought about lifting the Cayman a little bit, fabbing a skid plate and doing some rallying with it. i think the mid engine, modest power thing could make for a fun rally car for some of the events they have out here on the west coast. plus- that's a hell of a lot cheaper than throwing a bunch of money at the Tacoma and building a baja trophy truck/pre-runner thing!

honestly, the truck just needs a modest shock upgrade and some more aggressive rubber and a bed tent and i think we'll be able to do the overland stuff i want to do on the thing. if i'm going to be single- might as well sell the R1200GS too and get something more desert-y and lighter like a KTM 450 or something.

oh wishes and projects....i'm stupid with this car stuff.

[SteveP]

Last trip out west I rented a car that had lane correction...
I had no idea and basically thought it was a really hard car to drive..
Just felt unstable to me and incredibly annoying...
finally figured out what was causing the car to steer itself...
Aye Jayssus... please just let me drive...

[rmplum]

Last trip out west I rented a car that had lane correction...
I had no idea and basically thought it was a really hard car to drive..
Just felt unstable to me and incredibly annoying...
finally figured out what was causing the car to steer itself...
Aye Jayssus... please just let me drive...

There are really bad systems out there and also some that are fairly well tuned. The bad ones give you the ghostly steering input where it's difficult to figure out exactly whats happening and the vehicle feels like it's either super perceptible to tramlining, very unstable or possessed. The better systems (in my opinion) intervene in a more positive manner where the torque inputs from the system are discernible that they are coming from the vehicles controls. Getting this tuning right is difficult.

Note, there are also different systems and generations of it now. The earlier "B" systems would sort of keep you in the lane, but bounce or ping pong back and forth between lane markers - many times not activating until a wheel crosses over the sensed boundary. Let them go completely and you will certainly be perceived as inebriated by your fellow highway travelers. As hardware and software improve, the new ALK-C (centering) cars eliminate much of this ping ponging and can even hold the center of the lane at up to .03 lateral g's (which is about as hard as you'd want to corner in a car without upsetting your passengers). The same comments from my first paragraph apply - good systems and spooky ones.

Don't worry - the current lack of consistent highway infrastructure means that you'll still be driving your own cars the next few years.

NHTSA and IIHS have determined with testing and lots of data that the Auto Braking Systems do reduce deaths and vehicle damage overall. The data on active cruise control, active lane keeping and lane departure warning is less conclusive. Lane Departure Warning is most likely effective, but many find it annoying and overly intrusive and switch if off - so it's hard to give points for that.

Ryan
-daily drives a manual transmission car with none of those systems by the way.

[Lionel]

Lionel, your S4 surely has the slam on the brakes because of a shadow and scare the shit out of you system. My 2018 Golf R has it and I turned it off as well as the grab the wheel out of your hand when you are changing lanes and don't signal quite early enough to satisfy the computer system. OTOH, I like adaptive cruise control. And, I like the digital dash and being able to put the nav map on the display with the tach and speedo. I also like the DSG transmission. It's a lot nicer than the abysmal and weak VW manual transmission, which I had in my 2017 R.

I'm leery of self driving cars, about as leery as all the numbskulls who can't put their phones down while they drive their cars.

I have to check this, mine never slammed the brakes but this would piss me out ! I am in CA now, the 911 for sure does not have this non sense. But the S4 has something called pre-sense so I guess this must be included in it.

[nahtnoj]

So basically in 3 years all cars will have an automated version of the excessively grabby and overly sensitive garbage brakes that have been standard in VW/Audi products since the release of the B5 A4? Can't wait.

[twowheels]

These stories of auto-braking slamming on the brakes for no reason are not at all uncommon. Sounds like 2021 is the year to buy a car: "In a deal its backers called "unprecedented," automakers agreed last year to make the technology standard on all cars by 2022. "- Automatic braking sometimes brakes for nothing

Also, don't be this guy, don't put your life in the hands of autobraking technology.

natural selection.

[rwsaunders]

Parked on Queens Gate Road in Kensington...London. The question for me is...for whom?

[winmonster]

///Marketing is out of control at BMW.

[Too Tall]

///Marketing is out of control at BMW.

Yeah but I get to see nearly every make and model because my neighbors POS is in the shop every other week.
That's marketing right?

[winmonster]

LOL, luckily no major issues with mine!

[guido]

Adventure vehicle phase 1

[Too Tall]

Taco time. This is going to be good.

[lumpy]

That'll get you where the good pictures are.

[guido]

That'll get you where the good pictures are.

That is the plan!

[jerk]

Adventure vehicle phase 1

Guido-
whatcha got planned for stage two?

i just got rid of our BMW 328i coupe and got a 2017 Tacoma SRT Sport 2wd. Ours has four doors which isn't what I really wanted but it's actually fine. I would have also preferred an SRT Offroad instead of the SRT Sport but I didn't plan when I walked into the stealership on buying anything other than a base model 2wd Taco with the six cylinder- and they had this thing for sale really cheap. i didn't even know there were two types of SRT 2wds. i would have liked the differential lock that the offroad has- but i'm eventually going to upgrade the suspension anyway- so it didn't really matter whether i got the better offroad shocks or the better sport shocks.

i really just want my truck to look like a 2wd pre-runner trophy truck thing and actually be able to go drive around in the deset and do some overland camping.

tell us what the specs are on your truck and what you've got planned for it!