Adaptive Cruise Control Default Distance

[GaryV99]

Hi all,

Sorry if covered elsewhere, I did do some searching, but couldn’t find it on the forums or in the manual.

Is there a way to change the default distance on the ACC to be the minimum? When driving on a motorway it seems to be too harsh. Someone pulls in front and then it goes down to 60mph to allow the distance.

 

[Whiskery]

Yes, the end of the cruise control stalk twists, where you can decrease or increase the distance.

 

[GaryV99]

Yes, the end of the cruise control stalk twists, where you can decrease or increase the distance.

Is that when you’re driving? Or can be set so it’s minimum when you start the car?

 

[Nutnut]

See page 188 (mk1) or page 209 (mk2) of the manual under "Adaptive Cruise Target Following Distance Adjustment" and see if it helps. If the manual is incorrect, please let us know.

 

[Whiskery]

Is that when you’re driving? Or can be set so it’s minimum when you start the car

As soon as I engage the ACC, I reduce the distance. When the car is powered down and then restarted, it doesn't remember it.

 

[Mogshock]

As soon as I engage the ACC, I reduce the distance. When the car is powered down and then restarted, it doesn't remember it.

I'm the same... the default feels like 50 miles from the car in front! You activate it and it's immediately slowing down to the annoyance of the dude behind me no doubt!

 

[sgt4hed]

There is no way to force the car to "remember" a closer follow distance for the ACC... This is somewhat considered a safety feature and the user makes the conscious decision to reduce that follow distance. at the end of the day the ACC is there to take the stress and hassle out of driving... so what if the car slows down a bit to make that safe gap, I would rather be safe and the time you would lose on a journey for that short deceleration is so small it isn't worth wasting the energy thinking abou tit.

 

[Whiskery]

I'm the same... the default feels like 50 miles from the car in front! You activate it and it's immediately slowing down to the annoyance of the dude behind me no doubt!

Plus the fact some d*ck will pull into the gap in front making me slow down even more!

 

[Striker]

Is it possible to have cruise control without the "active" part?

 

[sgt4hed]

Is it possible to have cruise control without the "active" part?

I don't think so.

 

[Gomev]

Is it possible to have cruise control without the "active" part?

No, but I'm not sure why you would want that. What benefit would that achieve ?

 

[hmadsen]

Plus the fact some d*ck will pull into the gap in front making me slow down even more!

I was going to say that as well.

Some tosser is bound to pull into that gap, making the car brake to keep the distance to the newly arrived car, and then when the distance is made, the next tosser does the same and so on.

This, and when some tosser decides to overtake and pull in front of you with minimal distance, the car also sort of panics because suddenly there is a car WAY to close for it's liking.

I wish people would just take those extra 5 seconds before pulling in front, as to not disturb the traffic they overtake.

 

[BarryH]

Is it possible to have cruise control without the "active" part?

This question has come up before and I struggle to see why you would want to make the ACC less safe? The ACC is using the Radar on the car to protect you and your occupants from slamming into the car in front of you should they 1, slow suddenly and unexpectedly and therefore applying your brakes or 2, adjust your cruise speed when you approach traffic ahead of you which is slower than your set speed so you don't have to suddenly brake which can be unpleasant for your passengers and putting you at risk of being rear-ended by the following vehicle and less attentive driver.

If however, you are experiencing on the motorway vehicles pulling into the gap between you and the vehicle you are following and thereby causing your ACC to brake or slow you too often, then perhaps you could consider if for the road conditions a closer following distance would be more appropriate without compromising safety.

Alternatively, if you would still like to keep a greater following distance consider what I sometimes do and that is to drive with ACC Engaged to benefit from the safety features and restfulness of Adaptive Cruise, but when these circumstances arise where cars are darting between lanes, I have my right foot rested near enough to the GO pedal to lightly press it and this momentarily overrides the ACC "Slowing" without disengaging either the ACC or Collision Protection Systems.

 

[hmadsen]

I would much rather have a "MG Pilot auto-engage at every startup" option, than the option to turn off ACC.

I find it silly that i have to manually engage pedestrian safety, ACC, and so on every time i turn on the car.

 

[sgt4hed]

I would much rather have a "MG Pilot auto-engage at every startup" option, than the option to turn off ACC.

I find it silly that i have to manually engage pedestrian safety, ACC, and so on every time i turn on the car.

As far as I am aware, pedestrian safety is always on, its part of the AEB system. You turn these all on in the infotainment menu but only once, they remember those settings... MG Pilot is just for ACC and lane keep (at low speed and beyond) in essence...

 

[Harry]

No, but I'm not sure why you would want that. What benefit would that achieve ?

So that you do not slow down unnecessarily and can move into another lane if required. Allows for reducing distance behind vehicle in front before doing so.

 

[sgt4hed]

So that you do not slow down unnecessarily and can move into another lane if required. Allows for reducing distance behind vehicle in front before doing so.

You can move into a new lane if you want... as soon as you activate the indicator it stops slowing down until it becomes unsafe to do so, will also start to speed you up before you have completed the manoeuvre. The system is what it is, it is designed to always have a minimum distance (call it a safety buffer in the event of the car in front braking suddenly) to the car infront, having experienced the effect itself it isn't the biggest inconvenience... my main gripe is the incessant pinballing that I get in lane when using MG Pilot on the motorway lol

 

[Harry]

You can move into a new lane if you want... as soon as you activate the indicator it stops slowing down until it becomes unsafe to do so, will also start to speed you up before you have completed the manoeuvre. The system is what it is, it is designed to always have a minimum distance (call it a safety buffer in the event of the car in front braking suddenly) to the car infront, having experienced the effect itself it isn't the biggest inconvenience... my main gripe is the incessant pinballing that I get in lane when using MG Pilot on the motorway lol

That's interesting - thanks. I'm used to cruise control but not active cruise control, so was worrying a little about this in the event my MG ever arrives... Now I'll switch my worry to MG Pilot... (not to mention sudden unnecessary emergency braking!)

 

[BarryH]

As far as I am aware, pedestrian safety is always on, its part of the AEB system. You turn these all on in the infotainment menu but only once, they remember those settings... MG Pilot is just for ACC and lane keep (at low speed and beyond) in essence...

Agreed. That's how the safety systems work. If you had to manually engage pedestrian safety every time the car wouldn't have won its 5 Start NCAP rating. There are two classes of systems which I read in the forum that people conflate and get confused by. There are "Safty" systems and there are "Driver Assist" systems. Detecting a pedestrian stepping off a curb or a bicycle turning into the path of a vehicle is a proactive safety system and depending on the situation the car may beep a warning or take avoiding action and respond with a faster reaction time. Cruise Control is a Driver Assist and Adaptive Cruise is a level of sophistication which makes Curis Control Safer and more progressive Regarding Emergency braking, I know I would rather have the car activate and emergency braking event a few milliseconds earlier than I would have and avoided a front end collision than brake too late and still come to an abrupt halt without activating brakes and brake lights to warn the following vehicle. At least if you brake your brake lights warn the following motorist!

I found the various Lane Assist modes and MG Pilot confusing at first and probably because they were poorly explained on the test drive and then on vehicle handover. It was probably 6 months before I got the hang of them and could use them effectively and I have always used Cruise Control on previous cars a lot! I know some people never touch Cruise control on any car they have owned and so these features activating unexpectedly can be unnerving. My wife has always felt that Cruise and Speed Limiter made her feel out of control. And to be honest, the default Lane Assist on the ZS I found unnecessarily aggressive and my wife put it well when she said it's like hitting black ice. I turned it off in the Infotainment setting as soon as I found out how to do it. But until I had realised this is what it was I thought Lane Assist with Adaptive Cruise was giving me MG Pilot! How wrong I was. MG Pilot is worlds apart from Lane Assist and provides a very progressive guidance which can be engaged from low speed as Traffic Queue Assist and doesn't sharply grab the steering away from you bouncing you from curb to centreline as Lane assist will.
MG Pilot is best thought of as a high-level Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) since ACC must first be engaged with one pull towards you of the ACC stalk which sets your current speed as your Cruise Speed. This speed can be increased and decreased by the momentary movement of the ACC Stalk up or down so that ACC will look after the speed for you and then a second pull of the ACC stalk towards you will activate the Steering Assist. When Speed and braking and Steering control are activated the binnacle display (depending on the MG Model) will show MG Pilot is engaged and Active. The driver should continue to hold the steering wheel lightly but the heavy lifting of driving the car safely is being handled by the car making for far less tiring driving. if your touch is too light then the car will remind you to hold the wheel (give it a little wiggle). Because touching the brake as with any Cruis Control disengages it, with MG Pilot in operation first the ACC is released and immediately the steering control is handed back to the driver so you are never Out of Control.

 

[Gomev]

That's interesting - thanks. I'm used to cruise control but not active cruise control, so was worrying a little about this in the event my MG ever arrives... Now I'll switch my worry to MG Pilot... (not to mention sudden unnecessary emergency braking!)

and remember there is a difference between just using ACC and using MG Pilot. Personally I don't use Pilot, just ACC, I prefer to do the steering myself.