5LR Forward Collision System

[AnonymouseDriva]

Hi All.

Just looking for a bit of advice / experience on how this should work.

My system is set to 'Emergency braking'. It has never done this, and I'm not of a mind to drive at something to test it...

The manual seems to suggest that you have an alert mode, and an 'Emergency braking mode', and that if you are in the 'Emergency breaking' mode it'll just stop.

I see (mostly from ZS drivers - but probably because there is more of them out there with Pilot etc.) that there seems to be a perceived issue with this being a bit too eager on the braking, but I don't seem to be seeing this at all on my 5LR, although after years of being tight (I'm from Yorkshire) I do keep a reasonable distance to be able to react gently to the actions of the car in front to maximise the distance gained from expensive liquids...

I have had a couple of 'forward collision warnings' ping up on the dash though, twice when the person in front has braked particularly sharpish and I was closer that I would normally be, and once when passing a car that was turning right. for the first two, I braked harder than I would normally, but still not particularly hard) to slow / stop behind the car in front, and in the last I braked slightly then tapped the accelerator again to 'override' the warning.

My question though (as it's not particularly clear in the manual) is - should it just brake in 'emergency braking' mode or does it warn you first and then brake if you ignore it?
Thanks all.
-a

 

[Makia2020]

If you are doing enough speed and it detects an object ahead without you putting and pressure on the brake pedal it will both warn you and brake for you simultaneously. This has happened for me when a car pulled in front of me on the motorway last week. The braking was both effective and safe. I have it set to aeb and medium sensitivity for the warning.

 

[AnonymouseDriva]

medium sensitivity for the warning.

ahh… light bulb moment. So, the sensitivity setting is just for the WARNING, and not for the emergency braking?
That makes sense for two reasons. Firstly, it explains why I had a warning (that I reacted to) but no unexpected braking as others have reported.
Secondly, most people reporting ‘dangerous unexpected braking’ seem to also say that they have set it to low sensitivity. If that’s just the warning, then all they are doing is making the warning happen later, hence the braking is then more unexpected and dangerous.
(Let’s try and avoid the conversation over whether the system was overreacting or people just drive too close though.)

 

[Makia2020]

Ref warning correct.

 

[Petriix]

The issue is more when there are parked cars or pedestrians and bends in the road. You can quite reasonably be driving straight towards an object at speed, with the knowledge that you will be turning as required to follow the road. However the algorithm in the software for detecting a collision cannot possibly know whether you'll turn or not. That's when you get 'phantom braking'. It's more likely to be a problem for the person behind you but it is still pretty scary when you're merging under acceleration and the car suddenly slams the brakes on.

 

[Kithmo]

The issue is more when there are parked cars or pedestrians and bends in the road. You can quite reasonably be driving straight towards an object at speed, with the knowledge that you will be turning as required to follow the road. However the algorithm in the software for detecting a collision cannot possibly know whether you'll turn or not. That's when you get 'phantom braking'. It's more likely to be a problem for the person behind you but it is still pretty scary when you're merging under acceleration and the car suddenly slams the brakes on.

I find that if you give a wider berth as you're passing parked cars on your side of the road, going towards other parked cars on the other side of the road, then you turn earlier to miss the other parked car, it avoids the braking (and most times the warning as well). A bit like slaloming along the road exaggerating your steering actions.