Using Cruise Control

[Sue H]

Hi guys,
I've never used cruise control in any vehicle before but decided to try it out on my ZS EV last week. I was driving along an A road with a 50 mph speed limit which was a bit bendy at times but nothing that bendy to necessitate not driving at the speed limit. While driving along this road every time I came to a bendy bit the car automatically slowed down, at one point reducing the speed to 40 mph. It certainly was not a comfortable drive. I've looked in the handbook and can't find anything related to this. Has anyone else encountered this and does this mean that the cruise control is really only best used on motorways?

Looking forward to hearing what others think about this. Thank you.

Sue

 

[Edoc16]

Hi guys,
I've never used cruise control in any vehicle before but decided to try it out on my ZS EV last week. I was driving along an A road with a 50 mph speed limit which was a bit bendy at times but nothing that bendy to necessitate not driving at the speed limit. While driving along this road every time I came to a bendy bit the car automatically slowed down, at one point reducing the speed to 40 mph. It certainly was not a comfortable drive. I've looked in the handbook and can't find anything related to this. Has anyone else encountered this and does this mean that the cruise control is really only best used on motorways?

Looking forward to hearing what others think about this. Thank you.

Sue

The camera cant see round corners therefore it senses possible danger and slows down until it hits a straight part of the road. Suggest on country type roads you don't use cruise

 

[AndEV]

Is there a way of setting cruise control not using the radar aspect ie it will simply maintain a set speed until the driver applies an input?

 

[Sue H]

The camera cant see round corners therefore it senses possible danger and slows down until it hits a straight part of the road. Suggest on country type roads you don't use cruise

Thank you, that sounds reasonable. My friend, who was in the car with me at the time drives a Volvo and assures me that this does not happen with his car, so thought I would ask. I'll stick to using it on the motorway.

 

[Gomev]

Thank you, that sounds reasonable. My friend, who was in the car with me at the time drives a Volvo and assures me that this does not happen with his car, so thought I would ask. I'll stick to using it on the motorway.

Does the Volvo have Adaptive Cruise Control like the MG or just plain vanilla cruise control. That would explain the difference.

 

[AndEV]

Does the Volvo have Adaptive Cruise Control like the MG or just plain vanilla cruise control. That would explain the difference.

My Volvo has both options

 

[Les burrows]

Hi, am I not sure but I would like to know is this because the ZS has ACC fitted I hope not, surely there must be some way to over ride this idea, I drive an MG5 SR which has Cruise control and when I set it to 50 mph it stays at 50 until I change it or I touch the brake pedal which then cancels it, if this is the way ACC works then it not for me thank you As I said surely there must be a way to change that.
Les

 

[Gomev]

My Volvo has both options

I'll rephrase the question - Was @Sue H friend's Volvo using ACC or CC ?

 

[Gomev]

Hi, am I not sure but I would like to know is this because the ZS has ACC fitted I hope not, surely there must be some way to over ride this idea, I drive an MG5 SR which has Cruise control and when I set it to 50 mph it stays at 50 until I change it or I touch the brake pedal which then cancels it, if this is the way ACC works then it not for me thank you As I said surely there must be a way to change that.
Les

Horses for courses, I find ACC wonderful, but have never tried it on a winding bendy road.
It will measure the distance in front of the car to anything in it's way and if the bank of the opposite side of the road gets too close it will confuse it with a catching up to car in front and therefore slow down.

 

[Mogshock]

I found that if you are a sharp(ish) bend on a dual carriageway or motorway that if it is passing a car on your left if slows down because it appears straight ahead to the radar on line of sight. But apart from this I love ACC. Even better is full MG Pilot where it also ensures you stay in lane. Amazing!

 

[Kithmo]

The Prius was the opposite, it used to speed up when it lost sight of the leading car, a lot more unnerving than slowing down.

 

[sido]

I have a 2021 MG 5 SR Excite and the cruise control is perfect to relieve your right leg from the hours of motorway continuous accelerator use. I have had cars in the past with Adaptive Cruise Control and found the control part very difficult to predict and therefore have not used it much. The CC on my car is more than adequate for my needs. Sometimes I wonder if car manufacturers try to tempt you with more gadgets than you really need in order to make more profit from what would have been a good car anyway without all the frills.
From a grandparents point of view I would use neither with my grandchildren in the car as I am totally focussed on their safety. When my driving may well have past it’s very best I deem it is still better than relying on gadgets used to justify the extra cost of buying my car in the first place and then behaving differently to how the driver expects them to. The way I see it, I have driven about forty years before this technology was even thought of, accident free and lower purchase costs. Whilst I appreciate the safety aspects, in my experience trusting your own judgement whilst driving carefully cannot be superseded by gadgets which try to drive for you. Only my view not intended to be a sermon from the mount.

 

[Sue H]

Thank you all for your advice, information and input. I will ask my friend about his Volvo. He's actually my mentor as I'm taking my Masters in advanced driving and you're expected to how everything in the car works.

Personally I'm with Sido on the gadget front. I went to an IAM meeting recently which covered the changes in the Highway Code but they also went on to say that using the touchscreen increased the distraction to drivers by 50%. I suppose the manufacturers expect drivers to access the touchscreen while they are stationery but human nature being what it is I'm sure that doesn't always happen.

Happy driving.

 

[ARealHuman]

My gen1 ZS does this, I thought it was related to the steering - the car will slow on minor bends with ACC on, it seems to me to be initiated by the amount you steer. Whatever causes it, it's a PITA!

 

[lukemo]

Is there a way of setting cruise control not using the radar aspect ie it will simply maintain a set speed until the driver applies an input?

I was wondering the same. It'd be very useful sometimes just to have normal cruise control.

 

[Gadget Geek]

I have a 2021 MG 5 SR Excite and the cruise control is perfect to relieve your right leg from the hours of motorway continuous accelerator use. I have had cars in the past with Adaptive Cruise Control and found the control part very difficult to predict and therefore have not used it much. The CC on my car is more than adequate for my needs. Sometimes I wonder if car manufacturers try to tempt you with more gadgets than you really need in order to make more profit from what would have been a good car anyway without all the frills.
From a grandparents point of view I would use neither with my grandchildren in the car as I am totally focussed on their safety. When my driving may well have past it’s very best I deem it is still better than relying on gadgets used to justify the extra cost of buying my car in the first place and then behaving differently to how the driver expects them to. The way I see it, I have driven about forty years before this technology was even thought of, accident free and lower purchase costs. Whilst I appreciate the safety aspects, in my experience trusting your own judgement whilst driving carefully cannot be superseded by gadgets which try to drive for you. Only my view not intended to be a sermon from the mount.

I will relate what happened to me a couple of years ago when driving my first EV, the Ioniq 28kWh.

It was night time on an unlit back lane near where I live, when the car braked unexpectedly. I thought it was phantom braking until I saw a cyclist in black clothing on a black bike with no lights. The safety features certainly avoided a trip to the hospital for the cyclist, and a trip to the repair shop for me.

 

[BarryH]

My gen1 ZS does this, I thought it was related to the steering - the car will slow on minor bends with ACC on, it seems to me to be initiated by the amount you steer. Whatever causes it, it's a PITA!

Yes, it is related to the steering certainly on the ZS. With ACC "On", the ZS will ease the power off as you turn into a bend. If you've had bog-standard Cruise Control which has a set speed and you turn into a bend it can feel rather "Out of Control" as it tries to maintain the speed come what may. The MG Automatic Cruise Control (ACC) isn't as intelligent as more premium cars and is IMHO more cautious than it needs to be and I find the slow down a little too much and slow to respond to the straightening of the steering as you leave the corner. So the way I use it is to override it with a little right foot on the Go peddle to power out of the corner.

Now I know that the ACC and MG Pilot isn't intended for country roads but I do use both because the MG Pilot is much smoother with its steering assistance than the various lane Keeping Assist systems which have the effect of kicking you with a jolt away from white lines when you least expect. MG Pilot makes winding country roads far less effort to drive. What I do is tap the ACC button on the end of the stalk when I reach somewhere between 20 and 30 mph and then pull the ACC stalk back towards me to engage MG Pilot. Now clearly I don't want to drive at that speed and the MG Pilot isn't intended to navigate country roads so from here on I drive as normal with both hands lightly on the steering wheel and right foot on the accelerator increasing my speed as I want just one peddle driving with the car doing the heavy lifting around the bends. It works really well.

 

[BarryH]

Is there a way of setting cruise control not using the radar aspect ie it will simply maintain a set speed until the driver applies an input?

No, but I'm not sure why you would want to do that since the radar is there so you don't have to keep adjusting it or applying breaks when you catch up with a slower-moving vehicle in your lane on a dual carriageway or motorway. The AUTOMATED Cruise Control (ACC) is designed to Automatically make that safety speed adjustment to prevent the accidents which can so easily occur on long straight roads when the driver has CC engaged and they fail to notice they are approaching a slower vehicle or the vehicle in front slows unexpectedly. The Radar in the ACC will at first slow your vehicle and then through the associated Colision Prevention System will perform an emergency stop if needs be.

In answer to your second point with ACC turned "on" you can always apply the brakes which will disengage the ACC as with the old school CC.

Mike Proctor who used to provide a lot of comments on the ZS ACC and MG Pilot on the forum also posted several YouTube videos on how to get the best out of the MG ZSaids you check-out his channel. Unfortunately due to a change in his personal circumstances he needed a longer range EV and jumped the MG ship to Kia from where no doubt he posts on the Kia Soul EV's longer range.

 

[AndEV]

No, but I'm not sure why you would want to do that since the radar is there so you don't have to keep adjusting it or applying breaks when you catch up with a slower-moving vehicle in your lane on a dual carriageway or motorway. The AUTOMATED Cruise Control (ACC) is designed to Automatically make that safety speed adjustment to prevent the accidents which can so easily occur on long straight roads when the driver has CC engaged and they fail to notice they are approaching a slower vehicle or the vehicle in front slows unexpectedly. The Radar in the ACC will at first slow your vehicle and then through the associated Colision Prevention System will perform an emergency stop if needs be.

In answer to your second point with ACC turned "on" you can always apply the brakes which will disengage the ACC as with the old school CC.

Mike Proctor who used to provide a lot of comments on the ZS ACC and MG Pilot on the forum also posted several YouTube videos on how to get the best out of the MG ZSaids you check-out his channel. Unfortunately due to a change in his personal circumstances he needed a longer range EV and jumped the MG ship to Kia from where no doubt he posts on the Kia Soul EV's longer range.

I currently drive a Volvo S90 (awaiting my ZS EV delivery like the majority), and I have both ACC and conventional CC options. I tend to use the ACC on single lane carriageways, but much prefer to go with Standard CC on multiple lane carriageways, using the overtaking lanes appropriately to pass slower vehicles, and therefore maintaining a constant speed as much as possible. I find ACC on motorways quite frustrating as it almost imperceivably reduces my speed long before I’d consider changing lanes, resulting in me not actually catching the slower moving car!

 

[Gomev]

I currently drive a Volvo S90 (awaiting my ZS EV delivery like the majority), and I have both ACC and conventional CC options. I tend to use the ACC on single lane carriageways, but much prefer to go with Standard CC on multiple lane carriageways, using the overtaking lanes appropriately to pass slower vehicles, and therefore maintaining a constant speed as much as possible. I find ACC on motorways quite frustrating as it almost imperceivably reduces my speed long before I’d consider changing lanes, resulting in me not actually catching the slower moving car!

Either change lanes earlier or change the distance to car in front that it slows you via the stalk.
As the distance to vehicle in front before slowing varies according to speed, if on a motorway you are getting so close before changing lanes, perhaps the former may be the better option.