teh slab

Overall, I have mixed feelings about the adaptive cruise. The basic cruise control functionality is very nice, with lots of features like +/- 1 or +/- 5 cruising speed adjustment which is nicer than trying to cancel and reset the exact speed you want. I like it for setting exactly 9 or 4 miles over the limit, depending on the situation. The adaptive cruise can be hit or miss, however.

Some things can throw off your adaptive cruise and create a surprise automatic sudden breaking situation, with no threat in sight. Twisty roads with rail guards or walls/cliffs will trigger the breaks, as can a moderate amount of dirt on the IR sensor. A side note: if you hear a beep and the console lights up "cruise" and then shuts off cruise control, your IR sensor is too dirty to function. Note that you can still use basic cruise in these circumstances by holding down your cruise on button for a few seconds (from the off state).

Adaptive cruise will take its toll on your fuel economy and I have measured this empirically. It fairly aggressively resumes speed (not a bad thing), but it also breaks rather aggressively to distance you from other cars rather than trying to coast down early and then breaking when necessary. This combination makes it behave like a spastic teenager or my previous girlfriend behind the wheel. If you're a good driver, you'll likely lose 1-5 mpg while using adaptive cruise.

Recommended usage is at highway speeds, following a car that is approximately moving at the speed you want, or on open road. In these situations it is very luxurious to not have to monitor the gas or breaks and give your legs a change of position.

I don't recommend using adaptive cruise in any bad conditions, at any speed below 45 mph, in sport driving situations, or in frequent passing or being passed situations. Sudden breaking can be very dangerous in wet or icy conditions and some slush landing on your IR can trigger this very abruptly. In the twisties, you should be actively driving and having fun instead of cruising so avoid that rail guard auto-break. When you pass other cars and catch up to another passing car in the passing lane, it will frustrate you and especially any other passers behind you if your breaks kick on. Any car passing you that doesn't give a respectable distance before returning to the lane in front of you will also trigger the breaks, which can add annoyance to a borderline cutoff that you would otherwise forgive.

Some have commented that the follow ranges are too far, but I disagree. The closest follow range is about as close as any reasonable driver should follow any other vehicle at 65-85mph. Adaptive cruise will never replace a good driver so use it for appropriate situations and to reduce fatigue on those grueling hauls.

Good luck and enjoy your adaptive cruise. I hope this helped some decide on getting the Tech Pack or not, though any extra safety feature (that comes with the tech pack) is in my opinion invaluable.

iko

I hated this feature on my M and am glad my G doesn't have it.

G37RacerX

I've experienced the rapid deceleration a couple of times when it was not necessary and it was more than just annoying. It happened most recently at an intersection of two country roads, the speed limit was 55mph and there was a traffic light with separate left turn lanes. I had a green light and was about to sail through the intersection at 59mph when the car suddenly braked pretty hard, it seemed to be caused by a car that was stopped & waiting to turn left just ahead of me (but not in my lane of course).
I can also feel it switching between coasting and accelerating too much for my tastes when it is at the point where it detects a car ahead.
The following distances are okay IMO but I would like to have the farthest one just a bit farther.

PainProphet

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the detailed info on the Tech package. Not to offend people that have it, but I figured the issues of that package would be just like you stated, so I opted out of getting it. Glad I did now, I don't mind using regular, good ol' cruise control.

Callaway

Great review! I personally only use the IC feature when travelling on interstates with light to moderate traffic and no foul weather. It's a great feature if used with common sense.

Gyoza

Agreed. I've tried it on twisty roads with traffic lights and its not so good. But cruising on the interstate in light to medium traffic and its a dream.

I've even used it in rain and it works well. You can't have your wipers going though, but since I have RainX on my windsheild I didnt really need the wipers anyway.

Black Betty

iTrader: (60)

Great write up slab. I agree with a lot of it. It must be stated that you should use the ICC only in the right conditions for it in which cases I think it is fantastic and well worth the money spent for it. I made a 400 mile trip yesterday and used the ICC all the way. I had my cruise set at 77 mph and only reduced it or turned it off completely when going through 3 or 4 small towns along the way. I averaged 23.7 mph on the trip. I think the key to success with it is only using the ICC when it's appropriate. In situations of inclement weather, heavy or intermittent traffic, twisty roads, where the speed limit changes frequently, or mountainous conditions it shouldn't be used. I also think that it's important to not let it make you lazy as a driver and less attentive. Once you are familiar with the approximate following distance in each setting, it's up to the driver to control the car and not put it into a situation where the ICC goes into agressive braking mode; if you simply change lanes before running up behind another vehicle or brake slghtly it keeps the car from attempting panic braking. I have a 6MT and haven't had issue with it accelerating aggresively to regain speed after slowing down; if it slows itself from 77 to 50 to avoid a slow car in my lane, it doesn't accelerate too quickly form 50 back up to 77 when it's in 6th gear. I suppose that since a lot of the situations where I use it are on interstates in Texas that are mostly flat and straight, it helps to avoid some of the issues others may have with it but I think it's fantastic and a great value in the Tech package along with the AFS.

MaxToTheG37

iTrader: (3)

So if you have ACC... can you just do normal Cruise?

Callaway

Yup. Just hold down the on/off button and it will toggle between normal and ACC.

G37MA

why can't you use the wipers with this function. As you can see I did not order this option.

Callaway

I tried this just to see and my ICC works with the wipers on. I never use it when its actually raining though.

Black Betty

iTrader: (60)

Any cruise control is somewhat dangerous in rainy/icy/snowy conditions. I think the safety interlock to prevent ICC use while the wipers are working is to keep someone who's not paying attention to their driving and foolish enough to have the ICC set at 70 mph on an icy road from having an accident due to the car braking hard to keep them from rear ending someone ahead of them in their lane driving a safer speed. It could cause you to easily lose control of the car if it brakes hard and puts the car into a slide.

KAHBOOM

iTrader: (4)

My friend has the IC on his M35 and it worked well on a trip we went on one time. But there were some situations that made the car slow down when it probably wasn't the best situation to do it. As mentioned it doesn't replace good driving skill. I never use cruise controle even in it's basic orm so IC would have been no benefit to me.

jnifong

If I had it, I'd set it and jump in the back seat

Orbie

My car has the tech package but I didn't get it for the ICC, personally I've never used it and probably never will. Just too unnerving for me to leave all this up to the car. I got it for the adaptive headlights alone, which IMO is worth the price. My brother has them on his M as well and I think they are very useful.