I think one of the features that lexus now has is addaptive cruise control, that will slow down for you if you get too close to the car in front of you. Sounds pretty cool. I agree that it is still easier to pass them when able.

 

The new Ifiniti G35 has the same feature. I would love to see that feature in action. I'm sure toyota will add that feature at some point.

 

If every car on the road had the adaptive cruise control, would traffic eventually come to a halt?

 

Is it actually moving? Not where I live, seems people don't even take vacations anymore, same bumper to bumper even now, prime vacation time.

 

I have wondered the same thing. It seems to me that a smarter system would also communicate with fellow cars around it so that they can act in concert (to all run into the brick wall together).

 

Yeah, maybe via bluetooth. The TCH is my car & I use the bluetooth feature when I drive. A couple of days ago my wife drove the TCH & I followed behind in her car. I called her cell and the TCH picked up my cell's signal even though I was a couple of cars back. The call went to the TCH speaker phone feature. I had to put 1000 - 1500 feet distance between the cars for the TCH to drop the bluetooth connection to my phone!

So, I think current communication technology would work if new software were developed and standardized allowing all car makes to talk to other cars. Maybe this will be standard fare in 10-15 years.

 

I have this on my Sienna Limited, and wish I had it on my TCH!

The laser guided cruise control is awesome: when I speed up, it makes the car in front of me speed up, and when I slow down, it makes the car in front of me slow down! And don't try to tell me I have it backwards! I've already heard that nonsense. If the car in front of me slowed down when I speed up I would run into him!!!!

More seriously, the adaptive CC works mostly great: it tracks the cars well, even around curves with different speed cars in adjacent lanes. It brakes when needed, and sounds a warning tone when any more than light braking is needed. It allows faster moving cars to cut tightly in front of you without it braking, while it brakes just right if a not so fast moving car pulls in front. I don't recommend using it in more than light steady traffic, but it is fun to see it work, and work well. It allows you to set the following distance in time (I think the three settings are 2, 2.5, and 3 seconds). When in adaptive mode, it sets just as normal (will set at 72 MPH if that is your speed when setting), but unlike normal mode where clicks up or down will change the set speed in 1 MPH increments, the adaptive mode increments to the nearest 5 MPH increment up or down (from 72, it will click up to 75, then 80, ..., and down to 70, then 65, etc.). The set speed is the fastest it will let you go should the car in front go faster.

On the down side, it does not work when driving into the sun (the sun needs to be about 20 degrees above the horizon, or 30 or more degrees to the side), it does not work in the rain, anything more than a drizzle, and the lens (bottom of front bumper, passenger side, next to fog lamp) needs to be cleaned well an often.

Pushing the control forward (same stick used to cancel when pulled back toward you, or to increment or decrement the set speed when clicked up or down, or to resume/accelerate or set/slow when held up or down) for a few seconds will toggle between adaptive and normal CC. A smaller button above the control cycles between the three following distances (times), always starting out on the longest setting. The dash indicates when a car in front is being tracked (well before you get close enough for it to modulate the set speed), which tracking distance you have set (one, two, or three bars), and what your set speed is.

Biggest downside is the tendency to not notice the car in front of you is going slower than you want to go, and not realize it is time to pass them, especially if they started out going the speed you wanted, and then just slowly slowed down!

-- Alan

 

Wow, that 1000 feet number is startling. My recollection is that bluetooth is intended for only personal space, say 10 to 20 feet. I doubt that the existing bluetooth standard could be expected to work reliably under all circumstances at the distances needed (a few hundred feet) for what has been suggested here. But your results make me pause and wonder.

 

Whew!!! We went from top speed on our TCH's to cruising with R2D2!

 

I got that DLCC also on my 2006 Sienna Limited and would have been nice to have it on my 2007 TCH, it is very nice to have it especially on long trips...