Cruise Control and Lane Changes

[ChristopherWatson]

First issue/question - So I just drove round trip from Atlanta to Savannah (2022, XLT, MAX), about 350 miles each way - 20-21 MPG. I had cruise control on most of the time. If I approached a car in front of me, going slower than my cruise control setting, my speed would drop to match the car in front until they moved over a lane, and then my speed would pick up to the setting. I never had to reduce speed, the car seemed to do it by itself. Is this normal? I'm not complaining, but I've never experienced this kind of performance from cruise control before.

Second issue/question - While driving under cruise control, the lane warning would "shake" the steering wheel just like normal if I strayed in my lane a little bit. BUT, the steering wheel seemed to want to turn to stay in lane. But the car wouldn't actually adjust. I felt pressure against my hands that the car want to move the steering wheel, (I kept getting a 'warning to keep my hands on the steering wheel' - they were) but I resisted and felt resistance, as if the car wanted to slightly change. I even had to slightly forcibly move the steering wheel against pressure from the car. Is this performance normal? This is my 3rd (2017, 2020) Expedition (I love the cars) and have never experienced this if cruise control was activated with either of my previous Expeditions.

 

[nationalgallery]

1st: adaptive cruise control
2nd: lane-keeping assist

 

[m3olsen]

1st: adaptive cruise control
2nd: lane-keeping assist

@ChristopherWatson if you're not familiar, it's worth reading up in the manual. There are a number of settings you can adjust to tailor how you want them to work to your liking. Lane keeping assist has separate settings for when cruise is enabled vs disabled as well. You also have a defeat button on your steering wheel.

 

[Mr Big]

First issue/question - So I just drove round trip from Atlanta to Savannah (2022, XLT, MAX), about 350 miles each way - 20-21 MPG. I had cruise control on most of the time. If I approached a car in front of me, going slower than my cruise control setting, my speed would drop to match the car in front until they moved over a lane, and then my speed would pick up to the setting. I never had to reduce speed, the car seemed to do it by itself. Is this normal? I'm not complaining, but I've never experienced this kind of performance from cruise control before.

Second issue/question - While driving under cruise control, the lane warning would "shake" the steering wheel just like normal if I strayed in my lane a little bit. BUT, the steering wheel seemed to want to turn to stay in lane. But the car wouldn't actually adjust. I felt pressure against my hands that the car want to move the steering wheel, (I kept getting a 'warning to keep my hands on the steering wheel' - they were) but I resisted and felt resistance, as if the car wanted to slightly change. I even had to slightly forcibly move the steering wheel against pressure from the car. Is this performance normal? This is my 3rd (2017, 2020) Expedition (I love the cars) and have never experienced this if cruise control was activated with either of my previous Expeditions.

So what you have is adaptive cruise control:
With Adaptive Cruise Control, you can adjust the distance to keep from the vehicle in front. I like the furthest setting as I don't like to be too close to the vehicle in front of me. It is a great feature, especially on highways where the person in front keeps slowing down and speeding up.

You have lane assist: The lane assist is set to vibrate the steering wheel to alert you, you are drifting. When changing lanes, if you turn on the turn signal before changing lanes, it defeats the vibration and allows you to change lanes without fighting you.

 

[JohnSC]

But it is nice to adjust that distance lower when you get into metro areas where everyone suddenly wants to cut you off if you are leaving too much space there.

 

[Samantha1]

On my 2023 XLT, 202A, Special Edition pkg., with lane assist on, the steering wheel doesn't vibrate, but it will steer the vehicle to keep it in the lane if I don't resist it. It will also follow curves if I don't resist it - I do have to keep my hands on the wheel to avoid a warning. Also, on the cruise control, if the vehicle reads speed limit signs it can be set to a certain speed based on the speed limit sign. On the highway I have my cruise set to 8 mph over the speed limit, so if the signs go from 70 to 60, the cruise control will drop it from 78 to 68 mph.
Samantha

 

[nationalgallery]

it will steer the vehicle to keep it in the lane if I don't resist it. It will also follow curves if I don't resist it - I do have to keep my hands on the wheel to avoid a warning.

That's BlueCruise, not lane keeping. Only the Platinum has hands-free mode for BlueCruise, so you have to keep a small resistance pressure on the wheel periodically to keep it from dropping out of BlueCruise.

 

[Samantha1]

That's BlueCruise, not lane keeping. Only the Platinum has hands-free mode for BlueCruise, so you have to keep a small resistance pressure on the wheel periodically to keep it from dropping out of BlueCruise.

Thank you, I did not know it was BlueCruise!
Samantha

 

[nationalgallery]

Thank you, I did not know it was BlueCruise!
Samantha

When BlueCruise is engaged you'll see an icon like this (not black and white) on the dash.

 

[AJ82]

Thank you, I did not know it was BlueCruise!
Samantha

You do not have BlueCruise on an XLT. That is lane centering assist. It will keep the vehicle in the center of the lane as long as it has resistance (your hands) on the wheel. There is also lane keep assist that you have where it nudges you away from the lines on the road if you get too close. BlueCruise is a hands off the wheel system that has eye tracking to make sure you are paying attention. It is only on the top model at this time.