How's the Adaptive Cruise Control so far on the 4th gen working for owners that use it? I thought I heard you can tow and use it by design? Anyone use it while towing? Our Mazda CX-5 has it and it works great for long trips. I know some people hate it, but I have it as a "must have" for myself as I have a damaged eye and it'll help relieve eye strain on the long trips.
Adaptive Cruise Control, owner feedback...
- Thread starter Fasttimes
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So far, both my 18 wxpy and 20 nav acc worked better than my wife's previous cx5 and current cx9. The mazdas wait to long to throw on brakes for my liking even with the distance set to a whole car length. Also, the fords are smoother at acceleration and deceleration. NO experience with towing.
GixxerJasen
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I have previously only had it on rental cars but I absolutely love it. Here in Dallas we joke that you have to get on the highway to go to McDonalds so I use it quite a bit even around town and on some of the back roads here and to me it's about near perfect. I've been quite impressed with it's ability to brake as I've tested it from time to time with my foot hovering nervously over the brake pedal.
Only two strange issues I've seen. First is the following distance as per set driving speed. At Texas highway speeds of around 75mph the closest distance is about perfect, right where I'd normally drive. Keeps folks from cutting in on you. At back country road speeds of 60mph I have to extend the distance setting as it'll be riding the rear of the car in front way too close for my liking.
Second, in eco mode it takes way too long to return to cruising speed after someone in front slows down and then speeds up, often there'll be someone impatient to my right who will take advantage of the new gap so often I have to intervene to get back up to speed or take it out of eco.
I'd been looking at a second gen Sequoia and one of the few complaints about that one was the adaptive cruise control, so I've been happy in that regard with my Expedition purchase.
Only two strange issues I've seen. First is the following distance as per set driving speed. At Texas highway speeds of around 75mph the closest distance is about perfect, right where I'd normally drive. Keeps folks from cutting in on you. At back country road speeds of 60mph I have to extend the distance setting as it'll be riding the rear of the car in front way too close for my liking.
Second, in eco mode it takes way too long to return to cruising speed after someone in front slows down and then speeds up, often there'll be someone impatient to my right who will take advantage of the new gap so often I have to intervene to get back up to speed or take it out of eco.
I'd been looking at a second gen Sequoia and one of the few complaints about that one was the adaptive cruise control, so I've been happy in that regard with my Expedition purchase.
BSarchet
Full Access Members
2022 model here. I love ours. We did a 2000 mile road trip this fall and used it extensively on many interstates. I do agree with the comment above that at the furthest distance setting it overreacted a bit to cars constantly getting in the space.
I haven’t towed using it yet.
I haven’t towed using it yet.
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mdecillis
Full Access Members
I totally agree with this 100%...drives me crazy. It will slam on the brakes so I tend to always leave the gap set at the shortest distance. It was the same on my 2019 Expedition as well.
I do love the auto-steering, it works great and just wish it would not yell at me as much though lol
2020FordRaptor
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We really like it, but it took a long time to get used too. Definitely a large learning curve.
wakeboarder
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I have used it towing a 6000 lbs boat on a 1600 mile round trip. It worked very well. I would get comfortable with the ACC system before you use it towing.
I'll throw in another data point. The ACC has definitely gotten better over the years. My 2017 F150 Platinum has it and I rarely use it because it's a little too slow to respond and waits to brake a bit too long for my liking. Recently, I rented a 2021 Expy XLT for a 1400 mile round trip and found the ACC much more responsive and "natural", if that makes any sense. I used it a lot during that trip and was very pleased with it.
Gumby
Full Access Members
2018 here and love it. I also use it in stop and go traffic and literally never touch the gas or brakes. Love the full brake holding action and when traffic starts to move, just press the button and away you go. One thing I find is the rear brakes get chewed up quite fast. Even faster than the fronts. Not sure if this is a dynamic cruise issue or a 4th gen issue. *shrug*
techdude99
Full Access Members
I hate the ACC on my '19 on anything but level roads. Ford specifically states not to use it while towing.
I tried all the settings while towing my Camaro ZLE and found it was too aggressive. The hard braking when a car merges or when driving down a hill is jarring.
On a long, flat freeway it's fine.
I wish there was an acceleration and deceleration responsiveness setting but that's not in the cards.
Let the region you travel be your guide.
I tried all the settings while towing my Camaro ZLE and found it was too aggressive. The hard braking when a car merges or when driving down a hill is jarring.
On a long, flat freeway it's fine.
I wish there was an acceleration and deceleration responsiveness setting but that's not in the cards.
Let the region you travel be your guide.
wakeboarder
Full Access Members
I couldn’t find a statement in the manual that forbids all towing with ACC. The only statement about towing that I could find is below.
ExpyNole
Well-Known Member
I would never use cruise control when towing, to begin with!
Fasttimes
Full Access Members
Why's that? I use cc all the time when towing my 30' travel trailer in flat Florida. Anyplace that is hilly I don't.
Huntsw1
Well-Known Member
The ACC is great on our '22. The lane centering assist is completely useless unless you have a death grip on the wheel. The Hyundai/kia highway driving assist can drive 2 minutes without steering wheel feedback
ExpyNole
Well-Known Member
I live here in FL. I can't find any roads to even use cruise control on anymore with all this traffic!
adaptive cruise doesn't take into account the trailer behind the vehicle. It can't possibly know anything about the trailer and respond appropriately in traffic.
shane_th_ee
Full Access Members
(2018 owner). I love ACC, particularly in traffic jams. It’s so nice to just let the truck figure out how/when to speed up. I also use it a lot when towing our 6000lb travel trailer on road trips. It will tend to want to accelerate more quickly than I like when towing and doesn’t anticipate but reacts. All said, I’ve been really happy with it and consider it money well spent.
i have a '21 Limited that is use to tow my 23' Lance travel trailer. I use the Adaptive cruise every chance I can get. We have towed the Lance over 16,000 miles with the Expo and when possible the cruise is on. Works much better than I could do especially in the mountains of CO where we live. It's by far my go to option on the entire vehicle.
'22 Timberline owner - this is the first car I've ever had it on and hate it, but I've only been using it since August. Seems too aggressive with the brakes. Feels like it's applying the brakes without reducing the throttle. At the point where I would normally start to let off on the gas and coast to close the distance before applying the brakes, it wants to get closer and then brake harder. I may need to play with it more once the snow goes.
GT350driver
Well-Known Member
Someone mentioned in a thread above that it "Keeps folks from cutting in on you." How do you activate that feature???????
I merged into the far right lane planning to exit in less than 2 miles. I had just pulled into the lane after passing a tri axle dump truck with plenty of clearance. I was all squared away in the exit lane when one of those last second lane changers cut in very close in front of me, and my 2020 MAX ACC applied the brakes aggressively ... to my surprise and the dump truck as well... which was bearing down on both of us so quickly that I swerved left back into the center lane. I have since disabled the feature and will continue to use standard cruise control when it makes sense, on the open roads. Crowded highways around the city demand a driver's undivided, full attention and control of the vehicle all the time. Don't let sensors, camera's and lane keeping provide a false sense of security.
I merged into the far right lane planning to exit in less than 2 miles. I had just pulled into the lane after passing a tri axle dump truck with plenty of clearance. I was all squared away in the exit lane when one of those last second lane changers cut in very close in front of me, and my 2020 MAX ACC applied the brakes aggressively ... to my surprise and the dump truck as well... which was bearing down on both of us so quickly that I swerved left back into the center lane. I have since disabled the feature and will continue to use standard cruise control when it makes sense, on the open roads. Crowded highways around the city demand a driver's undivided, full attention and control of the vehicle all the time. Don't let sensors, camera's and lane keeping provide a false sense of security.
Matthew Marlowe
Well-Known Member
I like the Ford approach of focusing on augmenting and making life easier for drivers, but not pretending that we are at the full self driving stage yet. Keep driver engaged at all times but have him do as little work as possible.
I used adaptive cruise control on 2,000 mile trip this summer and really only had issues with long steep curves or wherever things were extremely windy.. it needs be intelligent enough to know that some areas you should reduce speed and others, like where flat and straight should increase. I found myself constantly adjusting the set speed. But, once set, it worked perfectly.
I used adaptive cruise control on 2,000 mile trip this summer and really only had issues with long steep curves or wherever things were extremely windy.. it needs be intelligent enough to know that some areas you should reduce speed and others, like where flat and straight should increase. I found myself constantly adjusting the set speed. But, once set, it worked perfectly.
