Hi there,

We are currently looking to purchase a newish focus.  I do a fair amount of motorway driving, especially around the M25, M1 etc often in heavy stop start traffic. So the adaptive cruise control seems ideal for these situations.  

I've read that people seem to rate it, but I'm uncertain how reliable it really is and assume it not really worth having in a manual car? 

Any thoughts from people using it would be much appreciated 👍 

 

 

I wouldn’t be without it now. I love the feature. It helps I’ve got quite a torquey engine but none of them are completely gutless. 
 

 

39 minutes ago, mattpitts74 said:

Hi there,

We are currently looking to purchase a newish focus.  I do a fair amount of motorway driving, especially around the M25, M1 etc often in heavy stop start traffic. So the adaptive cruise control seems ideal for these situations.  

I've read that people seem to rate it, but I'm uncertain how reliable it really is and assume it not really worth having in a manual car? 

Any thoughts from people using it would be much appreciated 👍 

 

 

It's good but you have to be aware of cars around if someone cuts in front of you on a motorway you would ease of the gas and let the gap open back up - with adaptive cruise it will slam on the brakes and scare the hell out of the car behind!

on an empty motorway its brilliant - in busy traffic i tun it off.

11 minutes ago, Tiexen said:

It's good but you have to be aware of cars around if someone cuts in front of you on a motorway you would ease of the gas and let the gap open back up - with adaptive cruise it will slam on the brakes and scare the hell out of the car behind!

on an empty motorway its brilliant - in busy traffic i tun it off.

I wouldn’t say it’s quite that dramatic. But it’s certainly not worth using in busy traffic. You can manage space better yourself. 

I have noticed when the vehicle in front moves out of way, the acceleration back to the preset speed is too aggressive in normal but ok in eco mode.

i never use the intelligent setting as it can read misplaced speed signs and slam the brakes on.

overall i prefer having it.

Isn't the whole point of adaptive cruise to be used in traffic?  Otherwise you could just use normal cruise... 

However, it won't work in stop start traffic on a manual as it can't clutch in for a complete stop, unlike with the automatic where it can stop completely.

Having said that, Ford ruined the normal cruise for me on the later Mk4's (approx 2020 onwards) by removing the clutch cancel function.  So I'd say you are better off with the adaptive cruise on a late Mk4, even for a manual.

Or if you do a lot of start stop traffic, why not go for an auto with adaptive cruise instead?

Thanks for all the helpful comments, I'm still slightly unclear as to whether it works best in auto or manual gearboxes? So if I'm planning to get a manual. Is it worth holding for it over normal cruise control? 

8 minutes ago, mattpitts74 said:

Thanks for all the helpful comments, I'm still slightly unclear as to whether it works best in auto or manual gearboxes? So if I'm planning to get a manual. Is it worth holding for it over normal cruise control? 

It works better in an auto because it doesn’t require you to change gear. But I still like it on a manual. 
 

It’s so much less stressful if you come up to someone doing maybe 1 or 2 mph different to you. Or practically the same but not quite and adaptive will just follow them. 

It absolutely works best on an auto.  It can't press the clutch or change gear.  So will only work within the gear that you've selected on a manual and cannot come to a complete stop.

On the auto, you can set it to 70mph on the motorway and just leave it.  As the traffic ahead slows to a crawl, the adaptive cruise keeps the same gap between you and the car in front down through 60, 50, 40 etc.  And if the traffic comes to a complete stop, the car will come to a complete stop, and then move off again when the car ahead moves off.  It will then accelerate all the way back up to 70mph if the car ahead does.  You don't have to touch the pedals or the gear selector at all.

In the manual, for the same scenario, you would have to clutch in & change down each gear as the engine labours each time through 50, 40, 30, etc.  And you would have to clutch in to come to a complete stop.  Then move away in first using your own clutch control, and go back up through the gears until you're in top gear again.  So the main benefit of adaptive cruise on a manual is fast moving motorway where you can stay in one gear as the car ahead fluctuates up or down just between 50-70mph for example.  It's really up to you, and the type of driving you do, and the amount of time you spend in that type of traffic, as to whether it's worth holding out for or not on a manual.

if you don't like idiots cutting in front all the time (and your car easing off to re-establish the gap setting you have) wind the gap closer from the overly large default

on a BMW it defaults to 3.5 second gap - once used to it (and realise it does it better than you) always move closer to the car in front and if its dry, force it to the min 2 second rule gap

on a Merc you chose from 9 clicks for the gap and it always uses the one you chose (with closest a 2 second rule). BUT unlike BMW and Lexus the Merc will brake to regain the gap ASAP - whereas BMW and Lexus look at the speed of the vehicle cutting in and if its >0.0001 mph quicker then you will never change your speed and you can be 10 yards away at 90mph - both a little naughty, but a refreshing change from driving backwards as the overly cautious Merc system does it

the only time the Merc one really offended was where I found loads of retards near Stanstead who all seem to believe a 1/4 second rule applies to them - must have had thirty cars cut in front (and it was wet!) - but once I was more than 50 miles from those terrible drivers its never been an issue anywhere else in rest of UK / Europe for 10 years !!! 

 

On VW manuals - its worth realising it cuts in and out allowing for gear changes (for hills etc) - carrying on trying to maintain set speed afterwards - unlike Toms post directly above, I have read here ford owners saying theirs does the same ???  - I guess if you ever brake it will of course switch out - till its user re-instated

1 hour ago, Botus said:

On VW manuals - its worth realising it cuts in and out allowing for gear changes (for hills etc) - carrying on trying to maintain set speed afterwards - unlike Toms post directly above, I have read here ford owners saying theirs does the same ???  - I guess if you ever brake it will of course switch out - till its user re-instated

Adaptive cruise does allow for gearchanges in the same way on the Mk4 Focus.  My point was that you still have to use your arm and leg to keep changing gear.  Unlike in the auto where you never have to let go of the wheel or touch any pedals in the same situation.

For non-adaptive cruise, it depends on the age of the Mk4.  Pre-2020, pressing the clutch cancels standard cruise until you press the resume button, as it did on Mk2 & Mk3.  Post 2020, pressing the clutch does not cancel cruise, it reverts back to the same speed as soon as you lift the clutch, as with the adaptive system, only without the radar/camera to decide whether it's actually safe to revert back to that speed.  Personally I hated it, felt incredibly dangerous as I would drop a gear when slowing for a junction or zebra crossing, then it would suddenly and aggressively accelerate into the junction or crossing about half a second after lifting the clutch.

Absolutely agree, Tom. It's convenient when entering a slip road from a dual-carriageway. You just drop a gear and it slows down normally. Removing clutch cancel seems a very retrograde step.

Give the brake the slightest of taps. You really shouldn’t gear down as the only method of deceleration anyway. 
 

Gears for go, brakes for slow. 
 

I find it much more convenient I can change down for a hill and it carries on. 

1 hour ago, alexp999 said:

Give the brake the slightest of taps.

Then the regen braking makes it nosedive on the MHEV.  

I think we were taught differently, despite being around the same age.  I was taught not to keep using the brakes but instead to use forward planning, ease off throttle early and drop a gear where necessary.  I'm not suggesting dropping to 3rd at 70, just a gentle drop from 4th to 3rd around 30mph for example.  Barely even feel it.  Which is (was?) ideal for me.  Can't stand all the jerking of the automatic cruise resume, and the regen braking, as well as having to keep pressing the brake for every junction.  Might as well be in an auto with all that jerking.  (Which I would much prefer, if my body could tolerate it, so maybe I'm just bitter about that.)

Clutch cancel does seem to divide opinion from the few posts I've seen about it online.  Doesn't seem to be a generational thing, or even a location thing, having seen complaints about it on US forums.  

It’s a shame they don’t make it configurable in the drivers display. Works for both preferences then. 

9 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

 

I think we were taught differently, despite being around the same age.  I was taught not to keep using the brakes but instead to use forward planning, ease off throttle early and drop a gear where necessary.

 

when brakes were made of chocolate and you'd over heat and then maybe have none, people abused the gearbox - by the 1970's the the world of traffic exploded and you'd have to brake and change gear lots more.  By the 1980's servos and discs were normal, and brake friction material had moved on a few decades, so you were taught to use the correct feature for the function you wanted

everyone needs to keep learning and evolving their skills - gearboxes have enough hell coping with just the gear changing - gone are the days of 3.5 hrs labour and 50 quid worth of bits making a 4 speed manual like new - now the clutch isn't strong enough and the box costs 7 grand and it takes 7 hours to get out the ***** car...  But a set of brakes pads can be fitted in 20 minutes and cost 40 quid

My thoughts on the Brake verses Gear changes and Brake are that if you are in the incorrect Gear, i.e. you don't change down when you should then you don't have the same control of the car with respect to handling, slowing down or needing to accelerate quickly.

I have a lot of experience of driving in snow because of where I lived when I passed my test and these extreme conditions bring what I said to the forefront, the drivers who don't follow that advice are the ones that cause the problems for others in winter.

My son has a chimera and if using the gearbox to slow down, you’ll be facing the wrong way before you know it. Brake replacement much much cheaper than clutch or gearbox.

no cruise control, you just have to pay attention to driving. V8 burble keeps you awake!