[jebrooks]

I was happy to find a forum dedicated to the new TLX. Thanks in advance for your help.

I am shopping for a new car, and the TLX is currently in first place. I'm looking at the SH-AWD Advance. I apologize in advance for the long question but I want to give enough background for you to know where I'm coming from with my questions.

I started out looking for an AWD car with the modern nanny features, primarily Blind Spot and Adaptive Cruise. I initially focused on the new Subaru Legacy with Eyesight. I liked it fine but my wife was not comfortable with the seats or ride comfort. I drove the TLX, BMW 328i and Buick Regal GS and on balance I liked the combination of power, handling and comfort in the TLX best.

I wasn't able to test drive a BMW with ACC so I can't compare, but the Subaru and Buick both had very well implemented Acc, with smooth deceleration using the throttle where possible and the brakes when compression was not enough.

During my test drives the TLX ACC felt much more aggressive. It's like a driver who is always either on the gas or the brakes. I only drove a few miles on the freeway so my experience is very limited.

Those of you who have been driving TLX Advances for a while, how do you review ACC? This is really a three-part question. First, in your experience how well does ACC respond to changing traffic flow? Second, does the computer learn from experience and get "better" over time?

I noticed when I drove the Legacy, with its binocular vision, that it could tell when slower traffic in the next lane on a curve was in the next lane and ignore it. On the same curve the TLX slowed down for a truck in the right lane when I was in the left lane and the road curved left. So third, what is your experience when driving on a curving freeway using ACC?

 

[TLX2014]

If you pay attention to the beeps and display on the MID you will know when the ACC has acquired a target vehicle ahead. Knowing that its focus is directly ahead should be enough for you to determine which vehicle it is targeting.

When driving on a straight with a vehicle ahead the car symbol will be solid. If the car goes around a curve then focus will be lost. However, if there is another vehicle straight ahead in an adjacent lane it may pick that up.

There are four distance settings (83' to 204' at 50 mph, and 100' to 265' at 65 mph). It will feel jerky if set to the shortest setting and going at a high speed.

To answer your questions:
1. It handles well if the traffic slow is smooth and a reasonable distance is set
2. There is no learning function
3. Depends on traffic and the amount of curve (see above)

I have not driven another car with ACC so I have no baseline for comparison, but I can do a better job in anticipating traffic flow and leaving a smaller gap so that vehicles do not cut in, but this takes work. The ACC works best with moderate traffic that is moving fairly smoothly, or in traffic that is crawling (not stop and go).

 

[bruce dow]

Hi Jebrooks.

Welcome to the forum.

I really like ACC. I especially like the "low speed follow" capability.

When you were test driving, did you experiment with the distance control on the ACC? There is a button on the steering wheel that toggles the following distance between three different settings. I have found that different settings are best for different traffic patterns. Sometimes, I just use one bar. Sometimes I use three. I have never had it react to a car in a different lane. Maybe my freeways are not as curvy as yours.

If someone cuts into my lane right in front of me, I find that ACC brakes more aggressively than I normally would. So I often take back control when I anticipate that situation.

I don't know if the system learns over time.

 

[Summest]

Welcome to the Forum!

I was happy to find a forum dedicated to the new TLX. Thanks in advance for your help.

I am shopping for a new car, and the TLX is currently in first place. I'm looking at the SH-AWD Advance. I apologize in advance for the long question but I want to give enough background for you to know where I'm coming from with my questions.

I started out looking for an AWD car with the modern nanny features, primarily Blind Spot and Adaptive Cruise. I initially focused on the new Subaru Legacy with Eyesight. I liked it fine but my wife was not comfortable with the seats or ride comfort. I drove the TLX, BMW 328i and Buick Regal GS and on balance I liked the combination of power, handling and comfort in the TLX best.

I wasn't able to test drive a BMW with ACC so I can't compare, but the Subaru and Buick both had very well implemented Acc, with smooth deceleration using the throttle where possible and the brakes when compression was not enough.

During my test drives the TLX ACC felt much more aggressive. It's like a driver who is always either on the gas or the brakes. I only drove a few miles on the freeway so my experience is very limited.

Those of you who have been driving TLX Advances for a while, how do you review ACC? This is really a three-part question. First, in your experience how well does ACC respond to changing traffic flow? Second, does the computer learn from experience and get "better" over time?

I noticed when I drove the Legacy, with its binocular vision, that it could tell when slower traffic in the next lane on a curve was in the next lane and ignore it. On the same curve the TLX slowed down for a truck in the right lane when I was in the left lane and the road curved left. So third, what is your experience when driving on a curving freeway using ACC?

Welcome to the Forum! Glad to see your first post was answered by a couple of members before I got the chance to welcome you.

Let us know more about you and where you are from. Any idea on what color combo you might go with? Sounds like you figured out that you may want to go with the V6 SH-AWD with advance package.

 

[bruce dow]

Maybe because I was paying more attention, I noticed today that the ACC did pick up a vehicle in another lane on a curve. I just put my foot on the gas to maintain my desired speed. No problem. No need to disengage the ACC.

 

[jebrooks]

Thanks for the replies. Reading your replies and other posts in the forum I am reminded that I need to take my own test drive results with a small pinch of salt. I designed a route to test the car fairly aggressively.

I live in southern Oregon, which is a fairly hilly area. Interstate 5 comes north out of California over mountains, through the Rogue Valley then through more mountains. My test drive route climbs about 2300 feet in six miles on the old, curvy(20 mph curves) highway to the summit then I take I5 back down again. Traveling down a curvy freeway is a pretty serious test of the ACC, with trucks riding their brakes while I am trying to go a little faster than the speed limit.

Bruce, have you ever had the car fight back when you put your foot on the gas to override ACC? On the downhill part of my test drive I was going around 65 and the truck was probably doing about50 mph when it came in line-of-sight on the curve. ACC hit the brakes until the road straightened out. I didn't try to accelerate through or disengage ACC since I was testing the computer, not ways to override it.

On the downgrade the car's speed climbed quite a bit. The transmission downshifted to combat gravity but I didn't feel any braking. Hopefully future software updates will improve that aspect of ACC.

My preferred color combination is Slate Silver Metallic and Greystone.

 

[TLX2014]

In many ways I wish my driving area had the diversity of the terrain of your area. Toronto and surround area are pretty flat so my experience in the use of ACC could be very different to yours.

No the ACC does not fight you if you have your foot on the gas. The car symbol in the MID changes to indicate that it has been overridden. When you take you foot off the gas it will resume normal operation and if its acquired target is too close it will brake, forcefully if necessary.

You should also be aware that it does not maintain the set speed if you are going downhill and there is no vehicle ahead of you.

 

[bruce dow]

It sounds like you have a really fun commute.

(I'll post some dashcam shots of AWS in our snow tomorrow)

I have never had the ACC fight back when I apply gas. I mostly use this technique when some other driver changes lanes right in front of me. ACC's reaction without override is to brake quickly to reestablish the gap. If you are "on the pedals", you can smooth it out better than ACC can.

The ACC does not seem to have a speed limiter on a downgrade, so unless you are locked in on a car in front of you, your speed will increase.

 

[jebrooks]

Thanks for all the responses. It's good to know that I'll be able to use the gas to override ACC braking when on curvy sections of freeway.

I took the car on an extended test drive yesterday. In "normal" stretches of freeway, relatively straight and gentle inclines, the ACC performance was quite smooth. It was able to control speed using the engine to speed up and slow down most of the time, only occasionally applying the brakes and then not too aggressively.

On steeper downgrades the speed climbed a little but the transmission downshifted an kept it from getting out of hand.

After about 100 miles of driving on freeway, city streets, country roads and curvy mountain roads my back felt better than when I drove the same course in my wife's Avalon(my standard for comparison).

So I took it back to the dealership and bought it. I'm looking forward to many years of fun.

 

[jebrooks]

Just a quick update...

We finally had some snow in southern Oregon this week. I took the car up to Siskiyou Summit to see how the SH-AWD handles in the snow. Unfortunately it had melted by the time I got there, but I did get some new data on how ACC handles downgrades. This drive was different than the test drive in a couple of ways: I went up the freeway on ACC as well as down, and the car was in ECON mode rather than NORMAL.

On my way down the mountain, the car actually used the brakes to maintain a speed only two mph above my set speed. On my test drives the speed increased almost ten mph over the set speed.

I don't know if the computer has been learning, the IDS mode matters or being on ACC for a few miles before starting the downgrade caused this behavior. I'm just happy that it does behave this way.

I also really appreciate Bruce Dow's information about using the gas to override the ACC's braking response.

 

[bruce dow]

JEBrooks. That is an awesome update. Now I just need to find a big hill to drive down with ACC on.

Sorry that the snow melted on ya'.

 

[jebrooks]

JEBrooks. That is an awesome update. Now I just need to find a big hill to drive down with ACC on.

Sorry that the snow melted on ya'.

That sounds like quite a trip from Toronto. How far would you need to drive to find a 2,000 foot elevation change on a high speed road? The Rockies?

I imagine you are looking forward to the time when you can say "the snow melted". I have a son at the University of Rochester and I know he is looking forward to snow-free bike paths.