Adaptive Cruise Control Braking

[FordService]

Hi guys,

It matters whether the ACC system is engaged or not:
- If ACC is on, the system will do autonomous braking. When it does, it will illuminate the brake lights.
- The system will not illuminate the brake lights when it uses the transmission to slow the vehicle.
- If the ACC is not engaged, forward collision warning is still working. FCW does not include autonomous braking, but you may sense the vehicle slowing through a combination of engine braking and the slight drag on the brake rotors caused by pre-charging the brakes. The brake lights will not illuminate until the brake pedal is depressed.

My favorite feature, ACC does not activate the brake light under normal conditions that use the combo of throttle/and precharge of brakes. When collision warning, which brings the system out of the precharge mode, yes the brake light will come on for safety for the vehicle following you. The collision warning is way too cool. Passengers are amazed by how it works.

I agree, Spengracin; we’re definitely in the future now!

Cory

 

[Car 54]

I'll add for you guys that tow, the ACC doesn't appy brakes via brake controller.

 

[peterk9]

That’s helpful, harlenm; thanks! I’m still waiting on a reply, so I’ll post when I hear back.

Cory

Cory, I had a chance to test again last night and am happy to report that the ACC does indeed activate the brake lights when it has to apply actual braking technique. At first it just used engine braking etc, and then I could feel the Explorer braking and the red glow was visible in the rear window.

 

[FordService]

Cory, I had a chance to test again last night and am happy to report that the ACC does indeed activate the brake lights when it has to apply actual braking technique. At first it just used engine braking etc, and then I could feel the Explorer braking and the red glow was visible in the rear window.

That’s great, peterk9. Thanks for your dedication.

Cory

 

[KanewtZ]

Bringing this up from the dead.

There appears to be a "bar" of red lights on the driver's side dash. Should these come on when the ACC is being used?

I've never seen them come on yet. Wondering if there is a setting or what they actually do?

 

[peterk9]

Bringing this up from the dead.

There appears to be a "bar" of red lights on the driver's side dash. Should these come on when the ACC is being used?

I've never seen them come on yet. Wondering if there is a setting or what they actually do?

This is all covered in the manual. What you are referring to is the Collision Warning system When it detects a possible collision situation the red lights flash and a loud chime sounds. There are settings for it in the left hand screen. Settings/Driver Assist/Collision Warning.
Chimes and Warning can be set to OFF but will default to ON when you next start the vehicle. When ON, it works in all conditions.
There is a lot of info in the Owner's Guide and even though I have gone through it several times, there are still things that pop up that I missed or forgot.
Happy reading. Short pop quiz next week.
Peter

 

[Sgt1411]

Yes and it can scare the crap out of you.

But if it saves you rear-ending one vehicle its paid for itself.

 

[peterk9]

Yes and it can scare the crap out of you.

But if it saves you rear-ending one vehicle its paid for itself.

Yes it does if you aren't ready for it. I now get ready to hear it come on when coming up behind a vehicle making a right hand turn. That probably accounts for 95% of my alarms.

Peter

 

[VinceL]

Yes it does if you aren't ready for it. I now get ready to hear it come on when coming up behind a vehicle making a right hand turn. That probably accounts for 95% of my alarms.

Peter

Us too. When I'm driving it always causes my wife to harass me about my driving It's not my fault that the person doing it is too slow. Also I'm trying to help the environment by hypermiling and avoiding hitting the breaks (shyeah, right!) If I could stuff owls into the gas tank to get better mileage, I would!

 

[Sgt1411]

That's a whole other type of annoyance that we cannot get into......

 

[Holligl]

Bringing this up from the dead.

There appears to be a "bar" of red lights on the driver's side dash. Should these come on when the ACC is being used?

I've never seen them come on yet. Wondering if there is a setting or what they actually do?

That is the collision warning system. You really don't want it going off. It will go off if someone is turning right in front of you and you don't slow down. Blinking red light accompanied by fast chimes. It will wake you up!

 

[Joe Dirt]

Vince- can you talk more about these Owls? That's intriguing...

 

[KanewtZ]

Thanks for all the info!

 

[VinceL]

Vince- can you talk more about these Owls? That's intriguing...

Northern spotted owls seems to have the greatest potential, as their energy density is higher. Ethanol pales in comparison. Better yet are California condors, but they have some fight in them, so they present a bit of a challenge. My friend reports good results using tuna-net dolphin blubber, but that just gets messy

 

[generaltso]

What setting do most of you use for the Collision Warning System? I had mine on the highest sensitivity, but it would go off all the time for seemingly no reason. I would just be driving on a clear road, and the thing would flash and chime at me. I changed it to the normal sensitivity, and I haven't seen it come on since.

 

[VinceL]

I set all the helpers on highest sensitivity. The collision thing only goes off every once in a while now. I guess it has me trained now

As for the BRAKING action of the Adaptive Cruise Control, it is more aggressive (not in a negative way) than we would have imagined. We can definitely feel it applying the break. We found this out when the car ahead of us moved to the next lane and the Explorer got to see a wrecker moving pretty slowly. The ACC was on the breaks in an instant and slowed us down quite effectively, but without any fuss. We moved over and the speed resumed. It works!

 

[peterk9]

I set all the helpers on highest sensitivity. The collision thing only goes off every once in a while now. I guess it has me trained now

As for the breaking action of the Adaptive Cruise Control, it is more aggressive (not in a negative way) than we would have imagined. We can definitely feel it applying the break. We found this out when the car ahead of us moved to the next lane and the Explorer got to see a wrecker moving pretty slowly. The ACC was on the breaks in an instant and slowed us down quite effectively, but without any fuss. We moved over and the speed resumed. It works!

Vince, my friend, is your Explorer breaking or braking?

Peter

 

[peterk9]

What setting do most of you use for the Collision Warning System? I had mine on the highest sensitivity, but it would go off all the time for seemingly no reason. I would just be driving on a clear road, and the thing would flash and chime at me. I changed it to the normal sensitivity, and I haven't seen it come on since.

Mine is set on Normal. As I mentioned earlier, when it does sound the alarm it is usually because of the car ahead slowing to make a right hand turn and me not applying the brakes because I know that car will be around the corner before I get there.

Peter

 

[FordService]

Bringing this up from the dead.

There appears to be a "bar" of red lights on the driver's side dash. Should these come on when the ACC is being used?...

KanewtZ,

Wow, I see a bunch of people already jumped on this one (including a few new power sources I wasn’t aware of LOL)!

If you want to brush up before the “quiz,” the COLLISION WARNING SYSTEM (IF EQUIPPED) section of the 2013MY Explorer Owner Guide 1st Printing starts on page 273.

Here’s a quick rundown from the Owner Guide explaining it:

“This system is designed to alert the driver of certain collision risks. A radar detects if your vehicle is rapidly approaching another vehicle traveling in the same direction as yours.

If it is, a red warning light illuminates and an audible warning chime sounds.”

Download a free copy of the guide here:

http://Owner.Ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/OwnerGuidePage

This is all covered in the manual...

That is the collision warning system...

...I changed it to the normal sensitivity, and I haven't seen it come on since.

...We found this out when the car ahead of us moved to the next lane and the Explorer got to see a wrecker moving pretty slowly. The ACC was on the breaks in an instant and slowed us down quite effectively, but without any fuss. We moved over and the speed resumed. It works!

Peter, Holligl, generaltso, & VinceL,

Thanks for taking the time to post; I love seeing the sharing!

Northern spotted owls seems to have the greatest potential, as their energy density is higher...

My mind is blown right now, VinceL!

Cory

 

[VinceL]

Vince, my friend, is your Explorer breaking or braking?

Peter

Jeez! You got me AGAIN!!!! I gotta slow down and proof my postings, lol