Adaptive Cruise has a lot of mixed reviews. Some guys swear by it, some turn it off.

I searched it before I ordered my truck and opted not to add it. There is a long thread of back and forth of guys who love and hate it, which is like everything else.

matt

 

When maneuvering a trailer into a tight spot the adaptive steering makes the job a little easier. Lane keeping alert is handy. In some circumstances the alert is a bit off but I'm used to it now. It doesn't quite "get" the loss of a line when coming up to a lane that is merging into mine. The vibration in the steering wheel can be a bit too subtle, especially on a rough road.

BLIS (Blind Spot Information System) will work with some trailers. Usually it will work with travel trailers. The manual says that it doesn't work with 5th wheel or gooseneck trailers. But, I suspect that if you tell it you have a travel trailer, not a 5th wheel that it might work. Travel trailers have to be less than 9' wide and less than 30' long.

 

you can adjust the lane alert vibration.. HIGH setting is NOT subtle..

yes, blind spot with 5th wheel works if u tell it the trailer is bumper pull.. max distance is 33 ft.. better than nothing...

 

I have all these features in my Expedition.

Adaptive Steering/ "Lane keep" is OK. I think it's a bit overly aggressive...ie playing it safe. Probably not a bad thing. I typically drive with this feature turned off. The vibration in the steering wheel works good enough for me and the truck does a nice job of steering you back into the lane by itself.

BLIS is great and works great. The mirrors in the Expedition are small making BLIS more useful for this application. The mirrors in a Super Duty are one of the trucks best features making BLIS less helpful and honestly pretty redundant. The mirrors provide way more info for you to make choices since you can see everything behind you if adjusted correctly.

Adaptive Cruise works flawlessly. It's smooth and has the intelligence to make smart adjustments while engaged. Lets say you have your predetermined distance set at max. Then a car passes you and comes into your lane a bit close but is still going faster than you. Adaptive cruise in the Ford understands that car just passed you and is moving away so instead of slowing you down it maintains speed as long as that car if moving faster in your lane. I have had other brand vehicles that would slow you down and it was a pain. It also works in all types of weather...snow, rain, low morning or evening sun...no issues at all.

 

sadly we don't have lane keeping on the superduty, only the lane departure alert.. adaptive steering on the SD is parking lot only really..

 

 

I owned a Maxima with adaptive cruise. At first I liked it. But then I started to notice when the vehicle in front of me slowed down so did I. Exactly how it is supposed to work.
But when I am traveling 70 and the dude in front of me slows to 60 I want some notice so I can go around him. To many times the slow down was so gradual I wouldnt even know I had slowed down.

Been there, tried it, didnt like it.

 

 

i would like the audio alert on BLIS too..

 

I have a cousin who's got all these bells and whistles. His SD has a fault in the adaptive steering somewhere; it will randomly turn the wheel to the right. Scary; so much so that he abandoned the truck in SC while on vacation, fly home and told them he would come to pick it up when they "get it right". Do I really need "adaptive steering", or "tow command steering" or other such nuances? Not me. I've been backing up trailers for four decades just fine. I can maneuver in a parking lot with ease and don't need variable ratio steering to get out to the street.

Many of the "advances" in automotive driving are band-aids for people who don't pay attention in the first place, or struggle to handle complex maneuvering situations. Do I need a 360 deg camera? Do I need BLIS? Do I need lane-keep assist? If you're so tired that you cannot stay awake and need lane-keeping tech, get your butt out of the driver's seat and stop for some coffee. If you need BLIS because you cannot judge distances in a mirror, or keep track of traffic as you pass them (or they pass you), then again, get your butt out of the driver's seat.

My opinion only; this is the continual dumb'ing down of the driving experience. People whom are either incapable of handling complex situations, and/or are too weak to say no to distractions (cell phones, food, drinks) should not be driving in the first place.

There are some technologies that are very worthwhile; air bags, ABS, and such things like that. I cannot pump the brakes as fast as solenoids can; that technology does not hinder my driving, but greatly improves my ability to control a vehicle in slick conditions. Airbags do not improve my driving, but they intercede on my behalf when undesired events take place. Electronic combustion management (fuel injection and cylinder design) makesfor more power-dense products with greater efficiency. Etc.

Some technology is good, but like most things, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, and it's just a cover-up for either bad driving behaviors or ineptness.

 

The adaptive "steer by wire" takes some getting used to, but I've had it for 6 months and as others mentioned, like it for navigating my trailer.

 

I have it on another brand car as well and I find it doing the same. With out the visual gap closing I don't recognize the speed drop and find myself stuck in the right lane going sub speed limit more often than I'd like to admit.

Lane keeping assist I would be interested in, I haven't driven a vehicle with that feature though.

 

 

I don't believe I'm an inept or badly behaved driver. One could make the argument that some of the modern safety features make drivers lazy but that is a problem with the drivers, not the technology. I think BLIS is great even with the awesome Super Duty mirrors. It is just an additional layer of protection. Who hasn't checked their mirror, started a lane change and then suddenly realized that the car next to you was doing the same thing. That yellow light is an attention getter and could very easily help to avoid a collision between two vehicle merging into the same lane. The 360 camera is awesome on a 22' truck. It certainly helps to get the truck centered in a parking space or to pull forward as much as possible when there is a wall, light post, another vehicle, etc. in front of you. A few weeks ago I was backing a trailer at an angle through a narrow gate with a low retaining wall on the passenger side. I could not even see the retaining wall through the windows or in the side mirror. The 360 camera made the maneuvering so much easier. I could watch the gate opening in the mirrors and the lower obstructions on the screen. I also believe that adaptive cruise is safer than standard cruise. Once set, it requires no further input allowing the driver to focus on traffic, road conditions, etc. If used as additional safety measures, these technologies are very helpful but it is essential that the driver realizes that their skills and attentiveness are still the first line of defense.