Adaptive Cruise/automatic braking

Any one thinks these features will be added to the Tacoma in the near future, maybe 2018?

 

If so I will own a pre 2018 for ever.

 

Not just taco, think universal.
I won't be surprised that in the not too distant future all autos will be mandated to be able to self drive.
And our Tacos we have now will be able to plug in to additional modules and sensors to meet road worthy standards.

 

I hope not. Ever followed a vehicle in traffic on the highway that has brake lights constantly on and off? That is adaptive cruise in use, maintaining distance from the vehicle in front. Really annoying. Hope the Tacoma doesn't become part of the problem.

 

Yes , Toyota said 2018 for Tacoma

 

I hope the Tacoma gets the full TSS-P version with front radar instead of the cheaper less sophisticated TSS-C they are installing on less expensive Toyota models. I would really be interested in the full speed range dynamic radar cruise control and the higher speed emergency braking system. I have a similar system on my 2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R and honestly not having it almost kept me from buying the Tacoma. It really takes the stress out of the daily commute to have the car deal with the bumper to bumper traffic, and I feel much more confident driving my Subaru because the computers can react faster than I can in an emergency. My Subaru has saved my bacon several times already, alerting me and applying brakes on high speed roads where some kind of road debris caused sudden unexpected braking by cars in front of me. While I may have been able to avoid these accidents on my own by slamming on the brakes and driving on the shoulder, the system is able to bring to car to a stop much faster and safer. These systems have been shown to nearly eliminate rear end collisions less than 35 MPH, I'm not sure why anyone would not want this system in their truck. It is completely unobtrusive in my Subaru and has never alerted/braked when there wasn't something in the way. I wish everyone on the road had these systems because there would be dramatically less accidents. I purchased new Subaru Outbacks for my mother and mother-in-law because of these important safety systems, and I hope Toyota puts the full speed range TSS-P system in the Tacoma, I would gladly upgrade.

 

One can only hope. Not.

More isn't always better. Regardless of what Musk and Google think.

 

^ It has been proven otherwise in a good portion of the population to be safer and prevent accidents. There are many inattentive drivers this type of stuff could help. They shouldn't need it but the sad fact is in our society we do. I myself could careless about the automatic braking as I am sure there are many false warnings and I am not texting and not paying attention when driving, but the radar cruise is the one luxury I would like. I am more basic, prefer manual cloth seats, no nav, ect, but I use cruise a bunch, and it is annoying beyond no end when others aren't and they constantly speed up and slow down. It is ridiculous to pass someone only to have to pass them back a short time later when you haven't even changed speeds. Would love to have my vehicle do that for me when I want. Went to lunch in my bosses Grand Cherokee that had it, he was showing me how he never touched the pedals all the way to our stop sign by the office. Pretty impressive.

Tyler

 

I agree. The driver is ridiculous. And most vehicles this happens with have cruise, but the driver is not using it. So that won't change, only your response by having the car adjust for you will change.

All fun and games till it breaks. I suppose if you always drive a warrantied vehicle it's fine. I don't.

And I prefer to still be the 'driver'. I don't mind taking full responsibility for myself. If I don't want to, I'll let someone else drive or take another means of transportation.

 

Agreed, but the entire vehicle is electronic these days, I would be more concerned with the DI or the atkinson breaking and keeping an electronic aid running. My average time/miles kept on our vehicles is about 8 years and 120k miles, there is no getting around the complexity of new vehicles. I just hope I can semi keep up with turning my own wrenches and fixing them, but it is getting hard in many ways.

Tyler

 

I don't think these features come on any truck to my knowledge

 

The new Ford F150 and Honda Ridgeline offer adaptive cruise control with brake support and collision warning, but neither offer full speed range cruise control for stop and go traffic. The F150/Ridgeline radar based adaptive cruise control systems shut off at about 20MPH whereas the newest radar/camera adaptive cruise control systems available can bring the vehicle to a smooth stop and can operate in stop and go traffic with some systems even handling steering to keep the vehicle centered in its lane. The 2017 Ridgeline's Honda Sensing system with Lane Keep Assist can bring the vehicle to a full stop from low speeds under emergency braking and the lane keep assist can keep the vehicle centered in it's lane at higher speeds in collaboration with the adaptive cruise control, but it didn't get the full speed range system or rain sensing wipers that are available on the new Civic.

Since the Tacoma still has hydraulic steering instead of electric power steering it is unlikely it will get any sort of lane keeping assist in 2018, but it would not be unreasonable for the 2018 model to have a long range radar unit up front (possibly in a new grille that everyone will like) and a stereo camera sensor behind the rear view mirror. These two sensors which have come way down in price over the past few years could offer automatic high beams, lane departure alert, full speed dynamic cruise control with stop and go, and automatic emergency braking. If they wanted to go the extra mile front parking sensors, 360° camera, and rain sensing windshield wipers would be amazing. If Toyota goes the cheap route with the Tacoma all they need is a camera/laser sensor behind the rear view mirror to offer basic low speed emergency braking with automatic high beam and lane departure alert. This cheaper system (TSS-C) would not be enough to convince me to upgrade to a 2018 model. I like having a long range radar sensor up front like a fighter jet.

 

I just bought a 2016 rav4 and I opted to not have any of those features for a few reasons, 1 it keeps the car that much more simpler, I was driving one that had it and I had it activated and on cruise control just to see what it was like and if would actually stop or slow down within a reasonable means, well yes and no, I was driving and yes it will detect a car in front of you and slow you down, but here's its down fall, curves I was driving on a curvy stretch of road and there was incoming traffic in the opposite lanes but the curve made it detect the incoming car directly in in front of us instead of the car staying in its own lane which it did, so the car I was driving came to a halt in the middle of road when it didn't need to, and do we really need such crap on our cars anyway just to get around? hardly.

 

The system in the RAV4 is not a full speed range system and is not designed to be used on anything besides the freeway really as it deactivates at lower speeds. The RAV4 system can't even apply maximum braking force, it can only apply light to moderate braking and is designed for freeway use on long drives. I find it hard to believe that it stopped you in the middle of the road as the system in the RAV4 disengages below 25mph. The only US Toyota model currently equipped with a full speed range system is the new Prius. My other vehicle, a 2015 Subaru Outback with Eyesight is equipped with a full speed range adaptive cruise control system that works amazingly well. I use it all the time on curvy mountain roads and the stereo cameras read the lane markings and accurately detect vehicles, trailers, motorcycles, etc and clearly display traffic ahead and its general operation on the information screen. It handles the brake and accelerator pedals for the majority of the time while driving which makes it much less fatiguing so I don't get tired on long drives. I have had the car over a year and never once had any false positives, I find it is able to see and detect traffic better than I can during sunset/sunrise and even during heavy rains etc. It is not an autonomous driving system, I am still responsible for paying attention, but I have so much more confidence when driving my Subaru vs the Tacoma knowing there are several additional sets of eyes on the road. I only have two eyes and if something is happening behind or next to my vehicle that requires me to look even for just a second, my Subaru has my back and will alert me to any danger so that I can react in time and if I don't it will do it's best to save my family which I really appreciate.

I get it, some people are really not ready for this type of technology. They distrust computers. They drive manual transmissions so they can have absolute control even if it is an inconvenience and reduces MPG. I get it! I'm not one of those people, I have confidence in science and technology to make vehicles safer for my family which is my primary concern.

 

Sounds like you are looking for a Tesla. Or mass transit, or a cab. Just drive the damn thing

 

That would only happen if it actually USES the brakes, which should only happen if the vehicle ahead does something abrupt.
Most of the time when the vehicle ahead of you has brake lights constantly on and off, you have a moron who drives with their left foot on the pedal, or is following too closely and needs to keep on hitting the brakes.

 

Could always cover the sensors....

 

I could only imagine trying to Offroad with auto-braking.

Me: I want to climb this rock

Truck: No, you're going to hit a wall

Me: It's not a wall. I can go over it. Stop it.

Truck: I'm trying to save your life. This is clearly a wall. No.


Then suddenly "How do I disable auto braking?" Threads lol

My moms Audi slammed on brakes backing up when a rain drop landed on the sensor lol.

 

Ugh. We have a Sequoia in our family that has the adaptive cruse and it is enough to drive you crazy and you can't turn it off to my knowledge, rather just adjust the distance to a minimum. It also only sets in 5 MPH increments, so if you want to cruise at say 67 MPH you have to set it manually up and down will go from 65 to 70 to 75. Pretty dumb in my opinion.

We also have a 2015 Suburban with it and it works better than the Sequoia but it can still be temperamental. You get one car slightly in your lane and it'll slam those brakes on without you touching a thing. It also has auto wipers that get themselves confused in rain and go nuts, and the dumbest head unit I've ever used that makes Entune look amazing. Plus the lane departure thing that vibrates your seat will scare the crap out of out of you if you don't know it's there.

I'm pretty happy with what my Tacoma doesn't have actually.

 

A mystery solved!!! I was wondering how in the hell people would speed up but the brake lights never went off. I've heard of driving with both feet but what I saw was pretty ridiculous. I can now sleep well at night knowing what was going on.