Winter trip observations

[kevinkar]

Just took a trip from the Los Angeles area to the San Francisco area and had some random observations about the car, 2018 R, 7,100 miles on the ODO.

• Speedometer does not match 3 different GPS units and is LOW by about 3 MPH in the 70 MPH range. So I'm going faster than I think when cruise is set at 72 MPH. I've checked this in my previous cars and they all matched the GPS so I'm going to assume the GPS units (all Garmin) are accurate and the R is not. Not sure if there's a calibration setting somewhere.
• There was a thread about someone using ACC and it not working the way they wanted it to (something about feathering the gas pedal to overtake a car or temporarily adjusting the speed and the car not returning to the set speed) and I did not notice any behavior from the ACC than what I expected. I tried to trip it up by feathering it and bringing the speed down slowly after passing someone but the car always returned to the set speed for me. I could not get the car to go lower than the set speed no matter how I feathered the throttle.
• Lane Keep Assist has a flaw I did not like - testing it on a long open stretch I let it bounce back and forth for about 8 seconds or so when it finally decided I was not steering so it dinged and told me to take over steering. If I did NOT take over steering, LKA was no longer functional and would just let the car fly off the road. Instead of continuing to keep the car in the lane (the LKA indicator was still green showing it knows where the lane is), it decided I wasn't paying attention and I might as well be killed - if the driver doesn't care, why should the car? That seems wrong to me. The car should not disable this if it knows I'm not steering yet the car just continued sideways over the lane markers in which ever direction it was headed.
• Lack of fog lights is a fail. Up in the Bay Area it was foggy on the drive back south and they would have come in handy for that stretch. Again, previous cars had them and they always worked well.
• Off-Road indicator is accurate in terms of elevation as it registered 4,140 at the Tejon Pass sign which says 4,144ft. Don't know if that's GPS or database driven.
• Water and oil temps got to their maximum and stayed there the whole trip. No fluctuation I could see. 70 MPH was approximately at 2,100 RPM so the engine got a good heat soak at a consistent temp.
• Main headlights are aimed a bit low and only seem to range about 2 seconds in front of the car at about 60 MPH. Seems to be a bit short. High beams are amazing though.
• Mileage up was 27 and back was 29, both at a very constant speed of 70 MPH through the central California valley on the I-5. All flat with cruise control on and in Sport mode.
• Steering is very numb. The wheel produces little to no feedback and, while rock solid and responsive, just doesn't seem to transmit car motion of any kind to your hands.
• The seat, while comfortable, needs more lumbar travel (it's puffed up to maximum but I wanted a bit more) and the seat could use a bit more padding as it felt a bit flat after a while (I'm only 155 lbs.)

So for its second trip up north it performed well and, except for wanting to kill me when LKA turns off, was a very stable and comfortable ride.

 

[DiscusInferno]

When you said winter trip... I was expecting you to talk about going into the Sierras, for some snow observations

 

[KevinC]

Sounds like LKA is functioning exactly as designed and as I'd expect it to. It's not an "autopilot" feature and if you're not keeping your hands on the wheel, it should cut out after warning you, and that's what it does. Personally I hate it and never use it.

That's odd about the speedo error - mine's spot on. Are the wheels/tires stock, or might they be different sized and thus causing the error?

 

[kevinkar]

That's odd about the speedo error - mine's spot on. Are the wheels/tires stock, or might they be different sized and thus causing the error?

Nope, totally stock.

 

[flogR]

"Lane Keep Assist has a flaw I did not like - testing it on a long open stretch I let it bounce back and forth for about 8 seconds or so when it finally decided I was not steering so it dinged and told me to take over steering. If I did NOT take over steering, LKA was no longer functional and would just let the car fly off the road. Instead of continuing to keep the car in the lane (the LKA indicator was still green showing it knows where the lane is), it decided I wasn't paying attention and I might as well be killed - if the driver doesn't care, why should the car? That seems wrong to me. The car should not disable this if it knows I'm not steering yet the car just continued sideways over the lane markers in which ever direction it was headed. "
As I understand my Owner's Manual, (which is difficult because many features may or may not apply to a specific vehicle) it may not just let the car fly off the road. "Emergency Assist" may activate and slow you down and even bring to a complete stop and include flashing hazard lights and cause snaking movements within the lane to scare other drivers. I don't think I could compute all these happenings if I was in panic mode so I just mindlessly forget them and hope VW has thought of enough nannies to save me. I would like to test but would want an airfield landing strip with marked lanes for that.

 

[kevinkar]

As I understand my Owner's Manual, (which is difficult because many features may or may not apply to a specific vehicle) it may not just let the car fly off the road. "Emergency Assist" may activate and slow you down and even bring to a complete stop and include flashing hazard lights and cause snaking movements within the lane to scare other drivers. I don't think I could compute all these happenings if I was in panic mode so I just mindlessly forget them and hope VW has thought of enough nannies to save me. I would like to test but would want an airfield landing strip with marked lanes for that.

That's kind of what bothered me - it didn't do all that as you note. It basically just went one way or the other over all lane lines onto the grooves California puts on the sides to alert drivers they are over the line (basically a rumble strip to wake you up.) Without my providing input, the car seems to have just been out of control. I could see expecting a lot more lights, bells, steering wheel shaking, etc. rather than simply turning off the feature as it appears to do.

I guess this is no different than an airplane's ground proximity warning system where it will alert the pilot the ground is too close and to "pull up!" but it's not necessarily going to automatically pull back on the yoke and stop it from ramming into the ground.

 

[Navi]

Sounds like you want a different car.

 

[jimlloyd40]

That's kind of what bothered me - it didn't do all that as you note. It basically just went one way or the other over all lane lines onto the grooves California puts on the sides to alert drivers they are over the line (basically a rumble strip to wake you up.) Without my providing input, the car seems to have just been out of control. I could see expecting a lot more lights, bells, steering wheel shaking, etc. rather than simply turning off the feature as it appears to do.

I guess this is no different than an airplane's ground proximity warning system where it will alert the pilot the ground is too close and to "pull up!" but it's not necessarily going to automatically pull back on the yoke and stop it from ramming into the ground.

As mentioned it isn't autopilot. It's just a warning and when you veer out of your lane that much it assumes that's what you want to do so it switches off.

 

[kevinkar]

Sounds like you want a different car.

Yeah, right - A single random observation of a safety feature that does not work as well as I think it should means I want another car. I guess you are 100% OK with everything in your car. Nothing bothers you. Perfect car. Sure.

As mentioned it isn't autopilot. It's just a warning and when you veer out of your lane that much it assumes that's what you want to do so it switches off.

I know it's not autopilot; that's not the point of my gripe. The car is what's veering out of the lane, not me. Input into the steering wheel is what signals intent and if I turn the wheel when the car thinks I shouldn't (like right after a car passes me and the car thinks I'm changing lanes too soon it shakes the wheel and fights back but if I keep turning the car does go into the next lane as I want) that's my decision and the car should definitely assume that's what I want to do. But the lane keep assist simply gives up when I think it shouldn't. So at that point the car is in control by its lack of control.

Yes, the owner's manual says LKA can deactivate when "the system does not detect any clear steering activity by the driver over an extended period. " I get that. But that just seems like the wrong thing to do in my opinion.

It should be noted that LKA does not activate if you have slight pressure on the wheel while looking at the radio and the car drifts right. In that case, the minor pressure is what tells the car to go right and LKA does nothing as that's a case of the car assuming that's what the driver wants to do. That's a fail on the driver.

It's not a flawless system. I'm just pointing out something that does not work as well as I would like.

 

[Corprin]

Maybe it’s because Germans build cars for drivers.

 

[jimlloyd40]

Yeah, right - A single random observation of a safety feature that does not work as well as I think it should means I want another car. I guess you are 100% OK with everything in your car. Nothing bothers you. Perfect car. Sure.


I know it's not autopilot; that's not the point of my gripe. The car is what's veering out of the lane, not me. Input into the steering wheel is what signals intent and if I turn the wheel when the car thinks I shouldn't (like right after a car passes me and the car thinks I'm changing lanes too soon it shakes the wheel and fights back but if I keep turning the car does go into the next lane as I want) that's my decision and the car should definitely assume that's what I want to do. But the lane keep assist simply gives up when I think it shouldn't. So at that point the car is in control by its lack of control.

Yes, the owner's manual says LKA can deactivate when "the system does not detect any clear steering activity by the driver over an extended period. " I get that. But that just seems like the wrong thing to do in my opinion.

It should be noted that LKA does not activate if you have slight pressure on the wheel while looking at the radio and the car drifts right. In that case, the minor pressure is what tells the car to go right and LKA does nothing as that's a case of the car assuming that's what the driver wants to do. That's a fail on the driver.

It's not a flawless system. I'm just pointing out something that does not work as well as I would like.

The car is veering out of the lane because it's either the pavement is sloped, rutted or it's your tires or alignment. Again the car wouldn't veer out of the lane if your hand was on the wheel steering it. Everything you say points to your expecting it to function like autopilot and it simply doesn't have autopilot.

 

[kevinkar]

Maybe it’s because Germans build cars for drivers.

A little passive/aggressive for no reason. Calm down.

I simply said I didn't like how a single feature of the car worked as I tested it. Plenty of gripes about Golfs on this forum. Doesn't mean those posters are not "drivers".

 

[kevinkar]

The car is veering out of the lane because it's either the pavement is sloped, rutted or it's your tires or alignment. Again the car wouldn't veer out of the lane if your hand was on the wheel steering it. Everything you say points to your expecting it to function like autopilot and it simply doesn't have autopilot.

Come on Jim, stop reading into it and making this into more than it is. I simply said I tested the feature and that means I intentionally did not steer it to see what it did. Of course it wouldn't veer off the road if the driver was actively steering it. And get this straight - I KNOW IT DOES NOT HAVE AUTOPILOT. I was testing the function of how well it keeps the car in the lane and the results are not as good as I hoped. End of story.

 

[jimlloyd40]

A little passive/aggressive for no reason. Calm down.

I simply said I didn't like how a single feature of the car worked as I tested it. Plenty of gripes about Golfs on this forum. Doesn't mean those posters are not "drivers".

A little oversensitive aren't you? The problem is you're complaining about a way a feature works when it's performing exactly as advertised. If you don't like the way a feature works disable it or get a different car. You say that you know it doesn't have autopilot but you're expecting it to behave as though it does.

 

[Corprin]

I think people are just trying to figure out what your issue is.

Are you upset that the car expected you to be more or less paying attention while operating a vehicle, aka driving it?

What exactly were you expecting and wanting to find?