After a good 250 mile drive today, some thoughts.

[tallmansd]

It was pretty boring, in a good way. I let the lane centering and adaptive cruise control do all the work! Pretty interesting watching it do its thing, only worrying about changing lanes and keeping a hand on the wheel.

Snow disables the whole thing. It was snowing this afternoon as I was driving and the buildup on the front bumper and grill caused the sensors to become blocked. I can only assume that is where the sensors are located, I'll have to check the manual for specifcs. The first thing that happened was the adaptive cruise control did not slow as I approached a slower vehicle from behind. Once I changed lanes and the senors could not detect the lane edges, a warning popped up saying the systems were not available and to check the manual. The snow wasn't very heavy, the roads were wet, but not becoming covered, and traffic was light. It wasn't a huge issue to drive the remaining 30 mins without cruise.

The hard plastic steering wheel feels rough in my hand. I ended up getting a cheap cover for now. It feels like it needs a good sanding to smooth it down!

In wet conditions on salted/sanded roads, the rear window becomes difficult to see through. The buildup on it is pretty bad. Coming from a super cab F150, I was surprised how bad it got. I saw there are spoiler options, maybe one of those would improve the airflow over the backend to keep it cleaner? Or maybe rear mudflaps? Not sure.

Stock windshield wipers keep the windshield nice and clean! Rear one does an ok job.

Wireless apple car play would be superb.

It handles amazingly, the ride is nice and stable, the auto environment keeps it comfortable. Hands down the best time driving I've had.

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[Cabezone]

Normally the camera for those things would be in the windshield. Did they use the trail cam for the adaptive cruise control also? That's the kind of design flaw that will get fixed in the next gen.

EDIT:. Are you sure there isn't a second camera up in the windshield?

Do you mean that the adaptive cruise control stopped working without any warning? That's an accident and lawsuit waiting to happen.

 

[realworld51]

Normally the camera for those things would be in the windshield. Did they use the trail cam for the adaptive cruise control also? That's the kind of design flaw that will get fixed in the next gen.

EDIT:. Are you sure there isn't a second camera up in the windshield?

The adaptive cruise uses a radar sensor mounted beneath the front bumper to detect a vehicle ahead. The camera behind the rearview mirror watches lane markings for lane centering and lane keeping functions.

 

[Cabezone]

Oh, I'm coming from Subaru which uses a dual camera setup.

 

[tallmansd]

Normally the camera for those things would be in the windshield. Did they use the trail cam for the adaptive cruise control also? That's the kind of design flaw that will get fixed in the next gen.

EDIT:. Are you sure there isn't a second camera up in the windshield?

Do you mean that the adaptive cruise control stopped working without any warning? That's an accident and lawsuit waiting to happen.

Yeah, it definately stopped working while it was still "on". It had the car infront of me on the radar/in the center display, but it kept same speed, stayed green. I braked then changed lanes. Once I changed lanes it turned off.

 

[tallmansd]

Once I got to my house, I took a pic of the front for reference. The windshield was clear, but the entire front bumper was covered in slushy snow. Without much investigation, I assume that is the location of the adaptive cruise control's sensors.

Adding the page from the user's manual. So that little rectangle part of the fascia that is snow coated, the radar is behind it. Doesn't work with about 1/4" of slushy snow on it!

 

[Bdub]

Maybe this is why they didn't include Adaptive Cruise Control on the FE's.

 

[magicbus]

Yeah, it definately stopped working while it was still "on". It had the car infront of me on the radar/in the center display, but it kept same speed, stayed green. I braked then changed lanes. Once I changed lanes it turned off.

There is a software update waiting to happen.

 

[Andrezzi]

There is a software update waiting to happen.

I think we all have to remember we are supposed to be driving are Broncos not the other way around !!!

 

[DesertRat]

+1

 

[retiredguy]

I picked up my BB about nine days ago. Dealer was located about 2 1/2 hrs from my home in Port Charlotte, Fl. Drove to Clearwater to visit family and then headed home. Put almost 300 miles on the car in two days. On the way home, stopped for lunch and my wife wanted to drive the rest of the way. She loves the Sport. Hoping I can get the keys to drive it myself, lol.

 

[Wyo]

I would never use cruise control in wet or snowy conditions anyways.

 

[Zolutar]

My Escape as ACC, and has the exact same issue. I get a warning message when the slush builds up on the sensor that "sensor blocked, auto-braking disabled".
Studies have shown that cruise control is actually dangerous in poor weather conditions because a loss of traction (pooled water or ice) can result in sudden acceleration and unpredictable behavior.
Being on the "wet coast" I sometimes even will get a message that the camera is blocked, usually from condensation from the excess moisture and temperature difference inside/outside and in the camera module itself.

Sometimes Mother nature just knocks out technology and a reminder to use old fashioned "manual" control in poor conditions

 

[Tall Timbers]

Maybe this is why they didn't include Adaptive Cruise Control on the FE's.

I've got adaptive cruise control on my FE. I believe it was one of the first Ford's to come with it as an option.

 

[Bdub]

@Tall Timbers I was referring to the First Edition (FE Sport), not the Escape.

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