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[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

@theterminator93
What car was that?

 

[theterminator93]

IIRC it was a 2023 Corolla.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Because slowing down before a curve would suggest it's a GPS-based adaptive cruise...which seems pretty recent technology.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Does lane assist also assist drivers in texting while driving? Never used it

Actually, using voice to text, you can use Siri or Alexa or Google or any of the AI assistants to do that. It's frightening, I know!

What have we come to?

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Unfortunately yes. Ford's system is smart enough to trigger a coffe break alert if you take your eyes off the road for too long.

I've recently driven some rental cars that have that feature (Most recently a 2024 Honda Accord Sport).

The feature relies more on time behind the wheel and lane drifting as I'm prone to do - Damn it Jim! I'm a driver not a robot! - Anyway, the system uses time behind the wheel and other driving cues besides actually monitoring where your eyes are to determine when to recommend a break. Personally I find the feature super annoying and intrusive AF!

 

[Kurt K]

I have a love-hate relationship with adaptive cruise control. It is amazing when I'm following my father-in-law several hundred miles....I just set it about 10 mph over the speed limit and never have to touch the gas or brake.

I hate it when the a-hole in in front of me is driving under the speed limit in the fast lane...if I'm not fulling on top of the situation, the next thing I know is that I'm going under the speed limit.

 

[MadMikeyL]

I use cruise control so little that I owned my Silverado for over 2 years before it was pointed out to me that it doesn’t have it. Even on long road trips I hardly ever use it, other than for a few minutes at a time.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Preach on brother! I've been driving my '91 Crown Vic for the last week and a half since some guy ran me off the road on my way to work last Monday. It really annoys me when the CAN bus wigs out on it and turns off my lane assist and....nope. Mechanical fuel pump, carburetor, some sort of electronic ignition distributor designed in the mid 70's that supposedly wasn't still being installed on cars in 1991 - check. Maybe if that guy that pulled out in front of me in my Saturn had all of that electronic crap working on his truck I wouldn't have had to put it into the curb and be dealing with a bent front subframe now.

Is your Crown Vic a police package car? I thought all the civilian ones had EFI by 91? 5.8?

I use cruise control so little that I owned my Silverado for over 2 years before it was pointed out to me that it doesn’t have it. Even on long road trips I hardly ever use it, other than for a few minutes at a time.

Cruise control to me is like a parlor trick “ look no feet!” It’s never been something I needed, my Focus doesn’t have it and it’s the only vehicle I’ve ever driven on 2000 mile cross country roadtrips.

The thing is is you need to set cruise to below the speed limit/flow to actually cruise without any actions to enjoy it, and that simply does not compute with my driving mindset whatsoever. My goal in life behind the wheel is to get ahead of the pack and is specifically what keeps me alert and engaged to not just doze off.

 

[Zep5.0]

Is your Crown Vic a police package car? I thought all the civilian ones had EFI by 91? 5.8?




Cruise control to me is like a parlor trick “ look no feet!” It’s never been something I needed, my Focus doesn’t have it and it’s the only vehicle I’ve ever driven on 2000 mile cross country roadtrips.

The thing is is you need to set cruise to below the speed limit/flow to actually cruise without any actions to enjoy it, and that simply does not compute with my driving mindset whatsoever. My goal in life behind the wheel is to get ahead of the pack and is specifically what keeps me alert and engaged to not just doze off.

Moust be an Illinois thing, as everyone was in my way Monday. Seriously why go 68 mph in a 70 after just going 75. I may have been going 80 and needed to pass anyway, but who is counting

 

[XR7-4.6]

Moust be an Illinois thing, as everyone was in my way Monday. Seriously why go 68 mph in a 70 after just going 75. I may have been going 80 and needed to pass anyway, but who is counting

I legitimately find people going below the speed limit actual dangers in traffic far more so than speeders.

The thing I find truly baffling/infuriating in city traffic is how a lane with an 18 wheeler ahead accelerates from a stoplight faster than a lane with short row of cars.




Oh OH and did everyone forget that you can pull into an intersection while turning left on a non-left turn light intersection? Not just wait at the fucking line until opposing traffic clears/the light turns red??? Ugh!

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

Oh OH and did everyone forget that you can pull into an intersection while turning left on a non-left turn light intersection? Not just wait at the fucking line until opposing traffic clears/the light turns red???

^^^this. +1


I absolutely depend on cruise control. I've driven cross country three times, essentially without ever touching the throttle.


Speed limits...I may have an unpopular opinion about them. They are speed limits, not speed targets.
Speed limits to me are a great example of cultural dysfunction. If we just generally agree that driving 10 mph over the limit is ok, then why not just raise the limit by 10 mph?

Part of it may be the fact that I grew up in Germany. Famously, parts of the Autobahn don't have a speed limit, but those sections that do, the limit is the limit.

I feel the same about what in America is called a "grace period". In my German mind, it just doesn't compute. Just enforce the rule as it's written; don't add fine print.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Side thought: I don’t like stereotypes, however I have long had evolving lists of cars to avoid being behind in traffic because they always seem to be slow/indecisive/stupid and that top 5 list of cars currently is:

1: all Mitsubishis that aren’t old EVOs

2: Camrys/ES Lexuses

3: Nissan Versas

4: All Buick and Cadillac crossovers

5. Honda CRVs

If you have any of these and drive like a normal person, I’m sorry, but your peers should be castrated

 

[XR7-4.6]

^^^this. +1


I absolutely depend on cruise control. I've driven cross country three times, essentially without ever touching the throttle.


Speed limits...I may have an unpopular opinion about them. They are speed limits, not speed targets.
Speed limits to me are a great example of cultural dysfunction. If we just generally agree that driving 10 mph over the limit is ok, then why not just raise the limit by 10 mph?

Part of it may be the fact that I grew up in Germany. Famously, parts of the Autobahn don't have a speed limit, but those sections that do, the limit is the limit.

I feel the same about what in America is called a "grace period". In my German mind, it just doesn't compute. Just enforce the rule as it's written; don't add fine print.

I think one of the most unspokenly democratic things about this country is that most drivers selected independently what the actual speed limit per road should actually be, and that cops are just enforcing pedantic limits. Almost every road outside of dense suburban neighborhoods and school zones IMO should be 10-20mph higher than the limit, and literally all but a few do-gooders in traffic agree. It’s just revenue generation a 6 lane road like 64 (north avenue) here has a freaking 45mph speed limit.

Speed limits on half the roads are speed suggestions with a big “wink wink”. Even cops don’t abide/enforce them most of the time until end of the month quotas. I’ve known that since I was 17 and low and behold I possess not one ticket on my record in my home state, let alone any accidents or even speed related close calls despite doing 10+ over everywhere most of the time.

 

[theterminator93]

Speed limit = bureaucrats arguing over "public safety" to decide for said public what's best for them and at the same time appease the paper pushers and pear clutchers.

Here it's generally a basic formula that translates to more rural roads = higher speed limits (assuming it's divided 4+ lane). Urban = lower speed limits. 2-lane country roads = 55 unless they're urban, so it goes down from there.

 

[KevinVarnes]

Is your Crown Vic a police package car? I thought all the civilian ones had EFI by 91? 5.8?

Yes, it is a police package car. The 351 was only available in fleet vehicles after '83 or '84 in the states. It was available in Canada for civilian and fleet through '91. They had absolutely no motivation to put EFI on the 351 for passenger cars so it soldiered on with the variable venturi 2 barrel until the end. I drove it with the VV for a while, but the fuel enrichment circuit was giving me issues so I just put a Holley 650 with vacuum secondaries on it. Runs and drives great, but sometimes I feel like I might as well just have a funnel on top of the intake and pour gas into the engine the way it burns through it. Not a great in town commuter car.

 

[MadMikeyL]

Yes, it is a police package car. The 351 was only available in fleet vehicles after '83 or '84 in the states. It was available in Canada for civilian and fleet through '91. They had absolutely no motivation to put EFI on the 351 for passenger cars so it soldiered on with the variable venturi 2 barrel until the end. I drove it with the VV for a while, but the fuel enrichment circuit was giving me issues so I just put a Holley 650 with vacuum secondaries on it. Runs and drives great, but sometimes I feel like I might as well just have a funnel on top of the intake and pour gas into the engine the way it burns through it. Not a great in town commuter car.

If you want better fuel mileage, an Edelbrock carb would be a better choice. The Holleys are great for performance, but for a DD the Edelbrock is far superior.