Cruise control

[jfranek]

I like the Tiguan cruise control and use it a lot, but it has a serious flaw.
It will not change gear when going downhill, and will let the car to accelerate well over the set speed.

This is a major flaw. I don't know if it is only my car, or if it is a design fault.
Have others noticed the same problem?

Joe

[mickofoz]

Yes, but so far all of my cars, Holden, Fords etc have done the same.

[suparockin]

Re: Cruise control

Yes, but so far all of my cars, Holden, Fords etc have done the same.

All cars do that

[donweather]

Yes, but so far all of my cars, Holden, Fords etc have done the same.

I can't say I've ever had my cruise control on my holden on when going down a steep hill, but any reasonable hill on the highway and my holden stays at the set speed.

Haven't tried Tiggy yet as still running it in, although I have a manual so I'd imagine she'd be hard to change down gears without me doing it

[Arctra]

Yeah, it is a shortcoming. The Audi Q5's cruise control (and probably all new model Audi's for that matter) will change down/brake to keep you within a tollerable threshold of your set speed. It's yet to trickle down to the VW's yet though.

[NZTiguan]

You're quite right that there are very very few "adaptive" cruise controls out there yet BUT there is a "fix" in the auto Tiguan. Just slip it over to "tiptronic" as you start to speed up and downshift a gear, that will give it better engine braking.

Cheers

[Guest0608]

Cruise control on a Tig doesnt brake on a steep decent. None of them do, Its says this in the owners manual somewhere. Thats how they have been designed..VW...

[jfranek]

Cruise control on a Tig doesnt brake on a steep decent. None of them do, Its says this in the owners manual somewhere. Thats how they have been designed..VW...

Obviously it is not a very smart design. I think it could be corrected easily by firmware update, but if Audi has it and VW not, I would say that it has been 'crippled' intentionally.
I still like my Tiguan, but VW has just dropped a notch in my opinion.

Joe

[jfranek]

All cars do that

My 626's and 323's downshifted.

[mickofoz]

I think you should go back driving Mazdas, Fords and Holdens again and leave the VW brand to people who appreciate what they are driving. For what it is wworth, Adaptive Cruise Control is available for most VWs in Europe. They have not dropped the ball, they are just introducing new technology into other countries in a controlled way.

[NZTiguan]

My 626's and 323's downshifted.

Sorry but I think you'll find they didn't, adaptive cruise is a VERY recent addition (mainly in the last year) to top end European vehicles. I have owned a 323 and a 626 and they certainly did NOT have adaptive cruise and to the best of my knowledge (I'm happy to be corrected on this) still don't. As far as I'm aware the only "normal" vehicles to come out of Japan with this are the very latest top-end Lexus models. I know of no Ford or GM product that has it either.

Cheers

[suparockin]

I've owned a Mazda 6, Saab 93, Mazda Astina and a dozen other cars which did not have adaptive cruise control.

[logger]

You're quite right that there are very very few "adaptive" cruise controls out there yet...

Bit of confusion creeping in here. The key feature of Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is radar based distance control, providing separation from the vehicle ahead. It is far more sophisticated and expensive system, that by its nature also provides overspeed control as a side effect of its abilty to brake the vehicle.

OP is frustrated by the basic system not holding speed when going down a hill. When you understand that the basic system only has access to the accelerator and not the brakes, it is easier to appreciate how it can overspeed.

My Golf 6 CRZ CNTRL does an excellent job holding speed almost to the km going up hill, all the while holding tall gears. But my Automatic Toyota Kluger struggles even after it has made several aggressive down shifts. I wish it would downshift less, accept the speed loss and keep everything nice and smooth. You could say this is a design fault. But I am happy to accept that the Toyotas underspeed on the way up and both the VW and Toyota's overspeed on the way down are simply a limitations of the respective systems. I prefer the VW system though.

[NZTiguan]

You are "technically" correct and I'm sorry I don't know the "official" name of the modified cruise that will downshift if required to slow the car but there is a system out there now that does, and I understand that VW has it in some new high-end models. It is not the "ACC" you're talking about which is also out there and also available in some VWs (amongst others).

Cheers

[Swallowtail]

As logger says, some confusion here...

Traditional Cruise control only has access to the accelerator, not the brakes.

Speed control like most interstate trucks have does both and will try and maintain a given speed both up hills and down hills.

Hill descent assistance (like my R36 has, not the 4WD down rocky mountain slopes type) will use the gearbox to downshift to attempt to keep the speed at the specified cruise control setting going down hills, but does not access the brakes, and is not related to ACC.

ACC is a whole world more clever, with the radar function in addition to speed control.