[Aditya]

ADAS in India : Do you use it? If yes, how?

ADAS (Advance Driver-Assistance Systems) has been introduced in many cars in India. Not just the expensive luxury marques, but also relatively affordable cars from brands like Mahindra, MG and Tata are also now offering Level 2 ADAS in their cars. These systems include various features like forward collision warning, auto emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, smart pilot assist, traffic sign recognition and high beam assist among others.



These features help in reducing driver stress and crashes. Two years ago when we drove the Mahindra XUV700, on a test track, where very few other cars were around, these features really impressed us. However, on our city roads, things are different. Lots of other road users who may not follow rules make matters difficult. In the traffic of India's cities in particular, ADAS can be very irritating.



As an example, we had the Tata Safari Red Dark Edition on test earlier this year. The autonomous emergency braking kept getting triggered due to the system detecting some or the other obstacle in the way. The car kept braking automatically even when it was not necessary. It was too intrusive and I was worried that cars following me would crash into mine. This forced me to turn the autonomous emergency braking feature off.



At the same time, the blind spot monitoring system was very useful.



Again, in the Volvo XC40, the adaptive cruise control was useful. I didn't have to touch the pedals on the highway. The car took care of the acceleration and braking very well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yLEMWPlxb8

Then there was the lane keep assist feature that worked well too. Remember that you have to use the indicator before changing the lanes or else the steering will resist your inputs.



Some features like the high beam assist and driver attention warning don't require any input from the driver and work really well. These features ensure your safety and that of others on the road.

From my experience, when it comes to ADAS, I feel that some features are useable, but some just need to be turned off.

Do you use ADAS? If yes, how?

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by Aditya

[center][h2]..... I didn't have to touch the pedals on the highway. The car took care of the acceleration and braking very well.

...

While this is a great feature to have, the concerning aspect is how these autonomous aids has the potential to make the driver complacent and diminish/turn off his/her reflexes to go for the pedals in a normal car without these aids.

In a normal non ADAS vehicle, driving as an activity engages our actions to accelerate or brake in an almost autonomous/reflex driven way, we really don't have to think about braking, the foot by default reaches to the right pedals even in a fraction of a second making all the difference between getting into danger or being safe.

Imagine everyone getting used to these driver aids which will take all the decisions and disabling our "human-autonomous" driver actions. Such drivers will never be able to drive a normal car safely. If there is a need to do an emergency braking, such ADAS-drivers will simply not find their leg goiing for the brakes within the critical needed time.

[Cyborg]

I ride a Ducati Multistrada V4S which is equipped ADAS and Blind Spot Monitoring.

ADAS - This works like a charm, tried it a couple of times. It’s a bit unnerving initially for a motorcycle because she brakes and accelerates according to the vehicle ahead and allows the rider to set a distance to the vehicle ahead (near, medium or far). In India because lane discipline is almost nonexistent it is a challenge because the front radar will be kind of constantly searching if the vehicle ahead does not keep its lane. Abroad it could be a boon on long rides. I don’t use it anymore.

Blind Spot Monitoring - This is a really great safety feature introduced by Ducati as a segment first. I have been riding since more than 40 years but still find this feature extremely useful because it works exactly like the name suggests. Lights on the mirrors light up when a vehicle is in your blind spot alerting you of potential danger. I initially thought it would be distracting but it’s subtle and the implementation is perfect with the radar at the back of the motorcycle. The rider can adjust the intensity of the light as required from the TFT screen. The system itself may be switched off if you wish but I don’t think anyone would want to do that after seeing the effectiveness.

Cheers

[anjan_c2007]

ADAS is a great feature, keeping our safety on the mind. Its availability in the affordable brands and models is a boon for most of us who find it really useful.

However, a particular feature may or may not be liked by an individual. Such feature/s can always be disabled by the respective individual/s. The activation and usage of ADAS can hence be need based.

[GTO]

Have used ADAS in almost all the cars it's available in, including the high-end Mercedes. Have found all of them to be useless in Indian conditions because they are tuned too conservatively for Indian conditions (3 inch gap in Europe is while in India, it's ).

And that will never change because automated systems like these will always err on the side of safety.

One thing that is universally dangerous is the emergency braking though. These cars slam on the brakes rather unexpectedly. While it can unnerve the driver, any car behind with poorer brakes will rear-end it. As it happened with a Tucson-owning BHPian.

As of date, ADAS is purely a gizmo to make a sale, show a strong feature list and portray the product as being "futuristic".

[AtheK]

I have ADAS enabled car and just finished a 700 Km long drive over the weekend, for some reason I was just not comforatble switching it on and did the entire stretch without switching it on even once.

The way cars cut and try to enter another lane in India is sometimes extremely dangerous, and you have to be extra careful with some of the drivers. I decided I am better off not using it to not experiment how exactly will ADAS behave in such a case. I will probably get more adventurous when my family is not in the the car.

In the city I tried Traffic Jam assist and it worked well, but then again with bikes cutting like snakes through any possible gaps, I generally keep it switched off.

I am hoping to start using it more in coming months as I get more comfortable with the dynamics of the car.

[WhiteKnight]

One feature I find extremely useful in Indian condition is Adaptive Cruise Control. Using cruise control on Indian highways is not easy, given the traffic, but adaptive cruise control makes it much more usable.

Anti collision warning- I find this a bit intrusive, but useful nevertheless.

Safety is not for convenience. So it can be a bit intrusive and unpleasant.

[isotope729]

Not tenured enough to vote but I'll put my thoughts.

Some features of ADAS are extremely useful such as blind spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control but the others may be gimmicky at best, or intrusive for the drivers' input and instincts.

I'm a fan of technology, but always believe that it should improve or ease a job/task; not replace the decision making process of the individual. We want technology to make smarter humans, not zombies who abide by the decision of an algorithm.

[nairanupg]

I have found it Useless in India....Too Intrusive and a little unnerving when the vehicle starts thinking for itself. Except for the blind spot monitor which is useful, i get flustered with the other things. Have used the cruise control on the highway to Ahmedabad often enough though.

[McLaren_P1]

Originally Posted by GTO

Have used ADAS in almost all the cars it's available in, including the high-end Mercedes. Have found all of them to be useless in Indian conditions because they are tuned too conservatively for Indian conditions

Automakers if introducing ADAS, need to tune it for Indian conditions. And features that make sense for Indian driving.

This again might be expensive and may not make financial sense for them.

[abtyagi]

Being probably the first casualty of ADAS, I find it useful only in warning mode, not in the assisted mode in Indian conditions.
Just the recap of the incident,
A pedestrian crossing through moving traffic, Tuscon identify it as a possible crash and applies an emergency break, causing Tuscon to be rear-ended by another car behind.

The hassle after this was the replacement parts. It took 3-4 months for them to arrive from Korea.

[revsperminute]

Have driven 2 cars with ADAS. XUV700 and a S90. Even on highways such as the Mumbai Pune Expressway, I found ADAS to be useless. It’s a cool party trick to go wow over for 3kms.

Moreover, in some situations it’s downright dangerous. The s90 needs its ADAS systems to be switched off each time the car is started and I forgot to do so one time. The car slammed on its brakes when a cabbie slightly entered my lane. In this scenario, my reaction would be to prepare myself to brake while blaring my horn and flashing my brights. Now what the car did was slam on the brakes from highway speeds while a Shivneri Volvo (ironic) was on my tail. Also, on narrow/Ghat roads it keeps pulling the steering all over the place because it thinks I’m veering off my lane.

I’ve also been witness to a fender bender caused by a MG coming to a dead stop right in the middle of the Mankhurd - EEH intersection.

But one feature I really like is Blind Spot Monitoring. It’s so useful on Indian roads with autos and bikes always trying to split lanes.

[amahale]

I have been driving ADAS enabled car (XUV700) for 5 months now and mostly in city traffic. I have "Autonomous emergency braking" always ON and contrary to general opinion, I find it very useful. In all my rides till now, it has only warned about an impact and on rear occasions slightly applied brake. It has never yet done a hard breaking. I guess it depends on how you drive; it is better to have it turned OFF if you have an aggressive driving style in city traffic.

Adaptive Cruise Control with lane assist is very useful on highways.

I feel the ADAS features has made me a less aggressive driver than before, especially in city traffic.

[kadanaJ]

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight

One feature I find extremely useful in Indian condition is Adaptive Cruise Control. Using cruise control on Indian highways is not easy, given the traffic, but adaptive cruise control makes it much more usable.

Originally Posted by AtheK

In the city I tried Traffic Jam assist and it worked well, but then again with bikes cutting like snakes through any possible gaps, I generally keep it switched off.

I do not have a car with ADAS, but I am keen on it being a feature in my next car.

Was hoping to get some feedback from members who have used it, primarily in the city.

1. Do different manufacturers have wildly different implementations of ADAS? How different is Mahindra vs Hyundai vs Honda vs Volvo vs others?

2. How useful is adaptive cruise control in city traffic? Does it work at speeds of 0-60kmph.

My ideal scenario in traffic is the car handles all braking and acceleration on it's own, based on movement of the cars ahead. I don't mind steering (considering we don't have proper lane markings, I do not even expect lane-keep assist to work properly). I do not mind if it leaves a little extra space and a few aggressive drivers cut ahead of me. As long as I don't have to move my feet, that would be a huge boon.

What exactly is traffic jam assist? Do all ADAS equipped cars have it. I had read somewhere that the Mahindra ADAS can only be activated at highway speeds, and does not work below 40 or 60kmph. That would completely defeat my purpose.

What other manufacturers have adaptive cruise / traffic jam assist that works at low speeds?