6 ms·

> if the system fails to detect any other vehicles for a period of more than about 90 minutes, it assumes that there is a sensor fault, and refuses to operate

by lh7777 4y ago

> if the system fails to detect any other vehicles for a period of more than about 90 minutes, it assumes that there is a sensor fault, and refuses to operate I have a current model Sprinter and this behavior is frustrating (thanks for the explanation, by the way, I thought it was a random bug). Cruise will also disengage in heavy rain or snow, with the system saying the sensor is dirty. It wouldn’t be so bad if traditional cruise control would keep working without the active braking assist, etc. but unfortunately it’s all or nothing. I do like the system when it works, which is most of the time, and it’s never done something that felt unsafe. I haven’t had any problems with the info system. This is my first vehicle with a touchscreen, and I was worried that it’d be a pain to use. But Mercedes provides real buttons for common actions, little trackpads on the steering wheel that can control the system without ever having to touch the screen, Car Play works great, and the built-in nav system is useful for those times I need directions and don’t have a cell signal. My biggest worry is how these delicate parts will hold up over the years. My 10 year old car has a monochrome dot matrix display that loses a good number of pixels when it gets hot out. Will I really be able to get replacement parts for the Sprinter when the screen or computer start to die in 10-15 years?

SoftTalker 4y ago
> Cruise will also disengage in heavy rain or snow That’s what it should do, honestly. It’s not safe to drive with cruise control in low traction conditions.
- ht85 4y ago
  Yeah, the manual explicitly says that cruise control should only be used in clear weather conditions.
  - lh7777 4y ago
    Yes, the manual does say not to use adaptive cruise control (Distronic) on icy or slippery roads, if visibility is poor, or if the radar sensors are affected by a variety of weather conditions. Cruise will even automatically disengage if electronic stability intervenes. I’m mostly annoyed that false positives such as the Nevada issue described above or a one-time splash of water on the sensor when it’s perfectly safe to use cruise control results in the whole system being unavailable for an extended period of time. To me, the right solution would be to disengage Distronic when the sensor can’t see well enough and then allow the driver to re-engage traditional cruise control if they deem it safe to do so. The system doesn’t have the sensors or the smarts to know if it’s actually safe to use cruise control, only the driver can make that judgement. From the manual: “Cruise control is only an aid. You are responsible for the distance to the vehicle in front, for vehicle speed, braking in good time and for staying in your lane.”
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- nuccy 4y ago
  Well... there is another problem obviously apart of low traction, which car cannot sense directly. Accumulation of water or snow obstruct the radar. Actually a car with no camera would report exactly that just from radar readout alone, since it can detect worse signal-to-noise due to too much reflection in its readings.
- xattt 4y ago
  This is one unconscious bias from California-based self-driving companies: weather conditions worse than overcast skies exist in other parts of the world. Recently, I drove in a whiteout blizzard with huge flakes without much accumulation on the road. Road was drivable, but I couldn’t see road markings. The experience would have been less scary with some sort of augmented display to show the road borders.
  - mook 4y ago
    Unfortunately the augmented displays don't have better input and are likely much worse than your eyes (their major advantage is never getting bored or sleepy). In your described conditions it would likely have been even more blind than you were, so if there had been displays they would have little bearing to reality.
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    > Road was drivable, but I couldn’t see road markings. That's a bit contradictory. If you can't see the road markings the road is not drivable.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - jobjobjobjob 4y ago
      In Ontario and it's very common to be driving on packed snow for a few days after new snowfall. You get barely any road markings at all. You just use common sense and memory to try and act like the lane dividers, turning lanes, stop lines are still there. It must be the same in many parts of the US as well. With winter tires and the right attitude its perfectly fine! But yeah if you can't see the road markings due to an active blizzard, flip the hazards on, follow the tail lights ahead of ya, and stay in the middle of were the road should be.
      - jacquesm 4y ago
        I've lived there. St. Josephs Island to be specific. I also went to the funeral of more than one person that 'didn't make it' through that kind of condition.
- SkyPuncher 4y ago
  Eh, the risk is really overblown in my opinion. Hydroplaning/sliding is a real risk, but you can mitigate that by simply understanding how your vehicle behaves and paying attention. Sudden, unexpected change in engine RPM, you should probably cancel cruise control. Weird torquing on the steering wheel, disengage cruise and steer by hand.
- dghughes 4y ago
  There also should always be an option to turn off traction control on gravel roads too. You want the gravel to pile up in front of tires it slows you much faster. And snow is a pain too. Ford Transit vans were terrible for no manual over ride maybe it's all Ford since I doubt Transit has its own unique system. I used to drive a Transit for work the little goofy looking vans. I couldn't make it through a 12 inch high pile of snow the van kept cutting the engine power. I had to back up hit the gas put it in neutral and coast though the tiny little snow pile. You could pull the fuse to disable the traction control but it also shuts off ABS and the airbag. Useless piece of crap van.
  - bayindirh 4y ago
    Our Ford cars have a little button which disables all stability program functions, except ABS. Strange that the van doesn't have it.
BoorishBears 4y ago
> Will I really be able to get replacement parts for the Sprinter when the screen or computer start to die in 10-15 years? Most likely, yes. Part of why most automotive tech lags behind the times on raw performance is guarantees around things like how long you can source a given SoC, for example. 10 years is not an uncommon manufacturing lifetime in the space, and a Sprinter is a relatively high volume car so I wouldn't be too concerned about MB producing/stocking spares
- bluGill 4y ago
  I wouldn't count on it. I work for John Deere, and am often in discussions about some part going out of production. Sometimes we guess how many we need for the next X years and buy that many, othertimes we rewrite software for a new part. Care to guess how many boards can sit in a warehouse for many years and still have good capacitors. I can't tell you how many years, but there is always someone in these discussions who points out with pride that we still tractors from the 1950 in use by customers who demand replacement parts for anything that breaks.
  - deaddodo 4y ago
    > Care to guess how many boards can sit in a warehouse for many years and still have good capacitors. If you guys are having trouble storing boards for 10+ years with caps regularly going bad, I would highly recommend you look into a new supplier. Well-built caps should have no problem going for 25+ years in storage (especially cold). In addition, this is probably the easiest component on the board to replace. If you can’t find functional new stock and this is the only issue, just recap them.
    - bluGill 4y ago
      I have no insight into how we store things. I sometimes have input into the buy or port to a replacement decision, but if we decide to buy there is a completely different department that handles the details. Caps are an issue that is easiest for people here to understand, but we have a long list of similar issues to watch for in storing parts
hackernewds 4y ago
> built-in nav system is useful for those times need directions and don't have a cell signal. You know you can also download Offline maps. One of Google Maps best features.
- buffet_overflow 4y ago
  This is one of those things that while true and useful, I personally don't realize or think of it until just after I need it. It's always frustrating to get to a destination without signal and need to plot the return trip, or try to make adjustment in the middle of a dead zone and realize you don't have maps. I keep an atlas in my back seat just to be safe now.
- lh7777 4y ago
  The nice thing about the built-in nav is that it always works everywhere in the U.S. Google Maps only lets you download an area about half the size of Washington State at a time and you have to manually select the area to download. Fine for local use, but too tedious (and too much disk space) for a long road trip.
  - julianz 4y ago
    ?? The Google Maps I use offers to download the maps if I ask for directions on a long journey. It doesn't seem to have download limits and I never need to think about it again.
- bombolo 4y ago
  Have you heard of Open Street Maps? You can keep offline all the maps you want.
bootlooped 4y ago
> Cruise will also disengage in heavy rain or snow, with the system saying the sensor is dirty. It wouldn’t be so bad if traditional cruise control would keep working without the active braking assist, etc. but unfortunately it’s all or nothing. A previous car I had, a 2019 CRV, did this too. I understand that it could be a very dangerous situation if the driver forgets or doesn't realize they're only using the dumb cruise control instead of the adaptive cruise control they're used to.

by lh7777 4y ago

SoftTalker 4y ago

> Cruise will also disengage in heavy rain or snow That’s what it should do, honestly. It’s not safe to drive with cruise control in low traction conditions.

ht85 4y ago
Yeah, the manual explicitly says that cruise control should only be used in clear weather conditions.
- lh7777 4y ago
  Yes, the manual does say not to use adaptive cruise control (Distronic) on icy or slippery roads, if visibility is poor, or if the radar sensors are affected by a variety of weather conditions. Cruise will even automatically disengage if electronic stability intervenes. I’m mostly annoyed that false positives such as the Nevada issue described above or a one-time splash of water on the sensor when it’s perfectly safe to use cruise control results in the whole system being unavailable for an extended period of time. To me, the right solution would be to disengage Distronic when the sensor can’t see well enough and then allow the driver to re-engage traditional cruise control if they deem it safe to do so. The system doesn’t have the sensors or the smarts to know if it’s actually safe to use cruise control, only the driver can make that judgement. From the manual: “Cruise control is only an aid. You are responsible for the distance to the vehicle in front, for vehicle speed, braking in good time and for staying in your lane.”
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
nuccy 4y ago
Well... there is another problem obviously apart of low traction, which car cannot sense directly. Accumulation of water or snow obstruct the radar. Actually a car with no camera would report exactly that just from radar readout alone, since it can detect worse signal-to-noise due to too much reflection in its readings.
xattt 4y ago
This is one unconscious bias from California-based self-driving companies: weather conditions worse than overcast skies exist in other parts of the world. Recently, I drove in a whiteout blizzard with huge flakes without much accumulation on the road. Road was drivable, but I couldn’t see road markings. The experience would have been less scary with some sort of augmented display to show the road borders.
- mook 4y ago
  Unfortunately the augmented displays don't have better input and are likely much worse than your eyes (their major advantage is never getting bored or sleepy). In your described conditions it would likely have been even more blind than you were, so if there had been displays they would have little bearing to reality.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  > Road was drivable, but I couldn’t see road markings. That's a bit contradictory. If you can't see the road markings the road is not drivable.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - jobjobjobjob 4y ago
    In Ontario and it's very common to be driving on packed snow for a few days after new snowfall. You get barely any road markings at all. You just use common sense and memory to try and act like the lane dividers, turning lanes, stop lines are still there. It must be the same in many parts of the US as well. With winter tires and the right attitude its perfectly fine! But yeah if you can't see the road markings due to an active blizzard, flip the hazards on, follow the tail lights ahead of ya, and stay in the middle of were the road should be.
    - jacquesm 4y ago
      I've lived there. St. Josephs Island to be specific. I also went to the funeral of more than one person that 'didn't make it' through that kind of condition.
SkyPuncher 4y ago
Eh, the risk is really overblown in my opinion. Hydroplaning/sliding is a real risk, but you can mitigate that by simply understanding how your vehicle behaves and paying attention. Sudden, unexpected change in engine RPM, you should probably cancel cruise control. Weird torquing on the steering wheel, disengage cruise and steer by hand.
dghughes 4y ago
There also should always be an option to turn off traction control on gravel roads too. You want the gravel to pile up in front of tires it slows you much faster. And snow is a pain too. Ford Transit vans were terrible for no manual over ride maybe it's all Ford since I doubt Transit has its own unique system. I used to drive a Transit for work the little goofy looking vans. I couldn't make it through a 12 inch high pile of snow the van kept cutting the engine power. I had to back up hit the gas put it in neutral and coast though the tiny little snow pile. You could pull the fuse to disable the traction control but it also shuts off ABS and the airbag. Useless piece of crap van.
- bayindirh 4y ago
  Our Ford cars have a little button which disables all stability program functions, except ABS. Strange that the van doesn't have it.

BoorishBears 4y ago

> Will I really be able to get replacement parts for the Sprinter when the screen or computer start to die in 10-15 years? Most likely, yes. Part of why most automotive tech lags behind the times on raw performance is guarantees around things like how long you can source a given SoC, for example. 10 years is not an uncommon manufacturing lifetime in the space, and a Sprinter is a relatively high volume car so I wouldn't be too concerned about MB producing/stocking spares

bluGill 4y ago
I wouldn't count on it. I work for John Deere, and am often in discussions about some part going out of production. Sometimes we guess how many we need for the next X years and buy that many, othertimes we rewrite software for a new part. Care to guess how many boards can sit in a warehouse for many years and still have good capacitors. I can't tell you how many years, but there is always someone in these discussions who points out with pride that we still tractors from the 1950 in use by customers who demand replacement parts for anything that breaks.
- deaddodo 4y ago
  > Care to guess how many boards can sit in a warehouse for many years and still have good capacitors. If you guys are having trouble storing boards for 10+ years with caps regularly going bad, I would highly recommend you look into a new supplier. Well-built caps should have no problem going for 25+ years in storage (especially cold). In addition, this is probably the easiest component on the board to replace. If you can’t find functional new stock and this is the only issue, just recap them.
  - bluGill 4y ago
    I have no insight into how we store things. I sometimes have input into the buy or port to a replacement decision, but if we decide to buy there is a completely different department that handles the details. Caps are an issue that is easiest for people here to understand, but we have a long list of similar issues to watch for in storing parts

hackernewds 4y ago

> built-in nav system is useful for those times need directions and don't have a cell signal. You know you can also download Offline maps. One of Google Maps best features.

buffet_overflow 4y ago
This is one of those things that while true and useful, I personally don't realize or think of it until just after I need it. It's always frustrating to get to a destination without signal and need to plot the return trip, or try to make adjustment in the middle of a dead zone and realize you don't have maps. I keep an atlas in my back seat just to be safe now.
lh7777 4y ago
The nice thing about the built-in nav is that it always works everywhere in the U.S. Google Maps only lets you download an area about half the size of Washington State at a time and you have to manually select the area to download. Fine for local use, but too tedious (and too much disk space) for a long road trip.
- julianz 4y ago
  ?? The Google Maps I use offers to download the maps if I ask for directions on a long journey. It doesn't seem to have download limits and I never need to think about it again.
bombolo 4y ago
Have you heard of Open Street Maps? You can keep offline all the maps you want.

bootlooped 4y ago

> Cruise will also disengage in heavy rain or snow, with the system saying the sensor is dirty. It wouldn’t be so bad if traditional cruise control would keep working without the active braking assist, etc. but unfortunately it’s all or nothing. A previous car I had, a 2019 CRV, did this too. I understand that it could be a very dangerous situation if the driver forgets or doesn't realize they're only using the dumb cruise control instead of the adaptive cruise control they're used to.