I am thinking to buy an NX or RX(2016) with adaptive cruise control.
I read the manual that NX uses a radar sensor somewhere behind (or below?) the lexus logo.
(In the picture of 2016 RX, there is a sensor right below not behind the logo)

My major concern is whether this radar sensor can be easily hit by any insects or stones in the highway and become malfunction or even broken quickly?

Any thoughts are helpful. I am also thinking about Subaru's outback with eyesight. Subaru's eyesight system is behind the windshield, so should not have this kind of potential problem. But, I like Lexus's refinement.


Thanks

 

Hi welcome to the forum.

The radar is behind the emblem. We also get pre-collision usually bundled with the DRCC as it uses the same radar. DRCC functions above 42 km/hr (25 mph) as per this video. What's in the windshield is the camera for the Lane Departure Alert/Lane Keep Assist.









In some international markets, it's an all-speed DRCC but not in N. America so don't count on this one. We also don't get the 360 camera, but we do get the LDA/LKA, auto-high-beam, among all the usual other safety features.



In short, I appreciate DRCC and LDA to the point where the car virtually drives itself on the highway. If it veers off a little, it corrects the steering into the lane.

 

"In some international markets, it's an all-speed DRCC but not in N. America so don't count on this one"

So, you mean in US, the DRCC in current NX is not all-speed ACC, i.e. it can not stop the car?

If so, I have to go to Subaru.

Do you think the comping 2016 RX will get a full-speed ACC?

 

If you get it with pre-collision, in a sudden emergency it will stop, but not if it's gradual, this is for MY '15.

The press release for the'16 RX states "DRCC with full stop capability under certain conditions"

http://www.lexus.com/documents/conce...ss-Release.pdf

Cheers

 

this is a good write up by the IIHS on front crash avoidance systems:
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/deskto...ash-prevention

The article above is over a year and a half old, but nothing new has released to change those results at this time.

The eyesight system is clearly the best available in the US market (I have not looked into international systems at all). My wife is also considering either an outback 3.6r limited vs. nx f-sport. The eyesight system worked well in the few cars I have driven with it equipped... but the NX is still hard to beat, tough decision for us as we have had many subarus in the past. We like the additional feel and luxury you get in the NX. The interior really is a nice place to be... not that limited outback is bad by any means, but the NX is in a class higher segment.

 

I use the adaptive cruise a lot when I drive the NX. It's about on par with my other car's system. Works really well in all cases but if you are somewhat agressive and don't like people cutting I front of you then you may not like it as much. I don't like to tailgate but I can see where this can be problematic like on the NJ turnpike where people wedge in wherever they can on occasion.

All told, it's a great system and works really well. I especially like that it DOES come to a full stop with the system. One of my favorite uses is stop and go traffic to alleviate leg cramps. Once it stops, the brakes stay locked so you have to press the gas and 'resume' to get going again if the stop is for more than a second or two. If it is a very short stop (timing not slamming on the brakes) then the system resumes on its own.

I haven't had the system automatically emergency stop for me yet but I have gotten the warning alert a few times when approaching a stopped car quickly, I didn't need the alert in those cases and the brakes did not apply but better safe than sorry in my book. I'm talking about emergency braking when cruise is off here, In cruise mode I have had it stop and go for me quite a bit.

I personally would not buy another car without adaptive cruise and the full speed range is very important to me. I believe you have to be above 25mph or so to actually set the cruise but it will stay in adaptive mode and keep up with traffic all the way down to a crawl.

Hope that helps!

 

I have the adaptive cruise on mine, and its a love hate relationship.

Love - That I know if something happens in front of me, the car will do everything it can to stop or minimize the impact speed. Its a "nice to know you have it" function.

Hate - Exactly what M35x above just stated, it will drive you slightly crazy if people are #%(*@holes and cut you off while driving down the highway because the car will IMMEDIATELY react and get on the brakes to rebuild that safety margin. Furthermore, if you like to causally change lanes around people, and you usually wait till like 30ft behind the person in front of you to move, the car will begin to brake, which is very clumsy when you're about to flip on your turn signal and change lanes.

I find that I turn it on, and then reduce the margin to 1 dot, that usually makes me happy and feel the least impeded.

 

I have it in my NX200T and love it
Really great when on the main road for long distance, works fine

 

Comes to a full stop? Mine disengages when below 25 mph (40 km/hr)... Maybe it's programmed differently for Canada which would be a big surprise...

ClaudeNX. Does your behave like mine (Canadian model)?

 

I can vouch for this. I use it on the highway along with stop and go traffic too. When the DRCC is engaged and let's say the car in front of you stops at stop light the NX will stop behind that car. When the car in front of you starts moving simply press the accelerator or press upwards on the stalk and the NX will resume its set speed behind that vehicle you're following. I press the stalk upwards because its convenient and plus I'm lazy. The NX will also display messages about what its doing and what the driver should do. Never had DRCC before on any other vehicles I've owned and I'm glad I added this on mine; very nifty feature.

 

Ok, so discovery, based on the manual. There are two types of DRCC.

1. DRCC with all-speed control
2. DRCC

US must have 1 while Canada must have 2.

 

Thank you, this is exactly what i want.

May I ask you another question?

Will the insect or stones on the road bother the system?
Since the sensor is not protected by the windshield (like what eyesight does), I am a little worried about the survival time of the radar based system?
In the highway around my home, my car's font can easily collect a whole layer of insects.

 

Bummer! Here with the NX, I thought Canada had more features for once. At least we have AVS and HUD to make up for it.

 

Interesting that Canada doesn't have all-speed DRCC. it's usually the U.S. that loses features

Regarding bugs, insects, etc. The best I can tell you is that I haven't had the system not work other than when the winshield wipers are either set above rain sensing or if their rain sensing speed goes higher than a delay. This is a safety feature since you really shouldn't be using cruise control in the type of weather and I believe there may be a concern about the radar with rain interference.

If you look at the manual there are a few things that may cause an issue but I've never seen insects, etc. I would be surprised if anyone could answer that with experience. I've had plenty of smashed bugs on my cars and none of them have resulted in errors with the adaptive cruise control.

 

Can someone please re-confirm that the Lexus NX DRCC is All Speed and will work in stop and go traffic? 2 of the Lexus dealers i talked to say it is not all-speed and Lexus website says that only RX has it?

Thanks, Chris