rescueswimmer

Just a quick question the little circle in the front bumper what is it? I was watching tech tv and they were showing the 04 Euro Honda and were stating that it would be in the u.s. models as well. The feature Im talking about. When you have the Cruise control on and the car infront of you slows down or decides to stop the car will disengage the cruise control and if your going to slam into it, It would apply hard breaking "dont know if I like that feature" Does the TL do anything like that. Personally I think its just one more useless featrure to break :grenade: but hell thats just me

DopeTL04

Well thats not what it is, eventhough I totally disagree with you and wish that was it. But its just for towing the car I believe..which is more useless than what your talking about.

Xpditor

The little circle in the front bumper is where you screw in the towing eye that's located in the tool tray in the trunk a la BMW.

If in doubt, RTFM.

XP

vtechbrain

The circle is a tow hook point. The adaptative cruise control is a Japan accord feature. I dont know of any plans to introduce it here yet. The mercedes adaptative cruise has not been very succesful here.

w1n78

that feature you're talking about i think is in the new 2005 infiniti m45 (maybe in 2004 also). cool feature but not something i loose sleep over if i don't have. besides aren't we all lazy enough as it is? i hardly use cruise control as it takes the fun away from driving my car IMO

caball88

inifniti also markets their "laser" guided cruise control which detects the distance of the car in front of you and automatically adjusts the car's cruise speed. honda's jap accord has this feature as well and is marketed there as HID(Honda Intelligent Driving or something like that not the Xenon lights). it will detect the speed of the car in front and adjust the car cruise speed, but if the car is not in cruise control and the closing speed is becoming increasing fast it will issue a blinking warning on the dash. when the distance is becoming too small while the closing speed is still too fast it will start to apply the brakes. this is to help stop the car and most the time will not completely stop the vehicle, but will reduce the damage to the car significantly.

DopeTL04

yes its on the FX45

rets

When talking about Infiniti or other carmakers do have this feature, why cannot we talk about Honda? (except you guys are only focusing on models currently running in US)

Honda has this, too, for example, JDM 2004 Inspire has this, called HiDS (Honda intelligent Driver Support System) http://www.honda.co.jp/INSPIRE/prese...ids/index.html...

I don't remember if 05RL will come with this, but this tech will be spread out to all models in the following years as the keyless entry system.

JoganJani

You are talking about the Adaptive Cruise Control which was introduced by Jaguar. I wish it had in TL.

rescueswimmer

Yea the hids is right on. the one nice feature if it works properly is that if you start swerving from lane to lane or at night you start to dose off the car will warn you of this.

rets

I'm not sure how other brands' Adaptive Cruise Control works and what features they have. But, bascially Honda's HiDS currently could manage these below:

IHCC: keep distance between you and the car in front.

LKAS: keep your car staying between two lines (if your highway is well-maintained and having the significant white boundaries)

CMOS sensor: remind the driver of the situation while the vehicle cannot stay in the lane

Jss1

Doesn't the 05 RL have it? I thought I read somewhere it did.

rescueswimmer

I dont think anbody knows what the 05 Rl will have. Im sure it will be relatively the same but will have some features we all will go $hit i wish mine had that. If they didnt do it nobody would sell the 04 for the 05. Im assuming it will have fold down seats and some other goodies.

NOX 3.2

It's an option on the E Class, (about $3100) -
called : Distronic Adaptive Cruise Control

http://www.mbusa.com/byo/pop_opt_pac...=o&model=E500W

http://www.mbusa.com/brand/container...=04_E&menu=3_1

I was going to buy an E500 with all the bells, but they wanted $78.600 - maybe later when I hit it big.

apwalsh

Seems completely unneccessary and just another excuse for some idiots to go beddy-bye while they are driving.

rets

IMO, those features seem stupid, yes, but some of them could be the safety & necessary features. They're just like Auto-headlight or Auto-wiper a few years ago.


I thought Windows system is the idiot system, but this is a great benefit to most of ppl... :o

Bitium

Is not on the accord, but the inspire....like rets mention. Acura had plans to introduced the system on the RL, but I'm not sure if it will.

Honda had other plans using this system, like if you are going to get in a front end accident, the car will automatically tighten the seat belts and lock them...it will also apply the brakes if it thinks you are going to crash according to all the variables like speed, direction, distance....etc.

They call it active safety...there is a video some where.

Bitium

Yes we do....for a fact it will have SH-AWD....300hp...Auto headlights....electric steering column (tilt/telesc) with easy exit feature all integrated with the new Acura keyless entry system (card key). It will have everything the TL has, but adding real traffic info on navi and Bose surround sound instead of Panasonic. It will have run flat tires, with tire pressure monitoring. I don't think it will have fold down seats.....a feature I absolutely don't care about in anyway, but people on this site will love to see. The pass trough is enough for me.

The MID will be upgraded to add things like real time fuel consumption, a lot of people want this.

Is going to be an awesome car......thank god they are going to sell it in Europe as the Honda legend......

rescueswimmer

bitium that is great im sure Honda would do something llike that. Wow That would be nice if the 05 would have just a couple of those features. but thanks honda for sending it to europe

TLGator

I think this whole Adaptive Cruise technology is inherently unsafe and will be off the market in a few years. It just leads people to rely too much on the car and then not be prepared for evasive maneuvers if the situation calls for it.

If you're sleepy you need to pull over, not have the car keep you between the lines.

If the traffic is heavy enough that you're annoyed because the cruise control is getting you too close to other cars, that's a situation where you shouldn't be using cruise control in the first place. Cruise is for semi-deserted, relatively straight stretches of highway where you're wide awake and don't want your foot to fall asleep either.

rets

TLGator, you're talking to the points, yes, they seem dangerous. I do worry about the same thing in the first day I see this. Plus, as I said, it's just like Auto-headlight, someone likes it, others don't, and your light is still on if you don't have it.

I'd say they should be the secondary features to help improve your driving abilities and happiness, it's not the main characters to help you unload your driving duty or vigilance.

It's hard to say this will go to the end very soon, but I'm sure this will be other new future features' add-up and improve our driving safety in some ways. IMO.

TLGator

rets - Agreed, as a secondary feature Adaptive Cruise could be useful. But Americans are fat and lazy. Given the opportunity to let someone, or something, else do the work, it's kick back and snooze time in Montana. Crash smash! Gaping head wounds! Horror! Horror!

itsnorm

This thread makes me think of the days of automatic seat belts. Apparently automakers and safety experts felt that drivers were too lazy and/or stupid to use 'em, so they designed the automatic seat belt. That is, until someone figured out that it's just another mechanism that can brake, and that people will subvert the system anyway. Who's gonna pay a few G's for a system that buzzes (or whatever) when you forget your turn signal on a lane change?

mlewbart

automatic seat belts went away because people were too lazy to buckle the lap belt and this sets people up for really bad injuries. AKA Niki Taylor having her liver cut in half (crushed in half actually) by a 1993 Maxima's belt.

rets

I still wonder why I purchased 94 Maxima... (perhaps, it has the good engine/tranny) I just couldn't get used to that Auto seatbelt when the car was under my possession. :'(

savageTL

As far as the braking issue which I don't think anyone answered, the TL does not have such a system. I understand your trepidation about the system BUT I can tell you it is excellent and if incorporated into the TL could help with one of the TL's weaknesses, panic braking. Ths systems determine how quickly you apply the brakes and if you apply with a speed and initial pressure that indicates a panic stop it applies full power to the brakes much quicker than a normal system would allow. I have seen this system in action when I took delivery of my M3 at the BMW Performance Center. The first track excercise is a series of panic stops, I can tell you the system is seamless and is just one more piece in the puzzle to achieving stops that will suck the air from your lungs and allow you to feel the blood pool in the front of your face, literally. The trick is the system only intervenes in a panic stop and the only negative is having to be aware of your rear view when in a panic stop because the car behind you likely can't stop as quickly so you have to consider moving over so you don't get smashed in the rear.

As for active cruise controls, I don't think they are quite ready for prime time. They do have some interesting aspects, but for me, as it stands, it is of no interest since, despite driving ~40k on the interstate each year, I can't remember the last time I used standard cruise control.

Vandy