2020 Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) Review

[Adi4runner]

First of all, just like about all of you, I got the 4runner not because of the safety techs, but because of its proven (old) powertrain and general analog nature of the rig. I didn't even consider any of the TSS feature when considering this purchase. That said, I have to say the ACC behavior is the best that I have used. What a pleasant surprise!

As a background, this is my 3rd car that has this feature. The other two cars I've driven with ACC are the 2006 Infiniti FX35 and the 2016 Honda Pilot. I still have the Honda Pilot so I can directly compare it back to back. I also have a 2010 Audi S4 in my garage, but it doesn't have ACC.

I have always found the ACC in both the FX35 and the Pilot to be extremely jerky. Changes in speed are always met with either full throttle or jerky braking. It's especially bad when a car decides to change lanes in front of you and instantly change the distance between you and the closest car in front of you--these cars would immediately slam on the brakes to get back the set following distance. So I would rarely use this feature. However with the 2020 4Runner, the throttle and braking inputs are very smooth--every input is very gradual until absolutely necessary. The 4Runner would gradually lay off the throttle before applying the brakes when the car in front slows down, and conversely would slowly apply the throttle when the gap increases in the front.

Aside from obviously my favorite off-roader, the 4Runner is now also my favorite vehicle to drive long distances out of the three cars in my garage. THAT is a surprise!

 

[mordotz]

Ha - title caught my attention because I thought it was a complaint regarding the cruise control I could relate to.

I'm not sure if it's specific to the 2020 4Runner, but the cruise control has been unusable for me. I live in a reasonably flat area (SE Michigan), and it's constantly struggling to find the right gear. I would be driving up a gentle highway hill incline and it would over compensate and shift down - loud as fark too with the TRDP exhaust. lol But if I were to turn off cruise control, it shifts back up. If it's not completely flat, it struggles to find the right gear with any inclines.

 

[IamNoremac]

Ha - title caught my attention because I thought it was a complaint regarding the cruise control I could relate to.

I'm not sure if it's specific to the 2020 4Runner, but the cruise control has been unusable for me. I live in a reasonably flat area (SE Michigan), and it's constantly struggling to find the right gear. I would be driving up a gentle highway hill incline and it would over compensate and shift down - loud as fark too with the TRDP exhaust. lol But if I were to turn off cruise control, it shifts back up. If it's not completely flat, it struggles to find the right gear with any inclines.

I've noticed that my car hunts for gears in cruise control. But to +1 what the original poster said, I do think the adaptive aspect of the cruise control is much better than some other cars I've driven.

I had a Mazda with adaptive cruise control before this and it was very abrupt when braking, particularly if another car merged into the lane within my radar distance.

I've also noticed that the lowest radar setting on the 4Runner gets much closer to the other car versus my Mazda which is great. The Mazda would stay so far back, even on the lowest setting.

 

[rightyouareken]

Ha - title caught my attention because I thought it was a complaint regarding the cruise control I could relate to.

I'm not sure if it's specific to the 2020 4Runner, but the cruise control has been unusable for me. I live in a reasonably flat area (SE Michigan), and it's constantly struggling to find the right gear. I would be driving up a gentle highway hill incline and it would over compensate and shift down - loud as fark too with the TRDP exhaust. lol But if I were to turn off cruise control, it shifts back up. If it's not completely flat, it struggles to find the right gear with any inclines.

I agree with both the OP and you. It's interesting...I find the adaptive part of the cruise control works very well (similar to the 2016 Mazda6 and 2018 Golf R I had with adaptive cruise), but the core functionality of the cruise control doesn't work very well. I have two main complaints, both of which were the same as the 2nd gen Tacoma I had (2011 TRD Sport). First, like you said, the transmission is way too quick to downshift on even very mild hills, hills which I could easily have kept it in 5th if driving manually. Sometimes I can shift the transmission into the manual mode and get it to upshift back into 5th, but that doesn't always work (I think the cruise will override the selected manual gear). Second, it's very herky jerky on downhill sections. It's like it can't apply a very small amount of throttle to maintain speed downhill, it's like it's always getting off and back on the throttle down hills. Really annoying.

 

[DallasTRDPro]

I don't trust it at all so I never use any safety features.

 

[grizzlypath]

I really like the ACC, I use it all the time. I have two comments:

1) I wish there was a longer distance setting. I prefer space, especially if it's a quiet highway, and the furthest setting is closer than I'd prefer. A setting where you're right on the max distance that it picks up the front vehicle would be nice.

2) My 4Runner seems to make a "click" sound when it picks up a new vehicle in front of me. Anyone else notice that? My 2017 Highlander doesn't. Just interesting is all, seems to be functionally the same.

 

[Adi4runner]

I really like the ACC, I use it all the time. I have two comments:

1) I wish there was a longer distance setting. I prefer space, especially if it's a quiet highway, and the furthest setting is closer than I'd prefer. A setting where you're right on the max distance that it picks up the front vehicle would be nice.

2) My 4Runner seems to make a "click" sound when it picks up a new vehicle in front of me. Anyone else notice that? My 2017 Highlander doesn't. Just interesting is all, seems to be functionally the same.

Yes, I can use a longer following distance and I noticed the clicking as well. But those are very minor complaints compared to what I'm used to.

 

[Macg33k]

I really like the feature as well. I find that I use it frequently when cruising along behind another vehicle so that I don’t have to maintain my own distance. Call it lazy, but just one less thing to have to think about. :fro:

 

[sme11]

I mostly like the feature, though it seems to aggressively brake when the car that I am following switches lanes to exit or otherwise slow down. Their car is clearly leaving the lane, but my 4runner slams on the brakes for a brief period and then accelerates quickly to the set cruise speed. Maybe I need to adjust the following distance (currently its set to the max), but this is quite annoying.

 

[grizzlypath]

I mostly like the feature, though it seems to aggressively brake when the car that I am following switches lanes to exit or otherwise slow down. Their car is clearly leaving the lane, but my 4runner slams on the brakes for a brief period and then accelerates quickly to the set cruise speed. Maybe I need to adjust the following distance (currently its set to the max), but this is quite annoying.

I agree on these points. I find find it'll occur when you're following a car that slowly peels off and takes an exit or if a car pulls in front or something. I'll usually end up having to cancel and then reset after the event to keep from weird braking.

I chalk this up to the fact that CC should mostly be used on long, relatively quiet, stretches of highway and not in traffic so it's no biggie.