How's the Driver Assistant package?

[Sojournin]

When I ordered my car, I decided to do without the $1800 optional Driver's Assistance Package. Sometimes I regret not getting it because it would have "completed" all the bells and whistles for the car. For those who have it - was it worth it? Adaptive cruise control - Active Lane Assist - High beam assistant - traffic sign recognition?

[Fantasiamon]

When I ordered my car, I decided to do without the $1800 optional Driver's Assistance Package. Sometimes I regret not getting it because it would have "completed" all the bells and whistles for the car. For those who have it - was it worth it? Adaptive cruise control - Active Lane Assist - High beam assistant - traffic sign recognition?

I've been wondering the same thing but honestly it seems (to me) that's it's simply bells and whistles. Do I really need the car to recognize street signs that I should already be looking at while driving? Seems like an excuse to just let today's distracted drivers be, well....more distracted.

[strife1013]

I've been wondering the same thing but honestly it seems (to me) that's it's simply bells and whistles. Do I really need the car to recognize street signs that I should already be looking at while driving? Seems like an excuse to just let today's distracted drivers be, well....more distracted.

Same here, I skipped it because I really never use cruise control, or high beams (how hard is it to manually do it) and traffic signs I see myself. Besides if I forgot what the speed limit is the navigation system will show that anyways on the middle screen. Also I like how the "intakes" or whatever you want to call it by the side of the grill looks like without the two black sensors.

[BallzOne]

I guess I'm in the opposite boat. The assistance package is a large part of my purchasing decision. In rush hour traffic the car will gas, brake, and steer for you. I'm all about that to keep my sanity going 10mph knowing my drive should be taking 30 min but is instead taking 90.

[Fantasiamon]

Same here, I skipped it because I really never use cruise control, or high beams (how hard is it to manually do it) and traffic signs I see myself. Besides if I forgot what the speed limit is the navigation system will show that anyways on the middle screen. Also I like how the "intakes" or whatever you want to call it by the side of the grill looks like without the two black sensors.

Would have loved Fog Lights in their proper place instead of the two round black sensors....

[JohnEnglish]

I have he assistance package on my B8 and it's amazing. I would absolutely go for it again. No one car have full 100% concentration all the time no matter what they think and the assistance systems are great for filling in those gaps. The new low speed cruise control for stop and go traffic is awesome too.

[Top1105]

Adaptive cruise control is great, I use it all the time. Works great with traffic and never had an issue with it.

Traffic sign recognition is okay, I don't like that it reads the school zone sign all the time. In my area, school zones signs are only in affect when there are blinking lights, but the car doesn't know and keeps telling me to go 20 in a 45, which might be dangerous if I turn the option for adaptive cruise control to follow traffic signs on.

Active Lane Assist/Traffic Jam Assist is the only part that disappoints me. It works fine sometimes, other times, it doesn't work too well and tries to drive out of the lane. Even when it works, it seems to like to ride the lane line in a traffic jam, so it's all werid.

Overall, I'm glad I got driver assistance, but I wish Audi would improve the lane assist with a software update or something.

[me4tux]

Interesting comment about Active Lane Assist/Traffic Jam Assist.

Is it the B9 that you have? I am a bit concerned that the feature does not work consistently. What's causing it to behave that way? RE: it seems to like to ride the lane line in a traffic jam...

And another question: Does Active Lane Assist work when the car is cruising at high speeds? I.e. Say you're cruising at 70mph, you feel sleepy and momentarily drift the steering. Will the car pull back into lane?, and if there's a car in front- it will automatically brake/slow down for you? (all at high speed ~ 70mph)

Driver assistance package is a huge consideration for me. Some other vehicle manufacturers have very advanced driverless tech like the 2017 Volvo XC90 and the 2017 Mercedes E-class.
Just hoping the B9 Audi platforms have what it takes to compete in the Driverless Tech area...

Adaptive cruise control is great, I use it all the time. Works great with traffic and never had an issue with it.

Traffic sign recognition is okay, I don't like that it reads the school zone sign all the time. In my area, school zones signs are only in affect when there are blinking lights, but the car doesn't know and keeps telling me to go 20 in a 45, which might be dangerous if I turn the option for adaptive cruise control to follow traffic signs on.

Active Lane Assist/Traffic Jam Assist is the only part that disappoints me. It works fine sometimes, other times, it doesn't work too well and tries to drive out of the lane. Even when it works, it seems to like to ride the lane line in a traffic jam, so it's all werid.

Overall, I'm glad I got driver assistance, but I wish Audi would improve the lane assist with a software update or something.

[Top1105]

Interesting comment about Active Lane Assist/Traffic Jam Assist.

Is it the B9 that you have? I am a bit concerned that the feature does not work consistently. What's causing it to behave that way? RE: it seems to like to ride the lane line in a traffic jam...

And another question: Does Active Lane Assist work when the car is cruising at high speeds? I.e. Say you're cruising at 70mph, you feel sleepy and momentarily drift the steering. Will the car pull back into lane?, and if there's a car in front- it will automatically brake/slow down for you? (all at high speed ~ 70mph)

Driver assistance package is a huge consideration for me. Some other vehicle manufacturers have very advanced driverless tech like the 2017 Volvo XC90 and the 2017 Mercedes E-class.
Just hoping the B9 Audi platforms have what it takes to compete in the Driverless Tech area...

Yes, I have the B9. The adaptive cruise will slow down/speed up for a car in front of you. The lane assist is supposed to keep the car in the lane, but like I said, it doesn't seem to work as well as it's supposed to. If you're in a straight road, it should work well enough. You might touch the lane lines, but you shouldn't completely drift out of it. But if there's a major curve, it most likely won't work.

[CharlesP2009]

My brother and I took a road trip to California in a Volvo XC90 T8 with all the semi-autonomous features. Volvo calls them Pilot Assist and Adaptive Cruise
Control. I am so thankful we had those features in L.A. It was nice letting the car drive itself in the notorious traffic (seems rush hour is 24 hours a day there). Unfortunately California's roadways are generally pretty shoddy compared to what I have in Arizona and Volvo's system sometimes couldn't read the road and would refuse to operate. Still, when they did work they did so brilliantly. It's nice having a helping hand when driving in an unfamiliar place. I definitely want the Driver's Assist package when I upgrade to a B9.

[McWicked]

Adaptive cruise control is great, I use it all the time. Works great with traffic and never had an issue with it.

Traffic sign recognition is okay, I don't like that it reads the school zone sign all the time. In my area, school zones signs are only in affect when there are blinking lights, but the car doesn't know and keeps telling me to go 20 in a 45, which might be dangerous if I turn the option for adaptive cruise control to follow traffic signs on.

Active Lane Assist/Traffic Jam Assist is the only part that disappoints me. It works fine sometimes, other times, it doesn't work too well and tries to drive out of the lane. Even when it works, it seems to like to ride the lane line in a traffic jam, so it's all werid.

Overall, I'm glad I got driver assistance, but I wish Audi would improve the lane assist with a software update or something.

That's pretty much my overall assessment as well. I've never had a problem with the car wandering out of the lane, but it seems like the car has no sense of "personal space". It's fond of snuggling up to semi trailers and retaining walls. Traffic Jam Assist works OK when the traffic is "slow and go", but when it comes to "stop and go" it starts to suck. It's often too slow in reacting to how sharply the car in front is braking, and it ends up performing more panic stops than I'm comfortable with.

[Mitchfin]

I activated high beam assist on my A4 without driver assist today (meaning I'll tackle traffic sign and active lane assist next) so if you're ok not having traffic jam and adaptive cruise control you can save a bunch of money by just buying an obdeleven or VCDS.

[spordniar]

I guess I'm in the opposite boat. The assistance package is a large part of my purchasing decision. In rush hour traffic the car will gas, brake, and steer for you. I'm all about that to keep my sanity going 10mph knowing my drive should be taking 30 min but is instead taking 90.

Ditto.

I had Audi A6 2013 PP+ and had since then being addicted with ACC, that's why I paid so much more to get the Prestige + DAP.

However, I read somewhere on the forum that you can activate Active Lane Assist by some coding method, but I think it's kinda dangerous perhaps without the ACC.

Anyway, options are always nasty when it comes to selecting what to have or not to.