I tested a 2.0 Autobahn Golf GTI 2019T and… what a rush! This turbocharged hot hatch has power, cornering is awesome, and even the sound of exhaust made me want to drive longer and faster on various roads. In fact, that's exactly what I did on a ride of around 650 miles, mostly testing twisty terrain and melting into traffic like a spring chicken. However, since I'm trying to test car technology on the road in relation to autonomous operation, I was primarily interested in how the Golf GTI handled certain traffic conditions on conventional roads using Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC). ACC has long been used in luxury cars, but it's relatively new to lower-end cars like the Golf GTI (priced at €36,890, around £29,000 or AU$54,000). Also, this car is called the Autobahn for a reason: it's fun to drive long distances. My goal was to learn about VAC performance, but also to think about how all car manufacturers can improve the technology over time, leading us to a fully autonomous future.Image 1 of 3
1. Significant cars entering the highway
One of the most interesting discoveries of this trip is that all cars use adaptive cruise these days: when a car was about to enter the road and merge with traffic on the far right of the car, the ACC did not notice that the vehicle had been completely fused together. The Golf adjusted its speed correctly and slowed down. This means, however, that the deceleration is slower. What I like the most is that the car realizes that it is about to enter the road and slows down long before the ACC changes gear. This is what human drivers do, because we know the car will merge. Many of us also tend to go to the left lane if this happens. Therefore, another feature could be to automatically move in the left lane.
2. Don't slow down quickly when someone interrupts you
Robots don't think like humans, not yet. Adaptive cruise control has been around for ten years, but it still thinks of itself as a machine. In all the cars I've tested with ACC, when someone stops suddenly in front of you (but not in a really dangerous way), your speed will suddenly change. The car slows down too quickly, reacting to the sudden appearance of another car. It's a good thing, and the Golf did what it was supposed to do. However, in future versions of ACC (call it ACC 2.0), I would prefer my car to identify the other car long before it swerves in front of me at highway speed. I should predict this car's path: that there is a slower car in the right lane, so obviously the other car will go further than me and merge. This is predictable for human drivers and not for ACC. For this to work, the sensors need to identify and track the car about to merge and know the traffic conditions (for example, cars can move in the left lane and merge suddenly).
3. Remember to speed up
Here is an interesting discovery and easy to deal with. A few times, I let myself be lulled into driving slower in the right lane. The car or truck in front of me was driving too slow, but I didn't notice it because the Golf slowed down to match that speed (and rightly so, because it was designed to perform). My wife sometimes wondered why we were going so slowly. I would prefer an opinion on the dashboard, something that tells me that I am now driving much slower and changing lanes. Again, for this to work, the car would need to understand traffic flows and what other cars are doing: drivers in the left lane to move faster, drivers in the right lane to move slower, and for a while. This even it could require car-to-car communication which is currently under development and hopefully fairly imminent.