The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Nissan’s Adaptive Cruise Control
Adaptive Cruise Control is a modern take on the classic cruise control. In the past, this feature kept your vehicle traveling at a set speed but didn’t use cameras or sensors. The modern, adaptive version uses these items to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front of you. Many Nissan vehicles include Adaptive Cruise Control, but does it function how you want?
Take it from a Nissan owner
I drive a 2023 Nissan Murano SV Midnight Edition, equipped with Adaptive Cruise Control. This SUV was one of J.D. Power’s top-rated SUVs in its class and provides an excellent ride. Much like many Nissan vehicles, this Murano has a host of advanced safety features to help keep me in my lane and a safe distance from other vehicles. The Nissan Safety Shield 360 tech package includes:
- Forward collision warning
- Automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection
- Lane-departure warning with correction assist
- Blind-spot monitor
- Rear cross-traffic detection with braking
- Rearview camera and monitor
- Automatic high-beam headlights
- Driver drowsiness warning
- Rear seat reminder
- Front parking sensors
- LED fog lights
These safety features make it easy to feel confident driving the Murano, but the Adaptive Cruise Control System has some pros and cons.
The good
Nissan’s Adaptive Cruise Control does an excellent job of keeping the vehicle a safe distance from other vehicles in your lane. The driver can set the prescribed distance using three available settings. This allows you to set it and forget it unless the car in front of you stops. The dashboard shows the driver when the vehicle in the lane is being detected, which means that the vehicle is on the edge of the set distance. It’s easy to cruise along on the highway and never think too much about your speed.
The bad
This system doesn’t have stop-and-go technology in the 2023 Murano, but that’s not much of an issue. When a vehicle in your lane slows to a stop, you’ve got to use the brakes and then resume the Adaptive Cruise Control system to continue the drive once that vehicle has moved along again. This makes it difficult to set this feature and use it in city traffic.
The ugly
While driving the Nissan Murano with the cruise set, the vehicle can suddenly slow when unnecessary. What causes this to happen? If a vehicle in front of you moves into a turning lane and slows down, the system continues to detect that vehicle as being in front of you even when it’s not. My Nissan Murano has often slowed when no cars were in my lane in front of me simply because the car that was in front moved into a turn lane. This is extremely annoying and unsafe.
The verdict
Adaptive Cruise Control is an impressive feature that makes driving more comfortable and easier most of the time. Unfortunately, Nissan’s system doesn’t have stop-and-go functionality, and it is jarring when it suddenly slows down because a vehicle in front moves into a turn lane. Hopefully, future Nissan vehicles will have a much smoother and complete Adaptive Cruise Control system.
