I’ve had systems fitted to two different MQB cars:
Mk3 Octavia VRS - driven in UK/Germany and across EU:
Front Assist
Lane Assist
Standard Cruise
Driver Fatigue
Manual Gearbox
No Sat-Nav / Colour Screen in Dash
(Auto high-beam coded via VCDS)
Mk3.5 Seat Leon
Cupra - riven in UK only:
Advanced Comfort and Driving Pack
Safety Pack Plus
=
Front Assist
Lane Assist
Adaptive Cruise
Driver Fatigue
DSG
Sat Nav/Digital Dash
Auto High-beam
I’ve also considered getting this recoded to have PACC (Predictive Adaptive Cruise Control) as per the latest generation cars:
If your vehicle has front assist installed, we offer an upgrade service to Adaptive Cruise Control.
eastyorkshireretrofits.co.uk
Apologies for the long response, but thought that I’d give an opinion, as there are number of factors to consider.
The Front Assist has worked well on both cars, and prevented me from rear-ending a car in front that started to pull away from a roundabout and stopped for no reason whilst I was observing traffic approaching from the right (UK) - this alone paid for the upgrade in terms of no damage/loss of insurance no claims. You will get the occasional warning if a vehicle is turning from a main road/not fully clear or if approaching a junction where two or more lanes of traffic queuing but the lane that you are travelling is clear.
Lane Assist with ACC the vehicle will continue to self-steer for up to 30 seconds, but only 10 seconds on the previous non-ACC car. This system works far better on the continent where lanes are wider and the road markings are clearer. Where I drive in the UK the lines are poorly marked/worn and thus the car frequently de-activates the Lane Assist. As per opinions above, if you do not indicate the system will fight to keep you in lane, but as per auto-pilot on aircraft, driver input will be able to over-ride the system.
The ACC is ok; in order to make the best of the system it should be mated to the DSG box with the traffic jam assist so that it will brake to a stop/restart (or hit resume if stood still for a while). The driver mode also impacts how quickly the system reacts. ACC works very well in heavy stop/start traffic, through average speed zones or roadworks or light traffic on motorways. It’s not great on the motorway in heavy traffic with cars frequently swapping lanes in front of you. The DSG box doesn’t disengage in ECO mode when ACC is engaged if you are trying to achieve high MPG.
Reviews for PACC are that it cuts in too soon when approaching roundabouts/junctions.
The auto-headlights are ok; as above, they tend not to switch off when approaching the rear of vehicles in front or vehicles with halogen headlights/headlight out.
In summary, both cars had Level 2 Autonomous driving features, and there is improvement between earlier and later generations. Ultimately a nice to have but not essential.
