Would You Buy Another Mk4

[nowster]

If you're passing a dealer ......
Be interesting to hear how they phrase 'go away'

It'll almost certainly be two words, probably involving sex and travel ...................... 

"Go forth and multiply."

[Mellorshark]

I turned RDMS off whilst driving today.  Pressed the safety support switch and then the left selector wheel.  No problem.

[Sam B]

I recently wrote to Honda UK to voice my concerns about the implementation of RDMS and pointing out that in certain circumstances, on narrow UK roads I regarded the system as downright dangerous.

This is their reply:-

Thank you for contacting us and we hope your day is going fine.
We are sorry to hear about the issues you are having with the Road Departure Mitigation System (RDMS). The system itself is designed to alert and help you when detecting a possibility of your vehicle crossing over detected lane markings or approaching the outer edge of the pavement (into grass or gravel border) or an oncoming vehicle.
There are indeed some limitations of the system as mentioned in the Owner’s Manual - p.483-p.486.
There is also a way to disable the system mentioned in the Owner’s Manual on p.482, if you are not satisfied with the way the Road Departure Mitigation System performs.
The RDMS is turned on every time you turn the power system on, even if you turned it off the last time you drove the vehicle, as this is a safety related feature of the Honda Jazz.
If you wish to permanently disable the system, it would be best to speak to an authorized Honda dealer, as they are technically trained staff and would be able to advise you if this is possible.

We value all customer feedback we receive about our products. This feedback is crucial to allow us as a business to strive forward and provide our customers with the highest quality products. 
We will ensure to pass your feedback on to the relevant teams, where they will use the feedback for future vehicles we manufacture, taking into consideration the comments you have made on the Road Departure Mitigation System.
We hope that this reassures you that we take any feedback our customers provide seriously.
Thank you for contacting us. If you need any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
 
Kind Regards,


Their rely doesn't tell me much that I don't already know, but do they appear to accept that there are situations where RDMS can have an adverse effect and suggest that I contact my dealer for help, which I don't think will be forthcoming!
All I need is the facility to switch off RDMS permanently, which would be the same as LKAS, can it be so difficult?

This is very similar to the reply that I had from Honda UK on the same subject. They are just trying to wash their hands of any responsibility for the potential dangers of their products and trying to pass the buck to dealers without giving the dealers any additional support for sorting out the problems.

Regarding the B setting on the gear selector: I always use B for any trip, and I like its contribution to easy driving. I also generally use the speed limiter (i.e. the LIM option in the cruise control but not the full "foot off" capability of the cruise control) when on motorways and dual carriageways, and I find that this generally works well with the B setting.

However, I have on two occasions had an upsetting experience when the speed limiter has failed to limit the speed. While driving at 70 mph on a motorway with the limiter set to 70, the car suddenly and without any warning accelerated to 77 before I realised what was happening and brought things under control. This was accompanied by repeated beeping, warning me that I was exceeding my set limit, even though the limiter was not doing what it should. Neither Honda UK nor the dealer have been of any help in explaining this. Has anyone else come across this?

[Hicardo]

As I live in country location with narrow lanes, I'll typically be turning off RDMS on the Crosstar, after I pick it up this week, don't know if I mentioned  .  Our Golf has a similar system but ive become used to it, and it doesnt catch me out anymore.  So maybe the Honda system will be, despite it flaws, something I can become used to, I don't know.  I had a Suzuki ignis a few years ago, and I always turned off its similar system - but the advantage of that car was that you only had to turn it off once  . 

[ColinB]

However, I have on two occasions had an upsetting experience when the speed limiter has failed to limit the speed. While driving at 70 mph on a motorway with the limiter set to 70, the car suddenly and without any warning accelerated to 77 before I realised what was happening and brought things under control. This was accompanied by repeated beeping, warning me that I was exceeding my set limit, even though the limiter was not doing what it should. Neither Honda UK nor the dealer have been of any help in explaining this. Has anyone else come across this?

The only thing close to that that I’ve experienced (on a Mk.3, not a Mk.4) is that the car can overspeed when going downhill. The speed limiter only acts to close the throttle, it doesn’t apply the brakes. So if there’s a downhill stretch where gravity can accelerate you, the car will exceed the set speed and you get the alarms going off unless you brake manually to keep the speed down. Don’t know how that might read across to the Mk4 with its regenerative braking though.

[TiJazz]

You can override the limiter if you hit the “kickdown” at the bottom of the throttle pedal travel, as in any car. It’s a safety feature so you can accelerate out of trouble in a pinch.

The regen is pretty good at holding the set speed downhill. If you ever need more braking, just put it in ACC where it’ll use the friction brakes.

[Mellorshark]

So maybe the Honda system will be, despite it flaws, something I can become used to, I don't know.

Don't know if anybody else has noticed this but the RDMS appears to reduce its activation over time.  We've had an EX for 11 months and initially it was really annoying. We live in a narrow lane with no pavements and it used to activate every time we drove up the road but it has stopped.  Also when the wife went shopping she always complained about it. I've just asked her and she says it hardly ever happens now.

[TiJazz]

Confirmation bias I’m afraid. Just an unconscious change in driving style.

[Bristol_Crosstar]

Confirmation bias I’m afraid. Just an unconscious change in driving style.

I just signal a lot more now (not a bad thing) as it stops it intervening, also driving slowly in situations where it might happen (eg country lanes). However it came on recently after I'd been stopped at temporary lights for road works, when the lights changed to green I had to cross the white line and it didn't like it.

[Kremmen]

I drive from Reading to near Heathrow weekly.

I leave Reading at about 05:30 as it's a good time to leave as my journey from house to the M4 I'm usually the only car on the road.

There are a few sections of road that are like an extended but tight "S" and the obvious line, after checking mirrors, is to turn these S into a straight line. Easier, quicker, etc.

I can see the sensors going crazy at this and something I don't want.

[ColinB]

I just signal a lot more now (not a bad thing) as it stops it intervening, also driving slowly in situations where it might happen (eg country lanes). However it came on recently after I'd been stopped at temporary lights for road works, when the lights changed to green I had to cross the white line and it didn't like it.

That’s interesting. I can understand how a LKAS alert would be cancelled by indicating, also that it doesn’t happen st low speed (both of those are similar to the Mk3), but I thought the system causing the angst was the RDMS? Does the driver get any indication which system is causing the spurious alarms, or does he just get a general “stay in lane” indication? Honda have used the same warning indications for different systems before: the Mk3 has two different collision mitigation systems (the city brake active system and the forward collision warning), both of which give exactly the same audible tone and dashboard alert, so it’s not clear which one has taken offence.

[Bristol_Crosstar]

I just signal a lot more now (not a bad thing) as it stops it intervening, also driving slowly in situations where it might happen (eg country lanes). However it came on recently after I'd been stopped at temporary lights for road works, when the lights changed to green I had to cross the white line and it didn't like it.

That’s interesting. I can understand how a LKAS alert would be cancelled by indicating, also that it doesn’t happen st low speed (both of those are similar to the Mk3), but I thought the system causing the angst was the RDMS? Does the driver get any indication which system is causing the spurious alarms, or does he just get a general “stay in lane” indication? Honda have used the same warning indications for different systems before: the Mk3 has two different collision mitigation systems (the city brake active system and the forward collision warning), both of which give exactly the same audible tone and dashboard alert, so it’s not clear which one has taken offence.

LKAS is generally switched off, I only use it on motorways as it struggles on sharp corners - it's not really designed for non-motorway use. There are clear indications on the dash showing when RDMS has intervened and also for LKAS so you always know why the steering's been affected. Indicators do stop RDMS, if the car thinks you're in control and doing something intentionally it doesn't do anything so once you've got used to it RDMS is not such a problem.

[TiJazz]

Some confusion over terms here.

RDMS = what is traditionally known as LDA/LKA/LKAS. Stops you crossing the line or road edge. On by default, must be disabled each trip.

LKAS in this context = lane follow / auto steer on motorways. Must be specifically activated for use, min speed 45 IIRC.

[Kremmen]

I found a better example of why I like mudflaps :

[Jazzik]

What strikes me about our premium sunlight white pearl Jazz (without mud flaps) is that the tailgate gets disproportionately dirty.
I don't think mud flaps will fix that...