Does VW Lane Assist work better overseas?

[Albatraozz]

So I have a 132tsi Comfortline and have been very impressed with it so far, however one thing I have noticed is that the lane assist system is far from perfect. It often won't stay in the middle of the lane and only really keep you from going out of the lane completely, which is fine I don't mind this at all.

However I have been looking on the net and have found many of videos in (Germany I can only assume) of VW's taking complete control, similar to Tesla's Autopilot.

For example

So what's up?

[Hillbilly]

Dont know about the B8 but my B7 only does it on its own for 15secs and if the steering wheel is not moved you get a chime and a warning to resume control.
It will steer it around a sweeping corner on the highway with hands off the wheel for that long. Depends on how good the lane markings are a lot of the time.

I find if I change lanes without signalling there is quite a pull to stay in original lane

[DarkStar69]

Just guessing here, but i think that the cars with the additional cameras, for the 360' area view that we don't get, might be able to keep in the lane better rather than just ricocheting off/between the line.

[afycionado]

Having driven to Melbourne and back the first weekend after I collected my new Passat, I have to say I'm very impressed with the lane assist. Even in the dark and/or wet, it is very quick at recognising the lane markings after a lane change (<1 sec). Yes, it won't keep you exactly in the centre of the lane, but the way it steers into a sweeping bend on the highway (if you don't do it yourself, of course!) is quite amazing.

[FastGolfR]

It is not the VW system that causes problems it is our poor road markings. Audi's and Mercs have similar issues in Australia.

[Ozsko]

The car needs to be equipped with active lane guidance, there is a lot of talk about it in the Tiguan Mk2 forum. Lane assist is really only a warning system not an active steering system though it will take over for a short time.

[Notso Swift]

I have a GLE, which is basically the same system as the active lane guidence and there is a variation on how it responds based on the makings, but the system also tracks the car in front where the lanes are confusing to it, particularly good in the country where there are no makings on the verge
The better system is the new E-class another generation ahead and where VW will be in 2 years, our laws only allow limited time before the requirement of manual override but I reckon that system could do 75% of all driving by itself

[Wynnston]

In the "Car" options on your headunit under "Driver Assistance" there is an "Adaptive Lance Assistance" option that isn't set by default. Go in and set that if it isn't.

If it isn't on, the car will only steer you back if you veer right onto the line. If it's active, it will adapt to where you normally sit in the lane and do more work to keep you there. It still has a ~15 second timeout. While I think it's cool, I find it a little obtrusive.

The 360 degree park system and normal park sensors play no role in this system, all models rely on the camera at the top of your windscreen. There is also only one option/level of camera, so every B8 (3G) Passat with lane guidance uses the same thing.

As others have said, road markings are **** in Australia. So are signs and reflective objects. It's why we don't get sign recognition, Dynamic Light Assist and Traffic Jam Assist in Australia, the systems in the Passat aren't good enough to deal with the Australian road anomalies, most of it can be enabled with VCDS but I would recommend against it (you don't want to have to explain that to an insurance company). Audi, MB, BMW etc. make it work by fitting more than one forward facing camera with two processing units that constantly sample and compare the data, these systems are much more costly.

Think of it as if we have the budget version of the cool features you see in top tier premium vehicles today.

Oh, while I am at it, I want to take a moment to bitch about the fact that we don't get proper VW CarNet in Australia. It would seriously separate the Passat from the competition, however, it might steal potential A4/A5 buyers.