I've had my Pacifica Hybrid for 4 days now and getting to know her. One issue I see as a potential safety hazard is the Forward Collision Warning (FCW) system. I notice on mine that it only seems to activate when the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) is on (or on and activated). It's easy to test the function of the FCW system if you set the sensitivity to "Far." That way, you don't have to scare yourself. Maybe it's just an issue with my vehicle. I'd be curious to hear what others have found. The owner's manual states not to leave the ACC on unless it's going to be activated. If this is a software issue endemic to all new P hybrids, then drivers are missing out on this potentially life-saving safety system. I'll stand by until others provide some feedback on their hybrids. Thanks.
Forward Collision Warning (FCW) Potential Issue?
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FCW/Braking works without ACC being on. As Norbert said when it does go off it IS jarring. I tried setting mine off deliberately several times by playing "chicken" but the Pacifica's FCW seems to be far more finely tuned than my courage is. Mine has gone off twice though in the 10 months I've owned the van. The first time just the big red BRAKE! indicator showed in the dash display without any noticeable braking but the second time I definitely had hard braking too. On both occasions I was alert and don't feel I needed help but now that I've finally experienced it I am so very glad to know it is working and has my back.
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Or, has your front? :wink2:
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It's only meant to work in an emergency situation. There's no way to effectively test it without being willing to hit something. That's why the owner's manual specifically tells you not to try to test it.
Kind of like testing a hand grenade to see if it will work when needed.:smile2:
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I've been meaning to collect my large amazon boxes and test it against a stack of them. I'm sure it will make for an interesting story for my neighbors to see the guy next door driving a brand new vehicle into a stack of boxes.
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Hi EV2,
As @generaltso stated and per your Owner's Manual we do not recommend testing the Forward Collision Warning system. You can read more about the features of Forward Collision Warning on pages 210-213 of your Owner's Manual on www.mopar.com. We'd recommend visiting your local dealership if you have any concerns with the system for an official diagnosis.
Andrea
Chrysler Social Care Specialist
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Yes, or like testing air bags as generaltso said.
There are a lot of IEEE and other engineering publicationa out there on the evolution of FCW. Earlier versions were calibrated much "looser" but they found that if FCW applies braking too early and too often (relative to normal human response times) then the more aggressive drivers would knowingly (or perhaps even unknowingly) become "trained" to expect it and even sometimes rely on it.
Wow, I can't imagine becoming trained to the one in our Pacifica. When FCW fires it's a little like my wife suddenly screaming "OMG WE ARE GOING TO DIE!!" in my ear and it really gets my heart pounding. At first it scares me and then I find I get really mad at the FCW...so if my FCW is training me at all then it is certainly not training me to ever want to do THAT again.
It seems to take a lot into account besides just distance, like speed, coasting vs active acceleration vs applied brake pressure, etc. In the 6 months we have had our Pacifica my wife and I have only received a FCW alert once each. In both occurrences we had time to react and no braking was applied for us.
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