California Lane Assist

[DangerMouseUK]

Hi,

So I’ve read a few posts about it and can’t figure out definitely, the Lane Assist in the California is that an Active Lane Assist system that keeps the van centred in the lane in its own and you hold the steering wheel but basically it steers itself, or is it the older Lane Assist that only sort of nudges you when you get close to one of the lane markings?

The first one is actually quite nice to have, the second one just feels dangerous most of the time!

I can see UK & EU cars have slightly different driving assistance options as well with vague wording around what they do!


Thanks!


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[nickb77]

I tried it in my 6.1 but found it very annoying so now leave it off. It's the 'nudging' type along with irritating warnings.

 

[markusschork]

Great question and I'm really interested in hearing more opinions around this. I feel it kind of steers if you keep the hands on the wheel, but if you let go, it stops doing that. Very strange and not at all what I was expecting!

 

[Hawthorn37]

I can compare 2 vehicles, our Volvo XC40 and the Ocean 6.1 MY22. The Volvo steers the car towards the centre of the lane, if you let go of the wheel then you get a warning to hold the steering wheel, and apart from that, minimal warnings are generated. I usually leave it active, even on narrower roads.

The Ocean nudges the wheel, quite a distance from the road centre or edge markings. It gives lots of warnings, including long lasting loud warnings that give passengers a shock. In fact, you can be plumb centre of the lane, and it must see something in the road surface like a tarmac seam, and bleeps at you. We normally turn it off when on smaller roads. It’s very easy and quick to turn off and on though.

A little warning about turning off lane assist altogether, you also are turning off the side assist, stopping you pulling out into the path of an overtaking car on dual carriageways - and this can really save your bacon!

 

[s2bear]

I have it. It corrects your steering (like small but firm corrections) if you cross any lines without using the turn signal and if you repeatedly wander it goes batsh*t crazy with the warnings. Sometimes it gets confused if you’re in a contra flow with old road markings or prominent tar lines on the road surface - it then just repeatedly pings you with a MFD message.

Before having it I wouldn’t have specc’d it but I can see the benefits on a long drive. There’s no excuse for driving tired or not taking a break but should the driver become dozy, if activated, it would definitely be letting you know/lending you a hand earlier rather than later.

On faster single lane roads sometimes it’s better “off” as it can feel over zealous.

Luckily it’s super easy to, deactivate with 3 quick button presses on the steering wheel which becomes second nature and can be done with eyes still on the road - see photo. It’s LEFT(1), RIGHT(2), LEFT(3)

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[dspuk]

TBH everyone above is part right and part wrong, but it took me some time to get my head around it.

Take my Tiguan as an example - which also has active lane assist. This does several things:

- The cameras identify the white lines
- It activates things like undertaking prevention and lane blind spot warnings.
- Nudges the car back in lane if you have a white line recognised and try and go over without indicating, or rumbles if you continue to move across
- The car WILL stay in the middle of the white lines with minimal touch for 20 ish seconds before disengaging. Some forum peeps have worked out a way of balancing a water bottle on the steering wheel for it to do it indefinitely!

Ok - So the Cali.

- Still identifies the white lines
- Still activates lane warnings and undertaking prevention
- Still nudges the car back in lane without indication
- Does NOT keep the car in the middle lane with minimal touch.

What the Cali does instead is it measures where you are sat in the lane and if it thinks you are too far left or right, as in too close to the line, will bing a warning to drive back in the centre.

Personally I find this really annoying as it's very sensitive, but it's all or nothing - if you switch it off you switch it all off.

So I have learned to live with it. Better to keep the safety features on and save lives.

 

[andybeary]

my 2017 s5 lane assist = awesome kept you in the middle (slow made sure you can ride the traffic no issues, Fast also helped ensure in the middle)

my ocean 2021 model = wa*k

 

[pluc99]

A little warning about turning off lane assist altogether, you also are turning off the side assist, stopping you pulling out into the path of an overtaking car on dual carriageways - and this can really save your bacon!

This is not true. I have lane assist turned off but side assist continues to "save my bacon".

The VW version of lane assist is poorly done. I have friends with older Jeeps where it works as you would expect but on my T6.1 (and where I live) it's next to useless.

 

[Hawthorn37]

This is not true. I have lane assist turned off but side assist continues to "save my bacon".

The VW version of lane assist is poorly done. I have friends with older Jeeps where it works as you would expect but on my T6.1 (and where I live) it's next to useless.

Disagree. I’ve tested it, and side assist is not active when lane assist is disabled. This has also been confirmed by posters in other threads.

(Edit) could be that UK and EU specs function differently ?

 

[flymartin]

Disagree. I’ve tested it, and side assist is not active when lane assist is disabled. This has also been confirmed by posters in other threads.

(Edit) could be that UK and EU specs function differently ?

Side Assist is the flashing orange lights in the wing mirrors? That feature definitely still works with the Lane Assist switched off.

I find Lane Assist on my 6.1 really poor for all the reasons outlined by others above. I also have a Tiguan where Lane Assist has two modes and in the most active mode the car pretty much steers itself.. The 6.1 seems to only have a very vague sense of what lanes actually are, and so bongs away seemingly at random..

 

[Hawthorn37]

Side Assist is the flashing orange lights in the wing mirrors? That feature definitely still works with the Lane Assist switched off.

I find Lane Assist on my 6.1 really poor for all the reasons outlined by others above. I also have a Tiguan where Lane Assist has two modes and in the most active mode the car pretty much steers itself.. The 6.1 seems to only have a very vague sense of what lanes actually are, and so bongs away seemingly at random..

Yes the warning amber light does still flash, it’s just the avoiding action (steering you back into your lane) and warning sound that make up the lane assist don’t operate.

 

[flymartin]

Yes the warning amber light does still flash, it’s just the avoiding action (steering you back into your lane) and warning sound that make up the lane assist don’t operate.

Ah ha - thanks - I didn’t know that Side Assist was able to do sound and steering control as well as flashing a light..

 

[DangerMouseUK]

Ah ok so it’s not active lane assist then it’s the slightly older non-active variant of lane assist.

That’s a slight disappointment as most Volkswagen cars have the full active version.

I read on the T6.1 forum that it’s actually on some of the Californias with traffic sign recognition but it’s just disabled in software which seems a bit strange?

Will go back to my dealer and query as I was hoping for it to be the active type which is quite nice for long drives!


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[The Tall Luthier]

Ah ok so it’s not active lane assist then it’s the slightly older non-active variant of lane assist.

That’s a slight disappointment as most Volkswagen cars have the full active version.

I read on the T6.1 forum that it’s actually on some of the Californias with traffic sign recognition but it’s just disabled in software which seems a bit strange?

Will go back to my dealer and query as I was hoping for it to be the active type which is quite nice for long drives!


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We have speed sign recognition but the lane assist is still nudge back rather than centring.

I think most upgrades are software based these days. In fact bmw are playing with selling subscriptions for upgrades, useful if you’re buying second hand and want to ad features that owner 1 didn’t want.

 

[pluc99]

Ah ok so it’s not active lane assist then it’s the slightly older non-active variant of lane assist.

That’s a slight disappointment as most Volkswagen cars have the full active version.

I read on the T6.1 forum that it’s actually on some of the Californias with traffic sign recognition but it’s just disabled in software which seems a bit strange?

Will go back to my dealer and query as I was hoping for it to be the active type which is quite nice for long drives!


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Traffic sign recognition, or more accurately speed limit recognition, is another area where my VW T6.1 fails.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Traffic sign recognition, or more accurately speed limit recognition, is another area where my VW T6.1 fails.

Agree - ours misses quite a few, the tech is not really there. God help us when all our cars and vans are autonomous

 

[christopherdavis]

Hi,

So I’ve read a few posts about it and can’t figure out definitely, the Lane Assist in the California is that an Active Lane Assist system that keeps the van centred in the lane in its own and you hold the steering wheel but basically it steers itself, or is it the older Lane Assist that only sort of nudges you when you get close to one of the lane markings?

The first one is actually quite nice to have, the second one just feels dangerous most of the time!

I can see UK & EU cars have slightly different driving assistance options as well with vague wording around what they do!


Thanks!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have lane assist on my Tiguan and it’s great

I do often get the “take over the steering” message which makes my wife angry with me haha

 

[two-saabs]

I can compare 2 vehicles, our Volvo XC40 and the Ocean 6.1 MY22. The Volvo steers the car towards the centre of the lane, if you let go of the wheel then you get a warning to hold the steering wheel, and apart from that, minimal warnings are generated. I usually leave it active, even on narrower roads.

The Ocean nudges the wheel, quite a distance from the road centre or edge markings. It gives lots of warnings, including long lasting loud warnings that give passengers a shock. In fact, you can be plumb centre of the lane, and it must see something in the road surface like a tarmac seam, and bleeps at you. We normally turn it off when on smaller roads. It’s very easy and quick to turn off and on though.

A little warning about turning off lane assist altogether, you also are turning off the side assist, stopping you pulling out into the path of an overtaking car on dual carriageways - and this can really save your bacon!

Exactly this, brilliant on the Volvo, useless on the California

 

[christopherdavis]

Exactly this, brilliant on the Volvo, useless on the California

Excellent on the VW Tiguan so surprising it’s poor on Cali.

 

[Hawthorn37]

Excellent on the VW Tiguan so surprising it’s poor on Cali.

I’ve heard the same from other VW car drivers. Bizarre that they would not use a common system, even from a cost of production viewpoint.

 

[66tim99]

I read on the T6.1 forum that it’s actually on some of the Californias with traffic sign recognition but it’s just disabled in software which seems a bit strange?

Interesting, but why wouldn’t VW publicise that?
Have to say though, that I have traffic sign recognition and active lane assist doesn’t annoy me nearly as much as several on this thread. It works well as an assistant nudging me back towards the centre of the lane if I drift. I never switch it off but admit it can Bong annoyingly occasionally. Never keeps bonging though

 

[Hawthorn37]

This is not true. I have lane assist turned off but side assist continues to "save my bacon".

The VW version of lane assist is poorly done. I have friends with older Jeeps where it works as you would expect but on my T6.1 (and where I live) it's next to useless.

Sorry @pluc99 I take it back, you are right, lane assist can be turned off separately, by using the menu system (rather than the steering wheel buttons). The menu actions are : Menu; Driver Assist; Tools (cog symbol); untick Lane Assist. So 4 screen actions. If turning off Lane Assist mid drive, I think most people will use the steering wheel buttons for speed and so as not to take your eyes off the road. But it appears you can turn Lane Assist off before driving off.

Here are tge handbook extracts for Side Assist and Lane Assistfor those that have an interest….

 

[DangerMouseUK]

How to activate Active Lane Guidance in a T6.1

I have Lane Assist in my T6.1 and I expected it to be like a semi auto pilot by keeping the car in the middle of the lane. Instead it just ping pongs between the lines of the lane. However it seems like it is possible to enable Adaptive Lane Guidance which will keep the car in the centre of a...

www.t6forum.com

That is the post I read but I might have got confused and not got it right but they are saying an app called Carista Beta with the right OBD dongle can activate it on some T6.1s that have the right options specified?

Strange VW never activated it and I’m guessing that then becomes a grey area warranty wise?

Thanks


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[dspuk]

How to activate Active Lane Guidance in a T6.1

I have Lane Assist in my T6.1 and I expected it to be like a semi auto pilot by keeping the car in the middle of the lane. Instead it just ping pongs between the lines of the lane. However it seems like it is possible to enable Adaptive Lane Guidance which will keep the car in the centre of a...

www.t6forum.com

That is the post I read but I might have got confused and not got it right but they are saying an app called Carista Beta with the right OBD dongle can activate it on some T6.1s that have the right options specified?

Strange VW never activated it and I’m guessing that then becomes a grey area warranty wise?

Thanks


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You cannot activate what you don't have with Carista. While you can change settings with what you have on the vehicle there will be features missing from both the core software and in some cases cameras not present and different wiring looms for Active Lane Assist. Given VW are on the hook for any failures of this feature, as was Toyota many years ago, they do not allow easy retrofitting of safety features for many legal reasons.

 

[HarveyMilners]

I collected our new California Ocean on Monday (yeah!) and on the drive back noticed that there was no lane assist function encouraging me to stay within the white line or nudging me if i didn't indicate when changing lanes. The side assist with the Amber light in the mirrors are working.

On my original configuration it said the van comes with 1) Lane assist with Side assist and 2) Lane change assist. In the driver assist menu there's is no option to activate or deactivate lane assist in the settings, just front assist, side assist and driver alert system.

I asked the dealer as they also explained lane assist to me during the handover. He said he was getting side assist confused with lane assist and the van is behaving how it is supposed to.

Do you think it's missing?