PHCMA

I found that after having this on my last two Lexs I would not even look at a car without it. It seems like on of those things that sounds dumb but you end up using it all the time. Before I picked up the 06 430 I almost bought a 06 750i I asked the salesman to find me one with active cruise and he said that would be hard because they are rare and the Germans never made a reliable one.

BMW7_LS430

I see lot of synergies on this board. I almost bought a 06 750i. Then I ended up buying a 04 LS430 and I do have the active laser cruise control.
I bought LS for the reliability but laser cruise was a must have on my list.

AlexusAnja

The only problem is that it doesn't work well in rain, because of I guess the rain drops causes the system to mis-register distance and so it just goes off. You really shouldn't use cruise in bad weather anyway, but that's another story.

Yes, I did not think much of it at first when I got my LS, but after using it a few times on the highway and having it maintain the distance for me, it's quite useful.

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

My 05 Ultra has the PCS option so it has active radar cruise and not the laser.

It's a great feature that I never would have thought would be so handy.

CG lover

my 05 has the radar behind the grill (lexan panel) and I love it,, one of the nicer features on the car when your do a lot of highway travel,, only had it cut out a couple times in very bad weather and as stated should not have been using it,, mine has many hours of use and is extremely accurate,, wish it would give the actual distance it is set at rather than those chevrons,,

does spoil ya,,

Derry

BlackUltra

I would never have another car without it. Once drove 200 miles without ever touching the gas or brake. Makes long trips a more enjoyable driving experience. Echo everything everyone else has said. What a wonderful option and got to be in the "must have" category.

hoonunya

I have a CL with laser and it is my single favorite gadget with the LS430. We made a 4 hour trip this weekend in my LS400 and I really missed the laser.

Getting cut off is an issue sometimes, but we've found that if you add a little throttle then it doesn't brake and beep at you. Let the gap build up slowly and you're back on auto.

I love it!

sojah

iTrader: (1)

Here is why I hate this laser cruise thing and will hardly ever use it in my daily driving. So apparently since where I live people love to tailgate and if you don't then well that is somehow a sign of a weakness and you will continuously get cut off or 'punked' if you will, even on the closest setting on the laser cruise it leaves way to much distance for my daily commuting (to work - to home), it only leaves like maybe 20-25 feet (just estimating, if anyone actually knows feel free to let me know) and even when set on like 85mph and traveling around 78-80 mph's behind the car in front of me I would continually get cut off and then the brakes would engage and just push me even farther and farther back into traffic. I actually tested this out a couple different times to see if maybe it was just bad luck, and nope, i think i tried it at least 4 times and all 4 times which occurred on different days but same commute (same highways), even on the closest setting going 80mph car after car would continuously jump in front of me cuz it left to much space and as soon as it happens the first time the car immediately starts braking and does not get back up to speed (80mph) in time thus allowing an even bigger gap for even more cars to get in. i just let this happen on 2 separate occasions just to see what would eventually happen, my car went down to about 62 mph from 80 and finally after this little honda civic was the last of about 12 cars to get in front of me it finally kept pace with the honda going about 65 (the actual posted speed limit). now please tell me that this is actually how lexus planned for it to function??

its survival of the fittest out here i guess


also, does this happen to anyone else? when going around turns (even on a big major 5 lane highway) a car in another lane next to me would set off my laser cruise and start applying the brakes...? this was super dangerous on a couple different occasions and i nearly caused a bad accident when going around curves while going 75mph + in bumper to bumper traffic. the second day i was trying to figure out how i could return my ls430 for one with a normal cruise, i was actually planning out my return excuses and why i wanted my money back until i researched and found out how to disable it. for me not having a normal cruise (non stupid laser thing) is a deal breaker on my normal DD (daily driver) car... sorry lex but you miserably failed to do anything functional at all with this laser cruise (at least on my 05 UL),, pointless not to mention dangerous!!!

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

You are correct, it is very hard to use in traffic as this gap will continue to be filled by other drivers.

Im guessing you talking about our wonderful beltway with serious curves... i haven't used on there (or even dared, but i can see where it could be a problem.)



Speaking of which, the PCS radar on our '06 UL just went out last night. Glad i have warranty.

Just as an FYI for those who may not know, you can adjust the amount of space between you and the cars ahead by using the buttons on the steering wheels.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

yup, i attempted to use it on the dc race track (aka 495 aka 'the beltway' aka 'fight or flight') (this is the one with the curves you were referring to), posted speed limit is 55 mph i'm usually keeping up with traffic if not getting passed by more riced out vehicles left and right while doing 75-80mph in traffic. i also tried to use it on 97 (up in MD, connects 50 to 695 (baltimore's version of 495) which is a 2 lane rd with a 65 posted mph average speed in the fast lane is 75-80 average speed in slow lane is like 63 mph for some reason, lots of traffic during rush hours but usually flows pretty quick around 75mph in the left lane.

BlackUltra

Yup, I would not try to use in a daily commute ... as of now only on long drives. Will be going on a 1 week trip ATL-CHI-PIT-ATL in June so will use it quite extensively then and report my experience. Acknowledge the negatives but do not use it in those situations therefore it is not a dangerous thing to me. I just love it.

GRAND_LS 4

iTrader: (2)

Funny thing is that i just went to Baltimore on Friday to drop off my brother at the airport and had a lot of free time on my own to wonder how the the cruise radar would act in some of the curves while driving back to Northern VA. I was in the GS, so no tests were conducted

sojah

iTrader: (1)

yeah depending on the time of day 95 isn't to bad at all between dc and balmer... but those are the times that they actually post up cops... my least fav roads for traffic are pretty much any road that has 3 numbers and ends in 95 i.e. 195, 295 (lets not forget 295), 395, 495 (always), 695, 895(ughh), i wonder if there are any future plans to make a new road and name it, hmmmm 595??

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

A fact all you PCS owners might want to know, that front square plastic grill emblem is $1240!

I just found out about it, I love that emblem, so be careful.

See my post here:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...h-out-for.html

AlexusAnja

Sorry you Baltimore/D.C. commuters, but that areas just totally blows. You can drive at a certain time (not often) and it's clear with no traffic, but then another time it's jammed to the brim and it takes over two hours to move about 20 miles. I like running to D.C. every so often because our favorite Italian restaurant (Luigi's on 19th between L and M) is down there, but it's a grind some times. That's why last year when we went down to Orlando, we left NJ at 3:00 am, and got to Virginia by 6:30 am. I wasn't going to risk losing 2 hours trying to get past 20 miles.

Anyway, the PCS or Active Radar is not for the faint of heart in traffic and surely not to be used effective in traffic anyway. In NYC, there is no way the system can be used as I'd probably be run over by trucks or cut off by minivan mom's late for the soccer game. Also, I had read somewhere that the radar (or laser, whatever the CL has) is really not monitoring the car ahead of you per say (or else it would be able to detect a deer in the road) but that it's picking up the waves that bounce back from the rear deflectors of a car. I would take this to be correct as I've followed cars where for some reason the cruise does not detect the vehicle so it ends up going past the 'safe point' set.

As for the vehicle jamming on the brakes around a turn, what I described above could explain it too because if you're negotiating through a tight turn, the car to your left (or right depending on turn) could be sending back the waves and falsely alerting your car that there is another vehicle within the safe range.

I guess rule-of-thumb with any "safety" feature. Use it safely ( ), wisely, and smartly. Don't expect it to work perfectly in substitution for common sense.