Greetings from 35,000 feet...family and I are on our way to LA.

Anyways, I noticed something driving the LS to the airport this morning (pray for her parked at the airport lol. My wife and kids are coming back before me and she will need to have the van when she gets home). It was raining heavily, and I went to use the DRCC and it engaged for a second and then released and said that it wasn't available. I've noticed this a couple other times when driving in the rain. Anybody else had the same issue?

My other cars with DRCC haven't had this issue, Chrysler/Jeep or Kia...

 

 

I believe Steve is referring to dynamic radar cruise control.

Yes, DRCC dis-engages in heavy rain/snow. Also Lexus advices not to use DRCC during such conditions (it's in the manual).

Lexus was so conservative so much that I believe pre 2010 models weren't offered with DRCC option in NE region.

 

 

I'm an idiot. I deleted my post. Sorry - I thought we were talking about rain sensing wipers. My car doesn't have the fancy stuff (DRCC) that some of you guys have...

 

LOL, sxxt happens! Seriously though, did your wiper control issues coincide with something else, for example, windshield replacement?

 

 

No. That would have been my first thought too. I did however, get a ding repair, but I can't see that being any kind of issue.

 

Chris can probably confirm this, but radar doesn't work well in heavy rain/snow. That's why you don't see police using it in the rain. I have used my radar CC in fairly good rain, but it will shut off if it gets too heavy or if there is a lot of spray from a vehicle in front of me. However, it does give an audible and visual warning that it has shut down.

 

Here's a clip from the 2015 LS460 Owner's Manual:
■Automatic cancelation of vehicle-to-vehicle distance control Vehicle-to-vehicle distance control driving is automatically canceled in the following situations: ●Actual vehicle speed falls below approximately 25 mph (40 km/h) when there are no vehicle ahead. ●The preceding vehicle leaves the lane when your vehicle is following at a speed below 25 mph (40 km/h). ●VSC is activated. ●TRAC is activated for a period of time. ●When the VSC or TRAC system is turned off by pressing the VSC OFF switch. ●The sensor cannot operate correctly because it is covered in some way. ●The windshield wipers are operating at high speed (when the wiper switch is set to the “AUTO” mode or the high speed wiper operation position). ●When snow mode is set. ●The parking brake is operated. ●The vehicle is stopped by system control on a steep incline. ●Pre-collision brake assist is activated. ●The following are detected when the vehicle has been stopped by system control: • The driver is not wearing a seat belt. • The driver’s door is opened. • The trunk or hood is opened. • The vehicle has been stopped for about 3 minutes. If vehicle-to-vehicle distance control driving is automatically canceled for any other reason, there may be a malfunction in the system. Contact your Lexus dealer.

 

Interesting about the wipers, that makes sense. Thats kind of annoying...

 

It's been well understood that the use of cruise control on surfaces that have reduced traction increases the risk of loss of directional control in some situations. For many years cruise control was disabled as soon as the windshield wipers were turned on. With the advent of VSC and TRAC as standard on all cars the cruise control is disengaged when they are activated allowing us to use the cruise control and windshield wipers simultaneously in most situations.

Safe driving tips from StateFarm: https://www.statefarm.com/simple-ins...ly-in-the-rain

 

I don't disagree, but I prefer to make decisions about what I feel is safe and what I feel is not vs the car deciding for me.

I've never owned a car that cancelled cruise control because of wiper usage, and I've had several cars with no TRAC or VSC. In fact this is the only car I've ever owned that cancelled cruise control for any reason other than the system couldn't function under the current circumstances.

 

It has already been mentioned that this is normal, but no one has mentioned that it is easy to activate the regular (non-radar) cruise control, and that will work in all weather. To activate the regular cruise control, turn Off the cruise control, turn it back On, push the cruise control stalk forward for a second or two, notice the cruise symbol illuminate on the panel. Then use the control to lock you speed like with the DRCC. The only difference is that it won't increase or decrease the set speed by five MPH by holding it up or down.