Travel Assist and Assisted Lane Change

[Gjm]

Has anybody had any experience with the Assisted Lane Change on UK roads?

I did a trip on the M1 last weekend and had my first try of Travel Assist with the Mk8, and I have to say I found it absolutely brilliant, much better than the travel assist I had on my previous Passat B8. Having the cars and lorries displayed on the AID, along with lane markings made trundling up the motorway much easier.
One thing I couldn’t get working was the Assisted Lane Change, where (I think) the car makes the move between lanes, still with hands registered as touching the steering wheel. According to the manual, the feature only works “on multi-lane motorways that are included in the navigation data”, I’m surprised that it didn’t show for me on the M1.

Has anybody used this feature and on which roads?

[fredgroves]

Think it's only on my24 cars isn't it? Given the terrible supply issue I'd be surprised if anyone has these yet apart from you!

[Gjm]

Hi Fred,

According to the printed factory build sheet I found in my car, mine is a MY23, built (or sheet printed) in April. As I bought it off the showroom floor, I don't have specific details of when it was built, but the timings seems about right for build in April, and roughly 8 weeks to get to the Dealer.

But as you say, supply of even MY23 cars of the higher spec has been terrible with very few coming through.

More seem to be coming through recently, plus I wasn't sure if some features, such as these, are added as part of the software updates to the models already on the road.

[fredgroves]

The assisted lane change need a different camera module... that is only fitted to the latest cars.

[Gjm]

Also from what I can gather a pre-req is Park Assist, which I don't have. Something the manual does not mention at all.

[fredgroves]

Also from what I can gather a pre-req is Park Assist, which I don't have. Something the manual does not mention at all.

Really??

I didn't know that - I was reading some threads on obd11 about activating it (you can't) and nobody mentioned that...

[Gjm]

Found mention of it on some German Forums, but no mentions anywhere else. You need all the Assist stuff we get as standard on GTI and similar specs: acc, side assist, etc and supposedly Park Assist.

Saw it in action on some YouTube videos, it appears that in the Assist settings menu you should be able to click/touch the grey golf car, and you get options for ‘Travel Assist’. I don’t get anything when tapping the main grey car, and nothing for Travel Assist shows when you tap to show all options from top left icon.

Another thing where the manual is rubbish at explaining!

[fredgroves]

Are you sure its even fitted?

Do you have OBD11? If you do...look for J769 and J770... these are the components according to this VW doc that are needed over and above some other elements....

No mention of Park Assist controllers being part of it

Look at this:

[Gjm]

Thanks Fred, yes have OBD11, need to blow the dust off it as haven't used it for ages.

But I have Side Assist fitted, as I have the LED's in the wing mirrors, and it warns me of approaching traffic, so as they go through those elements I'm assuming all is present and correct.

Took a screenshot of the YouTube video I saw, it's in German but using any Translate tool, it appears that "Assisted Lane Change" is an option to turn on. I've seen a second video that only had that one option, the Steering Resistance option was not there. So it must all come down to what Driver Assistance options each car has.



I had Park assist on my previous car, and there was obviously a motor for the steering wheel, as it would spin when parking itself, and also there was a forceful resistance for keeping the car within the lane when driving, which to be honest I don't feel with the Golf. So maybe extra hardware (i.e steering wheel motor) is needed for this feature, or possibly the extra side sensors which you get with Park Assist?

As you said this feature has only come about on the later revision Golf's, and supply of them have been sporadic, and also how many people use the features that are available with the car, it's only because I like gadgets & tech that I wanted to see it in action. I have raised the question with VW Customer Services to see if they can give an answer, I would hope at the very least they can look at my VIN and tell me if the feature is available/fitted or not. I'm also going to the dealership next week, so could try asking the guys there, although my experience is that they may be good mechanics, but may not necessarily know about technology, which is what you need with all the modern features coming with cars now.

[Gjm]

The more I think about it, it makes sense that it requires Park Assist to be fitted. It needs those extra 4 side sensors otherwise there is a huge side blind spot that the car cannot determine if there is anything there.

Taking the Side Assist sensor range, that is used for the early exit warning system



The range of the rear sensors ends quite a bit before the front sensors would start detecting anything, and I think it is that blind spot that would normally be covered by Park Assist that means that Assisted Lane Change is not available. Obviously I wouldn't be happy for the car to start moving left or right without full coverage.

Never mind, annoying as I did spec Park Assist on my GTD that I cancelled before buying the GTI. From factory it was only an extra £300, and even though I only used it a handful of times in my previous car, it did get me into and out of some tight spaces.