Intelligent Pack

Can someone who has an Evoque with the intelligent pack give me some feedback on the lane departure and traffic sign recognition features please? Does it just scan speed limit signs or all different types? How good is it at picking up signs on the motorway overhead gantries etc? With all the new variable speed limits on the motorways I assume it copes with these?

As usual, your opinions and thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

(28-10-2014 11:26pm)Devonian Wrote:  Can someone who has an Evoque with the intelligent pack give me some feedback on the lane departure and traffic sign recognition features please? Does it just scan speed limit signs or all different types? How good is it at picking up signs on the motorway overhead gantries etc? With all the new variable speed limits on the motorways I assume it copes with these?

As usual, your opinions and thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

I have no experience of it though I have ordered it on my forthcoming RRS. I'm not building up my hopes because, as a former software engineer, I know the challenges are enormous.

First, it should have a GPS backbone with a database of speed limits because relying on catching every road sign, in all weathers, in all lights is fraught with problems. Variable speed limits are, as you've realised, an additional complication. Then there's 20mph zoning, keeping any database up to date and all the rest.

What you can be certain of it is that it will not catch speed limits which vary by time of day or whether you are towing or whether it is raining, popular on the continent. Is it said to "work" outside the UK anyway?

I don't know what disclaimers are included in the manual but driving at the (incorrectly) displayed speed limit will certainly be no defence.

I have it on mine and I'm not quite sure how the speed limit sign recognition works as sometimes it doesn't show a change of limit. I suspect it uses both the camera and a database. I find it much easier to adhere to speed limits having that shown in the dash info screen. It can show up to 3 signs in the screen at once too as when I go through the Clyde Tunnel there are sign boards with maximum speed (30mph), minimum speed (8 mph) and No Overtaking signs on it. Must admit that driving on the M6 elevated section and the M42 round Brum yesterday the traffic was so heavy that I was too busy concentrating on what the idiots and big trucks where doing to notice whether it was displaying the overhead gantry signs properly on the dash!
It is supposed to be tied in with a tiny camera built into the front of the rearview mirror and looking forwards but as Mark says that is on the edge of the sweep of the wipers so it must struggle to cope with rain and a dirty screen.
One thing to bear in mind too is that when it is in use you have no coolant temperature gauge in the dash, I found it odd at first not seeing if the engine was properly up to temperature, but now don't miss that gauge and if I want to see if the engine is warmed through I can always switch off the Roadsignb Recognition in the dash settings menus.

What's the lane departure warning system like Tim? A good safety aid or a gimmick?

The traffic sign recognition combined with the HUD should hopefully be a useful combination. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the system will cope well with variable speed limits as near enough my whole journey up from Devon on the M5 and M6 will be variable soon.

All it does is gently vibrate the steering wheel and there is an icon at the top of the instrument binnacle that uses the camera to see if there are whites lines on both sides of the car. Cross either way and a row of white lines on that side turns red and when you are back in lane they turn green then white. It works well even on country roads round where I live where we have the verge edge marked with a white line as well as the centre of the road. On long motorway hauls though I take breaks every 2 hours or so and don't let myself get tired so it's not of great use to me on motorways, but I love it on narow country roads where the road edge is hard to see and the council have maintained the road edge markings. I'm not convinced it is a great step forward in motoring safety though - at least for me.

I've got the intelligent pack as well and we've covered a lot of mileage together. The sign recognition system I find works well although it can confuse it's self when there are two speed limits! But how is it to know? I've used it in the UK, France, Spain, Germany plus all the Low Countries and it's done really well. The lane system is a waste of time in my book and if it hadn't been part of the deal I wouldn't choose it again.

(29-10-2014 09:02pm)Devonian Wrote:  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the system will cope well with variable speed limits as near enough my whole journey up from Devon on the M5 and M6 will be variable soon.

I have done a lot of variable speed limit driving and can confirm it does recognise and show variable speed limits.

(30-10-2014 08:39am)MarkA_ Wrote:  I have done a lot of variable speed limit driving and can confirm it does recognise and show variable speed limits.

That's good to hear. I'm looking forward to January when it gets built.

I need to stop adding optional extras now or I'll be skint by the build date!

I can confirm that the variable speed limits are picked up however this afternoon on the M40 where the overhead ganrties read "End of speed limit " in text rather than the symbol for speed restriction ends, national speed limit applies, then the speed limit shown on the dash display remained at 60mph for quite a few miles after the end of the limit. More a problem with the HA than with the software I suggest!