Handing my life over to A.I (at least self driving car A.I)

About adaptive cruise control....Let me first say that I am an ENTJ and a control freak. And I LOVE TO DRIVE. It is one of my favorite activities. So I was predisposed to neither like nor trust this new gadget, but it turns out I really love it.

If you've never driven a car with it, what it does is use the sensors and cameras and gps already in the car for things like lane drift and blind spot warnings, and front collision warning systems (all of which this 2017 Outback has) to control the car when you engage the cruise system. What it does is control the car's speed (and brake if needed) to keep the car a constant distance behind the car in front of it.

So, for example, if you set the cruise at 75 and a car moves into your lane going less than that, it will slow your car to match the speed of that car. If that car changes lanes, your car speeds you up to your desired speed. It essentially takes away the need for the driver to brake, disengaging the cruise, and then hitting "resume" when conditions permit.

The Outback also has a left-right drift you can engage with the cruise. This is even cooler. If you are in cruise mode and the car starts to move out of the center of the lane (but not so far as to trip the lane drift warning), the car actually makes a micro-adjustment to the steering wheel to nudge you back to center. Much like the first time you used cruise, or activated your collision system, it's weird having the car nudge you back, but you get used to it.

(Note for those interested on cognitive theory: what it's doing is making explicit to you the tacit knowledge you have about how to just barely adjust the wheel to maintain your lane.)

However, if you decide, as I did, to be a wise guy and test it by taking your hands off the wheel, it will eventually give you a "put your hands on the wheel please" warning on the message system. :) I found that it will do that sometimes even if you have a very light hold of the wheel. Bottom line: as long as you actually have at least one hand on the wheel, the car really does pretty much drive itself on the open road. It's as close to a driverless car as you can get right now on a standard model.

A couple of times, I was in some decent traffic where I normally would have tapped the brakes and taken over from the cruise, but I let the car do the work and it was great. Truck on one side several cars in front in both lanes. A little rainy and the car kept its pace with traffic using the brake or accelerator as needed. It was both creepy and awesome.

I love it and will miss it on the Altima. There are, however, two down sides.

1. When I have a schelp in front of me in the passing lane, I do like to run up his rear just a bit (not tailgate him, but just approach him with speed) as a way to encourage him to move the hell over. With ACC engaged, the car itself won't do that (for perhaps obvious "feature, not bug" reasons). You can tap the gas and do it yourself of course.

2. We drove in some heavy rain today and when the rain, and especially roadspray, cover the camera/sensors, it blinds the Subaru "Eye Sight" system and the car turns off the ACC. Sadly, you can't run cruise control without the adaptive features, which is what I'd like to be able to do in that situation. Something for car makers to consider.

In any case, I really liked it. It's a new game to play in the car, which is figuring out its algorithms and trying to outsmart them.

Plus, now I have something to talk to on long drives - I can chat with, and curse at, the car about why it's doing what it's doing. (When I first had a Garmin, I used it on long drives even if I didn't need it, because it felt like having someone along for company, which is why I named it "Wilson." This explains the "E" in my ENTJ.)