How effective is your FCM system?

Steve · Dec 6, 2014

I took delivery of a GX4hs two weeks ago and I am mostly very pleased with it, but I am a bit disappointed with the FCM. Never having had a car with this system before I am not sure if it is working correctly and just not particularly effective, or not working properly on my car.

ACC does work as advertised – very happy with that.

I have taken the car back to the dealer and they have proved to me that the BREAK alert will come on, but only when accelerating up behind a slower or stationary vehicle. The dealer assures me that this is how it is supposed to work but looking at videos of it in action on youtube it looks to me like it should be more effective than this. My expectation was that it would come on whenever I came up close behind a vehicle in stationary traffic and did not hit the break, but I am able to get as close as I dare to cars in front without any warnings appearing.

Does anyone have any experience of the system they would be willing to share?

gwatpe · Dec 6, 2014

There are 2 settings, FCM near and FCM far modes. Which mode is set??

I find the FCM far too sensitive and FCM near too insensitive. I leave the mode in FCM near as the beeps and brake warning is annoying when a car is turning left or right in front and the PHEV thinks you will run into them, and they are 50m away still.

Steve · Dec 6, 2014

I have tried both the near and far settings. On far it has occasionally given a warning but only really when cars are turning or alike in front of me, not when coming up behind one. On near mode it hardly ever gives a warning.

To many warnings can be distractive I agree, but I would like to have the confidence that FCM would apply the breaks if I was going to run in the back of someone and I cant say that I have that level of confidence in it at the moment.

I set the LDW to LDW2 mode within a day to stop it continually coming on and beeping every time I drove the car. I will only turn that on for motorway driving I think.

jaapv · Dec 6, 2014

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I only hope it will work if needed.

DrSlackBladder · Dec 8, 2014

gwatpe said:
There are 2 settings, FCM near and FCM far modes. Which mode is set??

I find the FCM far too sensitive and FCM near too insensitive. I leave the mode in FCM near as the beeps and brake warning is annoying when a car is turning left or right in front and the PHEV thinks you will run into them, and they are 50m away still.

I agree entirely, set mine to near too. Only goes off occassionally when someone is turning in front of me. My wife panicked yesterday, she was driving and the BRAKE! warning flashed up when she got a little close to the turning car in front, she thought the car had a major malfunction so she stopped!

I have read that when the BRAKE! warning comes on, the car pressurises the brake lines in preparation for an emergency stop........I often wonder if it really would emergency brake for me to prevent a collision. Hopefully I'll never get to find out!