The manuals and website for Genesis claim that the GV70, at least the 2024 models, have Highway Driving Assist - Level 2 (subsequently referred to as HDA-2).. so my first question about it is - what exactly is it, and what can we expect when it's being used..
From J.D.Powers:
JDPowers said:
Highway Driving Assist is a Level 2 advanced driving assistance system (ADAS) designed for limited-access highways. It combines adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, leading vehicle distance maintenance technology, a lane-centering assistance system, GPS data, and route information from the navigation system to reduce driver stress and fatigue. Highway Driving Assist is available in Genesis, Hyundai, and Kia vehicles.
In the 2021 Genesis G80 and GV80, a next-generation version of the system is called Highway Driving Assist II. It adds a lane-change assistance function and a machine learning capability to better match the adaptive cruise control system’s behavior to your driving style.
Interesting stuff in bold..
JDPowers said:
How Does Highway Driving Assist Work?
Highway Driving Assist uses a forward-facing radar unit and camera, GPS technology, and the navigation system’s map database to provide Level 2 driving assistance on divided, restricted-access highways, such as Interstates. Unless the vehicle is traveling on an approved road, Highway Driving Assist will not work. It is available only at speeds under 95 mph.
The radar unit informs adaptive cruise control operation, maintaining a safe following distance to traffic ahead. For automatic speed governing, drivers can choose to set the adaptive cruise control for the posted speed limit. Alternatively, you can set a lower or higher speed and adjust the velocity manually.
See AlsoGV80 Side Steps / Running Boards
The automatic speed limit control has some interesting consequences.. at least what I've experienced.. more on this below..
JDPower said:
After the driver sets the speed, the adaptive cruise control automatically adjusts the vehicle’s following distance to shrink or expand the gap between it and traffic ahead.
If another vehicle cuts into the gap, the adaptive cruise control automatically slows the Genesis, Hyundai, or Kia down to re-establish a safe following distance. If the vehicle ahead changes lanes or exits the road, Highway Drive Assist will automatically accelerate back up to the posted speed limit or a different pre-set speed.
Highway Drive Assist can also automatically reduce the vehicle’s speed if the posted limit changes and slow the vehicle down to more safely navigate freeway transition ramps or curves in the highway.
More info on how it assists in driving:
JDPower said:
To keep a Genesis, Hyundai, or Kia centered in its intended lane of travel, a camera identifies the road’s lane markings, and the steering automatically makes minor corrections to keep the vehicle as close to the center of the lane as is possible. The driver must separately activate this technology using a button on the steering wheel or dashboard, or a menu within the infotainment system.
With Highway Drive Assist II, steering assistance can also support a lane change as long as the driver signals that intention. This next-generation version of the technology also includes machine learning capability that attempts to match adaptive cruise control operation with the driver’s typical habits.
Drivers can tell when Highway Driving Assist is working by reviewing icons in the instrument cluster or the head-up display. If the “HDA,” steering wheel, and lane-keeping assistance icons are green, the system is operational.
Highway Driving Assist is not a Level 2+ hands-free technology, like General Motors Super Cruise or Ford Active Drive Assist. You must keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times, and if you don’t, after three attempts to request that you retake control of the vehicle, Highway Driving Assist will automatically turn itself off.
Also, Highway Driving Assist does not work in certain driving conditions, such as heavy rain or snow
Finally:
JDPowers said:
Highway Driving Assist 2 builds on Hyundai's semi-autonomous capabilities already implemented into its ADAS suite. More intuitive and sophisticated than before, this next-generation technology makes the driving experience safer, less stress-inducing, and more enjoyable overall.
I'm not so certain about some functions of the HDA-2. Above it's mentioned how the system can detect someone cutting in front of your vehicle in traffic, and the system braking to avoid a collision. It also talks about the system "learning" from your driving inputs.
That's a big maybe to me. I was using the system on the Garden State Parkway in NJ and had a number of things that might be of concern happen.
First situation: I had the person suddenly cut into my lane (middle) from the adjoining slower lane (right).. the car did react, basically by applying the brakes quite heavily, and alarms and warnings going off. I had observed and predicted that car was going to do that (because that's what they do in NJ - with no signal - clapped out Honda with a rooty-toot exhaust and blacked out windows), and had already backed off the speed enough so he could move into the lane and I would NOT have hit him. The car thought otherwise. I have to assume the car knew there was no one behind me who would run into the back of my vehicle (I can't say if there was - I was concentrating on the vehicle cutting in) and that it thought it could safely apply the brakes REALLY hard. A friend was in the car with me, who knows my driving style (smooth and fast is the optimal condition) - and he turned and asked me "Did you do that or the car?" - I replied "The car.." He said, "I thought so.."
So the question I have after that is - did it help prevent an accident (I don't think so, I was ready and already responding to the intruding car) and did it do that safely (no one behind me - very unlikely since it was heavy traffic - so I'm guessing the person behind me was paying attention or he also had HDA-2 active.
Second situation: Same road, I'm in the same lane (I actually hate the middle lane on a 3 lane road since you have traffic on both sides to contend with, ideally I prefer the fast lane since people only merge into it from one side, but I've digressed.) OK - same road, same middle lane. The clown next to me - clapped out old Chevy - decided he wanted to be where I already was, and it's a physical impossibility for two cars to occupy the same space safely. My response was to hit the horn - which did get the attention of the errant driver who started moving back into his lane. The HDA-2 system decided to move me into the fast lane to avoid the two cars occupying the same space at the same time.
Was that a reasonable action on the part of the system? I'll give that a guarded "probably". I was already responding to the intrusion with the horn, and moving the car toward the left lane marker in the center lane. If the system knew that my vehicle could SAFELY move into the fast lane - then it was probably a good thing. Would there have been an accident otherwise? I don't believe there would be, I've experienced that sort of action by other drivers many times in 60 years of driving, and my reactions to it are good enough that I've never had contact with another vehicle.
Third situation: Same road. The posted speed limit along most of the Garden State Parkway is 65MPH, with occasional 55MPH sections and even one or two 45MPH sections. No one - does the speed limit. 90% are traveling faster than the speed limit, 10% are physically disabled or have a car belching smoke - they go slower than the speed limit, typically causing traffic to jam up behind them. The operative max speed on the GSP is probably about 85MPH now, with some rare cars exceeding that (up into triple digits) and the majority of cars are doing around 80MPH +/- 5MPH. There are several spots the State Police like to set up speed traps to catch the unwary out-of-state drivers who don't know about them - the rest of the drivers - NJ people - slow down to 5MPH over the limit in those areas, cops there or not. That's where WAZE is so useful - you'll know ahead of time if they're sitting there. It's very rare to see a NJ car pulled over after those traps. It's usually NY or PA.
Anyway - HDA-2 has an option to set a maximum speed OVER THE SPEED LIMIT - by so many MPH. I set mine to 10MPH, figuring that cops in NJ simply ignore 10-over. It's pretty much a given except in one or two towns, and sometimes in school zones when kids are present. Anyway - I was set to "10-up" as people in NJ call it.
That worked fine in the parts of the GSP where the speed limit was 65MPH - I'd set the adaptive cruise control to around 75, and we moved along comfortably, not blocking traffic, usually in the right lane - at 75MPH (unless there was a slower car in front of us - and I'd use the assisted lane change to move over and pass them, then move back.) The thing is - parts of the GSP still have those 55MPH and 45MPH sections as remnants of an old awful road that has since been repaired - and NOBODY slows down for the speed limit in those sections, they just continue doing 75-85MPH right through them.
NOT with HDA-2 - the car slowed down to first 65MPH, which I didn't immediately notice, then slowed to 55MPH - which I did notice when I spotted cars going past us like we were sitting still, a 20MPH differential speed IS noticeable. So I did what any NJ driver would do - step on the gas and go faster... except - the system wouldn't let me go faster. It pushed the pedal back at me (which I didn't know it could do) and steadfastly continued at 55MPH, ignoring my input with the accelerator entirely. So - was that good? I don't think so - speed differential is a causative factor in accidents, and having a 20-25MPH differential with adjoining or following cars is just plain dangerous. It not only ignored driver input - it resisted it physically.
That's my take from that drive. It worked OK most of the time, keeping me in lane (although with high side-winds it tended to ping-pong from left to right lane marker) and going at a speed relative to the cars around me. It did that mostly based on me setting the desired speed higher than the legal limit. The system became problematic when operating on old information/speed limits. Luckily there is an option to not enable that particular function in the setup menus, and I've got to get into it and change that. The system made some very rapid moves (braking and lane changes) with no warning to me - the driver - and I was left to puzzle if what it did was reasonable or improved my safety.
So interesting stuff.. my conclusions are - it would be great on some long straight roads - like in Oklahoma, Eastern Colorado, Nevada, and especially Texas. They're typically 2 lanes, not twisty (straight as an arrow usually) and while there may be some heavy truck traffic, most of the time it's pretty reasonable and the trucks usually keep to the right. For urban high-density, high-speed traffic - the human brain - at least one in an alert driver - may exceed the system's capabilities. It mentions "machine learning" multiple times in the JDPowers articles - I'm not quite sure what that phrase means in this context - will it learn it doesn't have to slam on the brakes if a car pulls in suddenly in front of it? That simply backing off the throttle will avoid a collision? Will it learn that if all the cars around it are going 20MPH faster than it, perhaps it might ignore the "speed limit" restriction?
Did it achieve "makes the driving experience safer, less stress-inducing, and more enjoyable" this goal? The jury is still out on this. More experience is needed.
BTW - the link for the article where much (not all) of the quotes above were found: What is Highway Driving Assist and How Does It Work?
