See those buttons? The ones with the arrows? Care to guess what they're for?
They're for adjusting the following distance on the dynamic cruise control system. I figured that out after RTFM as it's not very obvious at first glance.
Given the limited amount of real estate on a steering wheel, this seems like a fair amount of space for a couple of buttons (why are there two?) that probably aren't used all that often. Anyway, the system itself works as advertised. Keeps you off the car ahead of you without being overly intrusive. Haven't found much use for it, though, just don't feel the need when I'm in traffic. And when I'm out on the open road, there are usually too many speed fluctuations to just let it take control. Maybe I'm just not used to it yet, not sure if I'll ever be.
Ed Hellwig, Editor, Inside Line @ 25,795 miles
yellowperil says:
02:39 PM, 12/ 3/10
Narrow trackWide trak?
BTW, that's a filthy steering wheel! Light grey is not a good color for it.
old_volvo says:
02:58 PM, 12/ 3/10
adaptive cruise control distance buttons?
hurls65 says:
03:43 PM, 12/ 3/10
At risk of being either a smartypants or a "well, duh" complainer (I'm neither :) ), that was the first thing I thought when I saw the picture.
Maybe too many years of driving german cars with absolutely unintelligible infographics on the dash has sharpened my analytical skills :)
zcalvert says:
04:44 PM, 12/ 3/10
Wouldn't it make more sense for the arrows on the "smaller" button face inward toward each other?
vt8919 says:
05:40 PM, 12/ 3/10
I figured it out without having to "hit the jump." I assumed it's to show a short distance and a long distance between two objects. And when that is related to a car, then it must mean it's referring to the cruise control.
wizard8873 says:
07:45 PM, 12/ 3/10
speedo with car is speed set, + and - should be increase, decrease speed, I would guess arrows are to increase and decrease distance the following distance, and circle arrow, if i remember correctly, is to slow down the cruise control speed. gf has a volvo and absolutely hate their design in cruise control buttons. she even has rear warning fog lights that it took us for ever to figure out, techs and service guys at dealer couldn't tell her what it did and she didn't have the manual
ninjin says:
06:50 AM, 12/ 4/10
Now this begs the question:
How close can you get? Does it have a tailgating assist mode?
ed124c says:
11:22 AM, 12/ 4/10
I would like to know how this device cuts in. Let's say you are on cruise and moving up on the car ahead (something that happens every few miles if I am in the right lane), does the device automatically cut in and lower your speed to match the car ahead? Or do you need to turn the device on before it will work.
Plus, I really don't know what those arrows do. It was discussed above, but I don't get it. Apparently there are two distances at which you can stay behind the car ahead. Am I right? And are the distances adjusted by pushing down on the arrow? Sounds complicated.
DLu says:
05:59 AM, 12/ 6/10
LOL @ ninjin
if this is set in Boston (during non-rush-hour times), i bet this car will end up going slower and slower because more and more cars will want to cut in front of you as it tries desperately to keep a safe distance in front of itself ... the velocity will asymptotically approach zero ... haha
alpine6speed says:
08:29 AM, 12/ 6/10
The small arrow on top shows how much depreciation should be on an average car in the class and the lower long one shows the actual horrible depreciation of a Volvo.
audisport says:
08:59 AM, 12/ 6/10
Adaptive cruise
dgcamero says:
09:24 AM, 12/ 6/10
I am extremely happy that Volvo is still using the refresh button :-)
So, clockwise from top left: Refresh speed, Set cruise, less distance between car in front, more distance, lower speed, increase speed. Am I right?
fushigi says:
06:02 AM, 12/ 8/10
So, who's the idiot that used arrows pointing left/right to indicate values that are only meaningful going fore/aft?
Given the feature set on cars nowadays, any +/- buttons I see on a steering wheel are ones I'll instantly assume are for stereo volume.
Is that a refresh button or do you hit it prior to attempting to do donuts in a parking lot?
Lastly, why is there a button that says "look at your gauges"?
Definitely an RTFM car. I'd be confused as heck if I go this as a loaner. And besides, Volvo had no problem using simple plain text on the button on the turn signal stalk; why not put a little text on the other buttons as well?
myob says:
02:30 AM, 12/30/10
Why don't they fess up and name these active cruise control and Safety assist auto stopping features based on how they will actually be used?
I have their ad copy all set up for them.
"Volvo Text n' drive"
"Worry free makeup application feature"
"Volvo read n' drive"
"Eat your salad with assurance"
"Volvo. No longer boxy, but still nice and you can browse the web on your iphone while driving it"
I'd also be worried about a driver so not into driving on the expressway that he can't be bothered to touch the button on the wheel to lower the speed manually as needed. I guess your thumb gets tired after a while, eh?