New 2021 75th Anniversary Power Wagon Lan Sense/Lane Departure

[bbsw@rren]

I just bought a 2021 RAM 75th Anniversary PW. I do think the brakes suck, even when compared to other trucks, but my main and only gripe right now is that I paid for Lane Sense/Lane Departure (it came in one of the three packages I got), but I'm starting to wonder what the hell I paid for.

We just rented a Ford Explorer to go up to the mountains, and that son of a b*tch would stay in the lane, even around mountain turns, as long as I had two fingers on the steering wheel (I usually underhand grab it at about 8 o'clock with my hand resting on top of my left leg).

The Power Wagon lane sense seems to be fairly intermittent. It stays in the lane when it wants to, but I'll be a monkey's butt if I'm going to trust it! I'd say it works less than 50% of the time. Half the time it will let me exit the lane whether my hands are on the steering wheel or not, the other half of the time it keeps me in the lane; I don't get it.

What's even more dangerous is that through long sweeping turns it keeps me in the lane until about halfway through it and then it will just give up and let me steer right off the road if I wasn't paying attention.

We also have a 2016 Porsche Macan Turbo that's a little bit on the other extreme, almost dangerous. It keeps you in the lane so well that unless you use the turn signal you might smack into the vehicle in front of you trying to go around it at higher speeds; this sucker pulls you right back in the lane you are trying to get out of, but like I said, only when you don't use the turn signal first.

I've driven other vehicles with the lane sense/lane departure, and so far the 2021 Power Wagon is the worst one at remaining in the lane yet; definitely makes me wonder what I paid extra for...

Any words of advice/wisdom/personal experience to add to this?

Guess what I'm really asking is if you guys think this is normal, or something I should be taking the vehicle in for to get covered under warranty?

I only have about 1100 miles on it so far, and love every single aspect of it other than this and the crappy gas mileage (but in all fairness, I knew about the crappy gas mileage going into it lol).

Thanks again!

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

[Iowagon]

My understanding and experience is that it is ONLY an alert system.

 

[mcarey]

You should post this in the main 4.5 gen forum, where it'll get a lot more traction. They all have the same system.

 

[dave41079]

I forget how to do it right now, but you can adjust how strong the response is. Is there a particular reason you want hands free driving, or am I missing something?

 

[Brutal_HO]

Brakes are nanny managed: https://hdrams.com/forum/index.php?...-sponge-brakes-2021-3500-merged-threads.5207/

It's not a Tesla auto drive. It's not intended to be a primary lane keeping system. It's aptly named "Lanesense."

Did you RTFM?



P.S. How do you react to an emergency with your hand resting on your leg on the bottom of the steering wheel?

 

[Dingo]

OP has a PW and Porsche and is upset because his PW doesn't self drive? Good grief. I hope this is just a troll post...

 

[tuckjack]

Vehicles vary all over the place on the lane keep capabilities. My 2017 Volkswagen GTI performs similar to your Macan in that I can let go of the steering wheel around curves and it will stay in the lane. If I don't turn on my turn signal or try to move over and blind spot monitoring notices a vehicle too close, it will turn the steering wheel to keep me in the lane. It's a great system. My wife's 2018 Toyota Highlander on the other hand operates a little more like what it sounds like the RAM will do. It makes a noise and slightly turns the wheel to give you a heads up, but it will drift out of the lane if you let it. I love my GTI system and would love the PW to perform the same way, but the bigger feature to me in the safety package is adaptive cruise. That alone was the reason I got it on my PW.

 

[dave41079]

Vehicles vary all over the place on the lane keep capabilities. My 2017 Volkswagen GTI performs similar to your Macan in that I can let go of the steering wheel around curves and it will stay in the lane. If I don't turn on my turn signal or try to move over and blind spot monitoring notices a vehicle too close, it will turn the steering wheel to keep me in the lane. It's a great system. My wife's 2018 Toyota Highlander on the other hand operates a little more like what it sounds like the RAM will do. It makes a noise and slightly turns the wheel to give you a heads up, but it will drift out of the lane if you let it. I love my GTI system and would love the PW to perform the same way, but the bigger feature to me in the safety package is adaptive cruise. That alone was the reason I got it on my PW.

Adaptive cruise is one of the things I didn't know I needed in my life until I had it. The heated steering wheel and cooled seats were the same way.

 

[Ludicrous_Speed]

I just recently purchased a Power Wagon, no Safety Package so no lane keep or adaptive cruise. Lack of adaptive cruise stinks, because as dave41079 attested, its pretty damn awesome.

Lane keep is something else entirely. Its rather worthless on most vehicles in my experience. Its important to note that these Rams have lane keep, NOT lane centering, which is what the OPs other mentioned vehicles have. Lane keep only warns you when leaving your lane and typically will adjust steering to keep you from continuing to drift too far out of it. Lane centering is a self driving feature that when turned on will keep the vehicle in your lane all on its own for a set period of time before asking for driver input to ensure you're still paying attention.

Again, Rams don't have centering, only lane keep. Expecting it to function like your vehicles with a different system is unrealistic and misinformed.

Also keep in mind there are different types of adaptive cruise. Some only work at speed, some will slow you to a complete stop and then turn off, requiring you to take control to accelerate, while others will stop and then accelerate back to your set speed, all on their own. Its incumbent on you as the user to read the manual, do research and know your vehicles capabilites and limitations.