While I don't regret choosing an Outback with Eyesight, after 7 months of use I've concluded it's really an unreliable novelty more than a robust solution to any problem. Not as useful as I thought it might be. Most functions aren't consistent enough to rely on. Right or wrong, my conclusions:
What I really do like:
- I do like the blind spot detector (nice reminder, thank goodness it doesn't beep too), and the reverse/cross traffic warning (often hard to actually see) systems. Since backing up is usually relatively low speed, the reverse automatic braking is OK if not overkill. e.g the audible alarm ought to be enough.
What I can't rely on or don't like:
- While lane centering as offered on some other brands/models might be useful, I don't see much use for Eyesight's lane keeping. Nothing wrong with an audible alarm noting you may be crossing a lane marker, but there's no need for the car to also nudge steering. I haven't turned LKA on since trying it in the weeks after I bought the car, useless IMO.
- And lane keeping and lane warning rely entirely on road markings, so it misses a lot, and sometimes give false alarms. And it's completely useless on ice/snow and even in heavy rain - I've had Eyesight shut off completely in heavy rain, a time when it would be most useful. [The Honda lane keeping/centering is more aggressive than the Subaru, it’s too much, and it’s wrong as often as right - it sometimes “sees” tar strips and various seams, old (construction) stripes and sometimes who knows what.]
- Adaptive Cruise Control is a mixed bag IME. It's taught me to change lanes much earlier when I'm approaching a slow moving vehicle as I'm certainly not interested in slowing and maintaining a lower speed just because a car ahead of me chooses to. I thought I'd like ACC, but it's not what I expected.
- I consider the ACC audible alarm that accompanies locking on a car ahead and unlocking from a car ahead a nuisance and totally unnecessary, why do I care to know? I turned off the beep.
- Pre-Collision Warning has also been a mixed bag. It's rare that it comes into play, but it's wrong almost as often as it's right IME. When going around a corner, it's sometimes fooled by a car in another lane, a parked car or even a sign or other obstacle that is straight ahead, but not in my intended (curved) path.
- And I don't know what the thresholds are for Pre-Collision Braking but I assume it's effective at low speed and not at some higher speed threshold where it could be the most useful - it hasn't been actuated on my car yet, hopefully I continue to pay attention and it's of no utility.
- Pre-collision braking has actuated a few times for me, wrong every time. It sees a car turning ahead of me and doesn't like the gap or closure rate and brakes unnecessarily. The other couple of times I was coming to a stop at an intersection and it decided I wasn't braking soon enough, even though I approach the same way all the time as far as I know?
- The Vehicle Ahead Has Moved is also wrong more often than not. If a car ahead of me inches ahead a couple feet while we're all still waiting for a red light to turn, it alarms even though I don't feel a need to inch forward too. It has yet to alarm when I was really distracted and not paying attention to traffic ahead. I guess I wish all the drivers who text at intersections should have it...
I am all for fully autonomous cars one day, and I suppose Eyesight and systems like it are a step in that direction - but a baby step at best, maybe 10% of the way to self driving.
I don’t consider backup cameras new. It’s nice but I refuse to rely on it entirely.
Neither of our cars have the automatic parallel parking feature. That’s nice but I’m able to parallel park correctly without an adjustment at least 75% of the time (sometimes I miss).