Cruise Control quick fix

[Ron F]

After working fine for about 3 weeks my Area 451 cruise control stopped working this afternoon. Sent a quick email to Steven Morehouse at smartieparts.com explaining the problem and within minutes he came back with a few possible solutions. Problem was a passenger side door that was just slightly ajar. Closed the door, problem solved. Hope this might help someone in the future.

[mvaldes]

Thanks for the reminder. It does emphasize that Area451 designed the system with safety in mind.

[Turbo42]

just making sure the passenger does not fall out lol

[Dunerunner]

Posted in this Thread http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/for...-should-14377/ under Reviews of the Area 451 Cruise on post 2. Don't bother to follow the link, while housekeeping, I Oops! deleted it!

[SmartieParts]

Odd, I can't see whatever that page is you linked to Dune. It says I don't have permission to see it.

A reminder... The cruise won't work if:

Either door is open
Either brake is engaged
The transmission isn't in a forward gear
The traction control system is engaged
Your speed is under around 15MPH

- Steven

[foxmajik]

A full install of this device results in the following safety features being disabled:

Antilock brake system (ABS)
Acceleration skid control (ASR)
Electronic brake force distribution (EBD)
Electronic stability program (ESP)
Engine braking regulation (EBR)

In other words, it turns your car into a rolling death trap.

Installing this not only voids your warranty, it also invalidates any insurance claims and could kill you.

[Wdhitch]

Originally Posted by foxmajik

A full install of this device results in the following safety features being disabled:

Antilock brake system (ABS)
Acceleration skid control (ASR)
Electronic brake force distribution (EBD)
Electronic stability program (ESP)
Engine braking regulation (EBR)

In other words, it turns your car into a rolling death trap.

Installing this not only voids your warranty, it also invalidates any insurance claims and could kill you.

You pulled this up after a month for this??? Sour grapes???




Oh... and you're wrong on both the warranty and insurance issues... My insurance has already given me the ok to install it and I called smart USA and they said there would be no warranty issues.

[Westfield 11]

Regardless of approval by smart USA, does it really disable the anti-lock brakes? Also did you get that in writing? And did you get written approval from your insurance carrier, not just the local agent?

It is one thing to ask if you can install an aftermarket cruise control and another entirely to ask if you can disable the electronic safety features. I would doubt that they fully understood exactly what safety systems were going to be affected by this device. If this is indeed what happens.

[SmartieParts]

Whoa! Wow its amazing what some people will pull out of thin air.

Foxmajik is absolutely, positively 100% mistaken. I have no idea where he got this but its not true at all.

OBVIOUSLY the cruise control doesn't do those things. I'm bothered that someone could post something like that out of nowhere with nothing to back it up (there is nothing to back it up, since its completely untrue) but I'm almost even more worried that people would believe something so ridiculous!

The engineers at Area 451 did a fantastic job developing the cruise control with safety in mind... no way would it disable any of those things. Ludicrous.

The only possible thing I can think of is that foxmajik didn't read the title correctly and instead of "cruise control" he figured we were talking about the "traction control" disabler modification that some people are doing. And yes, disabling the traction control also disables just about every other safety system in your car and it is meant for speeds < 3 MPH and only to get unstuck from a slippery spot. But it has NOTHING to do with cruise control in the slightest.


To be CLEAR:

The cruise control does not affect the above mentioned (or any other) system in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM. It does what it is supposed to do... keeps steady control of your speed... and does it very well with no adverse side effects.


A complete botch job of the install *CAN* bring the triangle light up on the dash, and this indicates that *POSSIBLY* one or more of those systems are currently disabled. But that means you miswired the install. That is NOT NORMAL as part of the cruise control installation.



I'm talking about the Area 451 Parts version of the cruise control. The "MDC" is another matter, but even then I can confidently say on their behalf that it still doesn't at all disable the systems mentioned in foxmajic's erroneous post.

Foxmajik... I certainly hope and expect that you'll come back and explain yourself on this one.

- Steven

[Wdhitch]

I called smart USA and asked to speak to someone about a warranty question. I was transferred to a gentleman... I believe his name was Greg... and I asked him if he was familiar with the Area 451 aftermarket cruise control unit. He said he was... I asked him if I installed it would it be an issue with my warranty... he put me on hold for about 2 minutes and then told me it wasn't an issue. I then called Progressive... they don't have local agents... and asked them if I would have any policy issues if I installed an aftermarket cruise control on my smart. The phone agent said it wouldn't be a problem.


I don't have the unit yet so I didnt' get anything in writing... with my job loss and all that crap I don't know if I'll ever get to purchase the unit.

My issue was someone pulling up a month old topic to post what most likely is crap info...