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Forward Collision Warning

17K views 28 replies 21 participants last post by  Faro 
#1 ·
I have gone through the menu and turned on the FCW with brake and audible warning checked. Have it set to medium. How do I know that it is on? Is there an Indicator on the dash? Does something light up? I haven’t been in a situation where I have needed it, but would like to know that it is working. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
I have it set to the same level and it has only triggered once. There was an audible alarm as I was approaching another vehicle directly in front of me that slowed suddenly. There have been other times, not quite as drastic, that I thought it would have triggered but it didn't.

-KJ
 
#7 ·
I think we can only go on faith that the system is working. I’ve had the honking alarm go off a few times, but didn’t realize what it was; I didn’t perceive any danger, and didn’t notice the dash message except once, and then it disppeared before I could read it. It sounded three or four occasions before I finally suspected it was the FCW warning noise.

Then, as I was overtaking a car and bus, the car started to move into my lane just as I was coming up on it. The honking alarm, and then a hard braking just milliseconds before I got on the pedal myself. It was pretty cool, and really demonstrated how the tech can react faster than I can.

It does seem to be speed related, though, and won’t save us from rear-ending someone at low speed.
 
#16 ·
It does. It saved me from rear ending someone
It also works in a parking lot with people. Tried to tuck behind a walker into a spot and it decided I was too close and locked me up. Quite a surprise, but good.
 
#11 ·
I can't remember the car ever braking. I do hear the audible warning sometimes.
 
#12 ·
Some weird pictogram of crash shows up on dash in yellow....i got warning bunch of times, most of the times unnecessarily...traffic around DC is an interesting mix of driving styles from around the whole world and leads to amusing organized chaos that even car notices frequently...car just goes WTF, WTFFFF!! :)
 
#13 ·
You don’t need to worry about it being enabled. Even if you turn it off, which produces a warning on the dash. Your Giulia will turn it on again the next time you start the car because ‘it a safety system’. If you want to at least hear it, set the distance to far and plenty of cars slowing in front of you to turn right will trip the warning.
I like it overall as a system but don’t like how the prefill makes the brakes extra grabby in busy traffic at least in my perception.
 
#15 ·
What forward collision warning?

Picked up my 2019 Guilia Jan 2019 and checked all safety settings to make sure they were all on. I was enjoying driving the ALFA but then at 420 miles on the odometer a 17 year old new driver cut in front of me at night with a black SUV. The result is that I couldn't stop in time and rear ended him to the tune of $13k worth of damage to my Guilia and no damage to the other vehicle. I purposely bought a car that had all the safety features but the Forward collision warning system let me down it did nothing; no alarm, no braking.

After getting the car back from the body shop I set the Fwd collision alert to sensitivity to "far" (it was on medium the factory default) to see if I could get it to work at all. After driving for a week it did not come on at all. I was about to bring the car to my dealer to have the system checked when the "fwd collision warning off" message and icon appeared on my dash. I brought the car to my dealer who informed me that after a collision all sensors have to be aligned with a special tool that they have to rent from ALFA. The cost to align the sensors ---- $2000.

I also read that the Guilia has an Event Data Recorder which records the status of all safety systems for something like 30 seconds before a collision. I asked ALFA USA how I could have the EDR data retrieved and found that a "special tool" is required and the dealers don't have the tool.

You are supposed to notify ALFA that you had a collision and they will send someone with the tool???

I'm just providing this post for information purposes. Any advice or comments are welcome.



This is the first accident I've had in over thirty years.
 
#23 ·
Picked up my 2019 Guilia Jan 2019 and checked all safety settings to make sure they were all on. I was enjoying driving the ALFA but then at 420 miles on the odometer a 17 year old new driver cut in front of me at night with a black SUV. The result is that I couldn't stop in time and rear ended him to the tune of $13k worth of damage to my Guilia and no damage to the other vehicle. I purposely bought a car that had all the safety features but the Forward collision warning system let me down it did nothing; no alarm, no braking.

After getting the car back from the body shop I set the Fwd collision alert to sensitivity to "far" (it was on medium the factory default) to see if I could get it to work at all. After driving for a week it did not come on at all. I was about to bring the car to my dealer to have the system checked when the "fwd collision warning off" message and icon appeared on my dash. I brought the car to my dealer who informed me that after a collision all sensors have to be aligned with a special tool that they have to rent from ALFA. The cost to align the sensors ---- $2000.

I also read that the Guilia has an Event Data Recorder which records the status of all safety systems for something like 30 seconds before a collision. I asked ALFA USA how I could have the EDR data retrieved and found that a "special tool" is required and the dealers don't have the tool.

You are supposed to notify ALFA that you had a collision and they will send someone with the tool???

I'm just providing this post for information purposes. Any advice or comments are welcome.



This is the first accident I've had in over thirty years.
Hi Faro,
We're truly sorry to hear about this! We would like to have this documented and looked into a bit further for you. Please send us a private message at your earliest convenience.
Lydia
Alfa Romeo Social Care Specialist
 
#17 ·
Yesterday I had the following strange experience:
Following a slow moving driver, maybe a little closer than reasonable. ACC on, but not engaged.
The driver found his right hand turn off and nicely pulled onto the shoulder of the road to complete his turn.

Giulia either cut power or braked (or both) in response. No FCW alarm. No response from the accelerator pedal until I was past the other car, Giulia was continuing on momentum. Total duration of the event was a couple of seconds.

I have the ACC recall update.

I am familiar with ACC braking when the person in front pulls out of the lane and brakes. Pushing the accelerator overrides this behavior, and in the above case ACC was not engaged.

Any thoughts? This has happened only once and I doubt that I can replicate the result.

FWIW: I find that the cross traffic alert is extremely useful when backing out of parking lot stalls.
 
#19 ·
I think that may be normal, just based on my experience of having FCW intervene.

The alarm sounds when there is still time for the driver react, but a imminent collision occurence will trigger the active intervention (braking/power cut) without an audible alert, as I recall.

Once, I came upon a car stopped behind a bus on a two-lane road. I observed for a few seconds as I approached and determined the car was content to sit behind the bus, so I decided to pass to the left, into the oncoming traffic lane. Just as I was about to pass the car, it decide it wanted to move in my lane to pass the bus. Fortunately, the car driver looked just as they started to come over, saw me, and dipped back behind the bus, but the motion was enough to trigger the active collision avoidance, braking or cutting power.

The funny part, aside from me not recalling any audible alert, was that just as saw the car start to move my way, my response was to nail the throttle, because I didn't believe there was time to stop, so I decided to get the pass done asap. Of course, the car cut power just as I requested more power, so that was quite unsettling for a second, but I kept my foot on the gas and recovered control quickly.

I suppose that had the car pulled out and kept going, the Giulia would have braked us down successfully, but had the car stopped and I not had room to veer further left, the power cut/braking could have been a collision, I think.

Anyway, like I said, I think active intervention will occur without an audible alert in circumstances of imminent collision.
 
#18 ·
In addition to you going over 4 mph, the other vehicle must be going under 31 mph for the system to activate. From the manual; “The system will intervene automatically in case of imminent collision or impact against a pedestrian crossing the road (speed under 31 mph (50 km/h)).”

I don’t know if that means it won’t activate at all above that, or the intervention is limited above 31 mph.
 
#21 ·
I believe it means there is a max of 31mph differential in speed between you and the car in front for the system to be able to save you... Meaning your going up to 31mph faster then what's in front

Car and Driver did some testing about a year ago and showed most cars can't stop in time for a stationary object if they are going above ~30mph
 
#24 ·
My cross traffic warning has come in handy this past week. Backing out of my driveway at least twice, i hve got on the brake just as the system went off. I think it did apply in on instance too. triangles lit up on the mirrors and alarms went off. Sometime the parking sensors go off right as i drop off the apron onto the street. That, and the retaining wall are enough to look like an obstruction to set it off. The yellow collision graphic will come on the dash when it activates at speed, sometimes as slow as parking lot. ACC is more subtle on the highway and can be set with the car lane dash symbols at the top of the screen. Works great and I have had no issues with the differential. I will do the recall late next month.
 
#29 ·
Thanks for the post. I totally agree with you. My problem now is to prove to the dealer that this is the case. They are trying to charge an additional $1400 to replace the Lane departure module. I wish I could find this in a service manual.
I called a service manager at another dealer but he didn't know the answer.
 
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