Should you pay more for a car with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems?

Ford Smart Driver Assist/Ford Co-Pilot 360 Assist+. Honda Sensing. Hyundai SmartSense. Mazda i-ActiveSense. Mitsubishi Mi-Pilot Assist. Nissan Safety Shield 360. Subaru Eyesight. Toyota Safety Sense. Volkswagen Travel Assist/Volkswagen IQ Drive.

The abovementioned terms are what car companies label their respective Advanced Driver Assist Systems or ADAS.

Also Read: Advanced Driver Assistance Systems: How do they work and do you need them? - Part 1

Essentially, these setups are increased human-machine interfaces meant to improve the driver’s ability to react to dangers on the road. As such, cameras installed behind the rearview mirror (facing forward), the front grille and bumper (with some nameplates), the rear tailgate, and the side mirror housings work in tandem with sensors embedded on the bumpers, the car's emblems, and even headlights, to feed data to various chips. 

The chips then connect to different actuators via electronic controller units or ECUs. Depending on the level of driving assist, the system can either warn the driver or intervene when it detects a potential for accidents.

Undoubtedly, an ADAS system benefits the one behind the wheel. A lot of blind areas or question marks during driving are frequently solved with a safety suite.  You are immediately reminded if you veer out of your lane, if the car ahead goes forward, or if there are cars or pedestrians in your rearward area.

With ADAS technology, your auto also does some tasks for you (such as sticking to a lane or abruptly slowing down) if you are unable to heed warnings.

But are they worth the bump in price?

The components of an ADAS system do not come cheap. In some cases, those built-in cameras, sensors, warning chimes, and computer box (with software toggled for safe driving) actually drive up the cost of the car.

For example, the current Subaru Forester (Specs | News) compact sport-ute has its entire model lineup loaded with original equipment Subaru Eyesight ADAS, including an updated 4.0 version of the aforementioned Eyesight technology.

Whether the base model  ₱2.168 million 2.0i-L Eyesight or the ₱2.17 million 2.0i-S Eyesight, the Pleiades models officially breached the  ₱2 million-and-above realm with the introduction of ADAS.

In contrast, a similar apple in the Toyota Corolla Cross (Specs | News) (with Toyota’s Safety Sense ADAS) goes for ₱1.844 million, albeit with two less wheels to drive, a hybrid setup, and a continuously variable transmission (CVT) installed.

Upon checking the brochures of both crossover sport utility vehicles (SUVs), the Forester’s Eyesight 4.0 package offers much more than the Toyota Safety Sense on the Corolla Cross. The Eyesight 4.0 has pre-collision braking intervention (with a wider algorithm of scenarios requiring computer box-controlled intercession), autonomous emergency steering, lane departure prevention, and automatic braking if the Forester senses oncoming entities as it reverses.

In contrast, the Corolla Cross’ safety suite totes forward motion pre-collision warning, automatic high beams, lane departure warning, lane tracing assist, and radar-assisted cruise control. 

No doubt, the Forester’s ADAS has a lot more to offer than the Corolla Cross’ ADAS, but you pay an extra ₱326,000. In this day and age of rising inflation and constant increases in basic goods prices, that extra 326 kiyaw may be a dealbreaker.

However, an argument can be made that the aforementioned ₱326,000 to get a Subaru Forester and its Eyesight 4.0 safety suite is a good investment, especially if one uses the Forester as a frequent travel vehicle between urban and rural areas.

Pre-collision braking and lane departure prevention are great during expressway travel, where you might struggle to keep awake while driving, and the nearest rest/coffee stop is 10-odd kilometers away.

Looking at the Mazda 3, one can see that one need not pay so much for an ADAS bundle. The Mazda 3’s i-Activesense safety combo is standard on the upper tier ₱1.695 million 2.0L M Hybrid four-door sedan or five-door hatchback. 

For those that do not wish to pore over the locally available Mazda 3 brochure, the Mazda 3’s i-ActiveSense “safety box” includes blind spot monitoring (including when the Mazda goes in reverse), lane departure alert (with a feature that keeps the compact car in a lane, known as lane keep assist), pre-collision braking intervention, and front cross-traffic alert (which detects vehicles approaching from blind spots at the frontmost flanks when the Mazda 3 goes forward at a junction, and notifies the driver of possible danger via audio-visual dashboard and steering wheel warnings).

The Japanese car company also tossed into its ADAS a driver monitoring system that gives audio-visual dashboard and steering wheel warnings when the unit veers out of a lane and the driver doesn’t take hold of the steering wheel. 

Frankly, the Mazda 3’s pricing and price difference per ADAS-shod model is less expensive than, say, the Honda Civic (Specs | News) and its Honda Sensing active safety pack. The Civic comes in just two selections, the base model ₱1.583 million V Turbo and the top end ₱1.775 million RS Turbo.

Both Civic flavors come with turbocharged 1.5-liter straight fours, CVTs, and Sensing active safety suites. The Civic also has more components tacked to the Sensing safety equipment, such as a low speed follow, which makes the computer box detect a vehicle moving at a lesser speed than the Civic, adjust the Civic’s speed accordingly, and does heavy self-braking if the driver doesn’t lift a foot to prevent an impending mishap.

Honda even threw in the Civic’s ADAS adaptive cruise control and a lead car departure notice, the latter featuring audio-visual alerts from the dashboard and the steering wheel to the driver if the immediate vehicle in front has gone forward from rest.

Wait, there's cheaper ADAS?

Then there are the Chinese automakers and their respective  ADAS systems, which seem to be at par with what the Japanese and American automakers present but at a glaringly reduced price.

For example, the flagship Chery Tiggo 8 Pro (Specs | News) e+ plug-in hybrid electric sport utility vehicle is ₱2.698 million, and its ADAS package is loaded enough that all ADAS features mentioned earlier in the Forester, Corolla Cross, Mazda 3, and Honda Civic are all standard on the Tiggo 8 Pro e+.

Chery even put into that Tiggo 8 Pro variant items called Traffic Jam Assist and Integrated Cruise Assist, the former serving as a low-speed cruise control of sorts in urban areas and the latter aiding the SUV’s adaptive cruise control by measuring the distance between the unit and any vehicle in front and adjusting the Tiggo 8 Pro e+’s velocity accordingly.

In contrast, the flagship Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (Specs | News) is more expensive (₱3.63 million-₱4.457 million) and has a Toyota Safety Sense package similar to the abovementioned Corolla Cross.

For added comparison, the flagship Nissan Patrol (Specs | News) 5.6 V8 gas 4x4 is 4.548 million, and the Safety Shield 360 features aren’t as loaded as the Tiggo 8 Pro e+’s ADAS. The Patrol does have some standout active safety features, such as active cruise control, rear cross-traffic warning, and blind spot intervention, along with a semblance of forward collision warning, lane departure warning, forward collision warning, and high beam assist.

One need not break the bank or max out a credit card to get an automobile armed with an ADAS armada of active safety features. Instead, one should research the most suitable auto for one’s purchasing capability and driving needs while maximizing the available safety aids (active or passive) to complement driving needs.

And, as mentioned in many a story on active auto safety technology, the fellow behind the steering wheel is always the best safety feature any car can have.