Jump to content

Sync 3 & Adaptive steering


jasonj80

Recommended Posts

I actually knew this was coming since Sync 3 was arriving with the 2016 Edge which presumably puts it on the MKX at the same time. And of course I'm not pleased, but I can't wait indefinitely since my lease would be a year expired by this time. I still like the car, but MLT is a steaming pile sucking a hole in the dashboard.

 

I don't see Adaptive Steering yet but it was delayed until 2016 for the Edge and removed from the MKX announcement altogether. I'm assuming it's there with the 2016 Edge and Job 2 MKX as well.

 

I imagine MKX is also finally getting the 21" Polished Wheels with Job 2 and Edge is getting Adaptive Cruise control.

 

Here's a Window Sticker: http://www.inventory.ford.com/services/inventory/WindowSticker.pdf?vin=2LMTJ8LP7GBL48470

 

It's really a shame, many of these improvements would have made the MKX a real contender for SUV of the year which is some attention Lincoln badly needs right now.

Edited by BORG
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No freezes or visible reboots which were a big problem the first 3 years. Not saying there aren't still bugs but they're relatively minor and the latest release fixes at least some of those like the ambient lighting resetting.

He obviously has one of the units that just has issues and can't really be explained why. I know they're out there, my cousin's '15 explorer sport has one.

I don't think my issues are atypical. I was half joking about having different definitions of rock solid, but it looks like that may actually be the case. The issue is likely one of perception. I never experienced MFT prior to 3.7. I have no doubt that it is VASTLY improved from the earlier builds. I would never define something with admitted bugs as "Rock Solid". The issues/glitches I've had are really minor, and just that, glitches, but I would no more expect such glitches in a $0.99 app from an app store than I would from a $40k+ vehicle. There is NO reason for MFT to continue to have glitches.

 

Much smaller companies solve much more complicated software issues all the time. I have TiVos. Two generations ago TiVo released a new model which used flash for its interface. The hardware was underpowered, and the units were slow (sound familiar?). TiVo responded by releasing a new unit with improved processing power. Several months later they completely rewrote their entire interface using a language called HAXE and released it for both generations of units. Suddenly the prior generation was as fast as the newest generation unit. TiVos are nothing if not reliable. TiVo is MUCH smaller than Ford, and a TiVo unit is $400 vs, $40,000.

 

MFT is slow. MFT is glitchy. MFT requires too many steps to do many of its functions.

 

Is it the worst thing ever? No. But it is far from "Rock Solid". I know two people personally who had early MFT Explorers and have sworn off Ford because of it. Was it the APIM? Likely. They could not care less when I try to explain that to them, and honestly when I take off my "Ford Fan" hat, I can understand why.

Edited by sullynd
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is NO reason for MFT to continue to have glitches.

 

MFT is slow. MFT is glitchy. MFT requires too many steps to do many of its functions.

 

There are plenty of reasons - the initial code sucked so bad they couldn't really fix it, so they rewrote it just like Tivo did. But Tivo doesn't have a touch screen interface that changed from resistive to capacitive. That made it difficult to retrofit sync 3 to MFT vehicles. There is still a possibility they'll port sync 3 to the older hardware with reduced features. Basically they started with the wrong hardware and the code written by bsquare was atrocious. The only real choice they had was to start over from scratch. Live and learn.

 

MFT is only slow compared to smartphones and tablets. Compared to previous touch screen entertainment/nav systems it's just fine. Glitches seem to be limited to ambient lighting resets and source inputs not being remembered.

 

I don't understand the "requires too many steps to do many of its functions". Please cite a specific example.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BTW - the initial release on the Ford Edge in late 2010 was so bad it was locking up and/or rebooting several times per week. Ford was releasing software updates every 6-8 weeks for 1.5 years. Compared to that period the current 3.8 version is rock solid IMO. That doesn't mean it works the way you think it should work, just that it's reliable and doesn't freeze or reboot often.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BTW - the initial release on the Ford Edge in late 2010 was so bad it was locking up and/or rebooting several times per week. Ford was releasing software updates every 6-8 weeks for 1.5 years. Compared to that period the current 3.8 version is rock solid IMO. That doesn't mean it works the way you think it should work, just that it's reliable and doesn't freeze or reboot often.

 

What does that mean for the initial release of Sync 3?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

What does that mean for the initial release of Sync 3?

 

Hopefully it means Ford learned their lesson and won't repeat any of those mistakes. The big problem with Edge is that they went all in on MFT with the new 2011 model and when the software wasn't ready they had no backup plan. They had to either release it and hope they could fix it or stop the entire 2011 Edge launch which wasn't really an option.

 

With sync 3 they're not in that same boat - they can wait until it's ready to replace MFT which we're seeing on the job 2 MKX e.g. It wasn't ready at 2016 MKX launch so it was delayed to job 2.

 

Also - I don't think bsquare wrote sync 3.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Hopefully it means Ford learned their lesson and won't repeat any of those mistakes. The big problem with Edge is that they went all in on MFT with the new 2011 model and when the software wasn't ready they had no backup plan. They had to either release it and hope they could fix it or stop the entire 2011 Edge launch which wasn't really an option.

 

With sync 3 they're not in that same boat - they can wait until it's ready to replace MFT which we're seeing on the job 2 MKX e.g. It wasn't ready at 2016 MKX launch so it was delayed to job 2.

 

Also - I don't think bsquare wrote sync 3.

And this isn't Microsoft.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the biggest kicker is that QNX is a "lighter" operating system than what MS had. Less processing power and memory needed to run. That'll help make any hardware run snappier.

 

Ford was going to have to re-write their apps anyway due to B-Square's crap code. There wasn't going to be a better time to switch than now. And I would guess QNX is probably cheaper to license.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...