Front sensors don't handle rain very well?

[henrus]

It's been raining here in the Bay Area last few days. Yesterday, I got a bunch of warning lights that the collision detection sensor, adaptive cruise control and various other systems (that seems to rely on the front sensors) were not available (I don't have Innodrive). This morning the warnings were still on, but it wasn't raining, and as I drove the car, they eventually all cleared (I didn't think to try to wipe them off yesterday, though since it was raining, probably would have only been a temporary fix if this was, indeed, the problem). I searched the forum and nothing came up about this behavior. Anyone else finding this an issue due to rain?

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[mikeright]

Yesterday and today I have had the same issue. In my case there was no rain.

My AD suggested to clean the front sensor. The problem is that it was and it is super clean

 

[henrus]

 

[PrudentOcean]

Odd. I’ve seen a couple of reviews on Youtube where the vehicles were driven in moderate to heavy rain, and none of them mentioned such an issue.

 

[nulled]

Been driving it through an orange code storm (Porsche storm chaser) with no issues. Rain was so bad that traffic on the highway went still. I am with innodrive and ceramic coating. (Had no issues before the coating).

 

[SteveInKirkland]

It's not an exact match, but I can simulate issues like this when I move my car from my garage (low humidity environment) outside to a high humidity environment. It's normal to get warning lights that the collision detection sensor, adaptive cruise control and safety systems that rely on the cameras and sensors are not functioning. I have Innodrive. I do not yet have ceramic coating but I will be adding that within the next month.

The messages clear after I drive the car for a while. Somewhere between 10 and 30 minutes depending on humidity.

I've also driven the car in various states of rain from barely raining to heavy rain and it works fine.

 

[henrus]

my Tesla X would occasionally have problems in the rain as well (when it poured). Seems like Porsche’s system might be a bit more brittle

 

[ColdCase]

Porsche uses RADAR for ACC and augment with optics and Navigation data for InnoDrive features. Traditionally RADAR is used for collision avoidance and keeping a fair distance from the car in front (ACC). Works very well. Optics are used to reduce false collision avoidance alerts. RADAR is not affected by moisture, but can be degraded by things like snow and radar near military installations (you shouldn't be using any kind of cruise control with snow). Moisture and dirt can affect the optics as well as driving into the sun (my biggest gripe about BMW's optics based ACC).

Mercedes and others don't neuter the RADAR and drop out ACC when the optics are degraded. Can you activate ACC without all the other InnoDrive features (adapting to curvy roads, speed limits, etc) ?

 

[DanielFrench]

Yesterday and today I have had the same issue. In my case there was no rain.

My AD suggested to clean the front sensor. The problem is that it was and it is super clean

Yes, I've had this too, most mornings in the UK - it's quite annoying...
... Was also told to clean the front sensors.

There's clearly a problem here, and it seem's Porsche do not care about customer feedback.

 

[AllanG]

I wouldn’t worry too much, as I occasionally get this on my Gen 3 ICE Macan, so I don’t think it’s solely a Macan EV issue, even though the EV has a different ACC sensor to the ICE version.

I think it’s just that the Porsche sensors are overly sensitive to moisture on the lenses, especially heavy dew.

 

[DanielFrench]

I wouldn’t worry too much, as I occasionally get this on my Gen 3 ICE Macan, so I don’t think it’s solely a Macan EV issue, even though the EV has a different ACC sensor to the ICE version.

I think it’s just that the Porsche sensors are overly sensitive to moisture on the lenses, especially heavy dew.

I’m not worried - it’s just irritating, every morning.

 

[raybey]

Mercedes and others don't neuter the RADAR and drop out ACC when the optics are degraded. Can you activate ACC without all the other InnoDrive features (adapting to curvy roads, speed limits, etc) ?

Yes you can indeed activate ACC without the curvy roads and speed limit and lane centering. You press the little button on the end of the cruise control stalk and then you get to toggle those three options on or off on the central screen. I have been having to sometimes toggle off the lane centring on some dark wet, dirty mornings as it can start to wander in the lane.

 

[DanielFrench]

Yes you can indeed activate ACC without the curvy roads and speed limit and lane centering. You press the little button on the end of the cruise control stalk and then you get to toggle those three options on or off on the central screen. I have been having to sometimes toggle off the lane centring on some dark wet, dirty mornings as it can start to wander in the lane.

Not very well thought out by Porsche in 2025, one would expect better.

 

[macanchan]

I had some morning dew on my windshield and while driving I got a few errors but as soon as the dew dried up, all the errors went away. I probably could've used my windshield wiper to clear a sensor. I got the warn/brake assist warning light & emergency stop function warning light.

 

[quaxon]

It was absolutely pouring here in the Bay area all day and everything worked as normal thankfully. I think this may only affect some cars but shouldn't be normal.

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