What Is Kia DRIVE WiSE?

June 24, 2019

What Is Kia DRIVE WiSE?

So you have been researching your next new car and you keep seeing references to DRIVE WiSE on the Kia vehicles and you aren’t exactly clear on what it entails. DRIVE WiSE is Kia’s safety suite. It is designed to not only make your drive safer but also will also increase the comfort and convenience of your ride.

DRIVE WiSE is a branch of Kia that is built around the idea of making your experience in an automobile better and push technology forward and get us closer to having completely autonomous vehicles by 2030 and by 2020 having partially autonomous vehicles out there by 2020. These technologies are designed to help identify issues on the road as soon as possible allowing the driver, or the car, to take the appropriate actions to avoid danger.

If you get a Kia that is 2016 or newer you will get access to certain DRIVE WiSE features and more keep adding all the way till now. We are going to go over all features available and add more as the new models roll out. This doesn’t mean your Kia will have all these features, for that you will want to check the listing or call the dealership and ask if the feature you are looking for is in your next car.

• Surround View Mirror (SVM) – The Surround View Mirror system uses four cameras placed around the vehicle to produce a bird’s eye view of the area around your car. This will help with parking, pulling out of spots, and just giving you a general view of what is going around.  
• Autonomous Braking Support – Using a combination of data gathered from the cameras and sensors, the technology can help detect pedestrians, cars, and other obstacles to help notify you if there is a potential risk of a collision and assist in braking.
• Blind Spot Collision Warning (BCW) – This system will assist in letting you know of approaching traffic in your blind spot. This will work in conjunction with Lane Change Assist to ensure safe merging.
• Blind Spot Detection – Working in conjunction with the Lane Change Assist and BCW this system will give you a visual cue on the side-view mirror when another car is in your blind spot.
• Forward Collision Warning (FCW) – The FCW will warn the driver if it detects you are getting too close to another driver or pedestrian.
• Forward Collision Avoidance (FCA) – The Forward Collision-Avoidance will assist the driver in applying the brake if the FCW detects something and does not detect any action taken by the driver.
• Low Beam Assist – This helps in directing the light as you round corners while driving.
• High Beam Assist – The High Beam Assist will turn your high beams down when another oncoming vehicle is detected.
• Lane Departure Warning – This system is designed to let you know if you are deviating from your lane in traffic.
• Lane Keeping Assist – The Lane Keeping Assist works with the Lane Departure Warning to help you get back into the center of your lane.
• Proactive Support – Proactive support makes use of several other systems including the Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keeping Assist, and it uses a camera to look for speed limit signs will show the max speed on the cluster.
• Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning (RCCW) – Getting out of a parking spot leaves you open to a lot of hazards. The RCCW will notify you if another vehicle is approaching when you are backing out.
• Smart Parking Assist System – This addition to the DRIVE WiSE package will help you find a spot that will fit your car, and then it will help you steer safely into the spot.
• Smart Cruise Control – When you have cruise control going you can relax a little more and pay attention to the road a little more closely as your car will adjust its speed based on the motorist in front of you.
• Driver Attention Alert (DAA) – Through a collection of driver monitoring and vehicle monitoring the DAA suggests when it detects that the driver’s attention is not as focused on the road as it should be and will give a warning chime followed by a visual notification on the instrument cluster to let you know that you might want to take a break.
• Electronic Parking Brake – With the Electronic Parking Brake as soon as you turn the car off the parking brake will engage and as you turn your car back on the parking brake will then disengage.
• Rain Sensing Variable Intermittent Windshield Wipers – Your Windshield wipers will automatically turn on and off as well as adjust speed based on how heavy the rain is coming down.

With Kia’s big push toward Autonomous Driving the following features are going to show up more and more on new Kia automobiles as we get closer to the goal of Semi-Autonomous driving cars in 2020 and fully autonomous cars in 2030.

• Highway Autonomous Driving (HAD) – Using cameras and radar HAD will look at the cars, line markings, and other signals to keep your car in its lane, move it to other lanes, overtake other vehicles, and get off on your exit.
• Urban Autonomous Driving (UAD) – With the same monitors as the HAD the UAD will navigate your car through densely-congested city environments.
• Preceding Vehicle Following (PVF) – This is the next step up from the Lane Keep Assist in that if for some reason the lines on the road are difficult to detect it will use other vehicles to calculate a safe path and will keep a safe distance from the car ahead.
• Emergency Stop System (ESS) – Building on the technology from the DAA the ESS will help direct your car to the side of the road and stop it if for some reason the driver’s attention is taken away from the road for too long.
• Traffic Jam Assist (TJA) – Closely monitors your car during heavy traffic situations and help your automobile to maintain a safe distance from the car in front of it and moving as traffic moves.
• Autonomous Valet Parking – Using a Smart Key, SmartWatch, or Cell Phone you are able to have your car park itself when you get out and then again turn back on and come pick you up.

We have covered most of the DRIVE WiSE features, and we will continue to update this post as more rolls out. So come back and check for updates.

If you are in the Portland/Vancouver area make sure to swing by Dick Hannah Kia and take one of these cars with DRIVE WiSE for a test drive today!