loss of accelerator reponse when on Cruise control - V70 2002

When I have my 2002 V70 T-5 on cruise control, there is a significant
dead spot in the accelerator response, if I wish to moderately
accelerate to pass another vehicle.

Volvo Techs tell me that I should use the +/- buttons on the steering
wheel to do this - however, unless one is conditioned to do this, there
can be an unexpected delay in the reponse. I consider this to be a
serious safety issue, esp. if you are on a freeway, closing on a vehicle
in front, and there is a faster vehicle approaching in the passing lane
behind.
Under normal circumstances, moderate pressure on the accelerator should
be sufficient to temporarily speed up to pass the slower vehicle in
front - However, with this cruise control problem, one could get into
difficulties if there is an un-anticipated delay in accelerator response.

Has anyone else experienced similar dead spots in accelerator response
when in cruise control with theses models?
Is this normal behaviour for these "fly-by-wire" accelerators which are
only electronically linked to the throttle?
My old 850 T never had this problem since it had a real throttle link to
the accelerator.

More importantly, does anyone know if there is a fix for this problem?

Thanks
Bruce

 

This seems normal to me... Same thing happens on our 960 and our VW Golf...
Except with the Volvo the dead area in the pedal has almost no counteractive
force to your foot until you hit the spot where the car is holding the gas
pedal... The Golf I believe is a drive by wire car, and it performs the
exact same way as your V70!... Except I don't have +/- buttons conveineintly
on the steering wheel on either car (rocker switch on the turn signal
stalk).

 

The simplest thing to do is hit cancel, pass and hit resume.

What is happening is that you pressing on the throttle until it reaches
the level where the cruise is holding it. It feels to you like nothing
is happening because you haven't gotten to the point where the cruise is
holding it. If you floor it, you should get normal response. If you go
beyond the point where cruise is holding it, you should get normal
response.

One problem that hits V70s is the throttle sticks in the off position.
This is caused due to buildup of crud on the throttle body. This will
also cause a dead response when you are going down hill and the throttle
sticks. If you leave it in cruise, it will feel like uncontrolled
acceleration when the throttle gets unstuck at the bottom of the hill.