Super Cruise Review: Technology Test

Our automotive expert tests the hands-free driving-assist technology found in multiple GM vehicles.

James Riswick | 

Apr 10, 2026 | 4 min read

Cadillac

• Pros: I've seen Super Cruise work really well, and it lets you know when it's active.
• Cons: The automatic lane-change function isn't great for all situations.
• The Takeaway: I believe Super Cruise is an excellent highway-driving-assist feature.

Super Cruise is the highway-driving-assist system available on many General Motors vehicles. It can make it feel like your car is doing everything for you — even changing lanes when appropriate. Imagine being out on the open road or stuck in traffic, then imagine that you're not touching the accelerator. Or the brake. Or even the steering wheel. Super Cruise helps your vehicle do it all. 

For this test, I used Super Cruise in the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Chevrolet Equinox EV, GMC Acadia, and two versions of the Cadillac Optiq. The Optiq is pictured above, and I've owned a 2025 Optiq for nine months, so I've used this technology extensively. No matter the vehicle, though, Super Cruise worked equally well.

• Where does Super Cruise work?
• Is Super Cruise self-driving?
• How well does Super Cruise work?
• Is Super Cruise any good?
  

James Riswick

Where Does Super Cruise Work?

QuickTake: It mostly works on controlled-access highways, but parts of regular roads appear to be getting added to the network.

Super Cruise functions on highway-like roads that General Motors has mapped using lidar. Super Cruise covers 600,000 miles of compatible U.S. and Canada roads, as of February 2025. Anecdotally, I've noticed new roads added to the network in the last two years.

Having this road-mapping data is vital, as the system knows what's coming up rather than simply reacting to lane lines and other factors using its various sensors, as adaptive cruise control does. However, Super Cruise still uses such sensors to maintain a following distance to other vehicles, detect lane lines, and monitor other road conditions.

James Riswick

Is Super Cruise Self-Driving?

QuickTake: No, you can't just tell the car to "go to Cleveland" and take a nap.

Super Cruise requires the driver to watch the road. It constantly monitors users to ensure they're paying attention. I have found that Super Cruise gives me more leeway to look around than systems in cars with similar driver-attention monitors do, but it will eventually warn you to pay attention.

To that end, Super Cruise's steering wheel warning light represents the hands-free driving system's greatest advantage over its competition. The top of the rim glows blue to let you know the system is activated — it'll brake and accelerate for you — but you must still steer. It'll glow green when you can go hands-free and remains illuminated while active.

This approach makes it obvious when the car is operating itself and when it needs you to take over. When that happens, those green lights flash red. The alerts provided by others just aren't as obvious, and in my opinion, this seems safer.

James Riswick

How Well Does Super Cruise Work?

QuickTake: In multiple cars, I've always been impressed by how consistently well Super Cruise works.

Super Cruise works extremely well, but there are limitations. The most common reason for the system to flash red has been construction zones or disappearing lane markings. There were also two instances, once in each Optiq I evaluated, when morning frost and condensation corresponded with the system not working. The sensors were apparently blocked despite the windshield wipers clearing them.

That said, I've used Super Cruise in the rain and didn't think its capability waned. True, I didn't try it in a downpour, but GM specifically says Super Cruise should not be activated "in slippery or in other adverse conditions, including rain, sleet, fog, ice, or snow."

Really, the only iffy experience I had using Super Cruise involved the automatic lane-change function. Instead of simply slowing for a car ahead, the system can automatically execute a lane change when it is safe to do so, then return to the original lane once the pass is complete. I've found this function works well on highways with two lanes in each direction, but there are too many variables on congested multilane highways common in urban and suburban areas, and the system will often try to change lanes when it's not actually beneficial. As such, I turn that capability off.

Instead, I prefer option B: automatic lane changes ordered by hitting a turn signal. It basically works the same, except I determine when a change is needed.

James Riswick

Is Super Cruise Any Good?

QuickTake: For the most part, yes, Super Cruise is very good.

Super Cruise has worked just as impressively in many GM vehicles I've tested. Indeed, I trust it more than any other highway-driving-assist function, be it hands-free or those that require a token hand on the steering wheel. That said, some of the tech in either camp — hands-on or hands-free — is also particularly good, so Super Cruise won't always represent that much of an advantage. Compared with GM's lesser cruise control systems, though, I think Super Cruise is substantially better.

GM provided multiple vehicles for this Super Cruise review.

James Riswick

James Riswick has been testing and reviewing cars since 2007, serving as an editor at Edmunds and Autoblog, and contributing to Autotrader, Car and Driver, AutoGuide, Auto Express, and Capital One Auto Navigator. You name it, he's almost certainly driven it. He has attended an auto show every year since he was 2 and has wanted to be an automotive journalist since high school. He owns a babied 1998 BMW Z3 2.8 in James Bond blue, a silver 2013 Mercedes-Benz E350 Wagon (his idea of a three-row family vehicle) and a 2025 Cadillac Optiq because his wife would rather drive something from this decade.