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I use it all the time, in towns and on motorways. It was one of the few must-haves when I recently changed my car. I don't particularly play games with it, but I used to play one with the brake light on a Senator - which came on when you started the car and went off the first time you touched the brake - how far can I go without turning off the light? Forward planning and good judgement required for maximum distances!!
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Certainly not indifferent - I have firm opinions but they're split between good and bad.
Good:
As others have said, on French autoroutes and other truly clear, cruisable motorways where you can stay in lane 1 and maintain a comfortable speed.
Very easy and discreet to use with the S60's steering wheel buttons.
Reduces tension and fatigue in the right ankle when I can rest the foot comfortably on the wheelarch instead.
Bad:
The Verso's tacked-on control stalk, out of view and reach at about 5 o'clock on the steering wheel. Inconvenient and verging on dangerous since it's hard to cancel in a hurry. Hardly used in this car.
Using CC in traffic. If you're in lane 2 or 3, you're not cruising, you're overtaking, and you have a duty to pass the slower vehicle in a reasonable time and return to cruising in lane 1. If it's a solitary truck, you'll be past it in no time and back in your cruising lane, so no need to change anything, but if it's a line of cars moving only slightly slower than your cruise and you crawl past in one of Westpig's 'forever' overtakes, you're no better than a lane-blocking truck driver; worse, if anything, because you could easily do something about it.
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>>but if it's a line of cars moving only slightly slower than your cruise
...then you press the right pedal to increase speed to reduce the overtaking time - cruise remains set.
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Definitely good, and as above, in a motorway setting I try to drive with the cruise control buttons (Volvo S60, on the steering wheel) rather than brake or accelerator, although there are the occasions when you need to accelerate to avoid very long overtakes.......
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Can't remember the last time i used it on the pick up, and swmbo who wanted it in the first place doesn't either, even for the 30 limit she has to go through with 2 camera's.
I do use it on the truck, but only for maintaining a constant 50, other wise its full bore foot to the boards for a heady 54....swoon.
far better than that was a MAN truck i used to have that instead of cruise had a variable limiter, but you still had to keep your foot on the throttle, but you could keep your foot hard down and stay at the pre set max, i always thought that was much better.
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Potentially very good: I like the idea of setting a speed on a long straight stretch and being able to spend more time looking ahead and in mirrors, and less glancing down at the speedo.
In my Focus III it's poorly executed: the five buttons are slotted into the wheel adjacent to the boss and have neither touchy feely bumps (Braille for the sighted, if you will) nor retro illumination. (It's obvious, thoughtless, penny pinching: my 1984 Montego had retro lit indicator and wiper stalks; fibre optics can't be that expensive in the 21st century!) I have consequently more than once hit "Resume" instead of "+" and experienced a stronger than expected surge!
This sort of device should be 100% intuitive, but it simply isn't.
Most annoying of all is that the "+" button has to be held down constantly to increase (or decrease) speed; on a Passat, for example, one touch is good for a 10 kph boost, which is as it should be.
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Have had it on my last 4 or 5 cars, and wouldn't be without it. Use it daily, even around town to avoid inadvertently creeping over speed limits.
Interestingly, had cruise control on my last motorbike.
Incredibly difficult - like almost impossible - to change lanes on the motorway without also using throttle control. Had never realised how you intuitively work the throttle as you manouvre, without thinking.
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In my Focus III it's poorly executed: the five buttons are slotted into the wheel adjacent to the boss and have neither touchy feely bumps (Braille for the sighted if you will)
My 05 Focus Mk2 (current shape) has the five buttons on the wheel. The two on the left are system on/off and it only requires swithing on once per journey, it defaults off with the "ignition". The centre switch on the right (the set button) has "braille" bumps.
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For the first time I've got it on my car. Never really use it on the daily commute as my speed fluctuates too much for it too be of use.
Where it is handy is on a long 300 mile motorway run, after an hour or so you can switch it on to give your right foot a rest for 5 minutes. And the novelty of accelerating by pressing a button still appeals a bit!
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the novelty of accelerating by pressing a button still appeals a bit!
Yup... also in my car's manual, it says that you must take care not to put your foot under the accelerator, in case the CC gives it some welly (going uphill, for instance).
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So does the pedal move by itself when the CC is on? Don't think either of ours does that - and in the Verso there's nowhere to put your spare foot but under the accelerator.
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On our Touran, there isn't even space under the pedal as it's floor mounted. Having the cruise on is extremely uncomfortable for the right leg, so I don't bother. It's one of the few things I dislike about the car.
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So does the pedal move by itself when the CC is on
The 80's F90 MAN truck does on overrun, you could feel the pedal being pulled down to the floor.
I'm sure this post helps a lot here..;)
Those with cc and diesel auto's does your car change down too easily like ours.
Travelling about 60 to 70ish CC on, the vehicle will very quickly change down to a lower gear on an incline, though it is very high geared in top anyway..something like 2200rpm at 80ish.
CC off, and with gentle throttle application it will climb the same bank and stay in top gear quite happily.
That probably means that with CC on the throttle opens fully to maintain speed instead of the gentle feathering that the foot can achieve, maybe the top gear in lock up is getting the max throttle position when cruise engages power?
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On my car, it is said to - however, it's quite an old model. Maybe newer ones don't.
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None of mine moved the pedal. If you resumed a previous speed on CC that was a lot higher than you're going it does tend to accelerate quickly.
On the VWs I had there was a foot rest to the right of the accelerator. On the Mondeo there wasn't. Which is silly - where are you meant to put your foot?
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The vauxhall CC is clever in my manual 07 Astra. If you knock the car out of gear with cruise on, it will rev up only very slightly and gets the gist that there's no load on the engine and drops out after about a second. Similarly if you try to engage it when coasting in neutral it revs the engine slightly and soon gets the gist that theres no load and drops out straight away. Even if you try to trick it by holding the revs at say 2000 it just knows! Spooky.
Edited by davidh on 11/02/2009 at 16:04
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VERY BAD in one specific situation.
If the driver is suddenly taken unwell with cruise selected does SWMO or the passenger know what to do.
I am astounded that my handbrake does NOT switch off the cruise control.
( and the hazard light switch is on top of the steering column shroud. )
What bright spark "designed" these things?
Does the handbrake in your car switch off the CC?
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All the Honda CCs I've owned move the pedal - there's a servo under the bonnet to do it. It works fine and can be cancelled by steering wheel button, fascia button or almost literally breathing on the brake pedal so the brake lights don't flicker.
Don't know about the installation on 'modern' Hondas (last ten years) though.
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I rarely use the CC in the car (Hyundai Coupe) unless I'm on a clear piece of motorway; but I regularly use the one in the lorry. The latter having an automatic box, I can negotiate a roundabout on a dual carriageway, switch the CC back on and it'll go straight back up to 50. Both foot-brake and exhaust brake/retarder kick the CC out so I've plenty of control over it.
The Hyundai one seems a bit crude, but then again it's a 2001 car so later ones may be more sohisticated.
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So does the pedal move by itself when the CC is on?
See my post above tinyurl.com/dd8laj
Drive by wire doesn't. The CC on the CRV is also smart enough to accelerate at a sensible rate on resume, rather than flat out.
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Cruise control is a must. When I drive from Las Vegas to Reno or Los Angeles (400/300 miles respectively), I get on the Interstate, set the cruise at 55 and reeeelaaaaax. Ahhh...pass the Pringles, please, we'll be in Pasadena in 5 hours.
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The cruise control in my Hyundai Coupe SIII might still be considered crude. It does not cut out if the handbrake is engaged,or knocked out of gear and the pedal is pulled down by it. I think it is great though.
BTW why set the cruise at 55mph on a US interstate?
When I was in California, Arizona and Nevada a couple of years ago the limit was 75mph.
Never was a satnav screen so dull blank with a straight red line. We got excited when a railway line was promised soon.
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BTW why set the cruise at 55mph on a US interstate? When I was in California Arizona and Nevada a couple of years ago the limit was 75mph.
I thought the same...whenever i've been over there, and stuck to about 70 - 75 having been warned how hot they are for speeding tickets....there have been vasts amount of the traffic coming past me...inc lorries!
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>> BTW why set the cruise at 55mph on a US interstate? When I was in California Arizona and Nevada a couple of years ago the limit was 75mph. >>
It still is 75, and people blast their way past me at 80, 85 or more, (looks a little scary when I'm doing 50-55) but life's too short to be so wound up that I have to hurryhurryhurry like that. That said, it is nice to be able to drive those roads at 75 if I need to--just set the cruise and forget it, the next town is 50 miles of desert and tumbleweed away.
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Urban legend time. A friend was in holiday in the States a few years ago and read a story in the local paper. A group of poorly educated Mexican immigrants had clubbed together to buy a minivan and were driving north through California when they decided to have a game of cards in the back. The driver promptly set the cruise and, er, joined his mates in the back, believing the van to be on full autopilot...
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