After reading Max.P’s COAL post on his Volkswagen Jetta the other day, I noticed that both in the post and some of the comments, a need for cruise control was expressed in situations regarding long commutes. It set an alarm off in my head, because I have never used the cruise control in my current car, despite frequent highway trips of reasonable length.
The only times I ever hit the cruise button were on a couple of trips back and forth to UConn, when I went there my freshman year of college. The only portion of the 2-hour trip I’d use it was for the approximately 12-mile stretch of I-84 between the Mansfield, CT exit and the Massachusetts/Connecticut border. An exceptionally boring stretch of interstate, its unusually frequent amount of steep hills combined with the heaviness of my Highlander’s gas pedal at 70 just made it more comfortable to use the cruise control.
But other than that, cruise control has never appealed to me. Maybe it’s because I’m a little lead-footed on the highway, or maybe it’s because my most frequently traveled highway, MA-Route 3, is too much of a zoo for it. Mostly though, it’s because I like being in total control of my car. I know the simple touch of the brake pedal disengages cruise (or many new cars with adaptive cruise control, a built-in radar can also engage braking), but I still don’t like that feeling of the car maintaining a high speed without my foot on the gas. That’s my feeling on cruise control, but I’ll be interested to know, do other people use cruise control frequently? And would it be a deal-breaking feature when buying a car?
I know I should use the cruise more, but I don’t like the feeling of having to disengage and reset it whenever the car in front of me decides to slow down or other cars start merging. I know I can hit the brake and then push the resume button but the traffic in front of me is often unpredictable and I end up being too fast or too slow so I just end up disengaging the cruise control altogether. I think it would be different if I had adaptive cruise control.
“That’s my feeling on cruise control, but I’ll be interested to know, do other people use cruise control frequently? And would it be a deal-breaking feature when buying a car?”
Yes, and yes.
One of the most aggravating things about Hondas (specifically, the Fit) was the absence of cruise control on the base models. Getting cruise on a Fit was an expensive proposition because it meant ponying up the big cash for the next equipment level. Happily, it looks like Honda actually listens (to me, anyway) and has seen fit to make cruise control standard on the new model Fit.
In fact, it appears that cruise control, along with stuff like power windows, is fast becoming standard equipment on even the base versions of just about anything, even the most pedestrian bottom-feeder cars. It’s actually understandable because cruise control supposedly helps increase fuel economy (in theory, anyway).
Frankly, I’m not so sure, as I’ve read where ‘pulse-and-glide’ is the best driving procedure for achieving the highest fuel mileage (as well as aggravating the hell out of anyone else on the highway).
But I use cruise just about anytime I’m on a highway when there’s plenty of room between cars to use it. OTOH, for those with crowded commutes with a great fluctuation in speed due to traffic, well, I can certainly see where cruise would be seen as something they really don’t want or need.
Honda has been at it for 30 years+, I briefly owned a CRX Si this summer that had dealer installed aftermarket cruise control!
Huge pile of extra wiring, underhood mechanical bits, and a cruise stalk that was screwed to the dash.
Cruise on a manual transmission car (like a Base Fit) is not something I would want to pay for. While a small percentage of buyers use such cars for long distance driving, the vast majority are urban or suburban commuters, as you implied in your last paragraph.
As for gas mileage, you dont need to hypermile, like “pulse-and-glide” to beat the cruise control. Just use the go pedal with an eye on the mpg gauge that is standard on the Fit. I beat the EPA estmate for the M/T Fit by a long shot, negating the argument that A/T cars get better mileage.
“That’s my feeling on cruise control, but I’ll be interested to know, do other people use cruise control frequently? And would it be a deal-breaking feature when buying a car?”
Yes, and yes.
Agreed.
We came close to buying an Elantra Touring. As it was to be our main car we both wanted it to be a manual and the only way that Hyundai would sell us a manual with cruise was the top line package. Since the only part of the top line option package we wanted was cruise it seemed silly to pay an extra $4,000 to get it.
I never use it. Cruise control just plain puts me to sleep. On the freeway, I vary my speed a bit and change lanes from time to time, to keep myself alert. Cruise Control makes me forget that I’m behind the wheel of a car. I end up with a sore right leg some times, but it’s well worth it.
I have tried, and tried,and to use the cruise..I just don’t feel comfortable. I’m 60 years old, and out of the millions of miles I’ve driven, I’ve got maybe 200 miles with cruise on.
Maybe its just me, or my driving style, but cruise is an option, I could do without.
I use it all the time. I decelerate and accelerate on the highway with it whenever possible, I like that my current car actually displays the set speed and you can bump it up or down 1 mph at a time. I’ll even use it on long surface roads with no intersections and a 40 or 45 mph speed limit.
Same for me I use it a lot and I drive maybe 20,000 miles per year
Forgot to mention: Once on a trip we left Dallas about 7AM which is probably the lightest traffic time during daylight hours that there is. We were on I-45 headed to Houston and we stayed on cruise without touching any settings for over two hours too. Finally had to slow down when some “left lane idiot” had the left lane blocked. It sort of became an obsession to see how long we could stay on cruise. Also, not running A/C in 4 cyl Malibu instantaneous fuel economy readout stayed around 35 mpg, better downhill and worse uphill of course. Speed was 75 as I recall.
Same here. I use it constantly, even on long open city boulevards. It’s a better way of telling the car how fast to go: digitally, instead of manual(pedual?).
Of course the generally light traffic in this part of the world makes that very feasible, but I also vary my speed with CC as needed, unless it’s very thick and variable.
I don’t use it when I want to really “drive” on a remote road, or if I’m feeling very frisky. But those are designated situations.
With our low speed limit of 65 on the freeways, and 55 on all other highways, it’s the best way to go exactly 10 over, and not risk a ticket. On our recurring trips up and down I5 to CA, I set it at 75, and never think about my speed again.
Contrary to popular opinion, CC actually allows me to be a better driver, because I can focus on those aspects of driving that need attention, and not have to think about how fast I’m going.
I find driving any significant distance without CC to be very tedious, and primitive. To constantly have to monitor one’s speed is…stupid. Tell the car how fast to go, and enjoy the ride.
If everyone used CC, the world would so much more pleasant. Instead of having to deal with drivers that are constantly varying their speed, everyone could just settle into a groove and all roll at the same/similar speed: 10 over in the left lane, and slower in the right. I can dream, no?
The first thing I did when I bought my xB was to buy an aftermarket CC, and install it. It works very well. I used to toy with the idea of putting one in my truck, but I just don’t drive it enough to warrant it.
CC is a perfect example of technology improving the driving experience, when one wants to not have to constantly monitor one’s speed.
+ over 9000
Except the 10 over part. It’ll get you a hefty fine down here.
10 over in Michigan seems to work very well for me. I agree wholeheartedly with everything Paul said.
11 over and above is a more profitable ticket bracket in NY so as long as you do not go more than 9 over you should be fine unless you have out of state plates. I swear the state police pull over non-NYers more often. However, NY is a stickler for reasonable but prudent so if you are going the speed limit in a blizzard there is a higher probability you will receive a ticket and/or crash.
I’m with you, Paul. I use it all the time on a freeway, whether it’s a long trip or a few miles. On long trips I reference my Tom Tom or the free Speedbox app on my iPhone to get a more accurate speed than the speedometer provides, then set the cruise just under ten MPH over the limit (unless there’s someone faster ahead of me). All of our cars have a cancel function so I don’t even have to tap the brake. I think it makes for a smoother drive and probably contributes to better mileage though I doubt if it’s a very significant improvement. I will say while on a road trip a couple of years ago with the Thunderbird, nursing a bad coil, it was less likely to react with the more gentle acceleration provided by the cruise control than from my manual input.
How much are used cruise control depends on the car and how easily it’s cruise control function works for me. When I had my Chevy Beretta, I use cruise control anytime I was on an open stretch of road to make sure that I held my speed to what I wanted it to be. The cruise worked pretty intuitively, at least to me, on that car. On my Toyota matrix, the cruise function works intuitively – but anytime you decelerate to below 25 mph, it resets cruise to zero. I find that enormously frustrating, and it keeps me from using cruise in some situations. in my Ford Focus, cruise doesn’t reset at below 25, which I like, but I hate the placement of the cruise buttons. That keeps me from using it more often.
Interesting to bring up a Ford on cruise control. For a very long time, some bean-counting genius at Ford came up with the idea to save what has to be an incredibly small amount per vehicle by eliminating the ‘cancel’ feature on Ford cruise controls. This mean that the only way to ‘cancel’ a cruise control setting on a Ford was to either tap the brake or turn it completely off.
For those of us that use cruise control frequently, this was incredibly frustrating and I simply swore off buying a Ford for years because of it. Happily, it looks like Ford has (finally) decided to put the ‘cancel’ feature back on their vehicles. Unfortunately, there are other, similar, nickel-and-dime type cost-cutting on Fords that prevent me from buying one of them again.
This. I drive my work vehicle about 15K a year and other than one Chevy Suburban, my work vehicles have always been Fords. My current work ride is an Escape Hybrid. No cancel button but it’s fairly quick and easy just to turn it off and back on – my previous 2009 F150 was a real pain. No cancel button and it required a ridiculous amount of effort to press the gas pedal. My right knee ached the whole time I drove that vehicle. The steering was the same way. My office at the time received three new F150s at the same time and we thought there was something wrong with the power steering, gas pedal, and air conditioning (inadequate for SC heat) on all three. Nope, they designed them that way. A real departure from previous F150’s. I was very happy to get a new job and vehicle.
And oddly enough, my 2012 Mustang lacks a “Cancel” button, but I’ve noticed that the “Resume” button will perform the same function when the cruise is set.
Cruise control is the only reason my house isn’t wallpapered in speeding tickets. I don’t have a lead foot…more like osmium.
Yep, I used it constantly the first five years I lived in VA, where every stinking deputy sheriff has radar, has it on constantly, is unrestricted in its use, and writes tickets like crazy. The latter point is the real reason – after all, they’ve got to pay for all those radar guns somehow.
Rarely used it when I lived in PA, where only the state police are allowed radar.
I use cruise control whenever I’m on the highway and traffic is light enough that I can maintain a steady speed. I’d really like to try driving a vehicle with adaptive cruise control. I think that’s a feature that I would enjoy.
I have adaptive cruise which is new for me on the ATS. I like it as I don’t have to disengage the cruise if I come up behind a slowish truck and someone is passing me. But it is easy to come up behind a slowish truck and slow down without noticing it.
I generally always use cruise control on long trips. Not much on short local trips.
Most of the cars I’ve owned in the past have had cruise control, but I’ve never used it. I’ve never saw the need to use it.
I use it frequently in suburban and highway driving. That being said, I do rest my finger on the cancel button. I won’t buy a car unless it has a cancel button. I can cancel it with my finger just as fast as let off the gas pedal.
I find it is actually easier to do the drive with load thing on hills using cruise than my right foot unless I’m barefoot.
The cruise in my truck doesn’t have a cancel button, you have to tap the brake pedal. That is slightly annoying.
Of the nine cars I’ve owned, six had working cruise. Of those six, four were Ford products with no cancel button, and those are the cars I’ve put by far the most mileage on, so I’m used to having to very lightly tap the brake. It doesn’t bother me.
I use my cruise on most highway trips as traffic and weather allow. My only problem is with some other drivers who don’t know the purpose of the left lane. They also seem unaware that they can still use the accelerator to increase their speed. Most of the time they are completely unaware of anything going on around them. Is it that difficult to realize after 10 miles you still haven’t passed the car on the right or wonder why ten vehicles are tailgating you. This is very prevalent in Canada, less so in the US and almost non-existent in Europe. Perhaps the newer adaptive cruise control units will evolve with the ability to pick up speed enough to pass right lane vehicle and activate the right signal when safely passed.
Only my 95 Voyager had Cruise Control out of the three vehicles I have owned. Problem with the system though is that I swear she would rev herself to death if I had it set and there was a steep hill to climb. Also, selecting resume speed just lead to painful sounding over-revving so I never did that again. The best way to engage Cruise Control was to go 5 over your goal, let off the accelerator, and turn on cruise control as you fell onto your goal to avoid over-revving. During my cross country drive she did a good job maintaining speed even with some steep declines and it sure made the drive between Carlsbad and El Paso easier. I even got 22/23 MPG at some point during my travels.
Forget to mention that since I lived in Central New York at the time (away from Interstates) the Cruise Control went unused for weeks to months at a time for years depending on the season. Though if I was driving on NY 13 I would sometimes use it.
Here in Tucson, I don’t use cruise control until I’m a good twenty miles outside the city limits. There are just too many cars, and too many competitive and/or inattentive drivers jockeying for position to make the use of cruise control feasible. Same thing if I’m driving through Phoenix. Two-lane interstates often make using cruise an exercise in futility; ignorant, or maybe even passive-agressive controlling types camp out in the left lane, and at other times the 18-wheelers are jockeying for position.
But then there are other times, like driving I-8 to San Diego. There are long, long stretches with few cars, few curves, and precious little interesting scenery. Then cruise control, A/C, some good tunes, and a good pair of sunglasses help make the miles go by. A few times, one has to disengage cruise because even the interstate gets a bit twisty: the mountains east of Yuma, and the mountains east of San Diego.
For us westerners, the distances between cities can be long, and cruise control helps.
I use mine on trips but it depends on the traffic. On long stretches of highway between towns it help keeps me happy and less stressed driving until some jerk speeding up behind me rides my bumper. I guess people forget that you are supposed to have one full car length for every 10-mph you are going between you and the car in front (70-mph = 7 car lengths) for safety and stopping. And when it is posted 55-mph that doesn’t mean you can do 75-mph. I set my cruise between 3-5-mph over the posted speed limit which is within legal range. To me that is what causes road rage, people who have no respect for others or their own lives on the road – all about being “first” in line and speed. How many times I have laughed at someone while I pull up to them at a light or pass by when a cop catches them. Anyway, cruise control help you “control” your bad habits and less stress on long hauls. I always use mine.
I know at least Alberta has signs saying “Slower Traffic Keep Right”. Do us all a favor, just move right and leave the enforcement to the cops.
Where I live, it’s pretty much always gridlock, so cruise is out of the question 99% of the time for me. Incidentally, in Asia most people don’t even know what cruise control is.
On the rare occasions I am on a straight highway with little traffic, I love to use cruise control.
They’ll soon learn. Most of the Chevrolet badged cars sold in Korea have it, not that it’s any useful.
Love It , and use it every single day and have had it on every car I have every owned since getting my D. L. in 1985.
Practically every time I get into the car I use the cruise control. I find I used the active cruise control only on 2 lane roads. I use the conventional setting on four lanes. Using the active cruise on four lane roads just slows you down when a faster moving car gets in front of you and slows down. And don’t forget those people who think the left lane is just another lane to ride in while they talk or text. They will quickly move you to the back of the herd when using active cruise.
I very seldom use it, even on long highway drives. In fact, I don’t even know if the cruise works on my ’94 940. In five years of ownership, I never tried it out.
I can take it or leave it. On a long freeway trip I’ll take it. Anything else, no.
People with ADHD need to be off cruise control. Get distracted and ram someone. Curiously, I am on my second MT with CC. The first was the 2002 Saturn Vue and now a 954Runner. Always had thought they were just for AT. Brake or clutch cancel it. I know that it saved a couple tickets on my last Tx to Fl trip and I’m grateful. Mostly though, it’s off.
Our most recent car purchase, an ’08 F-350 6-speed for the “work truck,” is the first vehicle since about 1987 to have a manual transmission, and also the first to have that and cruise control, which was kind of a strange experience. But the number of times we’ve actually taken that truck on the interstate almost makes it unusable. On the highway, it’s almost always pulling a trailer or other heavy load, which makes cruise control irrelevant.
Our first “nice truck,” a ’77 F-250 SuperCab, had (I believe–I wasn’t that old at the time) a throttle control that kept it mostly at the same speed, provided that the terrain was no steeper than a foot variance over ten miles.
I use it all the time on open highways, when there’s lighter traffic. It does help mileage. I’m glad more cars are equipped with cruise control. I used to find in the past, drivers would vary their speed on open two lane highways significantly at times. Perhaps due to boredom, or distraction on long highway drives. You’d see some cars fluctuate their speed as much as 20 km/h, or more, at times. They weren’t drunk, just not focused, I suspect. I don’t see this so much any more. I think cruise has helped. Plus, more people seem intent on getting to point B ASAP.
I noticed that too with other drivers though my speed tends to vary based upon the incline of the grade I have to drive up.
In Long Island traffic, it’s difficult to use because of the wide variation in speed. In lighter conditions like late at night, I find it actually helps relieve fatigue. Sure, it can keep you out of trouble by maintaining a speed the cops don’t pay attention to, but you also don’t slow down from that speed.
That said, I don’t use it often enough when I can.
I didn’t want to be the first one to mention it, but that misspelling always grates, you see it more and more on car sites, and I just don’t get it. Even worse than reading about someone “peddle” a bicycle.
I *will* be the first to mention that cruise control is a boon for those of us who are prone to sore legs, sore butts, or otherwise feeling cramped. Sure, I can press on an accelerator pedal and maintain a constant speed on my own, but it sure is great to be able to shift one’s body around on a long trip without losing speed.
Oh my; that shouldn’t have gotten past Perry or me. Summer Saturday….but I see it’s fixed now.
Never. Fulltime speed variations, no long straight roads.
I use it often except on congested highways where speed fluctuates too much. I even bought an aftermarket unit for my 1976 Dodge Aspen to install when
I bought it used in 1978, and it was still in there when I sold it in 1998. From seeing the car at shows as an “unrestored classic” that really still looks good, all paint still shiny and original, I surmise that it still does work.
Yes…lack of cruise control would be a dealbreaker.
I live in Texas just outside of Houston. Cruise control is useless in the city even though speeds on the interstates and U.S. highways through town often approach and exceed 70mph. On the open roads though, like between Houston and San Antonio or Dallas, I use it quite frequently.
All the time. Less gas, fewer speeding tickets. And on long drives on empty highway (up to Vermont, say), it helps reduce fatigue. I even use it on Route 3 here in MA!
I would never, ever, ever buy a new car without it. Not sure what my next car will be, but I hope it has adaptive cruise control. Heck, I’m even thinking about getting the auto-pilot fixed on my new (to me) ’67 Imperial.
Most of the various pony cars, roadsters, and beaters that I’ve owned have not had cruise. I have driven cross-country many times in cars with no rest for my right foot. But, as we tell ourselves when we take our puppies and kittens to be spayed and neutered, “You can’t miss what you never had”, so it didn’t bother me at the time. I believe it wasn’t until I bought my friend’s fully-loaded ’84 Cressida in the mid-90s that I ever got to enjoy the cruise experience at all. The CC on that car, like pretty much everything on that car, worked beautifully; and although I’d rarely engage it around town I found it a welcome relief on long stretches of boring blacktop.
I don’t have CC on my current Camaro, as it’s a secretary’s strippo (at least so far). Just this week in fact I was looking at replacement turn-signal/wiper stalks on Ebay; and was faced with the option of getting the longer stalk with CC on the tip of it. It would also, of course, mean retrofitting the CC unit itself. Yes, I miss cruise enough that I’m actually thinking of adding it to an older car that didn’t come with it.
North Island of NZ is not suited to Cruise Control. Most roads are too wiggle/undulating, and the few stretches of motorway are too crowded. I’ve turned it on for the novelty value, but I’ve never managed to stick with it for more than 5 minutes. There’s always a corner approaching, or someone dozily doing 95kmh in the passing lane
My sentiments exactly Ive used it in trucks heading south from Napier but I always encounter a car doing 85.
I consider it mandatory on a long-haul vehicle. My biggest of my two complaints on my ’05 xB is the lack of one (the second is a lack of a sixth gear).
It’s easy to install an aftermarket unit. I couldn’t have lived without it, and it’s the first thing I did after I bought it.
Never. The only way to get cruise on my ’05 MINI was to order the multifunction steering wheel with a bunch of stuff I didn’t want. I don’t really miss having it.
I use the cruise control all the time on the highway and in freeway driving wherever the traffic permits. I don’t really use it as a labor-saving device, but as a speed control device.The cruise on my car is surprisingly good at dealing with grades (both up and down), it has a cancel switch, and I’ve found that using the cruise control on the highway returns up to 10–11 percent better fuel economy by minimizing minor speed variations.
None of my cars have cruise and when I have had it I find it a nuisance I guess it works ok on relatively flat freeway type driving but on hilly or rolling country its too slow to react especially in trucks where I find it featured most, its also of little or no use on hills with manual transmissions, I just set my clog to the rpm/speed desired and go with that.
Feel the same as you, Brendan. It’s disconcerting driving a car at speed and not being on throttle. But it’s each to their own, judging by the comments above. I did my fair share of long trips up to ten years ago in pre76 cars and never missed it, so I don’t miss it now when I do the occasional country drive. I remember my little Alfa 105 had a hand throttle lever under the dash next to the choke that was stiff enough to be fixed in position wherever it was set. I don’t think it came with a brake override which would make things interesting…
I enjoy cruise control on long boring trips, like up and down I5 from Portland to Bay Area, or Bar Area to LA. Set it at 75 and forget about it. I found it less tiring as my legs can move around some and sitting position became somewhat more flexible.
Won’t use it on winding road or highway.
I tried it a few times in the S2000, and the only place I could find to rest my right foot was on the gas pedal anyway, so why bother?
It all depends – I like to use it on open highway with sparse traffic, and in the places speed trap places. Last weekend, i had to drive two hours each way to near Newark, NJ. Due to traffic, my foot stayed on the accelerator the whole way there & back.
I use it everyday. Best tool ever to keep the car set at or slightly below the local speed limits. Also helps the car achieve the best fuel economy since it doesn’t over correct when the road inclination changes.
It will be fun when I switch to a 90’s Euro “luxury”smaller car to save fuel. Some of them even have roll down windows.
I use mine every working day as long as the roads are dry. I have a twelve mile commute that is 90% freeway. I set it a couple of clicks above the speed limit and let it go. Sometimes traffic will slow me down, but usually I pass the slowdown quickly. I don’t travel much anymore, but here in central Texas it is very useful on the long, straight, flat roads. I grew up in Alaska and became driving age in the seventies. At that time cruise was pretty useless. First of all, you had ice or the threat of ice on the roads for eight months of the year. And then the roads were too narrow and curvy to use it.
Cruise control has come a long ways in the past generation. I once had an ’81 Cadillac that would fluctuate 5 mph before the cruise would kick in. That made it frustrating to use in traffic and hilly terrain (or many overpasses). My current ’94 Cutlass Supreme only fluctuates 1 or 2 mph before it downshifts.
It would be a deal breaker for me when buying a driver. But since I buy medium to large sedans, it is not a problem. Back in the eighties I ran across an ’85 or ’86 Olds 98 without cruise. I thought at the time it was an oddball and I would not buy it.
Better controllers and EFI make for improved stability.
The worst thing for fluctuations is a low power engine and a manual transmission! Not carburetors and less sophisticated controls!
I have no problems with speed fluctuations with my 1965 Buick Wildcat (which has an electro-mechanical speed sensor inside it’s cable-driven speedometer and a 401 V8 with a Carter AFB carb). But my 1993 Toyota SR5 pickup which has a fuel injected V6 and an electronic speed sensor for both the cruise and the speedo (strangely, some 1994-95 models went back to a mechanical cable-operated speedo!) can’t maintain it’s speed on long hills without downshifting…
If I leave the cruise control on a long hill, the speed gradually drops 10 mph below the set speed (at full throttle) before the cruise control suddenly disengages which is annoying and the speed goes down quickly before I have the time to react and downshift! So in these situations when it can’t keep it’s set speed, I just press on “Cancel” and I downshift…
I have pain in my right leg and I always use it on long stretches of highways. My 5 current vehicles have the option and it’s still working in every of them. On my 1965 and 1967 Buicks, you can accelerate from a stop to any speed you set the cruise at (from 30 to 90 MPH) just by pressing on the setting knob (without ever touching the accelerator pedal!). But the acceleration is quite brutal so don’t try pressing that knob in heavy traffic!
I remember those and yes, they were “quick”. I have had several older cars from the 1960s equipped with it including a 1963 Imperial LeBaron with a 340hp engine.
After having cruise control in my rides from the time I got my licence in 1994 until my Oldsmobile was stolen in 2002, I did own another vehicle with cruise until this year. Now I use it constantly and have even discovered that on our 75mph western interstates I can set it at a few ticks above 80 and even with the hilly NM terrain I can the 5 speed auto in 4th or 5th gear 80% of the time. That lets me knock down roughly 22 mpg which is great with a V6 AWD CUV. I get to travel rapidly and get decent fuel economy. Win-win. I could never do that just trying to regulate my foot and ankle.
Well this is timely. I just tried using it on the Sohayan (West Coast) expressway going from Kunsan back to Cheonan. Even with light Sunday morning traffic (as light as it gets in Korea) . It was an exercise in futility and was back to manual control after 10 minutes.
My must have options. A/C & Cruise Control. I use it all the time.
No cruise here. I learned to drive in a car without cruise control, and I grew up in New York with its overcrowded highways, so I never got used to it.
As far as mileage, I found that I can get better mileage in my Honda Fit without it. The car accelerates harder to maintain speed with the cruise on.
Cruise control is absolutely indispensable for me. I find if I’m pedaling on a long trip it is very difficult to keep a speed on my Honda Civic Hybrid. I set the cruise almost anywhere I’m going to be driving more than 5 miles on the same road. When going up hills it is easy to downshift the manual transmission to 4th or 3rd and hit the Resume switch. It does have a cancel button on the wheel and pushing it remembers the set speed. After many years of ownership, the cancel & resume buttons are slightly worn off, but the set button is not. Being a Hybrid, it maintains a set speed going downhill very well by activating the regenerative braking when needed.
I’ve never ever used cruise control, ever. I’ve driven thousands of miles straight without it but never once had an inkling. Almost every car/truck/van I’ve ever driven has had it as well, but I could never figure it out, I mean where am I supposed to put my right foot with it on??? Big part of what keeps me not bored on long trips is leap frogging between the packs of the several cars that always seem to somehow bunch up miles apart from the next(maybe they’re all using adaptive cruise control and get stuck that way? lol), either way, I need my foot on the go pedal at all times for that.
Ironically I converted my Cougar from vacuum actuated to electronically actuated cruise control. I had the parts lying around, an EVTM manual and was working on nearby wiring anyway, so I figured why not?. Never tested it to see if it works other than testing the circuits with my multimeter and the servo on a bench 😀
Except for when there is traffic, I really enjoy the rhythm of driving. I like to feel I am dancing with the car and to do that I need to use my hands, arms, legs and feet. It feels weird just to steer, like it would feel weird to dance or even walk and not be able to move your arms.
I like to roll off the throttle if there is a slower car ahead, coast and then resume with a brush of my foot on the gas. I get better mileage driving that way than using the cruise. Also with cruise there are too many inelegant steps, whether it’s having to disengage by hitting the brake (yuck) or pushing that button at the end of the stalk.
I can feel the difference between electronic throttle control and mechanical. The pedal is more alive with a mechanical connection, you can feel how loaded the engine is. If the car has drive by wire there is less reward in forgoing the cruise. I’m guessing Prius drivers love cruise control.
If the car is tall geared and/or lacks torque it takes a big shove of the pedal to resume speed which I don’t like. In a car like that I would use cruise more.
Dancing with the car. Best description of manual/clutch pedal I’ve read. Bummer is, I haven’t had a manual in so long.
“I can feel the difference between electronic throttle control and mechanical. The pedal is more alive with a mechanical connection”
Amen.
I also miss the hand shaker :'(
Cruise Control or tempomat as we used to call it is useful on highways during long trips. Especially if I have to travel lots of hours to attend biz meetings. Driving could be very grueling and can affect mental freshness in disadvantageous way and it could be bad for business. Especially when the trip is done by a vehicle with manual transmission without cruise control. When driving on the same route with a cruise controled automatic, the things are much better after a long trip.
Automatic transmission paired with cruise control is better option for the drivers with relaxed driving habits.
I used to use it a fair amount on longer trips on the hwy but got out of the habit since in hilly terrain it uses more gas than anticipating the hills. The problem is that you’ll end up dropping speed near the top of the hill the computer will kick it down a gear and then it will hold that gear half way down the hill. It has mainly been that way in the cars with a low numeric final drive. My CV with the 3.23 gears was much less likely to drop out of OD than the 3.08 and 2.73 cars since it. Our Mountaineer with the 3.73s and the 5sp isn’t that bad either. Using my foot I can give it a little more gas before I hit the hill and make it up the hill w/o dropping below the speed I’m trying to go very much at all with the trans still in OD.
However I’ve been trying to get back in the habit of using it with our Fusion Hybrid as it definitely helps with the MPG on the freeway. Since it is an eCVT there is no “gear” to change and it uses the traction motor to give it a boost to keep the speed up and maybe a light change of ratio. If I use my foot it is less likely to get the electric boost and more likely to go with a lower ratio. I’m guessing that they programed it to think if the cruise is set the need for additional power is because you’re climbing a hill and it will be temporary and there will be a chance to recapture that energy used going down the other side. While if it is responding to your foot it doesn’t know if it is because you want to go faster or what.
My truck has a 2.96 rear end with a 5 speed auto and tach. I have learned how to make it short shift quickly into top gear, even around town to keep rpm’s low. And on the freeway I can give it just enough gas to accelerate but still keep it in 5th and lockup. The couple of times I have used the cruise when I hit a hill it downshifts when on my own I could have kept it in top gear and still maintain speed. It seems to help MPG a little, though there is no way to really tell for sure.
CC is a basic feature which I think all cars should have when we write 2014! The freequence of my use of CC though all depends on where I’m driving and in what car. I live in Luxembourg in Central Europe. I have some 20 min in each direction to cross the boarder to France, Belgium and Germany. The pace on Autobahn in Germany makes it difficult to use CC, especially if you want to enjoy the free speed stretches so I rarely use CC when traveling through Germany. In Belgium and France the pace is slower and not as “volatile” as in Germany so there I use CC much more. Heavy fines for speeding is another good argument for the use of CC. This is especially true in Belgium. My use of CC is also very much dependent on which car I drive. A sports car as an example just doesn’t invite to CC driving as much as for instance a 1976 Cutlass Supreme…
I had an aftermarket cruise control fitted to my ’05 Mazda 3 (manual) and use it quite often. I live in a small rural town, and when I have to drive 25km to the city in light traffic, it’s great. Mine does a great job holding speed uphill and down. The police in Victoria fine you heaps if you’re even 3km/h over the limit, and I can’t afford that.
The comments on the Jetta article struck me as odd, not just in regard to cruise but also horsepower. I’ve owned eight cars (and had two motorcycles as daily drivers) since I got my licence in 1999. None of my cars has had cruise control. Two of them had the same or more power than that Jetta, although one of those probably had a poorer power to weight ratio.
When I worked in car rental and would drive Saab Turbos, M3s etc during my shift, then jump into my 60 bhp Punto and head home on the motorway, I was never frustrated with lack of power and certainly wasn’t sitting in the slow lane with everyone flying past. Maybe it just felt faster than the Jetta would.
Our motorways are two lane, some short sections of three, and trucks have 56mph speed limiters, so slow cars are constantly moving into the outside lane to pass them. The majority of our roads are hilly and curvy. I do use cruise control in my works vehicle, but not often. Even if I head south on a 3 lane road for several hours in my car, I never think “God, it’s awful having to put my foot on this pedal!”
I have to admit though, when I drive in the states, my wife chides me for varying speed too much on the freeway. It’s not something I do at home, but there are so many lanes, the car is an auto, and it doesn’t feel like driving, more like sailing. She makes me use cruise control now. 🙂
Like most professional drivers now, my MPG is monitored by my employer, and we’ve all been sent on a course to improve it. We’re told to use cruise control as much as possible, but I’m sure I get slightly better MPG on normal highways if I don’t. There are so many times I see a tractor/hill/caravan/rental car/group of lycra louts ahead and take my foot right off the gas and let it coast.
I use cruise only when I’m driving more than a half hour out of town using the interstate. I like going a stable speed (70mph) and it allows me to concentrate on the traffic head with the ability to brake or decelerate as needed.
The only problem is that there are plenty of nitwits that will drive 5-10mph below the speed limit (65) and I often get trapped behind them and left-lane hogs that aren’t going much faster. So frustrating.
Cruise has spoiled me. I commute 20 miles each way daily between a small farm town and Waterloo, Iowa. Most of the the ride is on two-lane traffic-light highways with 55 mph limits.
I’ve had a vexing problem in my 2004 Sebring, though, as the CC senors have been fritzed out the last couple of years. My good, young mechanic tells me sensor goblins like that are common in Chryslers of that vintage. I just never seem to have the $400 he says is required to fix the thing. So, I’m left with a CC that seems to have a mind of its own. One day it will work fine; others it won’t. Or, other times, it will work and when I disengage it to slow down, it won’t “resume.” Maybe if I turn off the engine, it will reboot; other times, it won’t.
I keep planning to fix it, but then a strut or something will go out (like now) and I’ll have to get that fixed.
One day, I’ll have it fixed once and for all. I love cruise, and so does my 56-year-old back.
My wife has basically the same model, only the sedan version and a year newer, plus a 4-cyl, compared to the 6 in mine. The cruise on hers works fine, but when I hit the occasional grade, the smaller engine tends to kick down into a lower gear, and the thing revs up to maintain the set speed level. That’s annoying, so I’ll generally disengage the CC until I get to flatter ground.
All 4 of my cars have it but the only time I’ve used it is to see if it worked after I bought them. I made a 600 mile round trip yesterday on flat, straight, lightly trafficked interstates that would have been ideal conditions to use it and it never even dawned on me to use it.
If a car I was looking at did not have it that wouldn’t stop me from buying it. If a car had it and it didn’t work that would upset me more because I think everything in my cars should work but I probably wouldn’t spend any money to fix it until I was ready to sell it.
When I bought a used car out of state earlier this year I had satellite radio installed before making the 600 mile drive home but never touched the cruise control.
I’ve never owned a car with cruise control. Now that we just rent cars, I find it a very handy feature. I have a bit of a lead foot, and on the highways (especially for long trips) using the cruise control is a no-brainer. I like the feeling of driving a car without having to worry about speeding. I set it to within 10 to 15 km/h of the speed limit, call up some good cruising music on my iPod and enjoy the drive. Notice that I say drive instead of ride. As Paul said, without worrying about speeding I can concentrate on driving the car. Plus, the constant speed really helps with gas mileage on long trips.
My 2005 Tundra was only available with a $1000 package that included cruise, power windows and power mirrors, but oddly not a tilt steering wheel.
Anyway, I tried to use the cruise on long trips up the Central Valley (I-5 and CA-99). The problem is that the whole system, engine, transmission and cruise, did not work well together and the slightest uphill grade, and I mean slight, resulted in a full throttle downshift, followed by an immediate upshift. This was not only annoying, but killed gas mileage. This was not a defect in my truck, as this behavior is well known on the Toyota Nation forums.
I can easily modulate the throttle myself to maintain constant speed without the transmission downshifting. Now that I have an Ultragauge installed, I can watch real time mpg and make it even more efficient.
I never use it and I should being a Virginia resident, but it was a PITA on my Regal to set and before I bought it, the words on the stalk were rubbed off. On this Sable I have now it’s easy but I’m just so used to not using it.
Of course I said the same thing about AC, but now that I have it again I am using it ALL THE TIME.
I’ve used it maybe 4 times in 3 years. It’s not suited to the moutain highways east and north of Vancouver, so the only use would be on an I-5 run down to Seattle. Even then the freeway is so busy that I have to have to constantly engage and disengage it,
I use it more if it’s well designed. On my wife’s Corolla and a Trailblazer I occasionally drive, the transmission downshifts way too much on hills in which this is not needed. A lot of times I’ll cancel the cruise control before a hill and make it easily up the hill in top gear. I mention these two cars because they’re both completely different in engine outputs but have similar performing cruise controls. I driven cars that had properly working cruise controls but I can’t remember what they were.
Agreed. Driving in the mountains presents a challenge. If the car lacks enough torque or if it is not geared advantageously, cruise becomes an irritant. When I had the 85 Crown Vic with the 5.0/AOD, it was geared silly tall and would downshift and scream going up every hill. My 94 Club Wagon with the 5.8 and shorter gearing could usually stay in OD without a fuss.
For me, cruise was one of those things you never thought you needed until you had a car with it. My 63 Fleetwood was equipped with cruise (still working in 1979) and ever after, I missed it in every car that lacked it.
Of course, I live in the middle of the flat midwestern U.S., which is cruise control country if ever it existed. It made an upgrade to Sport trim on my Honda Fit a no-brainer. Cruise even came standard on my strippo Kia Sedona.
When I drive without, I find that there are 2 kinds of cars – the kind that feels so natural driving at 85 and keeps surprising you with how fast you are driving, and the kind that wants to go 50. My mother’s Lacrosse has such long gas pedal travel that I kept having to push harder than I was used to in order to keep the speed up. Cruise lets me set and forget the speed and pay attention to the other stuff.
I agree. My last car I almost never used the cruise control; the car was engaging. The Buick, however, is a chore to keep up to speed; I use cruise even on long city boulevards.
We don’t drive long distance nearly as much as we used to when our kids were still at home and our parents were still alive.
If the conditions are right i.e., light traffic, good weather and a long trip, I will use it. I’ve managed to injure my right foot and left ankle and find some stretches of road much easier to drive with the cruise on. Even though I’ve used CC plenty of times, I generally like to “drive” my car. It’s only if my back or my feet/ankles hurt that I really am glad I have it. There are a few times when I would be sorry I didn’t have it, I’m sure.
To all you hop-scotchers out there on the interstates and freeways who don’t use CC and constantly speed up and pass those of us who do, then get in front of us and immediately slow down, forcing us to pass you all over again, then repeating the whole ridiculous cycle over and over… ugh! Please learn to use your dad gummed cruise control!!!
Hey, you kids! Get off my lawn!
The flip side of the non-CC users are the guys who execute what is know as the ‘cruise-control pass’. It was addressed years ago by none other than David E. Davis in Car and Driver. These are the guys who have their cruise set at just one mph above the guy in front of them. Rather than hitting the gas to pass in a more expeditious manner, they keep the cruise engaged and pass real s-l-o-w, invariably holding up traffic behind them.
The first car I owned with CC was my ’84 Camaro Z28 with the 5-speed manual. I too thought like the author that I would not use the CC that much, esp. with the manual gearbox, but I was wrong. I did a lot of commuting on the Interstate, and I can tell you that keeping your foot on the gas for a couple hours at a time got mighty tiresome.
Now, I wasn’t a white-knuckle kind of driver like the author apparently was, but I was content to let the car cruise at just over the speed limit so as to not invite a lot of unwanted attention from the local fuzz.
Not only did I become a fan of CC, I couldn’t see how I ever got along w/o it driving on long trips. My Camaro had the CC disengage whenever the clutch or brake pedals were pressed.
There was a side benefit to using CC a lot which I found out after a while: the CC seemed to keep the engine running more or less at constant speed, accounting for hills and the like, which meant that my Camaro got slightly better mileage on cruise than I could manage w/o it.
I use CC quite often.
I forgo it when I want to have fun or stay awake though.
I used it more often when I would go back home from college almost every weekend the first few years. It was (is) a 100 mile trip on multiple CA freeways including the I-5 and 101 and 60.
I just set it at 72mph since traffic is usually light. I’ve set it higher but 72 is a sweet spot if just wanting to relax.
Ive never used resume. Didn’t know it was there lol. I just get to my desired speed and set it everytime I have to cancel. Usually I disengage it if going up a hill or down a steep one.
I rarely take my foot off the gas, feels weird. I just place it without pressing on it (though sometimes I inadvertedly press it a bit more than the CC is and end up speeding up) and since the CC modulates the pedal, I can tell when it’s going to downshift and accelerate to keep up.
Downhill, it downshifts. Not sure if it’s normal for the CC to control the pedal and trans that much lol.
The resume is my favorite feature. I remember in the early 70s, the Chrysler system was the only one with resume, and the rest soon adopted it. It’s great for trips on 2 lane highways that take you through a series of small towns, and eliminates the need for constant resetting.
I use cruise control every day I commute and on road trips. I set the cruise to 62 or 63 mph, stay in the curb lane and cruise to and from work. I generally speed up to 64 or 65 mph on the way home, but not always.
On road trips, I cruise a bit faster, but never more than 2 or 3 mph over the legal limit.
I-275 on the west side of Cincinnati is more lightly- travelled than the rest of the loop, so there is plenty of room for drivers to pass me.
Why do I set the speed at less than max. legal speed? Stress. Simple as that. Works for me.
Maybe because until I bought my Titan I never owned a vehicle with cruise, but as I commented Max’s 2014 Jetta article I don’t use it. I feel I stay more aware of my surroundings as I concentrate to hold a steady speed on my own. And if I was on a long trip and getting tired, I would almost worry not having to keep a steady speed on my own might make it easier to fall asleep. A neighbor told me it should never be used in slippery conditions, he once spun out in his truck because of it trying to maintain speed as he lost traction in the rain. Agree with Paul on the 10 MPH over on the interstate now, but I tried that in the old 55 MPH days and got a ticket from the CHP. He was waiting on the downhill strech on Mt. Shasta to nail people. I got a ticket for going 62 MPH.
depends on where I am but on moving highways I use it all the time. I have an 80 series and I like to keep her and about 71. Also that seems to be the discretionary speed limit where a cop won’t even give me a glimpse in a 65 zone. She can go faster but doesn’t like to. If I had a manual 911, probably wouldn’t use it at all. I guess it depends on the car.
Cruise control’s still a thing? I had seriously forgotten it even exists.
I never touch the thing, and I’ve had several cars equipped with it. Just doesn’t give me the feel of being in control, and besides, where are you going to rest your right foot if it’s engaged? I tend to drive mostly short distances, or in trafficky areas, so the opportunity to use it is rare for me. I always thought it was a cool option to have, though.
I don’t know why, but the slower, less powerful the car/SUV/Truck was, the more I used it. When I’ve had a quick vehicle, say anything that could run under a 16 second 1/4 mile, I pretty much didn’t use it. I think I’ve used it on my 2010 Challenger R/T about 3 or 4 times since I got it, and maybe a half dozen times on my 2008 Charger R/T. I used it on my ’85 Caravan hundreds of times in the 4 years I had it, but maybe a couple of dozen times in my ’88 Blazer, which was much quicker than the ‘Van was.
I like it, but it’s not a deal breaker and I don’t use it daily in the San Diego traffic. Outside the city, though, it helps keep the speed constant. (Paul said it best way upthread) My MT Cherokee didn’t have it but the Subie does; so does #1 son’s Mazda 6, also MT. I don’t think he’s ever used it though as his driving is mostly limited to school and back or to the movies.
Interestin how different placesncan affect its use though. #1 son and I just returned from an East Coast road trip, Boston to Raleigh via Providence, the Finger Lakes, NYC, New Jersey, and Philly, looking at colleges. I used it a lot, even on 2 lane interstates or blue roads. Despite Bostonian’s reputation for bad driving (… stay off the sidewalk!) I found it much easier to use the cruise in the Northeast (between cities of course) than at home in SoCal. Once you’re outside the city proper, drivers there have much better lane discipline, both keeping right if slow, and not passing right if fast. As you head south though it gets worse, and in Raleigh drivers were just like here.
As an old style RWD sedan lover, there’s nothing like a road trip in cruise control. I used it much more when I lived in a part of CT which had less traffic. Over the past 10 years, however, traffic has increased somewhat there, and I’ve moved to NYC where most people do not understand how to maintain a constant speed on highways. I do continue to use it on longer trips, in particular if the terrain is not overly hilly.
I have found it most annoying in underpowered cars, thus in my ’87 Brougham and ’87 Crown Victoria, these were, as JPC put it, cars that wanted to go 50-55 and would want to drop to that on all hills.
My current twosome, the ’77 Electra and ’93 Fleetwood, are interesting. The Electra is already very easy to hold at speed and seems to prefer 65-70 mph by default. It gives a moderate but not drastic improvement in mpg if the cruise is on. That’s a fairly primitive CC system since the ’77 is a carbureted car with no computer.
The ’93 gets phenomenal mileage for its size in cruise, having TBI, computer, TPS, and overdrive. Unfortunately what it also has is traction control which, in addition to pushing the pedal back at you over every bump, also likes to disengage CC any time the bump is anything more serious than a crack in the pavement. The ’93 is also not as easy to hold at speed as the ’77 is, manually, and thus invites more use of CC, but the traction control nannying sometimes creates additional stress. I’m not in love with the ’93…
My wife hardly ever uses cruise. I use it all the time. When I spend more then a half hour controlling the speed by foot my sciatica really acts up. I also find when driving without cruise on the Interstate I slow way down, but driving in urban/country roads I wind up driving way fast.
Yes and Yes. All the time. Wouldn’t buy a DD without it. On my last roadtrip down I-71 to Columbus my ’96 Crown Vic gave me a very respectable 26 mpg with the cruise set at 80. Believe it or not OSHP pretty much ignores anyone on I-71 going under 80 🙂 .
Daily, mostly in the HOV lane. One regret I have with the new-ish car is not waiting for the cruise/camera system Subaru made standard on the ’14 Special Appearance Package.
It’s a big help, especially on the highways. I added it to my early ’80s Toyota; it was a Godsend. One of those creature comforts you don’t realize adds value to your driving mission.
Having been a Luddite for so long, I want blind spot warning and cross traffic detection next…
I don’t use it on my commute to work in the morning, as I have to deal with a toll plaza, an interchange, heavy traffic on I-95, plus spots where state troopers love to lurk around blind corners. However on longer trips, I use it constantly. If I don’t, I find that my speed varies too much–I’ll realize I’m doing over 80, or under 65, sometimes without even really trying. Tend to fall in with the flow of traffic too easily. And, here in VA, anything over 80 is a reckless driving misdemeanor (not ticket) and can carry jail time, even in a 70 zone. So I try to “set and forget” at around 9 over.
My wife is one of those who doesn’t ever use it.
Bit late here sorry Brendan, but I use cruise nearly all the time. It’s commonplace on NZ-new cars, but as it’s uncommon in Japan, the thousands of near-new JDM used-imports that arrive here monthly are mostly cruise-free.
I first experienced controlling my cruise back in 1991 as a 17 year old driving a friend’s parents’ 1987 XF Ford Fairmont Ghia. The factory-standard cruise in those was a vacuum operated system. We didn’t know how to use it, so through trial and error learned the difference between pressing and pressing-and-holding the buttons.
The first car I owned with cruise control was an ’86 Honda Accord 1800cc I bought as a beater in 2001. It was light on torque and struggled on the cruise so I largely ignored it in the 2-3 months I owned it.
In 2005 I got my first new car (a company car), a Mazda6 2.3 with cruise. As a sales rep I was travelling reasonable distances in it, and the cruise was brilliant! Very, very well calibrated and perfectly suited the engine’s characteristics and gearing. It made for very relaxed driving and I used it all the time – even in the 50km/h areas around town. Made for great economy too – at a constant 110km/h on the motorway, the car would regularly return 5.8l/100km, and averaged 7.5l/100km over the 3 years I had it. My sister owns it now, doesn’t use the cruise much, and struggles to get less than 10l/100km.
In 2008 my next company car was a new-shape Mazda6, but a 2.0 litre model – and an excellent example of how different engine characteristics/gearing can make or break cruise control. Compared with the 2.3, the engine didn’t have enough torque to cruise nicely. Where the old 2.3 auto would stay happily in 5th with the occasional smooth change down to 4th, the 2.0 auto was constantly changing abruptly from 5th to 3rd at the slightest hint of an incline. It would hold the lower gears far too long and also had a nasty habit after going up any incline of accelerating to 10-15km/h past the set speed and then cutting out so sharply it was like the brakes were applied. The car was too heavy and under-powered for the cruise to be pleasant.
When my job changed in 2010, I had to buy my own car. It didn’t come with cruise control, but I had a daily 270km round-trip commute, so I bought an aftermarket kit on clearance (down from NZ$400.00 to NZ$39.95, thanks aptly-named Super-Cheap Auto!) and had it installed. It worked a treat and restored my faith after the gutless ’08 Mazda. I liked it so much that when I changed cars in 2011 to another cruise-free car, I had the kit transferred. Weighing 1500ish kg and having just 70kW and 170Nm, you’d think my ol’ Nissan would struggle worse than the ’08 Mazda6, but no, as the Nissan is the RD28 straight-6 diesel, the cruise control suits it very well, it just lopes along in a smooth fuss-free fashion.
Interesting your economy aspect a friend of mine has V8 BMW 7 and reckons he can get 11L/100kms using cruise but cant get it under 13 using his hoof, I\d be using it constantly under those conditions too gas prices being what they are here.