Motoring, Cruise Control

[noiseboy72]

Without getting into arguments about whether cruise control improves fuel economy and drivers keeping to a constant speed (Drivers don't, thats one reason why traffic bunches), have you tried a car with adaptive cruise that keeps a constant gap to the car ahead ? Again, an acquired skill to drive, but works well.

 

A lot of new cars now have speed limit as well as cruise. You set it and the car will not exceed that speed unless you use maximum throttle. Even better than cruise for average speed cameras as you can drive normally without one eye on the speedo the whole time.

[Baby Deltic]

Without getting into arguments about whether cruise control improves fuel economy and drivers keeping to a constant speed (Drivers don't, thats one reason why traffic bunches), have you tried a car with adaptive cruise that keeps a constant gap to the car ahead ? Again, an acquired skill to drive, but works well.

 

A lot of new cars now have speed limit as well as cruise. You set it and the car will not exceed that speed unless you use maximum throttle. Even better than cruise for average speed cameras as you can drive normally without one eye on the speedo the whole time.

 

On my VW Passatt I can increment the speed up and down in 5mph steps if I wish, so I can accelerate / backoff quickly enough to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front and move with the flow.

[spamcan61]

I would disagree from personal experience. On the same long route, in similar traffic and weather conditions, and trying to maintain the same speed (~65 mph), the cruise control on my car will outperfom my foot by about 5%, I think primarily because it makes more subtle throttle adjustments than are usually possible with the throttle pedal.

 

Note that I was not letting the car creep above that speed on downhills or tail off on uphills since that would vary the speed differential with the traffic (such as there was) around me - the intention was to get where I was going at the fastest safe speed that wouldn't attract the attention of the various authorities.

 

Adrian

 

I can see that on a level road the CC may well give better economy than a human for the reason you state; on an up hill and down dale route then I maintain that the CC will do better - if traffic conditions permit - because the CC will try and slow the car down going downhill, which wastes energy, which then has to be replaced when going uphill, reducing fuel economy.

[Pennine MC]

On my VW Passatt I can increment the speed up and down in 5mph steps if I wish, so I can accelerate / backoff quickly enough to maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front and move with the flow.

 

The Ford systems on my car and my wife's have + and - buttons that allow even finer control - it's effectively like a hand throttle

[spamcan61]

Lloyd, I wont requote everything you've said just to agree with it, but this is the nub of it AFAIC

 

 

 

Um, this human wouldnt. If you're on an undulating motorway, in order not to hinder traffic flow, you should surely attempt to maintain a constant speed both up and down hill (assuming your vehicle is capable)

 

Depends on the traffic conditions; in heavy traffic I agree using the Bulleid pacific strategy is likely to result in angry truckers up one's exhaust pipe, on the other hand in light traffic conditions when I've got time to kill I will maximise economy by speeding up downhill and slowing uphill, to a degree at least.

[spamcan61]

The Ford systems on my car and my wife's have + and - buttons that allow even finer control - it's effectively like a hand throttle

 

The old school CC on my Vectra with its cable and stepper motor manages +/- 2 KPH increments, it is viable to use it as a throttle under light traffic conditions, not sure I'd try it round Hyde Park Corner though.

[Arthur]

This is all very well but what I want to know Pennine is if you can give a personnal recommendation for that product in your avatar? Is it easy to apply, does it buff up to a nice shine, does it keep things supple? It's innovations like this which make me glad to be alive in these modern times.

[Baby Deltic]

The Ford systems on my car and my wife's have + and - buttons that allow even finer control - it's effectively like a hand throttle

 

You can go up in 1mph increments on the Passatt by pulling the lever forward. Holding the lever up or down will run the speed up or down fairly quickly so you can accelerate hard to pass someone in an adjacent lane if necessary. Knocking the lever up or down does 5mph increments.

[Baby Deltic]

This is all very well but what I want to know Pennine is if you can give a personnal recommendation for that product in your avatar? Is it easy to apply, does it buff up to a nice shine, does it keep things supple? It's innovations like this which make me glad to be alive in these modern times.

 

On the Mythbusters show it was proved beyond doubt that you can indeed polish a turd (depending on which type of animal dropped it). I wouldn't want to try platting the proverbial, however.

[Adrian Wintle]

I can see that on a level road the CC may well give better economy than a human for the reason you state; on an up hill and down dale route then I maintain that the CC will do better - if traffic conditions permit - because the CC will try and slow the car down going downhill, which wastes energy, which then has to be replaced when going uphill, reducing fuel economy.

 

Considering that the route I chose as an example takes me over the top of the Allegheny range on US15, I would suggest that it saves fuel on hilly roads too, with the caveat that this is a constant speed solution. The base level is about 100m ASL, while the highest point of the road is about 550m ASL. I'm certain that there are more economical ways to drive, but, as mentioned above, the intent was to maintain the highest average speed possible without exceeding the speed limit. When you are doing an 800km run, both the effects of maintaining the highest average speed and of increasing the fuel economy are significant.

 

Adrian