cruise control

[ohmygodwhathaveyoudone]

have got cruise control fitted & i hardly ever use it apart from a stretch of road that has speed traps on it.
some people think its dangerous & others think its brilliant.
is it as good on a manual car as i've only had it on autos?
or is it just a gadget that could go wrong?
its a bit scary the 1st time you use it as you seem to have relinquished control to a box of electrics.
waddya think.

 

[AdamW]

I've only driven one car with cruise control, a new-style Mondeo 1.8 hire car.

This was a petrol manual, and I made good use of the CC. Motorways were a breeze, provided they are moving.

The only problem I found with it was with a hill: I was going along on a 40mph road with the CC on. The road then went into a not-steep but not-shallow hill. The CC in that car couldn't adjust the throttle fast enough and just started gaining speed. I left it to see what it would do but when it hit 60 I put the brakes on. The remainder of the hill was perfectly fine with just engine braking and no CC.

After mentioning this to a colleague, he assured me that CC doesn't do that, but he also told me he has never been in a car with CC... so I don't put a lot of faith in his assurance!

Frequent use of CC has been said to improve your observation skills as you generally end up looking ahead further and can spend more time looking at the road than the dials.

 

[ohmygodwhathaveyoudone]

its good on autos as it will drop down a gear & keep the set speed regardless of gradient etc....its best when joining a m-way,just press resume & before you know it you're crusing @ 70mph so all you have to do is concentrate on the traffic.

 

[waran]

I've driven quite a bit in the States and pretty much all the cars had cruise control and the majority were automatic. Can't say I've ever had a problem with gradients especially as I only ever used to use it on their motorways anyway. I found them fantastic, very useful on long journeys. I remember doing about 2000 miles in a w/e once and thinking that that wasn't too bad at all. Definately less tiring.

Never had a car in the UK with cruise control. Would be handy if you were on the motorway a lot though especially if you've got long legs! Not v useful in London though. Prefer my bicycle!

 

[AdamW]

Given a choice between a manual with CC and an auto without CC, in London I would choose the auto everytime. Much easier on the legs and also cheaper in the longrun as torque convertors far outlast clutchplates in a stop-start environment. In fact a hydraulic drive might be an even better solution in the worst parts!

Never understood why autos are the norm in the States, I don't think I encountered a single traffic jam out there. Just miles and miles of straight gearchange-free driving. So you wouldn't really see any benefit of an auto. Perhaps it is because you would change gear so infrequently that you might forget how to

 

[ohmygodwhathaveyoudone]

autos are good for hillstarts as its impossible to roll backwards.
also you have no engine braking & if you release the throttle you just coast along.
i drove a manual the other day & found it rather amusing on roundabouts trying to indicate,change gear etc..........

 

[waran]

ah yes.....it's the effect of all that oestrogen in the water

 

[Diyisfun]

CC makes driving even on busy roads a novelty just using the + & - without the accelerator pedal.
Going up hills, whilst CC can cope, as most other Vehicles slow, whilst you remain constant its means you have to overtake & going down hill you have the CC braking not knowing that the energy gained going down the hill could be used on the approaching uphill.

 

[TexMex]

I've finally got a car with CC. The upsetting thing is, it seems to be obsessed with 60mph. No matter what I do, if I engage the CC, as soon as I come off the throtle, it slows down to 60.

I've now given it up as a complete, waste of time, novelty.

 

[securespark]

Cruise Gooooooood..............................

 

[AdamW]

You know what would be good? A big red "emergency stop" button in the middle of the steering wheel. When driving with cruise control on, you could stick your feet up wherever you like and just twiddle the steering wheel. But what happens when all the traffic in front of you stops suddenly? You don't have time to swing your legs back to the pedals.

So, the emergency stop button would use the "brake assist" to stop the car as quickly as possible and also push the clutch in. Would be great fun, trying to climb out from between the steering wheel and the windscreen after using it!

It could also be used for those "If you lot in the back don't stop fighting I'm turning this car around" moments.

 

[securespark]

Reminds me of a story a jeweller customer of mine told me:

Do you know, he said, since the mobile law came in, you seem to see more & more people using them while driving?

Yeah, I said, not paying any great attention.

I was behind someone using a mobile and they braked so hard my razor fell into my cornflakes......

 

[AdamW]

Hehe, heard some variations on that one, a good 'un.

Do you know what modification to ALL cars would make driving a lot safer? A very sharp steel spike point at the face of the driver. Well, wouldn't YOU drive more carefully if the slightest fender-bender would end up with a big steel spike impaling your head?

Of course it would only work if EVERYONE had it

 

[masona]

So you wouldn't really see any benefit of an auto. Perhaps it is because you would change gear so infrequently that you might forget how to

Sad I know but my son counted how gear change I've done on a approx' 40 miles journey 973 gear change !! Like you say you don't know you're doing it.

 

[masona]

since the mobile law came in, you seem to see more & more people using them while driving?

Okay, are you lot one of them

Come on be honest, what do you do when your mobile is ringing when driving ?