Adaptive Cruise Control

[Seabee1973]

You're right, you aren't under any obligation to hold a speed. I'm also not saying that I expect drivers to hold their speed to MY speed. I'm saying when driving conditions are suitable there really isn't a good reason to not utilize cruise control.

The frustration with drivers who don't use cruise control is the constant up and down changes of your speed for no reason. Most notably, I can have my cruise set to 75 coming up on a car in the right lane that at the moment is going 70. I move over to pass and all of a sudden I reach the bumper of the car and they start speeding up. Now I'm not passing them, then all of a sudden they start pulling away from me. Annoying. So I get back behind them. Fine. Then just another mile up the road with my cruise still set to 75 I'm coming up on their bumper again!!! This happens ALL THE TIME.

If road conditions are unsafe for cruise control such as heavy traffic, poor weather or what have you, obviously fluctuations in speed are safe and the norm. But when it's a sunny day with light traffic on a straight stretch of road, the non-use of cruise control is an unnecessary nuisance.

Regarding your approaching rear vehicle example, that would be no different whether the vehicle was cruising at a speed faster than you or had their own foot on the pedal.

I find it frustrating as well for people who don't hold speed... doesn't necessarily mean that they are not using CC because it can be overidden hitting the gas... I do speed up from time to time when a person is going slower and you are trying to pass and they speed up... then they get a quarter mile away and you get back into the lane again just for them to do the same damn thing. I especially do that when trucks you are passing deciding to match speed... you know the gravel trucks that always normally speed 70 or 80 in a 60.......hit a bump and there goes some rocks and other debris... for the most part if on cruise control, I am in the middle lanes... daytime, Not used as much since traffic is heavier however I find it extremely easy to maintain speed in a manual transmission especially in the side streets or around town... Going down hills as well taking advantage of the lower gears versus auto which gravity sends then coasting and speeding down

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[GT]

Mods can you move this bickering about cruise control to a separate thread?

 

[Moderator]

Done

 

[nutte]

Genuinely curious, if you are on a long trip with a constant speed limit, what exactly is your goal - regarding cruising speed?

The goal is to enjoy the drive. I really like to drive and try to have "fun to drive" cars that kind of encourage you to active driving.

If you want to go in a steady 65mph (or any speed) it seems to me like you might as well do it in a Toyota Camry and wouldn't really appreciate instead sitting in e.g. a Lamborghini.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

The goal is to enjoy the drive. I really like to drive and try to have "fun to drive" cars that kind of encourage you to active driving.

If you want to go in a steady 65mph (or any speed) it seems to me like you might as well do it in a Toyota Camry and wouldn't really appreciate instead sitting in e.g. a Lamborghini.

Yeahhhh, except a lot of us, myself included, have just one car. That car has to go get groceries, do spirited high-g driving, take thousands-of-miles long highway cruises, etc.

Cruise control is useless for me on a day-to-day basis because all of my daily driving is done in NYC and environs, where traffic-free roads don't exist. But if I'm on a road trip to Miami or Chicago or Montreal? You better believe I'm using cruise control on the highway in between towns.

 

[Esfoad]

In this day of the gendarmes (police) sitting everywhere, cruise makes sense for me since I have a lot of trouble keeping my cars near the limit. Cars today drive fast so easily, it's not worth the ticket if CC works. So I use it like the above poster on long drives but turn it off when I want to do some spirited driving.

 

[midnite9150]

I agree that Cruise Control is a total waste for most Highway driving. Unless your traveling in a very remote rural stretch of road, traffic usually causes you to brake, and you need to resume your Cruise Control settings. In the past 40 years, almost every Car I`ve owned has had that feature and I probably have used it a total of a half dozen times, much like Fog Lamps!

I live in san diego and use cruise control nearly everytime I am on the freeway. Yes I have to temporarily shut it off for people driving too slow in the left lane, but Id bet it is on for 70% of the time im driving. I bet there would be less traffic if people used it on the freeways more often, so many people slow down going up hills then speed up going down, more useage of CC would solve that problem

 

[Colleton]

I use CC in my commute every day. I wish everyone did, instead of speeding up and slowing down randomly.

 

[ChefBorOzzy]

I live in san diego and use cruise control nearly everytime I am on the freeway. Yes I have to temporarily shut it off for people driving too slow in the left lane, but Id bet it is on for 70% of the time im driving. I bet there would be less traffic if people used it on the freeways more often, so many people slow down going up hills then speed up going down, more useage of CC would solve that problem

I'm always using cruise control. Long trips, short trips, just a drive 5 miles away. Love it. I wouldn't do it with a sports car while going from traffic light to traffic light, but I do it in my current car. Setting it is a breeze.

Hate when people drop their speed by 10 mph because a hill is coming up or constantly going up and down 5mph.

 

[fionic]

instead of speeding up and slowing down randomly.

+1

seriously, how hard is it to keep a constant speed? if you can't do that, get out of my way.

 

[foghat]

The goal is to enjoy the drive. I really like to drive and try to have "fun to drive" cars that kind of encourage you to active driving.

If you want to go in a steady 65mph (or any speed) it seems to me like you might as well do it in a Toyota Camry and wouldn't really appreciate instead sitting in e.g. a Lamborghini.

That is one of the more asinine things I have heard in awhile. I don't like to randomly change my speed on a highway with a speed limit and traffic, ergo, a Camry is the car for me. Gotcha.

 

[GiddyUp15]

That is one of the more asinine things I have heard in awhile. I don't like to randomly change my speed on a highway with a speed limit and traffic, ergo, a Camry is the car for me. Gotcha.

+1....

Even for a car that's driven mostly highway, I buy for comfort, overtake ability (power), tech features, and....oh yeah, nothing beats a drop top on a warm sunny highway cruise (Camrys don't have that...at least not since the Solara was discontinued)

Your argument is more valid (but still wrong) for a car driven mostly in stop and go traffic....

 

[Norm Peterson]

That is one of the more asinine things I have heard in awhile. I don't like to randomly change my speed on a highway with a speed limit and traffic, ergo, a Camry is the car for me. Gotcha.

So you don't see any advantage in picking up the pace to get by a semi, or at the start of a hill (as in before CC would sense any need to add throttle), or to make the car feel more stable on a curve? Feel free to disregard that last one if you don't enjoy the corners more than you do the straights; you just won't get it.

To drone along on CC is to throw away some of the fun and part of the challenge of trying to drive better all by yourself.


Norm

 

[Grimace427]

So you don't see any advantage in picking up the pace to get by a semi, or at the start of a hill (as in before CC would sense any need to add throttle), or to make the car feel more stable on a curve? Feel free to disregard that last one if you don't enjoy the corners more than you do the straights; you just won't get it.

To drone along on CC is to throw away some of the fun and part of the challenge of trying to drive better all by yourself.


Norm

Norm I've had great respect for your experience but your opinions on cruise control are as myopic as they can get. It's as if you think people don't drive long distances on the highway. Just accept that not everyone thinks like you and therefore perhaps would enjoy a feature that makes long distance cruising on the highway less strenuous. I drove my car from VA to TX to run the Texas Mile. You can bet your ass I am a driver and enjoy getting the most out of my driving experience. But that was 26 hours of straight roads that I had to trudge though to get there.

 

[midnite9150]

+1

seriously, how hard is it to keep a constant speed? if you can't do that, get out of my way.

a lot of people cant sadly lol

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