Do you use Cruise Control?

  • Thread starter CodeRedR51
  • 65 comments
  • 2,728 views

What's your cruise control usage?

  • Whenever I can

    Votes: 13 20.6%

  • Only on highways

    Votes: 32 50.8%

  • I don't need it

    Votes: 9 14.3%

  • I don't have it in my vehicle

    Votes: 9 14.3%
  • Total voters
    63
C

CodeRedR51

Premium
55,260
United States
United States
So this is something I have been wondering about lately. I find myself getting upset when I'm driving behind someone that keeps speeding up and slowing down multiple times when I just want to set my cruise and go. I use mine almost everywhere that I know I will be traveling for a good distance without having to stop for traffic lights, etc. Most newer cars include cruise control standard, so I'm confused why a lot of people don't use it.
 
I can definitely understand where you're coming from. Nothing more frustrating than someone speeding up then randomly slowing down by 10MPH or so. I know my father never uses it because he doesn't trust it and thinks it'll make him more tired. On the other hand, my brother uses it all the time on the highway since he finds it uncomfortable having to adjust constantly on long trips. I only use it on the highway during a long trip that's more than 3 hours. (For some reason)
 
I use my cruise control mainly on dual carriageways when I'm doing long travel journeys such as going through to Aberdeen.
 
Short answer, nope.
----
My 2002 Toyota Rav4 doesn't have one so nope.
Our other newer cars does have one but we don't really use it because ether we face heavy traffic on highway or no traffic to the point we reach the other end of the country in just over an hour.

The only time we have a long road trips is when we cross countries and going to Dubai or Qatar but we don't use it because the desert highways are the worst roads I ever experience.
 
MedigoFlame
I know my father never uses it because he ... thinks it'll make him more tired.
Click to expand...

I'm sort of the same, I find myself loosing concentration when I'm less involved with the driving. I had similar issues when I had to borrow an automatic for a few months and took it on some long trips.

If I'm using cruise control I'm generally fiddling with the speed to match different cars on the road or switching it on and off to overtake people. I couldn't follow another car that was also using cruise control set at the same speed, I'd be bored out my mind.
 
I use it whenever I can on paved roads. Where I'm from the roads are all straight and flat so it only makes sense to use cruise control.
 
boiltheocean
If I'm using cruise control I'm generally fiddling with the speed to match different cars on the road or switching it on and off to overtake people. I couldn't follow another car that was also using cruise control set at the same speed, I'd be bored out my mind.
Click to expand...
When I use it, I set it at the speed I want to go and leave it. Don't really care what speed everyone else is doing lol. It's just frustrating when you're running along behind a car on a long straight road and you have to vary your speed 5-10 mph (which is also bad for fuel economy). Even worse is when someone pulls onto the road in front of you and doesn't get up to the speed you're doing so you have to slow down. :mad: :P
 
Funny you bring this up as I was moaning about it to friends recently. I like to use cruise control on fairly (or completely) empty motorways, but rarely use it when it's busy because I'd rather react instantly to changes in the pace of the traffic.

And I have a big problem with active cruise control, as it doesn't act as intuitively to different traffic as I would myself. If the guy in front is varying his speed annoyingly, I don't want to be doing the same thing myself. Active cruise is always set up to keep a fair distance behind any car too, so I often find it slows me down just as I'm thinking about pulling out to overtake.

So I went for "only on highways", but with the caveat it's not a) too busy or b) an active system, which I dislike.

Whenever I go to the US I find myself using cruise all the time. Ditto somewhere like France. In the UK, the only time I can really use it is in the middle of the night when the roads are empty enough.

Incidentally, I don't find myself getting more tired or losing concentration when I use it, even over long distances (and I've done 15-hour stints behind the wheel before, much of it on cruise, without issue). If you lose concentration whenever any menial task is taken away from you as a driver, I'd say that's actually a bit worrying.
 
I use it as often as I can.

A lot of the time though I'm driving on roads where cruise control isn't really a practical option.

I share your frustrations with regard to other road users @R1600Turbo
 
Yes, I tend to use it rather actively if I have it. I'll set a speed limiter in many places where I know there are speed cameras, and I'll set cruise control on almost any dual carriageway, however I tend to adjust it quite a lot. One of the things I like about cruise control is that the lightest touch of the brakes will cancel it, and you can accelerate whenever you want, so you can effectively still speed up or slow down as normal; if you want engine braking you can either cancel it or tap the brakes just enough to cancel it (but not enough to trigger any real braking).
 
Out of my family's "fleet" of vehicles, my car is the only one without cruise control. If I'm driving one of the other cars, I use it on the freeway if I have it. Bumper to bumper traffic and/or using it in town or winding roads sound like really dumb driving situations to use cruise control. Of course, a "steady right foot" is always a good alternative too. It's a lot more reactive to situations that change in an instant.
 
Literally everyday on my drive to work, which only involves normal, nacional roads.

It helps me make calmer trips and get better mileage. Otherwise, I have a natural tendency of wanting to pass everyone at every opportunity.

When I turn it on, it usually means I'll be setting it to around 80~90Km/h on nacional roads or 110~120Km/h on the highway.
 
I use it as and when I can. It ensures that I avoid getting caught speeding which is ultra important as I need my driving licence. 👍

I hate it when people speed up and slow down all the time. I generally just hang back from people that do that, set the cruise control to their average speed and relax. :D
 
The problem I have with cruise control is the fact that my work van doesn't have it and since I drive that more than my personal vehicle I get so used to not having it that I forget my personal vehicle has it.
 
I use cruise control on highways that are mostly level and straight. More frequently in the Forester, because a torque converter makes holding a steady speed annoying, even distracting over a long distance. A manual is better.

The two main reasons are to avoid speeding without having to think about it, and to lock my speed as a courtesy to someone following me. Count me in as someone who hates it when someone ahead of me speeds up and slows down; if it's evident that they'll keep doing it, I pass them at the next opportunity.

Beeblebrox237
One of the things I like about cruise control is that the lightest touch of the brakes will cancel it, and you can accelerate whenever you want, so you can effectively still speed up or slow down as normal; if you want engine braking you can either cancel it or tap the brakes just enough to cancel it (but not enough to trigger any real braking).
Click to expand...
I don't like tapping the brakes unless I need to brake, because I don't like it when drivers use the brakes for small speed adjustments instead of letting off the throttle. :P The instant the brake lights come on, there's no telling if they're reacting to something and might be braking suddenly. I know it's a habit caused in part by automatics that don't engine brake enough, which certainly doesn't make me dislike it any less.

Although on a freeway it's easier to interpret a brake tap as a cruise control adjustment, or even predict it before it happens.
 
Northstar
The problem I have with cruise control is the fact that my work van doesn't have it and since I drive that more than my personal vehicle I get so used to not having it that I forget my personal vehicle has it.
Click to expand...
I'm the opposite to you.... my van has it and the car doesn't. :lol:
 
Wolfe
if it's evident that they'll keep doing it, I pass them at the next opportunity.
Click to expand...
Here's another thing that happens around here. Someone going up and down in speed but staying under the speed I want to go, so I pass them and then when I slow back down to my cruising speed they're on my ass because they felt the need to speed up after I passed them. :rolleyes: Gotta love it.
 
No cruise on my current car. The newer cars I've owned(here in Australia), that had cruise, I still didn't use, even on 1000km trips. I feel more alert controlling the accelerator pedal.

In the states, I used it on the automatic cars not my manuals.(NY-Boston, NY- Va. Beach, NY- N.Carolina, Orlando-Miami). Maybe due to low traffic, at early morning starts.
 
R1600Turbo
Here's another thing that happens around here. Someone going up and down in speed but staying under the speed I want to go, so I pass them and then when I slow back down to my cruising speed they're on my ass because they felt the need to speed up after I passed them. :rolleyes: Gotta love it.
Click to expand...
Self-absorbed obliviousness. Recently, in light traffic on a divided highway, I prodded a driver to speed up three times in a row just by moving into the passing lane on a cruise control setting a little bit faster than his speed. He sped up, I moved back over behind him, he slowed down, I moved over to pass, he sped up, I moved back over behind him, he slowed down...I was tempted to see how many times I could get him to do it, but I just forced my pass after the third time.
 
The family van has it, my dad's Jeep does not. My car does, but it (the cruise control) doesn't actually work, so I don't normally use cruise control unless I've been tabbed as the driver to visit my grandmother.
 
Assuming there isn't ice on the road and I'm not in Minneapolis where people, besides @Northstar, of course, drive like raging idiots, I use mine constantly - in town, highway, interstate. Everywhere. A habit I got into when I was first starting to drive and it's now kind of ingrained in me.
 
I periodically use it as part of my hypermiling tricks. But I would much rather have full control of the car. Having the cruise control kick in and accelerate hard is a terrifying thing when going through an uphill, double-blind S turn. Seriously, that particular turn is only safe at 20 either way, and the speed limit is 35.
 
Wolfe
Self-absorbed obliviousness. Recently, in light traffic on a divided highway, I prodded a driver to speed up three times in a row just by moving into the passing lane on a cruise control setting a little bit faster than his speed. He sped up, I moved back over behind him, he slowed down, I moved over to pass, he sped up, I moved back over behind him, he slowed down...I was tempted to see how many times I could get him to do it, but I just forced my pass after the third time.
Click to expand...
Like you, I tend to pass these kind of people, and usually at a pace that suggests I'm not interested being anywhere near them on the road. The ridiculous thing is, once you're a decent distance ahead, you can return to your original speed, and they'll still fall behind - I can never quite tell whether they really are oblivious to their speed until someone else is at similar pace, or whether they're just obnoxious.
 
In the UK, I only used it in road works covered by average speed cameras... I say 'used' as I only have the Porsche now, and it doesn't have cruise.

When I'm in the US, I use it most of the time on the freeways.
 
I'll use it only on motorways, and only then when it's quiet. It basically just gets used on the bottom half of the M74 and the Cumbrian part of the M6.
 
Every single time I go on the motorway. I normally don't have to adjust it. It's just so confortable, and I find it less tiring than always using the throttle, although it make me more relaxed and therefore more prone to mistake, but I often travel with other people with me so they keep on my toes.
 
I rarely use cruise control. Only on open highways, outside city limits. If it's urban areas, with lots dense traffic and lots of on/off ramps, I won't.
 
I'm not even sure I have it. I live in an area too heavy on traffic to ever really be able to use it anyways.

Back in the day when I used to have a life I drove all over creation and used it occasionally in previous cars.
 

Latest Posts

Back