Why Cruise Control works best with auto boxes

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Why Cruise Control works best with auto boxes

Post by lolingram »

When wedded to an automatic gearbox, Cruise Control gives you complete autonomy of the vehicle - even after stopping on the road. Once speed is back over about 50kph, a flick of the button, and you are back to almost no pedal motoring, which on long trips is an added safety feature, as it allows the movement of feet without any lack of attention to road situations, and very good for blood circulation. In addition not having ro worry about speed cameras is a bonus.

Needs to be experienced IMHO.
Cruise control. One of the only electronic control systems I actually like to use in a car. Using Cruise on the motorway is fantastic, as it really does reduce the need to pay attention to the speed you are traveling at, and you can spend more time with your eyes "out of the car" monitoring the traffic. I've actually only ever used it in manual vehicles, and can't really see how having an auto would be much of a benefit
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Post by fastandfurryous »

On the subject of driving with cruise control, I also wrote:These have all been quite powerful manual cars though. I can imagine as the available power reduces, the benefit of having an auto box as well to make best use of the cruise control increases somewhat. With a powerful manual car, you can pretty much leave it in top gear, and let the cruise do the rest.
Thus, if you have a powerful enough engine, you can apply top gear at 50kph and have the same level of autonomy as you would with an auto.
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Post by lolingram »

Not so.

As you may be aware, once you touch the clutch, the Cruise Control switches out and needs re-setting manually each time. With an auto box the Cruise Control settings stay put until changed or the engine switched off - and work through all the 6 speeds. This needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated.

Clearly you cannot pass through Motorway Tolls in top gear as you have to stop the vehicle.
Thus, if you have a powerful enough engine, you can apply top gear at 50kph and have the same level of autonomy as you would with an auto.
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Post by fastandfurryous »

What do you mean? if you touch the clutch on a cruise-equipped manual, then yes, the cruise drops out, but it retains it's memory settings (same as if you touch the brakes)

And I fail to see your point about stopping for a motorway toll. Regardless of the transmission type, you still have to "manually" drive the car up to at least 30mph before you can use cruise again.
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Post by deian »

fastandfurryous... i understand your point about the toll part, fair play lolingram did say you can reapply it after 50kph in the first message.

lolingram... i understand your point too, cruise control is better suited to an auto box as it can change down a gear IF (rarely) needed.

the point is... cruise control should be used on wide open roads at higher speeds (hence the minumum speed for it to function)... and citroen obviously think they are better suited to automatic cars as the only one's i've come across from citroen are automatic ones not manual (that is my personal experience)... that is not to say they don't work on manuals.

It probably does need to be experienced in both a manual and an auto to understand the differences. For experimentations sake, set the cruise control to 45mph on a nice quiet stretch of A road with a big steep hill (no corners)... the auto box would probably change down to 3rd, where as the manual box would be in 5th gear and struggle a bit towards the top. Hence the need for a big engine.

Cruise control is a simple driving aid that we all experience differently.
Lets just agree to disagree, anders locked the previous thread that i started for good reason, please don't get yourselves into trouble over cruise control.

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Post by lolingram »

I would not entertain buying Cruise Control for use ONLY in the UK. Not worth the investment, because constant switching in and out is a pain in the arse.

Comes into its own on long (like 1000km+) trips on mainland Europe - also in Seppoland. On a visit to Death Valley, we travelled 47 mins without touching the Crusie button - REALLY worth the while that was.

Experience is everything
deian posted: ...the point is... cruise control should be used on wide open roads at higher speeds (hence the minumum speed for it to function)... and citroen obviously think they are better suited to automatic cars as the only one's i've come across from citroen are automatic ones not manual (that is my personal experience)... that is not to say they don't work on manuals.

It probably does need to be experienced in both a manual and an auto to understand the differences.
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Post by fastandfurryous »

lolingram wrote:..we travelled 47 mins without touching the Crusie button - REALLY worth the while that was.
Just 47 mins? I've travelled for several hours (around 4) at a constant cruise setting, in the UK before now, and regularly achieve well over an hour at a time. All on a Manual gearbox in top gear.

What are you actually trying to prove in this thread?
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Post by howiedean »

deian wrote:fastandfurryous... i understand your point about the toll part, fair play lolingram did say you can reapply it after 50kph in the first message.

lolingram... i understand your point too, cruise control is better suited to an auto box as it can change down a gear IF (rarely) needed.

the point is... cruise control should be used on wide open roads at higher speeds (hence the minumum speed for it to function)... and citroen obviously think they are better suited to automatic cars as the only one's i've come across from citroen are automatic ones not manual (that is my personal experience)... that is not to say they don't work on manuals.

It probably does need to be experienced in both a manual and an auto to understand the differences. For experimentations sake, set the cruise control to 45mph on a nice quiet stretch of A road with a big steep hill (no corners)... the auto box would probably change down to 3rd, where as the manual box would be in 5th gear and struggle a bit towards the top. Hence the need for a big engine.

Cruise control is a simple driving aid that we all experience differently.
Lets just agree to disagree, anders locked the previous thread that i started for good reason, please don't get yourselves into trouble over cruise control.

Thanks
Fully Agree,
I have driven a few thousand miles in the American desert (Nevada and California) in allsorts of nasty American people carriers, mainly V6 and V8's no diesels unfortunately.
The one thing however, that was apparent was the fun that could be had playing with the cruise control.
Generally we tended to sit at between 90-100 MPH with the cruise control selected. When entering towns the speed limit sometimes reduced to between 25-35 MPH and was generally enforced. When resume was selected back on the open road it could be quite commical watching the car kick down and race back up to cruising speed.
The other dodgy thing that could be funny until it happened to you, is leaving cruise selected when the roads start to twist and bend!!!
I'd love to have cruise control on my car however, it was driving in America that made me realise the importance of having cruise control.

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Post by Stempy »

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Post by mooseshaver »

deian wrote:
and citroen obviously think they are better suited to automatic cars as the only one's i've come across from citroen are automatic ones not manual (that is my personal experience)... that is not to say they don't work on manuals.


Thanks
My Manual SX C5 has cruise control. Its excellent on motorways, but A Roads can sometimes be a pain because fith is not the best gear for some roads.
What I want is an automatic with distance cruise control. It was supposed to be on the C6 but never made it.
Distance Cruise keeps you the correct distance away from the car in front, so if it slows so do you. It can put the breaks on to slow you down.
It won't do emergency stops though.
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Post by lolingram »

I drove a high end Mercedes with this facility... really fantastic - it followed a bus through town all on its own.
Mooseshaver posted:
What I want is an automatic with distance cruise control. It was supposed to be on the C6 but never made it.
Distance Cruise keeps you the correct distance away from the car in front,
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Post by UFO »

You have to slow down to pay tolls? How primitive!

Here in Aus where Public Private Partnerships are all the rage (that is the govt goes into partnership with some conglomerate to build something that is then operated by them for 20 years or so at enormous profit) we have electronic tolling. You get a tag which mounts inside your windscreen and sensors pick up your passing of a toll point. On the new M7 that circuits Sydney via the western suburbs a sensor picks you up entering and then leaving and your account is charged accordingly. The system keeps your account topped up via either direct debit from your bank acct or your credit card.

The speed limits on these roads are usually 80km/h or greater and there is no need to slow down.

Even on older toll roads there are special e-tag lanes you take and the speeds on these lanes are gradually being increased as the technology improves.

It did amuse me in France that you can zoom along at 130km/h and then have to stop to pay tolls. Then speed up and away you go until the next pay section!
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Post by lolingram »

France also has a windscreen electro badge option that lets you through a special turnstile, BUT you still have to slow down to pass the reader... it is rumoured that this same badge system will eventually work throughout Europe.
UFO posted:
You get a tag which mounts inside your windscreen and sensors pick up your passing of a toll point.
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Post by deian »

most probably except the uk... we like to stay old fashioned here as you have noticed. the uk will do things differently by adding as much cost as possible onto the motorist by taxing as you drive!
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Post by elma »

I'm all for that, but only if the tax disc is abolished. It makes sense that if I drive 5k a year I pay 1/4 of the tax I'd pay if I drove 20k. Makes a lot more sense to me. Seen as its done on emissions 2 people driving the same car different distances pay the same price but emit different amounts of gas. That doesn't work in my mind.
Although what I just described already happens with the duty on fuel. How do they get us to pay this tax twice?
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