Never Use Cruise Control When it's Wet?
Discussion
Gonewest said:
Is it also true that if you own a Winnibego, or similar, motorhome you cannot get up out of the drivers seat to make a coffee whilst being on cruise?
Adaptive cruise control and lane assist will keep it all straight and safe, but I imagine that those things would have a drivers coffee maker and toilet, so you don't have to move off the bridge. Max_Torque said:
er, i think people are perhaps thinking that cruise control just slams open (or shut) the throttle in response to minor variations in measured (not necessarily true) roadspeed! Well, sorry, but it doesn't. OEMs have a massive raft of CC calibration methodology and attribute calibration, which are precisely developed to prevent the CC system causing safety, comfort, or durability issues. As such, on modern systems, the cruise control is considerably more subtle than most drivers when it comes to throttle inputs (actually, torque demands to the ecu, it doesn't control the throttle angle directly, unlike old systems).
Guess this is why they seem to accelerate so much quicker up to speed when you reset the cc than it would if you just floored it (in top at low revs). Does it just use the injection in a different way? Perhaps in conjuction with vvc if fitted?wiliferus said:
I lived in Australia for 6 months with my then girlfriends family. I remember saying I was popping to the shop during a moderate rain shower. By the look on their faces you'd have thought I was going out during a meteor shower. They firmly believed the car would just fall off the road because it was wet.
Their approach to driving in rain was comparable to ours for snow.
Can't have been Melbourne then. It rains a lot of days in winter, everyone copes.Their approach to driving in rain was comparable to ours for snow.
IanCress said:
All modern cars will disengage the cruise control as soon as wheelspin is detected. Very early systems would spin the wheels up when aquaplaning, but it wouldn't cause the car to shoot forward. However keeping your foot in when aquaplaning isn't the correct response, but whether you'd class the CC as dangerous i'm not sure.
Yep - my Bravo did this. Hit a deeper-than-anticipated puddle at about 60mph, the engine very briefly revved before it knocked the CC off. It also locked out the cruise control until the engine had been stopped and restarted.Jonny_ said:
IanCress said:
All modern cars will disengage the cruise control as soon as wheelspin is detected. Very early systems would spin the wheels up when aquaplaning, but it wouldn't cause the car to shoot forward. However keeping your foot in when aquaplaning isn't the correct response, but whether you'd class the CC as dangerous i'm not sure.
Yep - my Bravo did this. Hit a deeper-than-anticipated puddle at about 60mph, the engine very briefly revved before it knocked the CC off. It also locked out the cruise control until the engine had been stopped and restarted.AW111 said:
wiliferus said:
I lived in Australia for 6 months with my then girlfriends family. I remember saying I was popping to the shop during a moderate rain shower. By the look on their faces you'd have thought I was going out during a meteor shower. They firmly believed the car would just fall off the road because it was wet.
Their approach to driving in rain was comparable to ours for snow.
Can't have been Melbourne then. It rains a lot of days in winter, everyone copes.Their approach to driving in rain was comparable to ours for snow.
wiliferus said:
I lived in Australia for 6 months with my then girlfriends family. I remember saying I was popping to the shop during a moderate rain shower. By the look on their faces you'd have thought I was going out during a meteor shower. They firmly believed the car would just fall off the road because it was wet.
Their approach to driving in rain was comparable to ours for snow.
That have me a good laugh! Their approach to driving in rain was comparable to ours for snow.
Suppose It makes sense, I probably rains heavily in certain parts of aus as often as we get "proper" snow! ???
thiscocks said:
Guess this is why they seem to accelerate so much quicker
"Seem" is the cruicial word here, as it's a human perception thing. For example, you and i get into a car, you are driving. You drive towards a solid concrete wall at 30mph. You will brake hard at the last minute, so you stop before hitting the wall. As the driver and "in control" that 30mph will seem roughly half the speed it appears to be from the passenger seat with nothing to do but sit there and watch the wall approaching!! ;-)It's the same with CC re-engagements. When you floor the accelerate, you are not "surprised" with the acceleration that follows, because you are obviously expecting it. When the CC ramps on positive drive torque to re-acquire the cruise speed, you are not in direct control, and even when you know it's going to do it, it seems to be "harsher".
Similar situations are found with peoples perception of driving smoothness and awareness etc.......
Max_Torque said:
"Seem" is the cruicial word here, as it's a human perception thing. For example, you and i get into a car, you are driving. You drive towards a solid concrete wall at 30mph. You will brake hard at the last minute, so you stop before hitting the wall. As the driver and "in control" that 30mph will seem roughly half the speed it appears to be from the passenger seat with nothing to do but sit there and watch the wall approaching!! ;-)
It's the same with CC re-engagements. When you floor the accelerate, you are not "surprised" with the acceleration that follows, because you are obviously expecting it. When the CC ramps on positive drive torque to re-acquire the cruise speed, you are not in direct control, and even when you know it's going to do it, it seems to be "harsher".
Similar situations are found with peoples perception of driving smoothness and awareness etc.......
Many years ago I used to quite regularly do a country run, some nice winding roads through the hills; about 700km all up, 200 or so twisty.It's the same with CC re-engagements. When you floor the accelerate, you are not "surprised" with the acceleration that follows, because you are obviously expecting it. When the CC ramps on positive drive torque to re-acquire the cruise speed, you are not in direct control, and even when you know it's going to do it, it seems to be "harsher".
Similar situations are found with peoples perception of driving smoothness and awareness etc.......
I used to sit on the speed limit (100kph) all through the twisty stuff, bar 2 corners.
The first time I did the twisty bit of the trip on cruise control, I was covering the brake at every corner!
It just felt so much faster when the computer was pressing the accelerator, even though the speedo said I was travelling no faster than usual.
ILoveMondeo said:
That have me a good laugh!
Suppose It makes sense, I probably rains heavily in certain parts of aus as often as we get "proper" snow! ???
The same is true of southern california. The news channels make as much fuss there about heavy rain as ours do about 2 inches of snow. People leave work early because of it.Suppose It makes sense, I probably rains heavily in certain parts of aus as often as we get "proper" snow! ???
Plenty of stuff seemed to fall off the road when it did get wet though. Must be slippery as f*ck though - all that dust, rubber and oil that builds up on the tarmac getting wetted up into a nice "slime". Ours can be bad enough first rain after a dry spell and would expect theirs to be worse.
Why is it that when discussing any topic that may or may not be a good idea or maybe dangerous but maybe not, complete knobs come on and say "I do it (or did it) and I'm not dead yet".
Does it not occur to them that the people who did it and who are dead, aren't around to post their experiences!
We could start a thread about Russian roulette, and no doubt there'd be someone who did it and who isn't dead. That doesn't prove it's safe.
t
ts.
Does it not occur to them that the people who did it and who are dead, aren't around to post their experiences!
We could start a thread about Russian roulette, and no doubt there'd be someone who did it and who isn't dead. That doesn't prove it's safe.
t
ts. 
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Does it not occur to them that the people who did it and who are dead, aren't around to post their experiences!
We could start a thread about Russian roulette, and no doubt there'd be someone who did it and who isn't dead. That doesn't prove it's safe.
That gave me a very genuine lolWe could start a thread about Russian roulette, and no doubt there'd be someone who did it and who isn't dead. That doesn't prove it's safe.
andy-xr said:
I had mine on driving up the M74 last year through snow. Couple of places it went a bit wonky but the traction control sorted it out. Didnt drop off cruise
Why , just why would you even entertain using cc on snow ? Too much effort to drive the car using the normal controls , wtf is wrong with some lazy eejits nowadays ?scdan4 said:
ILoveMondeo said:
That have me a good laugh!
Suppose It makes sense, I probably rains heavily in certain parts of aus as often as we get "proper" snow! ???
The same is true of southern california. The news channels make as much fuss there about heavy rain as ours do about 2 inches of snow. People leave work early because of it.Suppose It makes sense, I probably rains heavily in certain parts of aus as often as we get "proper" snow! ???
Plenty of stuff seemed to fall off the road when it did get wet though. Must be slippery as f*ck though - all that dust, rubber and oil that builds up on the tarmac getting wetted up into a nice "slime". Ours can be bad enough first rain after a dry spell and would expect theirs to be worse.
I used to have a 120D which I loved since I could drive with DTC off completely and yet have the cruise on. Whilst I had some pretty averagely treaded tyres, I was driving down a B-road that was pretty heavily puddled with the cruise on and when going into one particularly long uphill right hand bend the car did start to aquaplane a little (no steering whilst the CC was on the power). I intervened and knocked the cruise off before the car had a chance to run off onto the grass verge. That was all at around 60 mph. The lack of tread on the tyres was the main factor though, and had it had 6mm instead of 3mm I'm sure it wouldn't have even aquaplaned.
So in conclusion, if your car has great tyres you'll be fine. If not, then it's up to you.
PS - This is probably why cars have speed-sensitive cruise control that can't be used with traction/stability systems disabled...which is a shame.
So in conclusion, if your car has great tyres you'll be fine. If not, then it's up to you.
PS - This is probably why cars have speed-sensitive cruise control that can't be used with traction/stability systems disabled...which is a shame.
I've only ever aquaplaned properly a couple of times, once while late for a flight. Bloody scary, no steering to speak of and just easing off the throttle slightly with no harsh moves. CC cutting out in those conditions may have upset the balance of the car. So on reflection if really torrential I'd not use CC and just slow down a bit.
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