Cruise Control and drive by wire.
Discussion
My associate asked me a interesting question regarding where and when it was appropriate to use CC. I passed the question onto my IAM branch to be told that using CC to control speed in an urban area was not favoured by the IAM in case it went wrong. I decided to reflect on this and came to the conclusion that we rely on other electronic in a car eg speedo. On top of this many modern cars have a drive by wire throttle and some Mercs have wired brakes. What do you people think of this? Is it ok to use CC as a speed limited or should we be aware enough of our speed not to need CC?
Big difference between cruise control and speed limiter. MBs have both (they're complementary). I'd agree it's inappropriate - perhaps even unsafe - to use CC on busy roads (at any speed). Smooth driving in heavy traffic depends on constant minor throttle adjustments and CC precludes that. Speed limiter is entirely different. You set a max. speed and have full throttle control below that speed. So - it is very useful (say) if in a camera infested area if you want to avoid inadvertently pushing over the limit.
I have CC on my 3 series, I use it all the time – its gods gift to the motorway driver!
In 30's etc, I generally find that providing there is a safe distance between me and the car in front, holding it at 25 ish is fine. If the gap gets any smaller, I just touch the break (the slightest touch is enough) or I/O button and it gently turns off. Its pretty much seamless once you get the hang of it.
In slow traffic, its not much use (obveyously!)... but a flowing road, its great - no worries about creeping above the limit with the other cars, which is easy to do when your carefully watching the road, maintaining your distance and not staring at your Speedo. The best example of this is the long gatso ally on the way in to Southend, it’s a very long 40, and everyone is driving dead on 40, CC is perfect to ensure you don’t creap up, and its great in roadwork’s as well.
Also if it goes wrong - You hit the breaks... if it jams your accelerator down, you dip the clutch. As long as your watching the road, alert and in the right gear, your not going to have too much of a problem.
>> Edited by s a m on Tuesday 12th October 23:39
In 30's etc, I generally find that providing there is a safe distance between me and the car in front, holding it at 25 ish is fine. If the gap gets any smaller, I just touch the break (the slightest touch is enough) or I/O button and it gently turns off. Its pretty much seamless once you get the hang of it.
In slow traffic, its not much use (obveyously!)... but a flowing road, its great - no worries about creeping above the limit with the other cars, which is easy to do when your carefully watching the road, maintaining your distance and not staring at your Speedo. The best example of this is the long gatso ally on the way in to Southend, it’s a very long 40, and everyone is driving dead on 40, CC is perfect to ensure you don’t creap up, and its great in roadwork’s as well.
Also if it goes wrong - You hit the breaks... if it jams your accelerator down, you dip the clutch. As long as your watching the road, alert and in the right gear, your not going to have too much of a problem.
>> Edited by s a m on Tuesday 12th October 23:39
I tend only to use the C.C. when useing the motorway or dual carrageway when its quite. The speed limiter is more useful in some urban areas however, the manual driving methods in my personal theory is more suited to City centre/residental areas based on the theory of probability as whether electronics or human will break down first.
"Big difference between cruise control and speed limiter. MBs have both"
As do Clios...
I use CC on quiet motorway/A-roads but not in built-up areas because if you are driving 'manually' and you see a hazard you take your foot off the accelerator and the car will immediataly start to slow down. With CC as you move your foot to the brake or your finger to the cc control the car is still being powered towards the hazard.
i do like it on longer journeys though.
As do Clios...
I use CC on quiet motorway/A-roads but not in built-up areas because if you are driving 'manually' and you see a hazard you take your foot off the accelerator and the car will immediataly start to slow down. With CC as you move your foot to the brake or your finger to the cc control the car is still being powered towards the hazard.
i do like it on longer journeys though.
exactly.. I think anyone who doesn’t have it thinks it’s like a brick on the accelerator, which really isn’t true.
I can only comment on BMW CC (I assume its the same on most cars), but for me its just a thumb press to enable/disable and +/- to speed up/show down while in cruise mode, or you can use the pedal to speed up, then release and the car returns back to the CC point it was at before (for overtaking etc). You set the speed by simply driving at the speed you want to cruise at, then press the + button - it holds the speed thereafter. (Just so anyone who hasn’t got it knows how it works.)
The moment you breathe on the break or clutch, it turns off, and by pressing your thumb on the I/O button it disengages CC, which is the same as taking your foot off the gas pedal. Its second nature, really no different to normal driving and you certainly aren’t powering into a hazard
Before I got the car, several people I spoke to about CC said it was dangerous, scare stories about “almost crashing” on the motorway – I didn’t think I would use it, but within 10 mins of playing about with the buttons, I now couldn’t live without it.
Because its so seamless, if I see a hazard I’m no slower responding if I’m on cruise than I would be if not - there is no ‘faffing’ about to "switch" it off.
I wish I had speed limiter... that would be handy.
Like I said before, I’m not too worried if it goes wrong – what’s the worst that can happen… it will jam the accelerator to the floor. In that situation, you quickly dip the clutch, and pull over! The chances of that happening are very very slim, and im constantly watching my speed (thanks Tony) so I’l soon notice if I’m accelerating wildly.
Its a shame the RX8 doesn’t have CC, I noticed that when I blagged a test drive - but apparently you can get it as an option now. I am suppressed it didn’t have it as standard.
(Sorry for long post!)
I can only comment on BMW CC (I assume its the same on most cars), but for me its just a thumb press to enable/disable and +/- to speed up/show down while in cruise mode, or you can use the pedal to speed up, then release and the car returns back to the CC point it was at before (for overtaking etc). You set the speed by simply driving at the speed you want to cruise at, then press the + button - it holds the speed thereafter. (Just so anyone who hasn’t got it knows how it works.)
The moment you breathe on the break or clutch, it turns off, and by pressing your thumb on the I/O button it disengages CC, which is the same as taking your foot off the gas pedal. Its second nature, really no different to normal driving and you certainly aren’t powering into a hazard
Before I got the car, several people I spoke to about CC said it was dangerous, scare stories about “almost crashing” on the motorway – I didn’t think I would use it, but within 10 mins of playing about with the buttons, I now couldn’t live without it.
Because its so seamless, if I see a hazard I’m no slower responding if I’m on cruise than I would be if not - there is no ‘faffing’ about to "switch" it off.
I wish I had speed limiter... that would be handy.
Like I said before, I’m not too worried if it goes wrong – what’s the worst that can happen… it will jam the accelerator to the floor. In that situation, you quickly dip the clutch, and pull over! The chances of that happening are very very slim, and im constantly watching my speed (thanks Tony) so I’l soon notice if I’m accelerating wildly.
Its a shame the RX8 doesn’t have CC, I noticed that when I blagged a test drive - but apparently you can get it as an option now. I am suppressed it didn’t have it as standard.
(Sorry for long post!)
i started a thread on it a couple of weeks ago after getting CC fitted to my golf. Use it almost all the time, use less fuel, and drive much faster!. by that I mean that on motorways you do tend to slow down as well as speed up when driving normally. CC doesn't. A lot of the time I feel like I'm speeding when I aren't, and keeping slow speeds is completely relaxing around SCP vans.
never have a car without now.
never have a car without now.
I like cruise control very much, especially for situations like going through temporary speed limits in roadworks, and in 30 or 40 limits etc.
With me it overcomes my problem of having the speed creep up too much if I'm not watching it carefully enough, which has been known.
BTW Gary, you were right about the business of judging speeds. I've been making more of an effort to maintain a steady 30 or 40 mph without frequent reference to the speedometer, and I'm getting better at it.
There you are folks, he's not wrong every time.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
With me it overcomes my problem of having the speed creep up too much if I'm not watching it carefully enough, which has been known.
BTW Gary, you were right about the business of judging speeds. I've been making more of an effort to maintain a steady 30 or 40 mph without frequent reference to the speedometer, and I'm getting better at it.
There you are folks, he's not wrong every time.
Best wishes all,
Dave.
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