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Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?

8K views 54 replies 20 participants last post by  TBone2K 
#1 ·
I never used Cruise Control before.
I think this is a nice touch that Mazda is offering this system as a standard (almost ... I guess most of the versions got it). Now, just thinking about it, it looks like a good think .. to be able to just relax your both feet during a long trip and to have the car stabilised at a "legal" (140kph :p ) or confortable (read fuel saving ... 120kph) have to be excelent.
My question is ... are those systems as good as it should be? How easy is to set up one of this. Pluses ... minuses?
And all these questions are intended for all those who use one of those systems (on other cars) and, of course to 6 owners which had and tried 6's CC.
I would also want to add a little bit of "dificulty" to this question by proposing three cases:
1. - normal. not very busy highway
2. - high traffic highway (2, max. 3 lines but all of them with cars so you have to change the lanes from time to time thus modifying the speed 100-120-150-...)
3. - 1/2 lane per direction road, not very busy, but you meet from time to time buses, slow/very slow cars which you have to go by.
 
#2 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

QUOTE
Originally posted by adim_v


            I never used Cruise Control before.
I think this is a nice touch that Mazda is offering this system as a standard (almost ... I guess most of the versions got it). Now, just thinking about it, it looks like a good think .. to be able to just relax your both feet during a long trip and to have the car stabilised at a "legal" (140kph :p ) or confortable (read fuel saving ... 120kph) have to be excelent.
My question is ... are those systems as good as it should be? How easy is to set up one of this. Pluses ... minuses?
And all these questions are intended for all those who use one of those systems (on other cars) and, of course to 6 owners which had and tried 6's CC.
I would also want to add a little bit of "dificulty" to this question by proposing three cases:
1. - normal. not very busy highway
2. - high traffic highway (2, max. 3 lines but all of them with cars so you have to change the lanes from time to time thus modifying the speed 100-120-150-...)
3. - 1/2 lane per direction road, not very busy, but you meet from time to time buses, slow/very slow cars which you have to go by.[/b]
CC for M6 is very good as far as comfort features go. It's even so good that, if you've not used it a lot before, you might forget about driving after a while and find yourself wondering why that slow moving truck in front of you comes closer and closer but your car does'nt seem to take any actions to solve the situation by itself. It happened to me once and it took couple of scary seconds to realize that CC really only maintains speed and does not steer the car around obstacles or slow it down when necessary. So it's comfy, but I wouldn't recommend to fiddle with it in heavy traffic, so...

1. - Highly recommended
2. - Can be used, but you have to be careful not to hit the RES ACCEL button if stuck closely behind a slower vehicle. It doesn't have a distance sensor like Nissan Primera.
3. - Also OK. It disengages when brake or clutch pedal is pressed (or CANCEL button on steering wheel) and you can restore your speed with RES ACCEL after you've passed the slower vehicle. When passing/accelerating with cruise ON, the speed automatically drops to last saved value after you finish the manoeuvre (let go of the accelerator).

... and no speeding on public roads, please.
 
#3 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

I agree with Sigvard, but I must add: I almost liked the cruise control on my 626 better (a stick on the steering wheel, not buttons) since it didn't need you to take eyes off the traffic, not even for a second.
 
#8 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

I think I know what you mean.
The remote controls I have on my Renault are like this - right hand, behnd the wheel, very handy ... so, I guess it'll take me some time to get used with the left hand, on the wheel audio controls of the 6.
But, we are adaptable beings ... that's how we survive thousands of year ... so, it can't be worse than the glacial era ;)
 
#9 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

I have used Cruise Control for years; it is extremely useful on longer trips where your foot either gets a little "heavy" and you end up speeding way too fast or cramps up from staying in the same position for hours.

I have always had them on buttons very similar to the Mazda6; though I don't have my 6 yet (a few weeks or so left) I can say that once you have memorized the buttons you will never look at them.

I *only* use it on most empty roads though - it gets aggrivating to try and use it on busier streets. You will come to notice how inconsistant many other folks actually hold their speed. They speed up... they speed down.... they speed up.... over and over.
 
#10 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

Have to agree to that...that's the only annoying part of CC...people in front of you without them.

Sometimes you get behind another car that also has a CC. And you keep a perfect distance mile after mile. That's nice!
 
#11 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

Does anyone tried also the fuel consumption performance of the CC? Like going a round trip - assuming the same conditions, at least 100km trip - one way without CC and return with CC and check the fuel consumption?
I assume it has to be better than what we (poor humans :p) can achieve.
 
#12 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

QUOTE
Originally posted by Steve 6er


            Have to agree to that...that's the only annoying part of CC...people in front of you without them.

Sometimes you get behind another car that also has a CC. And you keep a perfect distance mile after mile. That's nice![/b]
Get good at CC, and while not as relaxing, situations such as this can calmly be addressed without braking. :)

I especially like CC when being followed by a cop...Set it on the speed limit and relax!
 
#14 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

I have used them since 1976 (GM:pontiac Parisienne, V8 engine with 350 cubic inch, a lot of HP ... the good days). We have excellent conditions to use them in NA. i.e. population density is low, so are highways across this continent, cities are well apart, highway are mostly strait (and unfortunately also boring).

Contrarely to the first onces, they are not fuel input regulator, but actual speed regulator. So if you go up hill, it will inject more fuel so you keep your speed. They normally have safety feature, such that is you drive off road (in the ditch, into a snow bank, sharp up hill ) which force the speed of the car to suddenly and drastically drop, the CC should come off automatically. CC does not perform well below 50 km/h if it allows you to enable it at that speed.

CC let you relax, get less tire, so less chance to fall a sleep behind the wheel on long boring drive which are frequent in NA. Back in 1988, I drove once 3000 km in 3 days across 4 time-zones, which 1000 km was in the center of Canada prairies region where there is no hill, nor trees (and no civilisation). It is like being on a boat in the middle of the sea. You drive for hours and the scenery does not change a bit. The CC gets very handy in these situations.

I personnally don't use them on highways around city where the traffic is more dense, in adverse weather conditon, and finally when I am going well beyond the legal speed limit ... which mean I don't get to use them often :)
 
#15 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

Cruise is more complicated than one might realize. Excellent explanation can be found at How Stuff Works.

A funny antecdote that was once told to me in driving school:
I forget the specifics of the accident, but it turns out a foreigner (English, if I recall) was recovered from an accident in a van. He was found in the back. This baffled the police, who eventually came to the conclusion that he was thrown all the way to the back of the van upon impact.

When the man awoke, he gave his account. "I put the car on autopilot and went to the back". Turns out he thought the cruise control was a fully driverless system. :D
 
#17 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

QUOTE
Originally posted by Sigvard


            QUOTE
Originally posted by Steve 6er

I almost liked the cruise control on my 626 better (a stick on the steering wheel, not buttons) since it didn't need you to take eyes off the traffic, not even for a second.[/b]
Don't worry, you'll get used to buttons. :p[/b][/quote]

I agree, it didn't take more than a minute for me and I got so used to it...

The big button on right is the gas and the brakes... + and -. And it seems to work really nice. But ofcourse in heavy traffic I wouldn't use it.
 
#18 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

QUOTE
Originally posted by adim_v


            Does anyone tried also the fuel consumption performance of the CC? Like going a round trip - assuming the same conditions, at least 100km trip - one way without CC and return with CC and check the fuel consumption?  
I assume it has to be better than what we (poor humans :p) can achieve.[/b]
I did for a short distance. (10 km)

There was a difference, about 0.3/100 km liters or so... And I lost to the CC that is. That is another reason why I like it, since it seems like I prefer to try my engines power, but CC doesn't do that. :D
 
#19 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

QUOTE
Originally posted by javah
       
The big button on right is the gas and the brakes... + and -. And it seems to work really nice. But ofcourse in heavy traffic I wouldn't use it.[/b]
It's really fun to adjust speed manually. With pedals you do not "feel" the acceleration so much. Especially when resuming acceleration after braking or cancelling CC, you get that nice whiplash feeling since you do not foresee the exact moment it starts accelerating. Fun :D
 
#20 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

Driving with constant 100kmh it seems to me that with CC on consumption
is about 0.5l/100km MORE than with CC off. But this test could be rough because
I used information from current consumption meter driving about 10kms with CC on and
then about 10kms with CC off and periodically glancing at the numbers on the
display. Anyway, I drove about 150km with CC almost constantly on (about 95kmh)
and average consumption (with 4 latvians inside the car) was about 7.3l/100km.

Some comments for those who complain of not getting used to CC of Mazda6:
When I'm switching on for cruise I'm looking on speedometer because I want to
take speed which should be as possibly fast as police wouldn't trouble me. The position
of steering wheel is such that when you're glancing on speedometer all the buttons
of CC are clearly seen.
 
#21 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

Nice info ... Gasjs!
Even though is hard for me to believe you can do better than the CC (at least not keeping constant speed). Otherwise you can, of course tkaing it out of gear when going donwhill, using engine brake, etc ... stuff that bring the consumption down ... but they require a lot of attention and operations to be performed. Thus not worthing.
You got 7.3% on what engine? with 95km/h average?
 
#22 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

Test was done on 2.3
Not bad assuming my previous 98' 323f with 1844cc had similar consumption.
But I don't pretend that my tests were absolutely precise. I just want to
share some observations. When I was driving BMW (which had current consumption
meter) I realized that it is possible to go with more or less constant speed with
sligthly different accelerator positions (and different consumptions). Possibly due to limited accuracy of those meters.
Anyway, I still think that it is possible to drive with a little lower consumption manualy. Without using the neitral gear (it's dangerous!). But the gains are lower than comfort you don't realize.
 
#23 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

Usually CC always use more gas than manual driving. Simply because it uses throttle to compensate for all losses in speed. Whatch how consumption increases when you go up-hill. You wouldn't push the gas the much yourself, I assure you.
 
#24 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

QUOTE
Originally posted by Gasjs


            Driving with constant 100kmh it seems to me that with CC on consumption
is about 0.5l/100km MORE than with CC off. But this test could be rough because
I used information from current consumption meter driving about 10kms with CC on and
then about 10kms with CC off and periodically glancing at the numbers on the
display. Anyway, I drove about 150km with CC almost constantly on (about 95kmh)
and average consumption (with 4 latvians inside the car) was about 7.3l/100km.[/b]
My test was around 95 km/h speed, but as I said when I was driving personally I did have more fun when passing cars on the other lane than the CC did. :p IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE, that when I was driving the speed went over 100 sometimes etc... But hey, it is so difficult to drive slowly with Mazda6 without the CC...
 
#25 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

QUOTE
Originally posted by Steve 6er


            Usually CC always use more gas than manual driving. Simply because it uses throttle to compensate for all losses in speed. Whatch how consumption increases when you go up-hill. You wouldn't push the gas the much yourself, I assure you.[/b]
I always thought CC would give better gas mileage...The gas regulation will be slow and consistent, and the speed holds very consistent...
 
#26 ·
Replying to Topic 'Cruise Control ... usefull or useless?'

No it doesn't, it's the other way around. Since CC can't see the terrain in front of the car, it reacts with the gas too slow going uphill and reduces gas too late going downhill. This means not so efficient gas usage.

However, knowing how fun Mazda6 is to drive I would say that manually applying gas could easily become bad economics. (But fun!)

Today I used my CC for a long drive (340 km); which in fact showed me that I had a 8.5 litre/100 km consumption on hwy driving. That's exactly as my mixed driving was be4.
 
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