Cruise Control and fuel saving ?

frigiliana

Just bought a new Mazda 3 1.6 Diesel, it's the first car I've owned with cruise control fitted ,as a rule does it save fuel or would careful use of the accelerator give the same results ?

bryanb

Cruise control cannot anticipate. Careful use of the brakes will be better, it's not so much the go pedal that wastes fuel, it's the stop pedal.

vikingaero

Cruise controls lags slightly in use. It reacts to hills rather than anticipates them like a good driver.

It really depends on how congested your driving routes are. I regularly return home from caving at around 10-11pm and it's perfect on the motorways not just to save a small amount of fuel but to make driving more relaxing.

adamc260

I absolutely love cruise control... on hilly sections it wont be good for economy as it will boot the throttle to maintain the same speed.

I use my cruise control every single day though... become very lazy since I've had it!

missile

Do not be a slave to cruise control. You can accelerate if you anticipate the need and disengage if you anticipate a delay ahead.

I find cruise control a great aid, but like most tools it needs to be used wisely.

waynedance

adamc260 wrote: »

I absolutely love cruise control... on hilly sections it wont be good for economy as it will boot the throttle to maintain the same speed.

I use my cruise control every single day though... become very lazy since I've had it!

I to use mine everyday, had it since 2005 (last car Mondeo) and many tests shows it saved me fuel.

forgotmyname

I only use mine on long journeys to keep to the same speed.

Mostly its a PITA, Too much traffic to use safely.

No point getting to a hill then decide are we are slowing down lets floor it to compensate. I would rather build up speed 1st or drop a gear.

interstellaflyer

I am averaging 55mpg on my Vectra 1.9 CDTi 120 and I use cruise control a lot, like everything else in driving, if you aticipate what's going on ahead of you then you can make small ajustments to speed or disengage if necassary, without having to use the brakes, leave enough gap between you and the car infront and keep and eye on what's going on ahead, but of course we should be doing that anyway, shouldn't we?

frigiliana

Thanks for all your comments, it does take some getting use too, finding the brake after 20 mins of relaxing to name one , i have been setting it at about 60mph and been averaging 52mpg , i tried the same distance without C/C and it was about the same , i do live in a hilly area

adamc260

Cruise control would be a god send if you did a 7 hour drive or something... sometimes its not even about the economy benefits (which show on flat roads) but just for comfort. I've become very lazy with my new car, everything is auto... lights, wipers, rear view mirror, climate control etc! I got in my dads car the other day and forgot to turn the lights on for a little while!

colino

Unfortunately there is no golden rule with these as different manufacturers, even different models, operate differently. For example a Jag XF seems to work really effectively whereas the Merc E type seems to accelerate downhill and constantly be on the gas.
You'll have to make a point of using it all the time for a couple of weeks, over similar conditions, and checking the brim-to-brim consumption when not using it at all.