Cruse Control

Nodding_Donkey

Johnmcl7 wrote: »

As is the hot coffee one at least in the sense people understand it, the issue wasn't that the coffee was hot but that was it was far hotter than it should have been and caused serious burns. However people still parrot the myth that it was a stupid lady who didn't know coffee was hot.

The twist is of course some idiots have been hopping into the back seat to show off the new auto drive feature on Teslas forcing them to restrict the feature:

http://home.bt.com/tech-gadgets/tech-news/watch-a-tesla-being-driven-in-autopilot-from-the-back-seat-11364015490945

John

I wasn't talking about the stupid woman who spilt her coffee. The warning was already on the cups by then.

Nodding_Donkey

Strider590 wrote: »

Actually, despite what you may think, any driver that experiences tyres breaking grip will naturally ease off the throttle and regain traction, the cruise control won't do this.
The whole thing was blown out of all proportion, with claims that cruise control could cause a vehicle to go flying through the air upon hitting water. BUT there remains an element of truth.

http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp

As there is with any BS story, it's what makes people believe them.

That also agrees that using cruise control at 70mph in slush conditions is a bad thing. Well really! What sort of !!!! wit does 70mph on slushy roads CC or not?

zappahey

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

I wasn't talking about the stupid woman who spilt her coffee. The warning was already on the cups by then.

She wasn't stupid and it was nothing to do with any warning.

http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cur78.htm

Strider590

Dandytf wrote: »

Late finish tonight.

Tried a we 60 then 50 due to medium traffic.

Not as much fun as when I 1st used CC last year.

Is it me or does CC accelerate to pre set speed very much quicker than I would drive normaly?

Feels like the car is super powered or was it the wet motorway.:o

Its because your not controlling the throttle, it'd be the same if someone else was driving it. When you get used to driving a car you start to brace for the acceleration and eventually you stop noticing it.

NBLondon

I was uncertain about cruise control at first - I didn't choose it, it was standard on the model I wanted. It took a half-dozen trips to get the hang of it. Now I'll happily use it on a reasonably clear motorway in good cruising conditions; the clue is in the name. I've never been so relaxed as to lose track of where my foot is resting though. If the traffic gets thicker, I'll cancel it as it's easier to ease off a little rather than keep braking and resetting. I also find it handy on urban dual carriageways with a 50mph limit to avoid creeping up. You do have to stay alert though for all the idiots who drive at 57 between speed cameras then brake to 44 over the lines - CC set at 49 does the job for me.

Rain_Shadow

My first experience of cruise control was on a 1990 Jaguar. It was excellent and I used it a lot.


I've had it on other cars since and been less impressed although it is still useful.


The difference? The Jaguar was automatic and all the others have been manuals. Cruise works much better with an automatic gearbox.

NBLondon

?


I only ever use CC if I'm cruising - which means I'm in top gear (6th). I suppose I could use to hold the speed at 25mph in 3rd or 30mph in 4th - but I can't think of any road conditions where that made sense. If you (or the car) want/need to change gear - you're not cruising are you?


All I can see for needing to change gear is if you are coming up a significant hill and changing down - an auto box with CC will presumably change down to maintain speed but a manual box with CC will try to increase revs. In which case, you should be over-riding the CC and driving the car. There are a few motorways with long climbs or bridges (M62 springs immediately to mind) and if you haven't spotted it happening, it's the driver that's the weakness, not the technology.

Shielder

CC shouldn't touch the brakes, unless it is one of the adaptive cruise control cars, in which case, the braking system will operate on all four wheels, just as if you pressed the brake.

The wear on the back brakes will be due to the electronic handbrake. I've gone through two sets of pads and discs on the back in 63,000 miles and only got the fronts changed at the 60k service.

I've also been on CC on the A9 and hit a slippy bit. Toyota CC does not disengage when the traction control light flashes at you. I had to manually turn it off.

Andy

Iceweasel

Brake pad wear can be confusing.

Many (most?) cars with rear disc brakes have a small set of brake shoes for the hand-brake inside the rear hubs - so rear pad wear has nothing to do with the hand-brake.

Also the rear pads on many cars are smaller in surface area than the front pads - so that despite having less of the braking effort they often wear out faster than the larger front pads.

bod1467

Maybe it's just me, but I find if I use CC then I tend to think further ahead ... plan manoeuvres (overtakes etc.) to avoid having to drop out of CC or speed up.