Just had cruise control retro fitted to my vRS. I went to Telfords Skoda in Carlisle to avoid possible future warranty arguments if any electrical gremlins appeared further down the line.

It was supposed to take 5hrs on Friday gone, and be ready at 5pm, but I discovered at 4.45 that they'd had allsorts of problems - largely due to their electronics wizard no longer working for them [which meant they had no one experienced at doing this kind of work...] - and so my car was still in bits when I went to collect her... :thumbdwn:

Thereafter their Customer Services excelled themselves. A courtesy car was supplied and they sorted the insurance with my company [together with a promise to cover any admin charge that my insurance may levy]. I had my dogs with me and they'd transferred both the boot liner and dog guard over plus were perfectly happy that I was going to cover a couple of hundred miles over the weekend going down to Preston & back.

It took them til sometime today to finish the work on mine so I haven't really had a chance to play with the cruise as yet. I had a short go on the M6 this evening and it seems a doddle to use. It's a weird sensation though going at speed with no feet on the pedals...

I'm currently averaging circa 50mpg on motorway / fast A road runs so I'm going to be interested in what sort of gains I get cruising at constant speeds...

Paul

What did it cost you fitted from them. Glad they sorted it for you, eventually

Steve

Thats good customer service.

Fitting cruise is a doddle when you know how. But I know some techies that just wouldnt be able to get their head around it.

I'm sure that I've seen a post elsewhere on site that said an independent in Leeds had fitted the kit for a couple of hundred quid. I wanted to keep my warrenty safe as Abby [quite sad - I've given her a name...] is less than 12mths old so I paid more to go to Skoda. I was charged

Without wishing to pi$$ on your bonfire -

Cruise isn't an authorised retrofit in the UK (It is in Germany for pre 05/2004 cars). I am sure your dealer is willing to honour the warranty which is good news but you may find if another dealer wanted to be an ar5e they could deny you any cover as it wouldn't be recorded as fitted to the car on the build information. I doubt this would be the case though.

Also part of the kit would have probably been aquired from VW (the Loom), AFAIK Skoda don't list it as a spare.

It took them til sometime today to finish the work on mine so I haven't really had a chance to play with the cruise as yet. I had a short go on the M6 this evening and it seems a doddle to use. It's a weird sensation though going at speed with no feet on the pedals...

Why wait for a long journey to "play" with it - I use mine all the time - particularly around time so that I stick at 30mph or 40mph without having to worry about keeping an eye on the speedo - makes for much safer driving.

makes for much safer driving.

I'm not sure I agree with that, especially round town where 30 or 40mph should be a max speed and not a maintained speed! Maybe where you live is different, but we have all manner of hazards like pedestrians, parked cars, traffic lights, roundabouts and my speed is rarely ever constant.....

I'm still amazed that people have to use cruise to maintain a constant speed! How did you manage before you had cruise control fitted? :confused:

Chris

ineed chris, well put...

You could say the same with all modern driver aids.

ABS, traction control, cruise control, ESP and even front wheel drive.

It's also lead to more women drivers and therefore more panic fuel buying and less sex for men.

I'm not sure I agree with that' date=' especially round town where 30 or 40mph should be a max speed and not a maintained speed! Maybe where you live is different, but we have all manner of hazards like pedestrians, parked cars, traffic lights, roundabouts and my speed is rarely ever constant.....

[/quote']

True and that is what the pedals/steering wheel are there for, to alter your vector appropriately.

And in all honesty can you say that most people actually drive at 30 or below unless the traffic is congested enough even between traffic lights in the center of town ? It certainly isn't my experiance.

I'm still amazed that people have to use cruise to maintain a constant speed! How did you manage before you had cruise control fitted? :confused:

Chris

Today our cars are so powerful that unless you put the car in top gear it only takes a few seconds of not looking at your speed and moving with the flow of traffic to find yourself at 40 (in a 30 zone)

As you said not all 30 zones are major built up cities with traffic lights and roundabouts. 30 zones exist wherever housing is near the road, there are many sections of Livingston where 60 is possible for sustained periods but 30 or 40 is the limit.

I managed to keep my speed constant by doing the same thing everyone else does look at their speedo and listen to the engine note but I'd rather be concerned with the potential hazzards on the road than checking that I am driving below the speed limit.

In todays world with roads increasingly filled with hazzards I'll take any help I can get.

I wouldnt call "front wheel drive" a driver aid. Obviously it aids driving by making the wheels turn

LOL, you could add front mounted engines to that as well.

Have you ever tried to pull out of a busy junction in a rear wheel drive rear engined car on a freshly wet road ??

Have you ever tried to pull out of a busy junction in a rear wheel drive rear engined car on a freshly wet road ??

Yes, I used to do it every day. But it was a 1969 VW Beetle, so oversteer wasnt really an issue.

Yes, I used to do it every day. But it was a 1969 VW Beetle, so oversteer wasnt really an issue.

Snap, mine was a '74 1303S. I could make it wheelie from the lights if the fuel tank wasn't full

Front wheel drives mean you can boot it around without worrying about the back end misbehaving.

Goochie in the Beetle - my Beetle's gonna be fun in the wet

Front wheel drives mean you can boot it around without worrying about the back end misbehaving.

Goochie in the Beetle - my Beetle's gonna be fun in the wet

Just read the bit about a 210 BHP beetle. I had a friend who drag raced them, his got to over 200 MPH over the 1/4 mile ! (and getting this back on thread) made keeping to the speedlimits somewhat tricky

Just read the bit about a 210 BHP beetle. I had a friend who drag raced them, his got to over 200 MPH over the 1/4 mile ! (and getting this back on thread) made keeping to the speedlimits somewhat tricky

To many people forget that the speed limits are a maximum and try to stick to them all the time whatver the weather.

(my beetle has a scooby engine it - not finished it yet though)

To many people forget that the speed limits are a maximum and try to stick to them all the time whatver the weather.

(my beetle has a scooby engine it - not finished it yet though)

Unfortunately the Limits are set by beurocrats because there are too many people on the roads who have no clue. I couldn't believe an article I read about this woman who had taken her driving test repeatedly for about 30 years and finally passed with 1 minor fault remaining on her strike list. Shocking, government should spend more time and money on proper driver education then there wouldn't be as much need for "safety" cameras.

I have to admit to, shall we say, flexing the speedlimits (and only by mistake or for safety in 30 zones) however that includes down as well as up. Driving to the conditions and your ability at the time ( tiredness is worse than alcahol so the experts are now telling us, as if we should need telling :confused: )

We live in an increasingly nanny state where people don't want to take responsability for their own lives.

I think I'm going to take some prozac now and find a dark room.

Hi

Why not use cruise to do a constant 30mph? We are all happy to have auto ignition advance, starter motors, electric windscreen wipers, servo assisted brakes etc etc. Cruise allows you to set a constant speed and the car will stick to it, which is effectively using the vehicle capability to free up more of your attention for observation and planning.

Cruise in a 30 limit would be ridiculous in a busy area where speed should be constantly changing, however, much of Essex is now covered with local council recommended 30 and 40 limits in areas where speeds up to 60 would be perfectly safe most of the time, so using cruise to amble through these areas does no harm.

Chris

Hi

Why not use cruise to do a constant 30mph? We are all happy to have auto ignition advance' date=' starter motors, electric windscreen wipers, servo assisted brakes etc etc. Cruise allows you to set a constant speed and the car will stick to it, which is effectively using the vehicle capability to free up more of your attention for observation and planning.

Cruise in a 30 limit would be ridiculous in a busy area where speed should be constantly changing, however, much of Essex is now covered with local council recommended 30 and 40 limits in areas where speeds up to 60 would be perfectly safe most of the time, so using cruise to amble through these areas does no harm.

Chris[/quote']

I agree. I use cruise in quite a few 30 and 40 limits, particularly those in rural areas where the limit was previously 50 or 60, and the road now bristles with speed cameras.

It also comes into it's own on stretches of road where they've fitted SPECS: you can be sure you've not inadvertently edged over the limit!

I used to think cruise control was a gimick, but I actually really like it now. It's great for giving your feet a rest on long motorway journeys. It also means you can have a little dance, if you like.

Yep, I agree as well. Never considered that I'd use my cruise in urban areas, but it's a useful tool to have on our over-watched roads

Steve

Hi

Why not use cruise to do a constant 30mph? We are all happy to have auto ignition advance' date=' starter motors, electric windscreen wipers, servo assisted brakes etc etc. Cruise allows you to set a constant speed and the car will stick to it, which is effectively using the vehicle capability to free up more of your attention for observation and planning.

Cruise in a 30 limit would be ridiculous in a busy area where speed should be constantly changing, however, much of Essex is now covered with local council recommended 30 and 40 limits in areas where speeds up to 60 would be perfectly safe most of the time, so using cruise to amble through these areas does no harm.

Chris[/quote']

I hadn't actually considered using the cruise for the 30 & 40 limits - more for A roads and motorways with those nasty SPECS average speed cameras. The more I ponder it though, the more I think that - so long as the traffic aren't too stop start - I might actually use it quite a lot

Paul

I hope to get the cruise working in mine eventually. Had an inactive cruise stalk for the best part of 18 months.