Cruise Control

[JohnMorr]

This thread seems to be be getting a bit fractious and like all things in piloting your vehicle the CC is just another tool and a means to an end.

It is the same as to whether to dab the brakes or physically switching off Cruise it surely has to depend on the circumstances as well as your preference, me I find that light dab of the brake pedal suits me, because in reality the vehicle speed does not noticeably reduce. As to those behind if they are that close they feel the need to brake rapidly then perhaps they should consider their driving distances.

It is all about reading the road.

My godness, this thread is indeed getting fractious!

It is all about reading the road

Absoluteley right. And that's why Im against CC, which is an abdication of your responsibility as a driver.

Nuff said.

[Chris GB]

It is all about reading the road

Absoluteley right. And that's why Im against CC, which is an abdication of your responsibility as a driver.

Nuff said.

Err what EXACTLY about using cruise control relates in any way to ones ability to read the road?

Why EXACTLY is use of cruise control abdicating responsibility as a driver?

Give us some logic to back up your predjudices. Explain why CC is such a bad thing , rather than just stating you dont like it for reasons that have no reasoning.

And are you against CC because:

a) You dont have it and are jealous of those that have?

Have it but are unable to operate it correctly?

Chris

[Toneboy]

I agree he sure seems very hung up about this piece of kit and its operation, you can not please them all.

[storm monkey]

I have CC and use it regularly (where apropriate, reading the road, paying attention etc:P ). I would consider it a must now, for any new car I'd get.

Don't be fooled into thinking that it is more efficient to use CC though. It generally aint. When you hit a hill, the average (note average!) driver will slow slightly on the way up, and speed up on the other side, as the throttle position is kind of constant. CC will wack up the power up the hill, using more fuel, and not speed up to take advantage of the decent, on the other side. I'ts not a massive difference, but it does use more fuel.

Phil

[VRStu]

I can manage to use CC and read the road. Often I have been able to change the volume on the radio at the same time as well - Does that mean I can multi-task?

[Makefish]

I can manage to use CC and read the road. Often I have been able to change the volume on the radio at the same time as well - Does that mean I can multi-task?

Only if you can hold a conversation at the same time

[VRStu]

Of course.

On my mobile

[Chris GB]

I can manage to use CC and read the road. Often I have been able to change the volume on the radio at the same time as well - Does that mean I can multi-task?

We are not worthy!

Chris

[JohnMorr]

OK, I give up and am off this thread. I'm clearly of an older generation who were taught to drive cars according to the surroundings, traffic conditions and all that jazz. There was no CC when I learnt to drive, and my instructor would have been horrified to think that I should take my right foot off the accelerator and just swan along hoping I could brake in time for a problem ahead. I was taught to be in total control of the car at all times.

But then, what do I know? I've just managed to drive for 45 years....

[Chris GB]

OK, I give up and am off this thread. I'm clearly of an older generation who were taught to drive cars according to the surroundings, traffic conditions and all that jazz. There was no CC when I learnt to drive, and my instructor would have been horrified to think that I should take my right foot off the accelerator and just swan along hoping I could brake in time for a problem ahead. I was taught to be in total control of the car at all times.

But then, what do I know? I've just managed to drive for 45 years....

John, I dont understand how having the cruise on prevents you from being in total cotrol? How does it prevent you from driving according to traffic conditions? CC is just another throttle control. Used wisely, it has benefits.

Like the foot control, used unwisely it has drawbacks.

My grandad learned to drive before the counterweighted auto advancing distributor came about. I never once heard him bemoan that he was not in control because he had no advance lever.

Casting ones mind back further, did the really early cars not have a boat like arrangement of hand throttle that you set, running concentric with the advance lever? Progress is not all bad. Think about it.

Chris

[VRStu]

OK, I give up and am off this thread. I'm clearly of an older generation who were taught to drive cars according to the surroundings, traffic conditions and all that jazz. There was no CC when I learnt to drive, and my instructor would have been horrified to think that I should take my right foot off the accelerator and just swan along hoping I could brake in time for a problem ahead. I was taught to be in total control of the car at all times.

But then, what do I know? I've just managed to drive for 45 years....

45 years ago you probably wouldn't have seen disc brakes on pretty much all cars on the market - times change John.

It seems to me that you 'suffer' (if that is the right word) of the standard misconceptions of CC. It does not mean you don't have control of the car - far from it. It does not mean that you can put your feet up on the dash pull out a nice cool stella and watch the world pass by.

What it does mean is that you will have a regulated speed and thus you'll not be like a yo yo forever changing your speed without realising and actually causing a hazard for other drivers (Not saying you do personnaly but generalising).

Believe it or not, used properly it's actually safer - why do you think manufacturer's are investing so heavily in adaptive CC?

[vRS Ian]

In todays road policing by camera, I find that CC assists with my concentration in the right conditions. Instead of watching my speed all the time, with CC used at the right time, I can now focus on my situation and possible dangers etc.

CC was must 1st must have on my new car, I did without it on my last one, and boy did I miss it!

[JohnMorr]

Nope. If you don't understand about car control under all circumstances, I'm still off this thread.

(But lurking,,,,,)

[PJW -VRS]

WELL I must add my twopennyworth to this thread

I have also been driving for 45 years ( 61 next month ):(

and tempting fate a clean licence also for 45yrs

during my driving career I have taken part as a driver

in rallies throughout the 70s 80s and currently drive a

van doing about 600 miles a week ...... so I think I can

say I know how to handle a car under all conditions ...

until about 3 months ago had never driven a vehicle with CC ......

but thanks to Stu I had one fitted to my vrs and have

found it to be the most usefull addition to my car .......

I wish I could have one on my van ......... I use the CC

in all sorts of circumstances .. I dont do much motorway

driving ...... but use it on 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 mph speed limits

except when I wish to drive in a Brisk manner

I dont think I would buy a car without CC now

[storm monkey]

Not sure of the exact figures, but there are more accidents by volume of traffic in average speed regulated roadworks than in any other regulated (e.g gatso) or un-regulated road areas. People are too busy looking at their speed and not at the car in front. If everyone used CC, and actually looked out of the window, then surely this would be reduced!

Phil

[Toneboy]

John, I can give you another 6 years of driving, I have found Cruise Control, new mass technology in the UK and I have learned to use the benefits of CC when road conditions allow it.

Cruise Control is just another tool to help me drive and it certainly has not made me complacent, just the opposite and I can not say it has led me into just "swanning along" in the vague hope that I can react and hit the brake pedal in time. Frankly if that is how you see it or use Cruise, then perhaps you should look at your driving and your ability to read the road.

I used to hear and still do similar reactions to UK motorists to driving cars with automatic transmissions who cite that they no longer in control and all the fun is taken out from driving. You do 11-12 hour shifts behind the wheel of a commercial or passenger vehicle and you will soon begin to understand the benefits of auto or preselective shifts. Anything that makes driving easier on our over crowded roads certainly gets my vote and Cruise Control and DSG are two such items.

[fredw]

Snip...

But then, what do I know? I've just managed to drive for 45 years....

I have also been driving for 45 years and make full use of the CC and remain in control of the car. It took me a little time to get used to it but now I would not be without it.

[Fred_Bristol]

My 2.0 TDI DSG Octy didn't have CC when I bought it - it was added by VRS Stu. And now I've got used to it I wouldn't be without it. Why? Because I live in an area infested with safety cameras, fixed and mobile, and CC is great for reducing the risk of breaking the 30, 40 and 50 limits I do most of my driving in. It reduces (but not eliminates) the need to check my speed and lets me keep my eyes on the road, and to some extent, my foot ready to use the brakes.

Its an unfortunate fact that as one gets older the time taken for the eye muscles to refocus from near to far and one's reaction times get slightly slower. Most people will deny this of course.

And traffic density has gone up considerably over the nearly 40 years I've been driving, not helped by some cut and thrust lane swapping driving techniques that seem to becoming more common.

Yep, CC and DSG are making my life easier, as is the reliable low end torque of the diesel - no more hunting through the gears as with the Ford petrol AMT I had previously.

[Toneboy]

You speak for yourself err, err Fred I am still as sharp as a tack in my reactions it is purely the car that is slow to react.

Mind you I do get a bit distracted with some of the sights during all this warm weather or perhaps I'm just multitasking.

[simonsheil]

Not sure of the exact figures, but there are more accidents by volume of traffic in average speed regulated roadworks than in any other regulated (e.g gatso) or un-regulated road areas. People are too busy looking at their speed and not at the car in front. If everyone used CC, and actually looked out of the window, then surely this would be reduced!

Phil

Not quite right, link to report given.

TRL595

[motr]

What an interesting thread. I use CC when I can, mainly on motorways which, in all honesty, I would presume is what it was invented for. Even on motorways though when I don't use it, the amount of times I have to dab the breaks is getting ridiculous and I am not a fast driver, usually.

I was on another board last week and someone was moaning about Sat Navs and how they distract drivers etc etc etc....and the guy that was saying all this said he still prefers to read a map whilst driving.

DOH!!!

[bahnstormer vrs]

I'm not quite into the more experience category of driver here but have been at it for 36 years.

Having had Cruise Control on my previous car, but not my last one, I didn't realise how much I missed it until I got it on my vRS. Supremely useful for comfort, economy and speed control on the M'way, set it for ##mph and relax, in M'way 50mph 'average speed check' roadwork areas and also on a couple of long undulating sections of 40mph roads (with Speed Cameras) I use daily - all naturally with due consideration to traffic levels and other road users.

Going across the age gap; my 19 year old son gets to drive my car as well and he has very quickly adapted to using cruise control in the same way I do and almost considers it an essectial item for a modern car in modern traffic.

Overall a very worthwhile

[Toneboy]

I agree it is cheap speeding ticket protection on roads like the M4 which now measures your average speed between cameras so setting the old CC to say 74 mph should keep you safe.

Not surprised about your son's reaction, but then it is the same with all things electronic to them it is just another piece of kit where as to us it becomes another thing to be mastered, provided you can understand the instruction book.