I use CC on long trips all the time. Especially in the mountains it helps keep speed constant.
After having two cars with radar cruise...I gotta say I'm not a fan. At first I loved it but once the novelty wore off, I find it leaves too big a gap between me and the car in front, even on the closest setting, so in traffic that is running at speed people are always trying to pass me on the left to fill that gap, and it doesn't get close enough to put any pressure on the car in front to get out of my way. I find I have to deactivate radar cruise and get up closer to people to make them slide right.
Where I do like it is in slow traffic that doesn't quite stop, that goes say from 30MPH down to 2, back to 10 etc. The car handles the throttle with the radar cruise and I don't have to worry about it. On the highway though, I don't care for it.
The comfort of being able to drive long distances with your foot on the gas depends a lot on the car too. On the Lexus with the nice big floor mounted pedal its not an issue, but I used to have issues with the ES and the top mounted pedal with cramps, my foot falling off, etc.
Much prefer the floor mounted pedal in the LS and GS.
The comfort of being able to drive long distances with your foot on the gas depends a lot on the car too. On the Lexus with the nice big floor mounted pedal its not an issue
VERY true here, with the LS pedal i can just sort of wedge my foot between it and the wall so that it stays there with 0% effort and i don't even have to think about applying any pressure
For optimum miles per gallon, I avoid cruise control at all times.
CC doesn't affect gas-mileage figures much on flat level terrain, but once you get into hills (even mild ones), it does drop MPG some from forcing wider throttle-openings (and sometimes even a downshift) just to keep the speed constant going up the hill. It's best to disconnect it when the nose of the car starts climbing.
We enjoy the use of the radar cruise on our RX, but only use it in light traffic. When it's more congested I prefer to either avoid cruise or use it, but with the radar function turned off, and just control it myself.
Those who use CC on flat, level ground should see a 1-2 mpg drop. The throttle is constantly dipping down farther and more often, than what any foot would be doing to maintain speed. All one needs to do to see this is watch (as a passenger, not as a driver) the pedal "dance" while one's foot is off of it. For optimum mpg's, the least amount of throttle input is what's desirable.
Now, often I hear people say they have measured their mpg's with and without CC and there is no drop or difference. I've further discovered those people are also driving without cc in an abrupt way. Their foot is constantly pressing the throttle and moving it up and down on the highway. This will create the same deficit of mpg's as cc does. So no savings will be had on flat road if one does not learn how to drive with a smooth foot.
My pedal does not "dance" when cruise control is activated. Speed is modulated electronically, the pedal doesn't depress on its own.
In the old days, with a direct-mechanical linkage between the gas pedal and carburetors/fuel-injectors, yes, you might have noticed the pedal doing some slight motions with throttle input or relaxation from the CC. But with today's electronically-controlled throttle-by-wire systems, as SW15LS says, that is much less likely....the engine-computer can do it on its own.
I wondered whether the cruise control cost mileage so to break-up the boredom of the long drive across west Texas I did a back-to-back with and without the cruise control. On manual control, the speed would drift up and down a bit unless I focused on holding it steady. The cruise control did a much better job than I did of holding the 80 mph. I actually got a slight improvement in mileage with the cruise on. This was basically flat straight interstate travel. In hilly areas, a agree the cruise control will get worse mileage.
Steve
