I know a lot of people don't like using cruise control when towing but Kiwijims post drew many comments about speed and fatigue, something that cruise control can help control.
Obviously setting the speed to something you are comfortable with will prevent over speeding thru lack of attention. By not having to constantly check speed and keep the accelerator leg&foot in tension (I.e. on the accelerator peddle) will slow the onset fatigue.
I always use cruise control where safe and find it driving far less tiring.
macka17 said
01:42 PM Jul 27, 2016
I've used cruise on and off for a long time same as others.
I'd never use it on hills when towing. , nor in traffic.
NOR when towing van any distances.
I have a total fear... of dozing off while speed set at 90/100/110 etc and driving straight into oncoming or fixed targets.
It only takes a second or two and you could kill the missus without even knowing.
The "It'll never happen to me" syndrome. Has killed a lot of people over the yrs.
It ain't getting me. I've spent too many yrs dragging trucks and caravans around..
You Driving. YOU responsible... At ALL times..
Bruce and Bev said
06:28 PM Jul 27, 2016
This post should attract plenty of yes and no comments :)
I use cruise control on my DMax when towing my 'van most of the time. I don't use it in heavy traffic, only because its inconvenient to re-set it.
I have spoken to several Izusu dealers and one very experienced diesel mechanic who say that the modern high compression motors are not damaged by cruise control on hills, but rather the opposite by locking them into manual gears.
Back under the bed for the flat from the "experts"
Cupie said
07:14 PM Jul 27, 2016
I'll stir the pot too.
The only 'cruise control' on my old Patrol is a hand throttle.
Tried it once on a straight flat section 'way out west', just to give my cramping right foot a rest. Frightening. Once was enough. Much better to stop & get out or have a cuppa.
Grey fox said
08:46 PM Jul 27, 2016
Big no,no is never use in the wet will cause Aqua planing.
Cruising Cruze said
08:53 PM Jul 27, 2016
Its a great thing to have it on your car or motobike
the problem is that you will use more full when using cruise control
My Holden Cruze what I had use to use one litre the 15 km on CC
while just driving without it got 16.6 km /litre
and we don't talk about towing our caravan just 6.6 km per litre
Thats why we traded it in for a Ford Ranger
Cheers John
macka17 said
09:23 PM Jul 27, 2016
BUT... Bruce.
on Cruise your vehicle tries to hold a fixed "SPEED" regardless of rev's.
They'll often change down to hold that speed, raising rev's and consuming more juice doing so.
rather than just easing off the throttle to crest the hill as you do when driving.
I do anyway, as long as I stay over My choice of rev's to change cogs.
Auto's. Well, they got a mind of their own.
On flat. yes you'll save fuel. on hills Yes. you'll use more fuel.
Anytime.. you could fall asleep/relax concentration, for just a second and BANG.
Goodnight.
No thank's. I have more respect for my missus.
It's like putting your boat on Autopilot in shipping lane and going down below.
Second or more. no View (relax attention.)
No thank's. I'll stick to my ankle talking to me.
Aus-Kiwi said
12:24 AM Jul 28, 2016
I use cruise control to take over while I take a nap !! Lol
Woody n Sue said
08:26 AM Jul 28, 2016
I use it constantly in the car but we live in northern Vic where it pretty flat so I find it good but when we head south don't use it in the hills so much as for towing the patrol doesn't have cruise so it just johny lead foot in charge and like Mackay 17 I lift the foot a bit on the rises and then let her gain speed down the hill again I also like to roll into towns with out using the breaks to get back to 60 this also adds greatly to the fuel economy
Woody
Delta18 said
04:51 PM Jul 28, 2016
Grey fox wrote:
Big no,no is never use in the wet will cause Aqua planing.
Don't forget you will accelerate in the wet & take off like a jet plane as well, ha ha
That one has been going around for years.
It is bald tyres that will cause aquaplaning not CC.
Vince said
07:37 PM Jul 28, 2016
Cupie wrote:
I'll stir the pot too.
The only 'cruise control' on my old Patrol is a hand throttle.
Tried it once on a straight flat section 'way out west', just to give my cramping right foot a rest. Frightening. Once was enough. Much better to stop & get out or have a cuppa.
Hey Cupie, I have the same on my 92 Maverick and did exactly the same out of Cobar heading to Broken Hill.
lasted about 2 kilometres, never again way too scary.
JeffRae said
07:44 PM Jul 28, 2016
We also tow with a D-Max as Bruce and Bev, cruise control at 100kmh in fifth makes the revs sit around 1800-2000rpm. This is where the maximum torque is available
elliemike said
07:55 PM Jul 28, 2016
Delta18 wrote:
Grey fox wrote:
Big no,no is never use in the wet will cause Aqua planing.
Don't forget you will accelerate in the wet & take off like a jet plane as well, ha ha
That one has been going around for years.
It is bald tyres that will cause aquaplaning not CC.
I when just a new driver (1960 sommat) got into an Aquaplaning situation on the M6 in the UK.
" Wet day",Tyres good condition, Straight road. Me very inexperienced and going far too fast for the conditions. Catching up with a friend ahead of me (like got right up behind them) I touched the brakes, and the whole world started spinning. Other vehicles taking evasive action all around me. Very Very frightening. I leaned a great lesson, and other than needing a change of underpants, no damage to anyone. I was extremely lucky
This was caused by bad driving, by an inexperienced young man.
Blaming Cruise control for causing Aquaplaning is a bit of a Furphy. It is still caused by speed not adjusted to the road condition, and poor driving skills.
macka17 said
08:37 PM Jul 28, 2016
Aquaplaningwith a difference.
back in early '60's Flatbed tray (semi) UK. on A1. b4 Motorways.
All of a sudden steering goes "What". and truck starts floating on air. Black Ice. My first taste of.
Cab going nicely down road around 40/42 mph Tray slowly comes into view alongside of cab. EVERYTHING just sliding silently. Foot off throttle. Arse clacking.
When tray reached stops on turntable. the whole rig started spinning in slow motion about 2 1\2 turns b4 sliding to a stop. Luckily still in that lane, pointing in right direction.
about 3 am NOBODY else around thank god. I took my first breath about 2 min's later and thanked the lord.
Once it starts you have absolutely NO control. Just let go wheel and wait till it stops or gets a grip on surface not covered in ice.
Certainly wakes you up in a hurry. I was certainly awake till next stopover/changeover.
Cruise control in those circumstances. You would be ded....
We often had Hand throttles on trucks in those days. But mainly for long. slowwwww uphills with sloooowwww trucks. Never on a run.
-- Edited by macka17 on Thursday 28th of July 2016 08:37:45 PM
Bruce and Bev said
10:56 PM Jul 28, 2016
I think cruise control use is a personal choice and has nothing to do with bad/dangerous driving. The latter is caused by driving for too long and loosing attention to what you are doing, rather than stopping to stretch the legs, perhaps empty the bladder, or even have a sleep.
Ive towed with my Dmax over some of NSWs steepest mountains leaving it in cruise control and yes, there is a very slight increase in fuel use, but the Dmax has some unique auto gearbox features on it that other utes do not have - other Maxers will know what I'm referring to - especially when going down long hills.
We all have our own experiences with CC and all have good reasons depending on vehicle and driving style (speed for example) as to whether we use it or not. Personal choice............
Bruce and Bev said
10:58 PM Jul 28, 2016
And Gus - this time KJ got a good response to his previous post on the same subject
For my own personal choice, I prefer to not use a C.C. This choice probably comes from driving Early Model Semi's, years ago , when all they had was the crash change gear box's, a Joey box, and an air shift two speed rear axle,
Where approaching a hill meant that if you lost two many rev's, you were juggling gears like there was no tomorrow, It took a kind of an art to master a 16 speed crash change box ( one with no syncros in it ) with-out breaking your wrist, "Yep" learnt the hard way, only missed a gear once, had my arm thrown back against the rear of the cab, skinned a few knuckles, made darn sure I got the change right the next time !!
I know a lot of people don't like using cruise control when towing but Kiwijims post drew many comments about speed and fatigue, something that cruise control can help control.
Obviously setting the speed to something you are comfortable with will prevent over speeding thru lack of attention. By not having to constantly check speed and keep the accelerator leg&foot in tension (I.e. on the accelerator peddle) will slow the onset fatigue.
I always use cruise control where safe and find it driving far less tiring.
I'd never use it on hills when towing. , nor in traffic.
NOR when towing van any distances.
I have a total fear... of dozing off while speed set at 90/100/110 etc and driving straight into oncoming or fixed targets.
It only takes a second or two and you could kill the missus without even knowing.
The "It'll never happen to me" syndrome. Has killed a lot of people over the yrs.
It ain't getting me. I've spent too many yrs dragging trucks and caravans around..
You Driving. YOU responsible... At ALL times..
I use cruise control on my DMax when towing my 'van most of the time. I don't use it in heavy traffic, only because its inconvenient to re-set it.
I have spoken to several Izusu dealers and one very experienced diesel mechanic who say that the modern high compression motors are not damaged by cruise control on hills, but rather the opposite by locking them into manual gears.
Back under the bed for the flat from the "experts"
I'll stir the pot too.
The only 'cruise control' on my old Patrol is a hand throttle.
Tried it once on a straight flat section 'way out west', just to give my cramping right foot a rest. Frightening. Once was enough. Much better to stop & get out or have a cuppa.
Big no,no is never use in the wet will cause Aqua planing.
the problem is that you will use more full when using cruise control
My Holden Cruze what I had use to use one litre the 15 km on CC
while just driving without it got 16.6 km /litre
and we don't talk about towing our caravan just 6.6 km per litre
Thats why we traded it in for a Ford Ranger
Cheers John
on Cruise your vehicle tries to hold a fixed "SPEED" regardless of rev's.
They'll often change down to hold that speed, raising rev's and consuming more juice doing so.
rather than just easing off the throttle to crest the hill as you do when driving.
I do anyway, as long as I stay over My choice of rev's to change cogs.
Auto's. Well, they got a mind of their own.
On flat. yes you'll save fuel. on hills Yes. you'll use more fuel.
Anytime.. you could fall asleep/relax concentration, for just a second and BANG.
Goodnight.
No thank's. I have more respect for my missus.
It's like putting your boat on Autopilot in shipping lane and going down below.
Second or more. no View (relax attention.)
No thank's. I'll stick to my ankle talking to me.
Woody
Don't forget you will accelerate in the wet & take off like a jet plane as well, ha ha
That one has been going around for years.
It is bald tyres that will cause aquaplaning not CC.
Hey Cupie, I have the same on my 92 Maverick and did exactly the same out of Cobar heading to Broken Hill.
lasted about 2 kilometres, never again way too scary.
We also tow with a D-Max as Bruce and Bev, cruise control at 100kmh in fifth makes the revs sit around 1800-2000rpm. This is where the maximum torque is available
I when just a new driver (1960 sommat) got into an Aquaplaning situation on the M6 in the UK.
" Wet day", Tyres good condition, Straight road. Me very inexperienced and going far too fast for the conditions. Catching up with a friend ahead of me (like got right up behind them) I touched the brakes, and the whole world started spinning. Other vehicles taking evasive action all around me. Very Very frightening. I leaned a great lesson, and other than needing a change of underpants, no damage to anyone. I was extremely lucky
This was caused by bad driving, by an inexperienced young man.
Blaming Cruise control for causing Aquaplaning is a bit of a Furphy. It is still caused by speed not adjusted to the road condition, and poor driving skills.
Aquaplaningwith a difference.
back in early '60's Flatbed tray (semi) UK. on A1.
b4 Motorways.
Hauling plate steel, around 12ton, chained down.
Cruising nicely. relaxed. probably half asleep (Smack Smack)
All of a sudden steering goes "What".
and truck starts floating on air. Black Ice. My first taste of.
Cab going nicely down road around 40/42 mph
Tray slowly comes into view alongside of cab. EVERYTHING just sliding silently.
Foot off throttle. Arse clacking.
When tray reached stops on turntable. the whole rig started spinning in slow motion
about 2 1\2 turns b4 sliding to a stop.
Luckily still in that lane, pointing in right direction.
about 3 am NOBODY else around thank god.
I took my first breath about 2 min's later and thanked the lord.
Once it starts you have absolutely NO control.
Just let go wheel and wait till it stops or gets a grip on surface not covered in ice.
Certainly wakes you up in a hurry. I was certainly awake till next stopover/changeover.
Cruise control in those circumstances. You would be ded....
We often had Hand throttles on trucks in those days. But mainly for long. slowwwww uphills
with sloooowwww trucks.
Never on a run.
-- Edited by macka17 on Thursday 28th of July 2016 08:37:45 PM
Ive towed with my Dmax over some of NSWs steepest mountains leaving it in cruise control and yes, there is a very slight increase in fuel use, but the Dmax has some unique auto gearbox features on it that other utes do not have - other Maxers will know what I'm referring to - especially when going down long hills.
We all have our own experiences with CC and all have good reasons depending on vehicle and driving style (speed for example) as to whether we use it or not. Personal choice............
And Gus - this time KJ got a good response to his previous post on the same subject
http://www.motoring.com.au/cruise-control-and-aquaplaning-the-facts-7413/
For my own personal choice, I prefer to not use a C.C. This choice probably comes from driving Early Model Semi's, years ago , when all they had was the crash change gear box's, a Joey box, and an air shift two speed rear axle,
Where approaching a hill meant that if you lost two many rev's, you were juggling gears like there was no tomorrow, It took a kind of an art to master a 16 speed crash change box ( one with no syncros in it ) with-out breaking your wrist, "Yep" learnt the hard way, only missed a gear once, had my arm thrown back against the rear of the cab, skinned a few knuckles, made darn sure I got the change right the next time !!
K.J.