Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005 20:48:54 +1100 From: Peter Wilkins <wilkinspnospamail.com.au> Subject: Re: Cruise Control
On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 08:44:58 GMT, Malcolm William Mason <mwm1(spam)nospamedu> wrote : >I am on my third Saab. Two 9000s and now 9.5 Aero with HOT and all >were manuals. > >All have had cruise control and except for trying it out once or twice >just for the experience, I found that my fuel consumption either went >up or became erratic. > >Can anyone recommend or consider under what conditions would cruise be >a viable option? > Hi Malcolm, I'm on my 10th Saab, I think (it gets hard to remember). =20 Currently running a 9-5SE. The only conditionsI consider suitable for using cruise control is on freeways and highways, and then only in fairly light traffic. In those conditions, I use mine all the time, love it, and quite honestly think that any variation on fuel consumption between cruise control and manual control would be minute and completely swamped by other factors, such as the weight of lead in the foot, and the terrain. To be certain that the cruise control increases consumption, you would need to do several calibrated trips over the same terrain in the same traffic conditions and at the same average speed. How are you measuring the consumption anyway? You are not just relying on the car SID, I hope. It can fluctuate wildly depending on when it was last reset. If you are, to get the best accuracy try resetting it at the start of a trip on manual over a set course, note the final average, then go back to the start, reset again, and do the same trip at the same average speed on cruise control, then note the result again. =20 I really don't think you will see much difference. You can make a small improvement by flicking off the cruise control as you go up a steepish hill, then flicking it on again at the top. The cruise control tries to keep a constant speed up the hill, whereas you get slightly better economy using constant throttle up the hill (but you will lose speed, of course). I strongly recommend (based on experience) NOT using cruise control on winding country roads or in heavy/city traffic - it's far too dangerous. One moment of distraction and you can enter a curve far too fast or run up the rear of the car in front. --=20 Regards, Peter Wilkins
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