Team-BHP > The Indian Car Scene


Closed Thread
  Search this Thread
70,806 views
Old 29th January 2010, 16:20   #61
Senior - BHPian
 
vasoo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Memphis TN
Posts: 1,039
Thanked: 246 Times

I believe CC will get disabled the moment you tap the brake pedal or even the gas pedal in some cars. So i don't know how does it cause accidents, unless the driver does not have habit of using brakes! It is purely a convenience feature and does not a deserve debate on whether we need it here or not. Use it if you like it.
vasoo is offline  
Old 29th January 2010, 17:07   #62
Distinguished - BHPian
 
Thad E Ginathom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Chennai
Posts: 10,957
Thanked: 26,122 Times

I think it can contribute to having less concentration, because there is less to do --- but, of course, that is the driver's fault, not the gadget's.
Thad E Ginathom is online now  
Old 31st January 2010, 12:53   #63
BHPian
 
gshanky's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Coimbatore / Bangalore / New York
Posts: 717
Thanked: 13 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez View Post
Sorry, sarcasm doesn't help. You know what I meant and putting words like drive for an hour with CC in my mouth isn't going to change that.
You could have avoided this scenario by being specific, thus ending speculation.


Quote:
Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez View Post
It may surprise you, but yes, I have seen more than just Bangalore's roads. And I do know for a fact that driving in India is not anything like driving in developed countries. So you would rather engage cruise control and then brake (which would turn it off) and then reengage it and repeat this over and over? Considering the lack of lane discipline, the frequency at which you'd do this negates the whole point of cruise control. Again, sarcasm ain't winning you the argument.
During the last 5 years most of my driving is happening in Metro NYC are. This is the reason I feel at home in Bangalore traffic whenever I visit india. Even in this traffic in metro NYC, I am able to find opportunities to drive in CC in different highways. As I have said before there is no compulsion to apply CC every time you drive or every time you drive on a highway. I would like to compare it with a hand brake or horn. Just because your car has them, you don't have to use them all the time. You use them as needed. Something frequently, something not so frequent or rarely.


Quote:
Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez View Post
Read my post again. I never said cruise control is dangerous. I said that the conditions in India are too dangerous to engage cruise control. Perhaps a better word would be indisciplined. Either way, the highway conditions do not allow for cruise control's use because of the way our traffic behaves.
Quote:
Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez View Post
Its not the speed which is the issue. It is the ability to maintain a constant speed on a road. Something that isn't possible on our roads.
May be the highways you drive or the time you drive in them are not the right time to drive in CC. Looking back, I have made quite a few trips from bangalore to coimbatore (last time was in 2009 april and may) and most times I felt I could have used CC. Also couple of TBhpians have mentioned in earlier posts that they know of highways in rajasthan and gujarat which are CC friendly. The point being CC is not a big deal and it is useful for long trips whenever and wherever traffic permits.

Quote:
Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez View Post
Obviously, one cannot define what is the "significant period" exactly. It would be silly to expect anyone to define that. But as a driver, you would know that its far too much bother to keep reengaging cruise control during certain traffic patterns. And I am telling you that India is full of exactly those kinds of patterns.
Please refer to my responses above.

Quote:
Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez View Post
I just realized you drive a Scorpio. Does it have CC? I suspect it does because that explains your refusal to admit that you have a feature on your car that is underused and cannot be exploited on our roads. And FYI, its not for nothing that cruise control featured in the top ten useless features on Indian cars in a recent ACI issue.
You realized right but suspected wrong, scorpio SLE does not have CC. I agree that the feature is underused but neither am I suggesting it be used frequently. I only implied in an earlier post that if more drivers were to drive in CC, it might lead to better lane discipline. All I am saying is that use it when necessary and CC is not evil. You saying that traffic conditions in india is dangerous to drive in CC is just your opinion. I would then say just dont drive because relatively driving is dangerous than not driving.

Driving in CC does not increase danger! As always you break and may shift gear and continue to drive. Additionally if you are driving in CC, resume at the right time again if traffic permits. It is the driver's mistake if he/she had any mis-understandings about CC.

Quote:
Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez View Post
I'd also like to draw your attention to the thread title. It reads, does one need cruise control in India? And the argument has actually shifted to whether it can even be used optimally in India.
We do need Cruise control in India. The topic itself is relevant because we all consider that india is a VFM market and features like CC could be removed from a car and the car's price be reduced. But then, since india is a VFM market, do we really need luxury cars? And why are we so adamant about brand premium? That's something to think about as well. They all are very related.

Last edited by gshanky : 31st January 2010 at 12:53. Reason: removed typo
gshanky is offline  
Old 31st January 2010, 17:12   #64
BHPian
 
nadim_90210's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 98
Thanked: 18 Times

Cruise control in India..Maybe. But cruise control in Mumbai, definetly NO.
nadim_90210 is offline  
Old 31st January 2010, 22:14   #65
BHPian
 
_raviShankar_'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Trivandrum
Posts: 149
Thanked: 75 Times

Its a wonderful feature to have on any car. But for us Indians to use it substantially will take a few more years.
I have seen driving habits of people improve a lot and people using features and accessories of their cars more often than before. May be a time will come when we will have driving conditions suitable for CC.
We all like beautiful roads and disciplined traffic ; dont we?
Well then lets wait patiently.
_raviShankar_ is offline  
Old 31st January 2010, 23:02   #66
BHPian
 
tacho's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 135
Thanked: 31 Times

I think it's a good feature to have and I am guessing there are plenty of fairly deserted highways in India where you can use it to cruise at around 100 kph.

The only time I use cruise control in the US is if the highway is deserted and I need to keep my speed in the same zip code as the posted speed limit. Left to my own devices with no fear of cops, my comfortable cruising speed would probably be around 50% higher than the speed limit, but sadly this is not an option.

End of the day, I will take the CC in India if it's a standard feature but I am definitely not paying more just to have it. No way.
tacho is offline  
Old 1st February 2010, 11:39   #67
Senior - BHPian
 
sbraj's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: B L R / T V M
Posts: 1,071
Thanked: 9 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by tacho View Post
I think it's a good feature to have and I am guessing there are plenty of fairly deserted highways in India where you can use it to cruise at around 100 kph.
IMO, cruising at 100 KMPH, definitely no. Cruising at 60 KMPH, probably yes.

On Indian highways, one would find all sorts of behaviors. Example - there are villagers who think that the two sides of the divider are two roads - one road for one side of the village and the other for other side of the village. So they keep left, on 'their' side of the road, and approach you in the wrong direction.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ml#post1667849


Quote:
Originally Posted by tacho View Post
End of the day, I will take the CC in India if it's a standard feature but I am definitely not paying more just to have it. No way.
, cruise control is a nice to have feature. No way I am going to pay extra for it, as I do not foresee a great need here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by _raviShankar_ View Post
We all like beautiful roads and disciplined traffic ; dont we?
As a nation, we have very less respect for others. One of the reason why we see lot of indiscipline on the roads.
sbraj is offline  
Old 1st February 2010, 16:08   #68
BHPian
 
jassi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 980
Thanked: 11 Times

i feel its only going to add to more casualties on our roads. Complete indiscipline, chaos and the occasional monkey, cow, villager jumping in the middle of the highway, make dependency on cruise control very risky.
jassi is offline  
Old 1st February 2010, 21:07   #69
BHPian
 
A350XWB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: KA51/KL03
Posts: 922
Thanked: 861 Times

I drive regulary on highways from Bangalore to various places and I haven't seen a single road where I can use CC. The only place currently where I can use CC in Bangalore is the NICE road, which is isolated by exit routes. Even there, as somebody already mentioned, you have trucks occupying all three lanes, trying to overtake each other at snail's pace.
So, I don't think it's a good idea to make CC standard, until we have better infrastructure.
A350XWB is offline  
Old 2nd February 2010, 14:33   #70
BHPian
 
Delta Wing's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 228
Thanked: 115 Times

Many people are citing city driving conditions in India as the reason (also coupled with poor highway discipline) and road conditions for not wanting CC. But I wish to know from those who've stayed abroad, do people drive in CC in cities there, like heavy, slow moving traffic? If so, that'll be amazing. I thought CC was meant for highways only. And bad roads, worse drivers apart, I would say yes for it. I have driven in Rajasthan on excellent 2 lane roads without a soul in site or a dent in the road for kilometers together. There are many roads these days where the feature would let the driver relax for a few minutes. What if it's not continuous, on highway, there are sections of traffic (around villages etc) where traffic bottlenecks but other places where it's a steady cruise too. The use of CC may be limited, like, I never use AC in winters but I got it in my car because I don't want to sweat in summers (Auto Climate Control would be totally unnecessary, right?).
Delta Wing is offline  
Old 2nd February 2010, 15:06   #71
BHPian
 
jassi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 980
Thanked: 11 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by Delta Wing View Post
There are many roads these days where the feature would let the driver relax for a few minutes.
I have used cruise control on highways when driving a nissan xtrail on a recent aussie trip. As a feature to try out it was fun for small bits of road. Its a problem, if one is tired and uses cc, instead of stopping by the side or switching drivers
jassi is offline  
Old 2nd February 2010, 15:57   #72
BHPian
 
Delta Wing's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Hyderabad
Posts: 228
Thanked: 115 Times

Quote:
...if one is tired and uses cc, instead of stopping by the side or switching drivers
thanks. But I meant not tired of driving, just relaxing the accelerator right foot. It would be disastrous to drive when tired, a cruising doze may lead to an unintended off road session, eh? hehe.
Delta Wing is offline  
Old 2nd February 2010, 16:16   #73
BHPian
 
jassi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 980
Thanked: 11 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by Delta Wing View Post
thanks. But I meant not tired of driving, just relaxing the accelerator right foot. It would be disastrous to drive when tired, a cruising doze may lead to an unintended off road session, eh? hehe.
well maybe i am but from my personal experience, atleast on a nissan xtrail, the whole procedure of speeding upto desired speed and then putting on cruise control was quite irritating. A small tap on the break or accel, turns it off and you have do it all over again. After a while of playing around and seeing how it works, I went off the feature for good.
I guess we might use these features one day when we have gps assisted automatic driving feature with lane assist and front car detection - basically robo-chauffeur
jassi is offline  
Old 2nd February 2010, 17:16   #74
BHPian
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Lost
Posts: 405
Thanked: 51 Times

In whatever brief experience I had in India, I found only some stretches of Rajasthan where it seems to be a good idea but 99% of the time it is pretty much useless in India.
entropy is offline  
Old 2nd February 2010, 23:24   #75
Senior - BHPian
 
aparth's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: New Delhi
Posts: 1,341
Thanked: 1,708 Times

I used cruise control in a friend's Jetta once on the Gurgaon Expressway and I found it pretty useless for Indian roads. After every 3-4 seconds I had to either brake to slow down or had to accelerate to overtake so the Cruise Control got turned off every time and I had to set it all over again which was very irritating!

I'd say that it's a good feature to have but it's not practical for India because of poor road manners and poor infrastructure.

I'd rather have manufacturers put in a more usable feature than Cruise Control such as xenons or a sunroof.
aparth is offline  
Closed Thread

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks