[ChethuGowda]

Upvote !!
I started my CC experience only recently with my Santa Fe, I just started loving it, I drove on NH75 (NH48 erstwhile) most of which are non-curvy stretches and its a 4 lane.
Its so fun to fix the speed to desired one, which obviously increases the FE and the ride appears so smooth. Rising the speed with fingers on steering buttons adds more fun to the ride, something like a video game .

However, keeping your right foot in a ready position for emergency brake might not be so comfortable (at least you will rest your right foot on the accelerator otherwise), I always wonder about the chances of pressing accelerator instead of brake in panic/emergency if you rest your feet completely on the floor.
And overthinking about tapping the brake or not on curves is another thing that I have to come out of, the cruise gets cancelled on pressing the brake.

May be I need some more time to get fully accustomed to this cool feature which might prove these downsides a nonsense.

[Amity]

Hello, Everyone.

I have a query regarding cruise control.

So, I was driving on Khandala Ghat section of Pune-Mumbai expressway towards Mumbai. As the speed limit is 50 km/h on this section, I had fixed my speed at 48 through Cruise Control. However, I noticed that everytime on the downward slope, car picked up speed on it's own despite cruise control and reached 70 km/h or more. I had to apply brakes to control the speed.

My query: Is it normal for cars to breach cruise control speed on downward slope? Is cruise control effective only for straight roads without slopes? Do I need to get it checked?

Thanks in advance.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by Amity

My query: Is it normal for cars to breach cruise control speed on downward slope? Is cruise control effective only for straight roads without slopes? Do I need to get it checked?

Thanks in advance.

This is an expected behaviour.

Cruise control uses fueling to control the speed of the vehicle. In a downward gradient, the car can pick up speed on its own even when the fuel is cut off. Brakes are needed reduce the speed but cruise control doesn't have control over the brakes.

PS: Try using the CC in a lower gear and you will observe better control due to engine braking

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by Amity

Hello, Everyone.

I have a query regarding cruise control.

So, I was driving on Khandala Ghat section of Pune-Mumbai expressway towards Mumbai. As the speed limit is 50 km/h on this section, I had fixed my speed at 48 through Cruise Control. However, I noticed that everytime on the downward slope, car picked up speed on it's own despite cruise control and reached 70 km/h or more. I had to apply brakes to control the speed.

My query: Is it normal for cars to breach cruise control speed on downward slope? Is cruise control effective only for straight roads without slopes? Do I need to get it checked?

Thanks in advance.

Yes, it is normal for speed to increase beyond the set speed on downslopes, because the cruising mechanism mimics pressing/releasing the accelerator, not the brake.

As a consequence, on upslopes where gravity tends to slow down the vehicle, the system will accelerate to maintain the set speed (in fact if you gingerly rest your foot on the accelerator pedal, you can feel it getting pressed automatically on upslopes).

[jaganm]

Over the last year, I've made 3 long trips, Bangalore-Pune, Bangalore-Goa and one shorter trip to Coorg on the new Bangalore-Mysore expressway. I found the cruise control to be invaluable.

My usual modus operandi is
- Set the cruise speed at around 110-115 (avoids the irritating chime at 120)
- Most of overtaking happens without any input to the accelerator as I will be overtaking trucks and buses that are significantly slower
- If I need to brake because of traffic conditions, the cruise stops and then I press upwards on the Set button which provides the acceleration requried after the braking.

Overall, I've found it very useful and will find it extremely difficult to have a car without cruise control now

[manim]

Been driving cars for more than forty years without cruise-control, now having used it for nearly two years on my Honda-City-CVT, I can never again drive long distances without it.

However for beginner-drivers I will not recommend it, I think Honda-Amaze-CVT deliberately does not have one (The MT has it) since a lot of first-time drivers buy it. But with 'adaptive-cruise-control' and auto-braking on the new Honda-City, cruise-control becomes safer for everyone.

And the 4-lane highways (not available in the 80s and 90s) also helps.

[alphahere]

Originally Posted by Amity

Hello, Everyone.

I have a query regarding cruise control.

So, I was driving on Khandala Ghat section of Pune-Mumbai expressway towards Mumbai. As the speed limit is 50 km/h on this section, I had fixed my speed at 48 through Cruise Control. However, I noticed that everytime on the downward slope, car picked up speed on it's own despite cruise control and reached 70 km/h or more. I had to apply brakes to control the speed.

My query: Is it normal for cars to breach cruise control speed on downward slope? Is cruise control effective only for straight roads without slopes? Do I need to get it checked?

Thanks in advance.

As already mentioned by others, cruise control on most vehicles generally maintains constant speed on level roads. On a downgrade, it may TRY to hold the car at a constant speed by downshifting when a downgrade is detected and the car starts increasing speed above the set limit. But this doesn't work if the slope is long and steep as the brakes are not linked to the cruise control logic.

An exception to this is vehicles with adaptive cruise control (ACC) or dynamic cruise control (DCC). ACC has camera/radar based sensors that can be used to detect traffic in front and slow down or speed up as necessary. The byproduct of this function is that the brakes are linked to the cruise system logic. So if the car begins to increase in speed in any situation it can automatically apply the brakes and slow down. Same with DCC, this does not have radar/camera based sensors, but it is essentially the normal cruise control system with the brakes wired into it. So in a downgrade scenario if it detects an overspeed, it will apply the brakes to keep the speed at the set value. So if you happen to come across a vehicle that maintains the cruise speed even on downgrades, it is just because it was built to work that way, nothing wrong with your own vehicle that does not have ACC or DCC.

[DetectiveMiles]

I have been using cruise control on highway drives during day-time. I find it very useful to keep to set speed. Kia allows resume feature, due to this, it is stress free, even if I have to brake. i don't use Cruise feature during night or when raining.

[shankar.balan]

I use cruise control always on highways and on places like this mysore expressway or hyderabad highway or madras highway it is a boon. Helps keep speeds within control and definitely improves fuel efficiency as well.

With improving roads and highways and the marked preference for Automatic vehicles nowadays, cruise control is an absolutely essential feature.

[Revvatron]

Most of my highway drives are on Hyderabad-Bangalore(NH44) and Hyderabad-Tirupati which is mix of NH44 and REPL. When I first bought my car I was skeptical of it and rarely used for first 1000 kms. Probably because it gave me a feeling of not being in control , a bit like free fall or like when we are on slope of a ghat. But now am more used to it and enjoying it. Even though it is 4 lane highway with minimum traffic the longest I have been able to use it for was 11 minutes. I can't go more than 4-5 minutes with cruise and I usually put it @95-100 kmph.

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by manim

… I think Honda-Amaze-CVT deliberately does not have one (The MT has it) since a lot of first-time drivers buy it.

I doubt that’s the reason. Considering my 2019 Jazz CVT(considered a beginner car) has it and has been an absolute boon on smooth highways. Bangalore Kanyakumari, Bangalore Hyderabad or recent Bangalore Mysore highway, I have been using it extensively on these and can’t imagine driving a car without this feature now on such smooth highways.

[PaddleShifter]

Cruise control made by brother sleep while driving on the expressway- Cruise control vs. ADAS

We humans designed cruise control for our convenience but it is a big safety hazard. The major benefit of cruise control that I have observed so far include:

1. - Rest to the right leg. As I move closer to 40, I've started experiencing slight pain after driving for few hours (leg remains extended as I keep the seat as far as possible without causing strain on the shoulders, elbows and knees ofcourse).
2. - Fuel efficiency: My 1.5 NA petrol car can give upto 21kmpl using cruise control on expressways compared to 18-19 I get on the expressways without using the cruise control.
3. - Avoiding over speeding in city limits (40-60kmph limits).
4. - Avoiding speeding tickets on highways with 50KMPH speed limit in some states such as Himachal/ Uttarakhand where highways in plains also have a speed limit of just 50KMPH (Dehradun residents will know).
5. - Lower fatigue

01. My accident last year
I had voted for the Cruise Control being useful. My first car with cruise control is a S-Cross and it is also the only car in our house to have this feature. My car has been in an accident due to the person driving the car going into sleep mode while driving at 50KMPH on a highway using cruise control. It sinks my heart to see the photo of the car even today. Fortunately, the tyres and suspension did not get hit so alignment issues did not come up.

02. The incident few days back
While coming back from the MotoGP sprint race in Noida on Saturday, 23-Sep-2023, I seated on the front passenger seat and handed over the driver seat to my younger brother who was quite impressed with the ease of operating the car with the cruise control set at 80KMPH on the Delhi-Mumbai expressway (speed limit 120KMPH).

It was around 9PM and no time for sleep. Still, I closed my eyes for a few minutes as I rarely get to sit on the passenger seats (plus I was tired from standing in the sun without umbrella). After some time, I randomly opened my eyes and was treated to the horror of our car being driven by my brother with closed eyes. He was still gripping the steering tightly with both hands. I immediately moved forward in my seat and gently held the steering as calling out his name could have startled him. My brother immediately went on defensive saying that he wasn't sleeping but thinking something.

The swiss cheese model did not come into play mainly because the expressway is presently sort of deserted, the road is too wide and my brother must have closed his eyes just seconds ago. Had I chose to keeping my eyes closed for some more time, I do not wish to even imagine what could have happened.

03. My uncle's warning last year
I was dropping my maternal uncle (Maama), a few weeks after my accident last year, who was scheduled to return to US. He is in general very fond of my driving style (compared to the usual ones in our family driving like how we Indians should) as I drive slow and unlike most drivers here, sort of practice defensive driving. He was watching me use cruise control @45KMPH within Chandigarh city limits. As we were discussing the need of cruise control in avoiding speed cameras within Chandigarh, his only comment was that using cruise control is very dangerous when a person is feeling sleepy/ tired.

Learnings from these experiences that I am incorporating in my driving:

- Never rely on cruise control for extended period of time.
- Disengage cruise control every now and then.
- If even there is slight hint of drowsiness, stop the car, walk for a few minutes and then resume without cruise control. NEVER use cruise control the moment you find yourself drowsy, especially if the remaining distance is less (less than 50Km journey remaining).
- If possible, cruise control should not be used during the last kilometers when we are more susceptible to dismiss taking rest even if drowsy, thinking that we are almost there so why to waste time.
- Avoid engaging cruise control above 8-=90KMPH.

---------------------------

Cruise control v. ADAS
In light of these three instances above, I have decided that my future car must have ADAS rather than plain cruise control. I also invite and request members who are driving cars with ADAS as well as cruise control to share their perspectives on how much benefit does ADAS carries in specific situation where a driver could sleep while driving owing to the two main features, i.e. lane departure assist & autonomous braking. I believe that while highway hypnosis and sleeping while driving under cruise control is known to us, it is not a much discussed topic and I, for one, was unaware of such problems till I experienced them myself.

BUT, ADAS itself is known to contribute to the very issues it aims to solve. Then, there is a "crazy for views" public that wants to do stunts in cars with ADAS.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/stree...such-adas.html (Misuse of technologies such as ADAS)

Some links for further reading:

https://www.renschandrensch.com/2014...er-drowsiness/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...46043019301091

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/july...ions-1.4753032

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/09/29...y-inattentive/

https://www.1800leefree.com/blog/how...riving-habits/

[sreerknair]

I can't speak for entire Indian road conditions; but in Kerala, this feature is completely useless. In 2 years I could use this feature only for 20 seconds in Kerala without either killing someone or getting killed by someone. The mental stress while using Cruise Control far outweighs the comfort the right leg will enjoy.

[Revvatron]

Initially I thought it was useless and didn't use it during the initial months of my car ownership. But once I got the hang of it I had a change of opinion. Especially on NH44 (only in certain stretches') and in Rayalaseema Expressway it comes in handy

[shankar.balan]

Two of my cars have Cruise Control. I use the feature extensively when on the highways.
Especially Bangalore - Mysore, Bangalore - Madras, Bangalore - Coimbatore, Bangalore - Hyderabad, etc.
I find it a very useful calming feature which also enables one to actively remain as per the prescribed speed limits.
10-12 years ago I used to scoff at Cruise Control in India. Now I have changed my tune entirely because our Indian Road Infra is also growing and improving and gradually features of this kind find much greater applicability here than they did earlier.