[Aditya]

Cruise Control is a feature that automatically maintains the speed of the car. "Adaptive" cruise control systems are coming in the luxury cars, which actually "react" to the speeds of the cars ahead of you! Cruise control makes cruising on the highway less strenuous for the driver as he does not have to keep the accelerator continuously pressed. Since a particular speed is set and maintained, the driver need not worry about overspeeding, while the consistent speed makes travel more comfortable for passengers. Driving at a steady speed can result in lower fuel consumption too.



On the flip side, driving in India isn't like a USA freeway as we have innumerable "interruptions" due to which the driver needs to break cruise control & either brake (broken roads, vehicle coming the other way) or reduce the speed. Fact is, it is a challenge to drive at the exact same speed on Indian highways. Cruise control can also make the driver lose concentration (or contribute to drowsiness). If the speed set is lower than what most cars are expected to do on the road, you might end up getting in the way of faster cars. If the speed is set too high, you might have to press the brake too often, disengaging the system one time too many, which can get irritating. Again, since the system maintains a set speed, you might end up taking a curve too fast and crash. Indian expressways have quite unexpected dips & curves. Anyone driving from Mumbai to Pune will know the sharp right-hander at the Pune end (authorities have even placed tyres at that spot).



At one time, cruise control was available only in expensive vehicles. Now however, you can have it in the mainstream cars. Some sub-20 lakh models with the feature are listed below:

Ford EcoSport
Honda Amaze
Honda Jazz
Honda City
Honda Civic
Honda WR-V
Hyundai Aura
Hyundai Verna
Hyundai Venue
Hyundai Creta
Hyundai Elantra
Jeep Compass
Kia Seltos
Mahindra XUV300
Mahindra Marazzo
Mahindra XUV500
Mahindra Scorpio
Mahindra Xylo
Maruti Dzire
Maruti XL6
Maruti Vitara Brezza
Maruti Ciaz
Maruti S-Cross
MG Hector
Nissan Kicks
Renault Duster
Renault Captur
Skoda Rapid
Tata Altroz
Tata Nexon
Tata Harrier
Toyota Yaris
Toyota Innova Crysta
Volkswagen Polo
Volkswagen Vento

So, do you think Cruise Control is a useful feature in India or not?

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Street Experiences. Thanks for sharing!

Voted for useless. I have owned 3 cars with cruise control, the first in America (student days) and the latter two in India. In the USA, I used it while driving from Boston <-> New York due to the arrow straight freeways, strict speed limit enforcement (you can unknowingly raise your speed & get a $500 ticket) and all cars moving at a near identical speed.

In India however, the above-mentioned conditions are a dream. To begin with, you'll spot an idiot every 200 meters. I've tried cruise control in India and found that one needs to intervene way too often = cars cutting you, the biker doing 30 kmph in the fast lane, no concept of "right of way" at junctions, unmarked speed-breakers and what not.

But most of all, I really enjoy controlling the accelerator pedal myself .

[ninjatalli]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And on a similar note, so are features

Voted useful; Found the cruise control very useful in the US; haven't had much experience with it in India; but I'd found it wanting on long drives on highways, especially the boring sections (example Lonavala - Pune side toll gate section, Khopoli toll gate - Panvel section).

A good feature to have, even if it ain't gonna be useful for 7/10 driving scenarios on Indian roads.


Edit: The CControl does stop the urge to overspeed. Given the increasing focus on making moolah from erring drivers, I'd say it's a good investment in the longer run.

[earthian]

I voted for "useless". Given our lack of discipline on highways, with overtaking even from the shoulder, cruise control may actually be a hazard.

However, speed limiter is a very useful feature. When i travel though States which are known to strictly enforce speed limits, having speed limiters ensure that you don't inadvertently cross over the limits. Helped me a lot in Rajasthan.

[Turbohead]

The only place I find the need for cruise control is in the 4 lane highways of Kerala. There are cameras everywhere and the speed limits are strictly enforced. Here you can find yourself crossing the limits unknowingly which can result in a challan being sent home. I usually set a 90kmph alarm on the dash but that's mostly distracting. The two lane highways are fine because the 70kmph speed limit is more than sufficient.

Else, I just prefer to look ahead and drive ignoring the absolute speed. Modulating the pedal depending on the conditions ahead is one of the most satisfying but underrated parts of driving.

[Jeroen]

I voted for useful. But than I am a total cruise control junkie. Especially with cars equipped with adaptive cruise control.

I will engage the CC all the time, any type of road, any type of speed.
Small speed changes up or down are done by resetting the CC speed as well.

So maybe a bit Geeky, but I tend to use the CC on my cars in a similar fashion as the autopilot on my planes. It is on most of the time, unless there is a need to take manual control. I just like overseeing automated systems!

Now, admittedly India is probably not the most optimum place in the world to make use of cruise control.

Jeroen

[ABHI_1512]

Cruise Control is a well defined gimmick that masquerades itself as a feature worth believing as deal breaker, at least the showroom guys will present the feature as such. On the highways, where you have to use the brakes almost every 5kms or so, the constant need of setting up the cruise control over and over again is what ended my first and only use of the feature once. By the way, the constant feedback of the accelerator on your feet is a feeling that I hardly want to miss anyways.

P.S- The scenario mentioned above is for India only

[ashis89]

Voted Useful.

IMO, absence of cruise control is NOT a deal breaker. So much so that, before using it for the first time, I found it unnecessary and useless. However, now that I have it in my car, I found some good use for it and appreciate its convenience!

1. On freeways with speed limits:
In Hyderabad Outer Ring Road, the speed limit is 100 kmph. Until March, I used to cover hundreds of kms every month on this stretch and the Cruise Control was used extensively. Set it and relax for the next 50 odd kms without having to look at the speedo or that hidden speed cam.

2. Long drives on good and free roads:
After driving for few hundred kilometres, you feel like stretching your leg or giving your heel/toe some rest. If the place isn't appropriate for a halt, I just flick the CC on for 10-20 mins and give my legs some rest. Very helpful on long drives. And yes, I have always found sections in the highways where CC can be deployed, at least for such short periods.

That said, the CC makes the drive boring and I use it only when I want to relax. No, not a dealbreaker.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Voted useful - a must-have for my next purchase! - for most of my highway trips involve the straight, very well maintained TN highways - for a good 8 hours (600kms) at a stretch from Attibele (Hosur) to Kavalkinaru (Kanyakumari).

The sole of my right foot will literally be in pain (well past burning stage!) at the end of the 13-hour (door to door) drive. I so wish for cruise control - just to keep the speed at a constant 100- 120kmph from one toll booth to the other! With a humble, ageing 1.3 Multijet engine under the hood, there isn't much else left to do on such boring straight roads than just to cruise anyways.

Where are the roads for cruise control? Well, come to TN - I even have a manual palm rest on the bike to keep the throttle steady for when I had to do 6-7 hours of cruising.

[Sahilrai166]

Voted for useless. I live in Mangalore and the roads here are not straight. Generally in our country people do not maintain their lanes and then there are some who cross the roads in the middle of the highways,dogs,pigs,cows coming in the middle of the roads and some bikers who try to overtake from the left.
My daily commute includes 90% of city traffic and there is not even a single straight patch where I can use cruise control. My dad works in Hampi and lives inside the campus so even he does not require one. All the cars we own till date do not feature cruise control but have driven cars equipped with it and found it to be useless until and unless you want to demonstrate this feature to your friends or family.

[Eddy]

Very useful.

I was under the impression that it was useless because 90% of my driving is within the city. However, after CCTV & speed cams on almost all roads in Delhi it becomes a very useful tool to control your speed if there is sparse traffic. There are roads where I would subconsciously reach 60-70 but now I just put the cruise control to 50 and................. cruise.

But is it a deal-breaker? No.

[paragsachania]

Voted a firm YES for it is absolutely useful driving on a lot of highways in India as well. The same highway that made you change gears during the day every 2 kms is best enjoyed with a cruise control during super early mornings or nights.

And I am not saying this because I haven't experienced Cruise Control on Indian roads. None of my cars have this feature but I have used it once when driving the Cruze back to Bangalore from Delhi and then was driven in a Crysta to Chennai once which mostly used cruise control during the entire journey.

My cruising speeds on a normal day remains between 100-110 Kmph and since I mostly pick up an odd day and an odd time, at times even an all night drive, I so miss the cruise control in my car when I am compelled to keep my right leg in a position to maintain my cruising speeds and yes, at times it is painful.

The beauty of driving between 90-100 Kmph is that you may hardly need to brake and still maintain the same speeds while cutting across slow moving traffic (Trucks, Buses and at times cars as well) and you gain an excellent efficiency with your average times that you clock per hour. There are also highways where you can actually maintain triple digit cruising speeds for super long stretches without a sweat too.



Cruise Control here, ANYDAY, ANYTIME!!!

It is exactly due to this reason, I miss the cruise control on every drive. I once thought about installing this in my car (there are possibilities) but never really thought seriously about it.

It is a myth that cruise control doesn't suit our country where even guarded expressways have haphazard experience due to lane indiscipline but you would love to cruise at a steady (yet relatively fast) speeds picking an odd day and and odd hours on the same expressways. Heck, some of our regular dual carriageways also offer a lot of such opportunities.

[Eddy]

Actually, it will be interesting to see how many people have used it and then chosen an option. It is one of those things that once you use, there is no going back. If you haven't used it, you don't crave for it.

[nandrive]

Voted useful.

Adaptive cruise control with stop and go feature will be really helpful for indian conditions. Seltos top trims sold in Australia have this feature. Don't know why they don't bring the same feature to India.

[Thermodynamics]

Voted for useless in the context of Indian road conditions.

But I would agree with CrazyDriver, it can be useful for touring motorcycles because it is very tiring for wrist muscles to keep up with throttle on long journeys.