What is the cruise control?
Almost all modern cars in the US are equipped with this system. It’s not really common in Europe and UK. It is because it is more useful in long road distances which are not very frequent in there. It helps the driver in driving at long distances and people with certain disabilities like those who can’t press the gas pedal for a long time. Moreover it helps the driver to keep a safe speed and (in adaptive,) a safe distance from the car in the front.
What it can do?
Cruise control can be used by the driver to make the car drive at a constant speed for a time. He doesn’t need to press the gas pedal for this. This is pretty useful on long journeys and for people who have difficulty in keeping the pedal in the same place for a long time. In more advanced systems the driver can increase or decrease the speed by the press of a button. The system can be turned on and off through the car’s controls manually but when it is on, automatically deactivates when the driver presses the brake pedal (you obviously don’t wan’t the cruise control to keep running and trying to increase the speed back to the set one) and in a manual vehicle, the clutch pedal too (cause the engine still running would mean wastage of horsepower.)
How it works?
In most cars, the cruise control works in a pretty simple manner. It is controlled by the car’s computer or in some, a separate one. The computer keeps a watch on the car’s speed constantly. For example if the driver sets a speed of 40 mph for the car, the computer will make sure that it does not even get 39 or 41. The ac/deceleration is controlled almost as if the gas pedal was pressed to a certain limit. Although this is not actually done through actually pressing the pedal. The cable is pulled or released somewhere in it’s path to the engine. If the pedal is pressed more than the system is pulling the cable, it will cause the engine to rev up and the pedal released and it comes back to the set speed. The moment the brake (or clutch) pedal is pressed, the system releases the engine cable. If you want, the system will automatically turn on after you release the brake otherwise you’d have to turn it on manually (with the press of a button). I have seen that in many cars the controls of this system are on the side of the steering wheel like those of the turn indicators or on the steering wheel. Their are two buttons to adjust the set speed, each to increase or decrease it by 1 or 2 mph. A button to resume (turning it on again after e.g. a brake) the system is also there.
What is adaptive cruise control?
Adaptive cruise control is a more advanced type of cruise control. In this, a car is able to adjust its speed not only to the desired one set by the driver but also to the distance between the car in front. If the front car comes too close (the safe distance is covered) the cruise control will slow down the car. If the front car speeds up and there is too much space between the cars then the system will make the car accelerate only to the extent that it reaches the safe distance limit of the front car.
Advantages of a cruise control system
Cruise control systems are really helpful for drivers to drive their cars safely and at a constant speed. This reduces the chance of you getting a speeding fine only because you didn’t pay much attention to the speedometer. Then, setting the system’s speed to the car’s ‘economy’ speed will surely help increase the fuel consumption. According to an online article, it can make an average difference of 17.2%! It also frees the driver from many tensions like speed and distance from the vehicle in front. This way they can perform their duties more efficiently like steering.
Disadvantages of a cruise control system
More accidents have been occurring only because of over-reliability on the system. Young drivers blindly trust it and in some cases do not apply the brakes even though they see some thing in front. They are confident that their adaptive cruise control and/or automatic emergency braking will apply brakes. But, what if it doesn’t? It does not leave you with time to do it yourself! Sometimes you may not notice that now it is time to slow down and the cruise control would keep your car going the same speed.
Which cars have good cruise controls (probably adaptive)?
All the exotics and super cars have adaptive cruise controls so we are not going to list them. The list is of relatively normal cars with it (all are the newest models only):
- Honda Civic / Accord / CR-V / HR-V / Odyssey / Pilot / Ridgeline / Passport / Insight / Clarity
- Acura RLX
- Alfa Romeo Giulia / Stelvio
- Audi A3 / S3 / RS3
- Audi A4 / S4
- Audi A5 / S5 / RS5
- Audi A6 / A7 / A8
- Audi Q5 / SQ5 / Q7 / Q8
- BMW Series 3/8
- BMW X5/X7
- Buick Enclave / Envision / LaCrosse / Regal / Regal TourX
- Cadillac ATS / CTS / Escalade / Escalade ESV
- Cadillac XT 4 / 5 / S
- Cadillac CT6
- Chevrolet Blazer / Equinox / Impala / Malibu / Malibu Hybrid / Traverse / Volt
- Dodge Charger / Durango
- Ford Edge / F-150 / Fusion / Expedition
- GMC Acadia / Terrain
- Jeep Wrangler
- Land Rover Range Rover / Evoque / Discovery (Sport) / Velar / Sport
- Almost all Mercedes Benz
- Nissan Sentra / Rogue / Leaf / Altima / Pathfinder
- Subaru Impreza / Crosstrek / Ascent / Forester / Legacy / Outback / WRX
- Toyota Avalon / Camry / C-HR / Prius / Corolla Hatchback / RAV4
- VW / Golf / GTI / Alltrack / e-Golf / Sport-wagon / Atlas / Jetta / Tiguan / Arteon
ALL ABOUT CARS 