Cruise controlis

[Hazir]

As I told in this forum a couple of weeks ago I recently got into driving a car again. I don't regret buying a car in the least. I even see myself driving to Istanbul. My previous car - I didn't own one for ages - didn't have cruise control. But this new one of course does. Once I figured out how it works, I started using it, and getting used to doing so. Basically I turn it on every time I am on a highway where the maximum speed is 100 km/h. Doing so I also noticed that - probably - a lot of other people don't use it. So I was wondering if and when any of you people use it.

Hm.. that title came out a bit funny..

[rille]

I find it a good way to keep the speed limit on basic highways but frustrating when few others do.

[Ominous Gamer]

I have the old cruise control and I used it often enough at night when traffic is light. My wife uses the new adaptive cruise control that can mimic the speed of the cars around you can uses it every time she hits the highway.

[Aimless]

I don't drive and the ginger doesn't use cruise-control due to concerns about sovereignty.

[Being]

Freeways around here are usually so jammed that my cruise control is useless. I have to manually adjust to match the varying speed of the traffic around me.

[GGT]

My car is manual transmission. It forces me to be an "active" driver and stay alert -- it's like a game to keep a constant speed, despite hills and passing other cars. Makes driving fun.

I've used cruise control on other cars but found it had a lulling effect (especially at night on long stretches of road). And you can definitely tell who's using it and not paying attention to traffic patterns -- they use their brakes too much.

[Timbuk2]

Yes cruise control has its uses. I rarely use it in the UK, as this is such an overcrowded little island the highways are generally too busy to be able to set a cruise speed and stick to it. I did however have a trip a few weeks ago to the West Coast of Scotland, which is pretty much traversing the UK in its entirety from where I live in London. Particularly with Covid too at the moment there is less traffic on the roads, so on this occasion I did have some long stints on cruise.

Otherwise it's generally on continental road trips where i use cruise control more frequently. Driving across France, the highways are excellent and generally free of congestion, so I stick the car on cruise for long periods and have a good sleep.

The Mercedes C63 I have now has a further step, with adaptive cruise control. This allows you to set a specified distance to the car in front, and your car will match that car's speed and stick with it. Great if you are travelling in convoy with friends/family I suppose, but I've never tried it myself - have never done any long distances in convoy.

[Khendraja'aro]

Yeah, my next car will definitely have adaptive cruise control. And also a "traffic jam control" - that's actually the most annoying part of my current car, stop-and-go jams. Shift into neutral, shift into 1st, roll a bit while shifting to neutral again, brake, stop and repeat from start.

[RandBlade]

My cruise control isn't adaptive it is just a plain simple one. I use it all the time, any time I'm travelling at the speed limit and not expecting to change speed any time soon.

Its great for areas where you're worried about speed cameras, ensuring you don't accidentally go over the limit.

[GGT]

....Driving across France, the highways are excellent and generally free of congestion, so I stick the car on cruise for long periods and have a good sleep.

Wait, are we talking about the same thing, or were you joking?