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cruise control save gas?

1K views 22 replies 14 participants last post by  tooch926 
#1 ·
in long highway, using cruise control save gas? since gas price is so high:drool:
 
#6 ·
you cant keep your foot as steady as cruise control does. Downhill its a different story, i use cruise control on steady ground and then turn it off up and down hills. It will down shift to keep the speed down instead of braking so it will use engine braking in a sense and eat more gas than brakes.

Personally i dont like it because it has the tendency to put you to sleep. Wasting another 10$ of gas on a trip is nothing vs totaling the car if you fall asleep.

I use cruise control when cops are around or in a cop infested zone just so i dont forget and go to pass someone and get myself a stupid ticket.
 
#13 ·
that's called decel fuel cutoff. All companies makes that part of the control strategy to save gas. You can see the effect of this if you have an OTIS or EVIC that has the instant MPG function. When you are cruising and you let off the throttle completely the MPG goes way up (i.e. not just up a little bit). I'm not sure how aggressively chrysler does this because in some instances this does not happen...

Honestly though, I wish they would implement a different type of cruise control that's constant throttle. So instead of adjusting the throttle to match the speed, it will just hold the throttle and let the car speed change with the terrane. This will give the best MPG. Although it is annoying to other drivers if the hills on the road are significant (i.e. drops your speed by >10 and makes people angry at you :))
 
#17 ·
...

Honestly though, I wish they would implement a different type of cruise control that's constant throttle. So instead of adjusting the throttle to match the speed, it will just hold the throttle and let the car speed change with the terrane. This will give the best MPG. Although it is annoying to other drivers if the hills on the road are significant (i.e. drops your speed by >10 and makes people angry at you :))
****'em...they are not paying for my gas, they can honk all they want, honking is still free.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I drive from Syracuse to Buffalo many times a year, and that's about a 150-ish mile trip. I've found that CC makes a large difference in my fuel economy. When I do it myself, I get ~26 MPG, and when I use CC I get ~30.

Also, not even sure if the car knows what it's talking about, but it seems to think I get better gas mileage when I open my sunroof to 'Vent'. I'm guessing it would have something to do with the increased downforce. True, it might be negligible but at 73MPH maybe it amounts to something. I would think it increases drag because of the contained vortex, at least that's what I think it's called-- my roommate is an engineer and was talking about this stuff for a week this past semester.

Regardless, no matter where I'm driving, has to be highway driving though, I get 1-2 MPG better from opening it.
 
#16 ·
Now that is interesting. It must be reducing the drag of the vehicle, so it is not increasing downforce. Downforce is just drag applied vertically (sort of. With a lot of qualifications, exceptions, conditions, etc, but mostly, downforce is just "lift," pushing you into the ground. And you can't get lift without drag).

The Intrpid has a slippery body. When you set the sunroof to vent it must be making the airflow remain more laminar over the roof and trunk. Very interesting.

Jim Snover

snip

Also, not even sure if the car knows what it's talking about, but it seems to think I get better gas mileage when I open my sunroof to 'Vent'. I'm guessing it would have something to do with the increased downforce. True, it might be negligible but at 73MPH maybe it amounts to something. I would think it increases drag because of the contained vortex, at least that's what I think it's called-- my roommate is an engineer and was talking about this stuff for a week this past semester.

snip
 
#20 ·
CC will save a lot on flat terrain, because as others have said, it holds the throttle steadier than you can. I can beat it in hilly terrain, however, by holding the throttle steady and letting the speed increase on the downgrades and buff off on the hills. Just have to watch the 18 wheeler on your bumper.
 
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