With fuel prices always on the rise, more and more car owners are looking for a car that is fuel efficient without compromising the performance aspect. Having heard cruise control helps one save fuel, a lot of car owners today prefer buying cars with cruise control. With time there have been a lot of changes and developments in technology as a result of which long-distance journeys have been completely transformed.
These advancements over time have also brought about more benefits and today we will have a look at what cruise control actually is, what are its various benefits and if it really is fuel efficient.
The cruise control system, in its early years, worked through a cable that held the accelerator in position and maintained a constant speed. The cable, along with many other parts, has been slowly replaced with an electrical system over the years. Today if you have a car with cruise control, it will have an electrical system under the hood.
The primary function of cruise control mode is to maintain a constant speed automatically. Upgrades to the system over the years gave birth to adaptive cruise control. The mode today helps drivers maintain the desired speed while also keeping a safe distance from the other cars on the road. It makes use of forward-mounted sensors that allow it to regulate the car’s speed based on the traffic or cars ahead or if you are approaching a corner.
Another important feature in the newest versions of cruise control is its ability to engage the brakes when going downhill and immediately disengage if the driver has applied brakes. This, without a doubt, is a big step towards the full automation of cars and can be very beneficial for car owners in many ways.
Before we have a look at the other benefits of cruise control, let us address the topic of discussion, is cruise control mode fuel efficient? Well, it is in some situations and is not in others.
To begin with, one of the things it depends on is the car's make and model. Not all cars are created equal and although the system is designed to maintain a set speed and distance from other cars, the performance of cruise control mode on some cars may be better than others. Your driving habits will also affect whether or not cruise control mode is fuel efficient for you. If you are an aggressive driver and like to accelerate or brake suddenly and more frequently than required, your fuel efficiency decreases by about 15-30%. Cruise control in such a case will use much less fuel, especially on highways, and thus prove to be fuel efficient as it maintains a constant speed as much as possible.
Finally, one of the most important factors that affect the fuel efficiency of cruise control mode, is the terrain or condition of the road you drive on. As said before cruise control tries to maintain a constant speed, and in doing so does not yet have the ability to consider the type of terrain the car is on. Cruise control on a long stretch of road like highways can help you save fuel. But on hilly roads that go up and down, cruise control may end up using more fuel instead. This is because the car tries to maintain its speed (say 60 km/h) even when u start climbing a slope, forcing the engine to work harder and use up more fuel in the process. You as a driver, on the other hand, may have no problem going a little slower while going up an inclined path, thus not overworking the engine and using lesser fuel. It should also be noted that cruise control will still maintain the same speed (60 km/h) while driving down the slope. Add to this the factors of bad weather and road conditions where you should not maintain a constant speed and have more control over the car, and cruise control can prove to be dangerous as well.
For instance, if you are driving while there is considerably heavy rainfall, it is advisable to turn off cruise control in order to have more control over the vehicle. This is because you may need to slow down depending on how bad the weather is. Having the cruise control turned 'on' in such conditions limits the manual control you have over the car, and can increase the chances of your car aquaplaning.
Although the performance of cruise control depends on a number of factors as discussed above, there are always benefits to using it. While the system helps save fuel in some conditions, modern cruise control systems have greater benefits associated with them. One such benefit is that cruise control makes longer journeys less tiring and easier for the driver.
Having to maintain a constant hold on the accelerator and switching your eyes continuously from road to speedometer and back to the road again leads to the driver using more energy and takes away the focus as well. Passing the task of maintaining the speed onto the cruise mode, the driver can have more focus on the road making driving more comfortable.
Most cars today have buttons that allow the driver to increase or decrease the car speed with ease, making the experience of using cruise control even more comfortable. The adaptive cruise control, as mentioned earlier, helps maintain a safe distance from other cars on the road. It also reduces the chances of you getting a speed ticket if you are an aggressive driver in general.
To summarise, cruise control can prove to be fuel efficient when driving on long straight stretches of roads or highways. While it would lead to more fuel consumption on hills and may endanger the driver and passengers during changing or bad weather conditions. Cruise control is thus not the ultimate solution for the fuel efficiency of your car and we recommend choosing a car that is fuel efficient on its own rather than relying too much on cruise control.
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