Using Cruise Control

petpeople · Joined: 29 Jan 2006 Posts: 40

Still green with this. We took a long weekend trip in our 35' class A and hubby put it in cruise control (62 mph) most of the way. What we are wondering is if we are really saving fuel (gas) by doing this since most roads are not flat and have inclines, and well, you know the rest. Opinions out there?

Petpeople

ChuckD · Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2006 10:05 pm Post subject:

I use the CC on my MH until I start up an incline. As soon as it hits that too low a gear, I turn it off. You don't need to go up a hill at 62 MPH because if you try it, you will hear the hissing noise of a lot of gas leaving the tank and going out your exhaust. I have the big Ford engine in mine and it could go up the hill at 62 if I wanted, but there had better be a gas station at the top. Hope this helps.
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PhatLiz · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 7:43 am Post subject:

We only use the cruise control when on flat and dry roads. Actually, I am not real comfortable using it. I prefer constant control as opposed to DH who loves CC.
As for the fuel savings, I have not calculated it.
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TannerBee · Joined: 28 Oct 2006 Posts: 702 Location: Rock Hill, SC

I used the CC on my old 35' Class A Ford 460 a couple of weeks ago going to the SC coast. I could only use it after we got well east of Columbia where the road was pretty flat. I loved it. It kept the speed within a couple mph up and down small hills, and spot on 60 on the flat. I take a practically deserted back road (SC Highway 527), so that helps. Coming back, I left the CC engaged on a big uphill just to see what would happen. It never caused the trans to downshift, but disengaged itself when the speed dropped to 45 mph. I suspect it would save me a little gas on a flat road, but not otherwise, where I let the speed come down 5-10 mph going up hills.

BTW, that road is so back in the country that I actually stopped on the shoulder so my DW and her sister could wander into a just-harvested cotton field and get a few scraps for Christmas decorations. We were there maybe 10 minutes on a Sunday afternoon and only one car passed from either direction!
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tripinon · Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 3:57 pm Post subject:

The only way to tell if it saves gas is to drive over similar roads with and without its use. A full tank each time. We use ours most of the time. Depending on the size of the hill or density of traffic, we change up on the use of it.

Now for me that's saying something since I hardly ever used the CC prior to medical reasons making it a better alternative. I find it is better at increasing my gas mileage than I am so that's an added benefit for us.

It's in there and you paid for it so you might as well use it.
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TannerBee · Joined: 28 Oct 2006 Posts: 702 Location: Rock Hill, SC

You know, increasing gas mileage is a wonderful thing, but it really isn't a reason to use or not use cruise control. If we used it 75% of the time and by some miracle it saved us 1/4 mpg, that would figure to 3/4 of a 75-gallon tank (56.25 gallons) x .25mpg = 14.06 miles / 7.25 mpg = 1.93 gallon x $2.20/gallon = $4.24 per tank. This is approximately half of what you would save by turning off the dash a/c. If your cruise does a good job for you and you like it, turn it on. My mother tried to explain how all the money I spend on gas could go to hotel rooms instead of campsites. She doesn't understand that it's not about the money, it's about, it's about, how do you explain RVing to someone who's not 'out there'?
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donnap1956 · Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:22 am Post subject: Saving Gas and Cruise Control

You might try not going over 55 either with or without cruise control. I use cruise control at 55 when on fairly straight roads, ie highways and freeways, and always stay in the slow lane or use turnouts for people who want to get around. But I have seen a big difference in the gas used if I go above 55. I drive a 2004 Bounder gas 35' MH.
Just a thought. Smile

royston · Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 1:38 pm Post subject: To Cruise or Not

We travel on the Interstates on cruise at 62 mph and 1700 RPM. If we go at 50 mph it will drop into 5th gear and 1500-1600 RPM. We did this to check fuel mileage (diesel) and found we actually got about 1/2 mpg better at 62. If we are going to be going up a steep hill, we take it off cruise and take a run at it, shifting down to maintain constant 1700 RPMs.
We've noticed quite a few rigs coming down hill FAR too quickly. Just remember you should only come down a hill as fast as you can go up a hill, and no problems will be encountered.

wizard · Joined: 12 Nov 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Florida & Kansas

We sold our 45' Navigator where cruise control all the time yielded the best mileage. However in our new 30' BT Cruiser towing with the Ford V-10, I got 7.2 mpg at 60 mph with cruise on all the time. The downshifting drove us crazy. I've found that speeding up to 68-70 and not using cruise at all that mileage went to 8.1 mpg on same roads. I speed up on a downhill to no more than 75 mph if I see an uphill ahead and let momentum work, and I do not let it shift to a lower gear even if it means arriving at the top at 55 mph. It's quieter and I get better mileage. On big mountain pulls I just shift to a lower gear and maintain speed. The gas engine has a lot less torque than diesel.
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mogul264 · Joined: 02 Sep 2006 Posts: 22

A gasoline engine gets the best economy by setting the accelerator at a constant amount (preferably at the maximum torque @ rpm for that engine), as did the old manual throttle controls. You then let the transmission shift according to the engine's needs, disregarding the speed. You may slow down to a crawl on long uphill grades this way, however, and on downhills, you may overspeed greatly! You'd be surprised how economical this can be, though, with temperance. A speed control merely helps rest your leg muscles, getting best mileage on the flat areas.

JRoo · Joined: 25 Mar 2006 Posts: 14 Location: New Mexico

We've never calculated the fuel saved by using the cruise control but I can sure tell ya that it saves money. My husband has a lead foot.
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ikwewe · Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 53 Location: Michigan

I have a lead foot and can be going 85 or 90 without even realizing it. Yes, even in my litte micro-mini. For that reason, I use CC whenever the road is fairly level and traffic permits. It's no use when cars are wall to wall weaving in and out, or if the inclines are so great that the engine lugs or the transmission has to shift to maintain speed. I don't know if it saves gas, but I have not gotten stopped while using cruise control!
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kingrokon · Joined: 05 Jun 2006 Posts: 63

I agree with the the previous poster. One advantage, provided that the road is fairly level, is that your speed won't slowly drift up so you can avoid speeding tickets. (Not as big problem with motorhomes at the speed many of us usually drive). But the speed can still drift up on steep downhills.

Another safety advantage, at least in theory, is that you're looking less down at the dashboard and looking out the windshield more at what's happening outside. But on even a slightly hilly road, it is possible for your speed to fluctuate.

mrLenin · Joined: 22 Jan 2007 Posts: 6

Yup, so necessary stuff is this cruise control!
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CJ7 · Joined: 01 Apr 2008 Posts: 7

I love cruise control and use it whenever I can. That being said, I also have recently been watching my mileage (gas mileage real time computer, 2002 GMC Safari option). I find that if the hill up ahead is steep enough to cause a downshift, particularly when towing, I will get consistently better mileage if I drop it out of CC and keep just enough gas to avoid downshifting on the uphill. Better yet on a short uphill, hold the throttle position still and let it drop up to 5 mph, and yeah, let it pick up an extra 5 mph on the following downhill anticipating the next hill.

Last summer driving a 2007 33-foot Class A Ford V-10, if I let the cruise run on the uphill, the trans might downshift twice and really start winding out the engine, and I could hear that giant sucking sound. If I dropped it out of CC, it might downshift once to keep a reasonable uphill speed.

I find that in my everyday driving of the Safari back and forth to work, if I drive like I am in a hurry, I might get 14 mpg (winter driving), but if I drive like I am in no hurry by slowly accelerating and letting off the gas as soon as I sense I will need to slow up ahead, I can get 16 mpg, and that is driving the same speed once I get up to speed. Someone once said, drive like you have an egg between your right foot and the accelerator: easy does it.