Cruise control – a technological fuel saver
Since we can't get away from the relentless fuel increases, how do we save?
Of course, it is not just South Africans who are exposed to expensive fuel and constant increases, so we have no choice but to learn to employ the technology in our cars to save us money.
One of these technologies is cruise control and it will prove particularly effective when one drives at a constant speed over long and flat roads.
“On inclines though, cruise control is slower than a driver to react to gradient changes. When a driver reaches the top of a hill, they decrease their pressure on the accelerator much faster than cruise control can sense a change in the gradient,” says Master Drives’ Eugene Herbert.
The same will applies when driving in traffic.
“Firstly, cruise control is never recommended in heavy traffic because of the potential for something to go wrong. If, however, a driver uses cruise control in moderate traffic and is consequently adjusting or stopping and restarting regularly, they will not get the most fuel saving benefits from cruise control, safety concerns aside.
“A Natural Resources Canada Study found cruise control could potentially reduce fuel consumption by 20% – if used correctly. If you are consistently adapting your cruise control between 110km/h and 120km/h, for example, as opposed to keeping it at a consistent 120km/h, you are unlikely to see this saving. If you find you regularly need to adjust your speed, driver anticipation and correct following distances are more likely to get a bigger saving than using your cruise control.”
And then, if your car is fitted with adaptive cruise control (ACC) – effectively also controlling the following distance between you and the car ahead, your saving may be even more.
“According to a study conducted across Europe in 2012, the sensors that adapt the speed according to traffic result in fuel savings. Yet, most of these studies were conducted in open highway settings where there were minimal adaptions. Additionally, the savings are around 2.8%, thus negligible at best. More research needs to be conducted in real driving settings.”
If you are not convinced, try it but “not in wet weather”, says Herbert.
Source: MotorPress
