My drive to and from work contains a couple of big hills - up and down - each way. Does using the cruise control help or hurt MPG in the FEH?

Thanks!

Sadie

My opinion is, it all depends on how you drive. If you have a tendency to really mash the gas pedal as you climb a hill, it would be better to use the cruise control. If, on the other hand, you are able to ease up on the gas as you climb the hill, you might actually be giving it less gas on the way up than the cruise control would.

Also, on the way down the hill you need to let off the gas and coast down, maybe even braking, in order to do better than the cruise control.

My drive sounds like yours...

I think a good driver who is focused can get better mileage than the CC, but when you are distacted CC does a better job. As a general rule I use the CC on the downhills and take over control on the uphills (and slow down to keep the rpms within reason). I also use CC exclusively when I am driving the kiddies around (only on the freeway of course), since they are a huge distraction.

The advantage you have over CC is that you can predict what is happening ahead, but it is better able to hold a steady speed. Downhill CC seems really good at using the re-gen since it keeps the speed from getting to far out of control, but uphill it just wants to plant the gas pedal on the floor.

Another trick that I do is turn off the a/c or defrost durning the steepest part of the climb, that frees up that much more power for the climb.

Good luck

Chris Brown - Mendocino County Ca.

Here in South Florida I drive the beach road with my FEH where I get the best MPG. Most of my driving is either north or south. The speed limit is between 30 - 45mph. In the 30mph zone, I set the CC at 31mph in the EV mode. When the battery runs out, the engine charges for about the same distance and then I tap the brake to go to EV again and set the CC. I found you can get max (60)mpg doing this which I can average the total on the tank to 40mpg. This is with the A/C off but with the beach air, its fine. With the CC on, I can watch something besides the speedometer. What a ride!

Hurt, no doubt about it. The cruise control only responds to real-time conditions and cannot, for example, anticipate the upcoming crest of a hill and coast over the top. That said, however, if you like cruise control, use it. You won't notice the decrease in MPG unless you are actually keeping score.

So here is an interesting thought......

We have this nice Nav units in the FEH (at least some of them)........

They are equiped with NAVTEQ map data, which is based on GIS data (at least locally).......

Most GIS road data is 3 dimensonal data, unlike a paper map......

Why can't some genius link the NAV radio to the Cruise Control and design a system at anticipates steep grades?

Chris Brown

Hi All:

___Because no road is completely flat, cruise can be bested over just about any route one could possibly traverse.

___With that, cruise can remove some of the fatigue in driving with ones right foot making micro adjustments for hours on end. I use cruise very sparingly to remove my shoes while on the road or on extremely long drives as 2 examples. You can use your cruise as a qausi micro-control to “Drive w/ Load” with the acc/decel buttons but it is not nearly as smooth as the control you have with your Instantaneous’ feedback to your brain and then to your right foot. When using cruise as a substitute for your right foot on the accelerator, I will use the decel button when climbing just as I see the slightest fall of the Instantaneous or feel the ICE/tranny load up … The MDX and Accord’s ICE load can actually be felt so it is not to hard to discern when to tap the decel until you have arrived at the crest. The larger the climb, the more times you tap the decel just as you would when bleeding off speed the manual way. When accelerating on the backside however, accelerate with your foot first (very softly so as to not cause a FE hit) and hit the Acc button to arrive at your previous speed. Cruise control simply has too great a speed step between Acc/Decel taps (delta in speed) for the highest FE when attempting the “Driving w/ Load” technique. Normal Cruise control use cannot handle a slight ascent or descent for highest FE as it does not have the feedback to do otherwise.

___With the above, the GM automobile cruise controls I have used over some distances (Buick LeSabre) are the best in the business for this micro-control. The Honda’s (MDX and not as bad in the Accord) are the worst. The Toyota I have driven for a lengthy period (Corolla) is middling at best. The 2 Ford’s (Ranger and Aviator) aren’t bad and just a touch behind the GM unit in my experience.

___Cdbrow1, because automobile GPS units cannot place you directly onto a spot within < 10’ of error for the most part, I don’t think this will work let alone how different automobiles handle the many small ascents and descents traversed differently. Maybe a Military NAV unit could get you within 3’ but not the consumer GPS gear we use in our automobiles today. A more simplistic solution would be to change the feedback from a given speed to engine load or base it off the instantaneous. With that however, I would hate to see what traffic would turn into with everybody “Driving w/ Load”. Any well traveled Interstates would become a traffic nightmare so let us just keep this little godsend to ourselves, OK

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

Hi Cdbrow1:

___The following might interest you …

Japanese Trucking Firms Implementing GPS to Help Reduce Emissions
___After reading the above, I think the engineers developing this system need to learn what “Driving w/ Load” is all about …

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net