Will86 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I judge 30mph by engine sound and years ago when driving a heavy knobbly tired cross country vehicles the tyre sounds alone were easy to judge speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundowner Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I've just remembered the cruise control that we used when driving HGVs in the1960s, bearing in mind the maximum speed with your foot hard down was 50-55 mph. On the then quiet/empty motorways, we used to run flat out for hours on end if we were heading north to Scotland say. The accelerator pedals were not the lightweight things we are used to now, but you had to push quite hard to hold them flat on the floor. We used to carry cut off broom handles to hold the pedal down, thus avoiding cramp in your right leg. This was of course, well before they invented "health and safety"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Sundowner and rogher both mention the sat-nav reminders/warnings on speed limits. Be very cautious with these as they lag reality. My experience is that new speed limits are being inrroduced, and existing limits modified, on an almost continual basis and, inevitably, even the latest map editions will be out of date by the time you come to use them. The only way to be certain is to look for limit signs along the roads and, if you don't see one, check what the sat-nav is saying before assuming the national limit applies. For that reason (but mainly prompted by temporary limits at road works having been mapped and retained long after the road works had gone), I have disabled the audible warning. The indicated speed still shows in red if a mapped limit is exceeded, but at least the machine now holds its peace! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Sundowner - 2015-01-29 4:26 PM I've just remembered the cruise control that we used when driving HGVs in the1960s, bearing in mind the maximum speed with your foot hard down was 50-55 mph. On the then quiet/empty motorways, we used to run flat out for hours on end if we were heading north to Scotland say. The accelerator pedals were not the lightweight things we are used to now, but you had to push quite hard to hold them flat on the floor. We used to carry cut off broom handles to hold the pedal down, thus avoiding cramp in your right leg. This was of course, well before they invented "health and safety"! My father suffered with knee problems for years from HGV driving and his were only short journeys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I smile when I read of some of the technology we have today....you haven't lived until you've used a crash box, a range change box, or my personal favorite a pre selector box that often would, if you got it wrong, have the clutch pedal shooting up and attempting to break your leg..........and don't get me started on ratchet hand brakes, and leaving the internal engine bonnet cowling off for some warmth in the winter.........no wonder I'm deaf, and my legs are knackered. ;-) As for cruise control like someone mentioned, in an AEC Major I drove, a length of rough sawn wood wedged under the dash board on to the throttle would see me all the way down the M1 to London. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve928 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Joe90 - 2015-01-29 5:21 PM you haven't lived until you've used a crash box, a range change box, Took my Class 1 test double-declutching a Fuller range-change box with its 'around in circles' gate. Ah the memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 The only pre-selector gearbox vehicle I've driven was this Lanchester in the 1940's but I don't recall any pedal problems, a super car until an officer decided he could do better than me and crashed it. The Humber Snipe next to it was another tyre humming one where we tuned our speed to the tyres frequency Had some good laughs with the Humber when the starter gear end got stuck in the flywheel and the officers had to jump out and rock me back and forth. The red panel above the reg, plate cannot be seen well but when on duty it carried gold stars to denote who. A wonderful experience ! Will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundowner Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 As usual Brian I'm in agreement with you. There is a short stretch of road through a cluster of houses up the hill from us,which was downgraded (quite rightly in my opinion) from 40 to 30 mph. Soon after this I updated my old satnav before passing it on to my wife and did the same with the new replacement. Neither of them showed this change. It was a useful warning to me. The intermittent bleep also gets a bit wearing, I'll probably switch mine off as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundowner Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Will, Joe and Steve, this is getting a bit like the "old truckers posts" on facebook! I drove a V8 Fiat for a couple of years between my usual Volvos. This was fitted with a 13 speed Fuller box with a nice American chrome replacement gear nob - the old one fell to bits in Italy and I had to sellotape it up to get home. Once you got used to this box you didn't need the clutch pedal to change gear. After a weekend off I could always tell if somebody else had driven it as soon as I put my foot on the clutch. Sorry chaps, I've gone completely of topic! It also happens when I'm talking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollybear Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 To answer the question what is being displayed on the dashboard when the speed limiter is switched on and whether you can select miles or km, I took two photos in one of our Hymers ready for delivery. You can select miles or km by entering the on board computer and change the units for distance. You can also see the symbol, one picture in "on", one picture in "off"-mode Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogher Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 Thanks, ollybear, that’s really useful. The difference between ‘on’ and ‘off’ seems overly subtle but I’m sure it’s something that you’d get used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobby1 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 On our Merc we had both speed limiter and cruise control, both were excellent in there own right. The limiter allowed me to set let's say 30mph and the not worry about breaking the law. The cruise control was best used on a clear road to maintain cruising speeds, using it in town can be a pain as it tries to keep your speed up to the level set, that is unless you have the super duper version that maintains distance as well. Our current van an Exsis 504 only has cruise control so I do use it in town if the traffic is light but it not as good as speed limit. Wobby1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 IMO cruise controls like those on our x250 are only suitable for open roads, anywhere with a low'ish speed limit implies extra hazards. 'Here' satnav on my Nokia has an audible alarm that can be set in relation to speed limit, of cause it can't be 100% relied on as mapping and speed limits will change, and I've rarely used it, but might be helpfull to some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I think Roger’s inquiry has now been adequately covered. The Ducato X290 has a ‘Speed Limiter” option similar to that fitted to his Mercedes. The option’s capability is described in the X290 Owner Handbook and ollybear’s photos show that the limit can be displayed as a km/h or mph speed. The X290 Handbook does include an example of the dashboard ‘multifunction’ display showing the Speed Limiter symbols (in the “Engine Oil Level Gauge” section on Page 119) but the issue is complicated by the Handbook’s mention of a ‘reconfigurable multifunction’ display that has a different format. Ollybear’s photos relate to the ‘multifunction’ display (not the ‘reconfigurable multifunction’ version), so it’s possible that this display is the norm for European Ducato X290s. It’s straightforward to identify whether or not a Ducato X290 has cruise-control or cruise-control+Speed Limiter as the latter’s operating stalk carries a “CANC RES” legend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollybear Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Derek Uzzell - 2015-02-02 2:03 PM I think Roger’s inquiry has now been adequately covered. Ollybear’s photos relate to the ‘multifunction’ display (not the ‘reconfigurable multifunction’ version), so it’s possible that this display is the norm for European Ducato X290s. It’s straightforward to identify whether or not a Ducato X290 has cruise-control or cruise-control+Speed Limiter as the latter’s operating stalk carries a “CANC RES” legend. There are two different displays around, one is for vehicles with manual gearbox (shown in the photo), the other one is for automatic gearboxes, there might be more, but not to my knowledge. To identify the speed limiter option, you check the operating stalk. The operating stalk for vehicles without speed limiter has two positions to select with the ring, on-off. The operating stalk for vehicles with speed limiter has three positions to select with the ring., -cruise control-0-speed limiter. The button “CANC RES” serves two purposes, to cancel or resume the cruise control, or to activate the speed limiter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogher Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Wobby1 - 2015-02-02 11:39 AM On our Merc we had both speed limiter and cruise control, both were excellent in there own right. The limiter allowed me to set let's say 30mph and the not worry about breaking the law. The cruise control was best used on a clear road to maintain cruising speeds, using it in town can be a pain as it tries to keep your speed up to the level set, that is unless you have the super duper version that maintains distance as well. Our current van an Exsis 504 only has cruise control so I do use it in town if the traffic is light but it not as good as speed limit. Wobby1 The Merc system is the best I’ve come across, but the new Fiat one would appear to be adequate. So long as it is (or can be) fitted to new vehicles, that will widen my choice. You experience seems similar to mine, Wobby1. As I’ve already stated, many will not appreciate the value of a variable speed control until they’ve used one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 There’s no doubt that the Speed Limiter feature is available for Ducato X290 vehicles. Whether it’s available for the motorhome you have set your heart on is another matter. Where Ducato X290 panel-vans are concerned, cruise-control is a cost-option on base-specification vehicles and Speed Limiter can be specified as another cost-option to be added to cruise-control. But if the enhanced “Tecnico” specification is chosen, cruise-control + Speed Limiter is included. Manufacturers of X290-based motorhomes may include cruise-control and Speed Limiter as standard, may include just cruise-control as standard, or may include neither as standard. It’s likely that all motorhome manufacturers will either include cruise-control as standard or offer it as an option, but there’s no guarantee that, if cruise-control is offered as an option that it will come with Speed Limiter, nor if cruise-control is standard or optional that Speed Limiter will be offered as an add-on. Consequently, if you are keen on having Speed Limiter on an X290, you’ll need to check carefully regarding what’s offered as standard and what’s available as an option. According to Fiat’s Owner Handbook, if a Ducato X290 does not have “CANC RES” on the cruise-control stalk it does not have Speed Limiter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogher Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 You’re right, Derek. Caveat Emptor. I know that speed control comes with cruise on the Merc but ask a motorhome salesman about it on Fiat and I’ve not yet met one that even understood what I was asking. You can’t expect them to know everything, but they don’t even seem inclined to find out (for the profit on an A-class m/h)! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogher Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 I’ve just come back from Go European in Gailey, having chatted with a young man who knew exactly what I meant by variable speed limiter. He had one in his car. A new Carthago model they had in stock had the “CANC RES” control stick. Although a £300 option, it seems to be a standard part of the chassis pack for the UK. Good value, in my opinion. Now I just need to save up for the vehicle it comes with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 My recently delivered AT Tracker FB x290 is 150 HP model with the AMT. The Aust spec vehicle comes fitted with cruise control & speed limiter. They are both on the one stalk, basically a three position affair centre is off, up for cruise down for speed lim. The cruise is in MHO a pretty average base item with no indication of the speed you have set, a serious negative with the increasing number of speed cameras installed here and in your part of the world. It also does not have the ability to hold you at a set speed when moving down hill. I have yet to really test the speed control having used it only once in my first journey of just 1000klms. Both options are available in klms or mph. If you want to experience the best in cruise try the MB E250 it is streets ahead of anything else I have used.Cheers Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.