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Cruise control.


Mike Culver

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Hi Mike I am lucky enough to have this on my Discovery - what a diference when towing! - with auto as well I can concentrate far better on road conditions and what is going on arround me. Appreciate you have a Motorhome but thought you may find this of interest:- http://www.carfi.co.uk/html/cruise_control.html?gclid=CKaS3Jry8IcCFTdMEQodEWz6gw A friend fitted CC to his vehicle a while back but this was a mechanical system, it worked well and was easy to fit. Hope this helps
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OK Mel, seeing as you asked and at the risk of being told off for advertising, for the new type stalk with three preset memory buttons built in I would charge £375 fully fitted to a current model Boxer, Ducato, Renault Master, Peugeot Partner etc. Current model Transits need to have the electric servo because of limited space in the pedal area and this adds £60 (soon going up to £75 extra). There are other command modules available and the price varies accordingly but you could always look at my website for more info. D.
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Things have definitely moved on Howard. These modern cruise systems can be tailored to suit the vehicle in how quickly they take up the throttle and how smoothly they manage the set speed. I've fitted a few now to the new "Durashift" auto transmission (really an automatically shifted manual similar to "Sprintshift") on Transits and it is really good with them, the transmission seems perfectly matched to the cruise and will downshift so smoothly it's amazing. D.
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Hi Don, Yes, in the case of the Ford Durashift system certainly it will change down on its own. Conventional autos aren't as positive about speed control with cruise because the torque converter introduces a certain amount of lag into the drivetrain. Most of the modern autos, Sprinter, Transit, Master for example, are computer controlled manual transmissions and therefore have no torque converter and no lag. One of the last sections of my road test route is downhill (fairly steep) in a 40MPH limit, conventional autos generally gain about 3 MPH down here when on cruise set to 40 but the Transit Durashift downshifts to 4th and holds the set speed perfectly. D.
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  • 2 weeks later...
I have had cruise crontrol on my last two cars but after a short time find that I don't use it. They are useless on British roads due to the road congestion and even on the empty Euro roads I don't find the need for it. I also agree with the previous posting that on undulating roads they are a pest, trying to rush up hills and trying to slow the vehicle on the decent, which is the opposite to your normal routine.
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Hi Ron. That strikes a cord as even going back 15 years it was very rare to enjoy cruise control for more than 5/10 minutes without having to slow down and reset it again. I did however find them a great way to drive when conditions allowed. Howard.
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The new Auto Roller we have on order has Cruise Control, we wondered what sort of difference it would make, it is on a Ford transit. Not had CC before, I have used it on ex hubbys car but Andy not driven with one. By the sounds of it not alot of use over here. Anything to show wether it improves deisel consumption or not?
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[QUOTE]RonB - 2006-10-26 11:49 AM I have had cruise crontrol on my last two cars but after a short time find that I don't use it. They are useless on British roads due to the road congestion and even on the empty Euro roads I don't find the need for it. I also agree with the previous posting that on undulating roads they are a pest, trying to rush up hills and trying to slow the vehicle on the decent, which is the opposite to your normal routine.[/QUOTE] Ron, Must disagree about the Cruise Control I use mine a lot in the Uk, with a bit of observation, anticipation and forward planning there great. One of the most useless things on British roads are the drivers. :-D I take it you don't have a disability or you would find the CC a great benefit. Don
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Hi Mandy. Nice to see you have a new Auto Roller on order though you don,t say which model. It is claimed that c.c. improves m.p.g but I don,t think by much and at least i,ve never heard of it increasing fuel consumption. Most of the comments on a recent thread re. c.c. were full of praise for these systems so no worries there and bound to be of benifit wherever you drive. The CM8 module shown on Dave,s website looks impressive with its simple three speed on off button making the last one I used look really primitive, and if they could come up with a system that recognised when you entered and left various speed limit areas and automatically adjusted your speed to suit then this to me would be the perfect setup. Howard.
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Cruise control is very useable in the UK. I've not been to the continent in our 'van and basically we only tour in UK but we have cc on the motorhome, wife's car and my work van (Bedford Rascal) I wouldn't be without it. If CC was a problem on undulaating roads then I would respectfully suggest that either the engine was not powerful enough, lag in the transmission or the cc needed re-calibrating was the reason. I use it almost everywhere. As Don said, "with a bit of observation, anticipation and forward planning there great." They can also be used to avoid speeding fines although you will find that when you're doing 30MPH, on cruise, in a 30MPH limit that you WILL be overtaken! CC can improve fuel consumption but this is more to do with how economical a driver you are to start with, I actually get about 1MPG more when driving manually than when using cruise but this isn't a big enough incentive to ignore the advantages of the cc. The only time I don' use cc is in heavy, slow traffic or on country roads where constant speed driving is not possible. Howard, "...........and if they could come up with a system that recognised when you entered and left various speed limit areas and automatically adjusted your speed to suit then this to me would be the perfect setup." If you read the MMM supplement from a few months back wherein I wrote about the future technology in motorhomes you will find that I mentioned exactly this point. I suspect it might be a long time coming though because drivers are notorious for not wanting to "give up control" and many might see it as "Big Brother" taking over. D.
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