Cruise Control and mpg

[spagball]

I'm quite lazy so even on twisty A Roads I like to use CC the engine revs hard from time to time when I come to inclines to maintain the speed

Is it better for fuel economy to not use CC in above situation and only use it on Motorways? Thanks

[Guzzilazz]

56 minutes ago, spagball said:

I'm quite lazy so even on twisty A Roads I like to use CC the engine revs hard from time to time when I come to inclines to maintain the speed

Is it better for fuel economy to not use CC in above situation and only use it on Motorways? Thanks

Definitely not...  I had CC on my previous car (Seat Exeo ST 143bhp) and CC was a lot thirstier.  It doesn't look ahead like you might, and will maintain the speed as far as it can, whereas if you anticipate road conditions, you would accelerate gently down a hill to gain momentum for going up the other side whilst losing speed... I don't know about the Focus, but I could beat CC by a good 2-3 mph.  The big benefit though is to set it at (say)75 which is more economical than letting your speed creep up to north of 80 or 85, when the juice drinking does get disturbing...

[isetta]

my wife's 2010 mazda2 ts2 does not have cruise control but you can set an alarm that beeps when you exceed whatever speed you set it at. this is handy to stop the speed creeping up without you realising (for economy and speeding tickets). It's a shame more cars do not have this on them.

[DJ_Andy_M]

55 minutes ago, isetta said:

my wife's 2010 mazda2 ts2 does not have cruise control but you can set an alarm that beeps when you exceed whatever speed you set it at. this is handy to stop the speed creeping up without you realising (for economy and speeding tickets). It's a shame more cars do not have this on them.

That's why they invented limiters. To stop stupid people excessively speeding. If a person is unable to maintain a constant speed, and keep an eye on their speed while keeping their eyes on the road, personally they need to either retake their test or just stop driving. I can easily maintain 70 on the motorway with the CC turned off and without the need for such features.

[Russ]

Cruise control/'twisty A roads'/tight corners........the word aaaaaaaaaargh comes to mind!

[Philf1]

Turn it off and only use it when you're in average speed cameras areas

[spagball]

Thanks for info thought that the CC will now be only used on motorways