Cruise Control and fuel economy

[northernuk]

There seems to be a couple of threads about you guys getting some monster mileage out of your tanks which make me hang my head in shame. I haven't had mine long but I seem to be at the pump every other trip out I have an 07 313bhp so am guessing I should be expecting a slightly worse mpg but seem to be hovering round 20mpg after a 20mile motorway and 15 mile lively sprint around the back roads to work.

 

Question that I have is what is the cruise control like on economy. Is this the most economical way to do the motorway or does the constant corrections it needs to do acually make it worse than some careful driving?

 

Never having had a 6 gear car before how often do you guys get it in 6th? Long motorway drags only?

 

Be interesting to see what you lot do.

[Ekona]

Cruise will almost always be more economical than a person, as long as you're in the right gear.

 

I tend to go into 6th as soon as possible if I'm just driving from A-B, else I'll leave it in 3rd or 4th and MPG be damned.

[s1xtyn1n3]

My average speed on the trip computer is 14mph. I'm not getting anywhere near 6th!

[GT4 Zed]

It would be interesting to know though my attitude has always been to enjoy myself and disregard mpg if you arte worried about mpg then you got the wrong car! same as contemplating between shell 99 and 95RON fuel

 

I use CC only on the average speed camera areas but i suspect it will be more efficient

[Greavsie]

Using the cruise control on my Golf GTI was always more economical. I haven't tried it yet on the Z though. I will give it a whirl on my way to Devon this weekend. I always get bored with it on though and end up putting my foot down. There always seems to be boy racers around when the cruise control is on. To much to resist me thinks.

[mc]

If the motorway is fairly clear or its through roadworks / average speed cameras, then cruise is the way to go. keeping a steady pace gets you better mpg, but its pretty boring . i'm doing almost 100 miles a day on motorways at the moment so get 400 or so miles to a tank.

[Boycey]

I also have a 313 but get alot better mpg than that, I avg about 24-28 but when on the motorway In cruise control, 6th gear doing about 80-85 i normally avg 32-34 mpg,

 

With a heavy right foot it tends to drop to about 14 mpg, but I only tend to do that on the twisties as it's so much fun, I also use shell ultimax, I think it does make a little difference

[rtbiscuit]

if you arte worried about mpg then you got the wrong car!

 

that kind of comment annoys me (nothing personal bennett ) there is nothing wrong with being sensible sometimes. just because the car goes fast doesn't mean you have to drive it like it has a bomb in it.

 

i like to get the most out of a tank sometimes, especially on long drives,

 

if you have the money to **** fuel up the wall then congratulations, but some of us have other things to buy... like mods for the car

 

i must admit as costs have gone up i am trying to be more economical. budgets get tighter so you have to tighten your belt sometimes.

[Steve Watts]

In my previous car (BMW 530d) I was always more economical without cruise, averaged 44mpg traveling around 90. Same trip in the Z (296bhp) is 28mpg. The BMW was boring though.

 

Looking ahead on the motorway and avoiding having to brake/accelerate around traffic is always smoother for me without cruise.

[Chris`I]

if you arte worried about mpg then you got the wrong car!

 

that kind of comment annoys me (nothing personal bennett ) there is nothing wrong with being sensible sometimes. just because the car goes fast doesn't mean you have to drive it like it has a bomb in it.

 

i like to get the most out of a tank sometimes, especially on long drives,

 

if you have the money to **** fuel up the wall then congratulations, but some of us have other things to buy... like mods for the car

 

i must admit as costs have gone up i am trying to be more economical. budgets get tighter so you have to tighten your belt sometimes.

+1 - coming from a biking background, I find it fun to try and keep my pace up through the twisties too, rather than fly in, slam on the brakes and hammer it out of a corner, far more rewarding I find to try and keep the pace up and the lines smooth and not touch the brakes much. Keeps your MPG up too as its constant braking and accellerating that will burn most fuel.

 

I find with the torque of the car, you dont need to rev it much at all, I honestly tend to drive it like a diesel most of the time getting to and from work as its boring roads, so whats the point in revving the nuts off it? It can quite happily go everywhere between 2-3k revs if you are just cruising.

[lrh]

...not touch the brakes much. Keeps your MPG up too as its constant braking and accellerating that will burn most fuel.

+1 A lot of drivers seem to think your right foot must be pressing either the accelerator or brake at all times Nothing more satisfying than completing my 30+ minute rush-hour commute and only touching the brake pedal 5 or 6 times.

And as for people who accelerate towards red traffic lights...

But even my average drops like a stone making short trips or sitting in traffic... It's a heavy car with a big engine

[spursmaddave]

It would be interesting to know though my attitude has always been to enjoy myself and disregard mpg if you arte worried about mpg then you got the wrong car! same as contemplating between shell 99 and 95RON fuel

 

I use CC only on the average speed camera areas but i suspect it will be more efficient

 

Well said that man!!!

 

If you can't afford to run it and enjoy it then don't bother!

 

Never seen the advantage or point of Cruise Control other than when your on the motorway in an average speed check zone for a few miles.

[ATTAK Z]

It would be interesting to know though my attitude has always been to enjoy myself and disregard mpg if you arte worried about mpg then you got the wrong car! same as contemplating between shell 99 and 95RON fuel

 

I use CC only on the average speed camera areas but i suspect it will be more efficient

 

Well said that man!!!

 

If you can't afford to run it and enjoy it then don't bother!

 

Never seen the advantage or point of Cruise Control other than when your on the motorway in an average speed check zone for a few miles.

agreed .......... that's what cc is for .... use only with sat nav speed readout in order to beat the cameras

[rtbiscuit]

i only use CC for long journeys, on the motorway, average speed cameras etc,

[Ebized]

With the digital mpg read out on the 370 and in cruise it is interesting to see just how much the mpg flucuates to keep the speed constant as a recent motorway revealed.

 

I don't agree with those who say it is more economical to use cruise as that is set to do your 70mph (or whatever) which means the engine is working hard on the uphills and then using engine braking on the downhills. I found I could keep the digital mpg read-out more constant without the cruise on and as long as you are prepared to vary the speed depending on the gradients you can be more fuel efficient.

 

The only time I ever use the cruise BTW, is on motorways to give my right ankle a rest and to have play with the 'throttle' on the steering wheel. Have yet to use the speed limiter on the 370 - that just isn't cricket

 

As Chris says, maxing corners without braking more than you have to will help save fuel - it just amazes me how many drivers you see jamming on the anchors into corners and then not in the right gear on the exits and that is a sure way to eat petrol.

[elfman]

in general cruise control is less economical that normal driving, because as said your using the engine to break. The roads to and from my work have got that bad recently i rarely see the point in revving the nuts off the zed, so i tend to use the torque and just sit at one speed, this see's 26mpg thats about 10miles b roads and 5 miles town driving.

 

motorway cruise i easily see 30+ if you think ahead so you dont need to slow down. this is in the 280bhp engine though.

[pathfinder123]

I have a 313 08, and it doesn't matter how I drive, the mpg display remains stuck at 21.4. Nothing changes, it is getting boring.

Can I reset the thing and start again ?

 

 

S.

[ATTAK Z]

I have a 313 08, and it doesn't matter how I drive, the mpg display remains stuck at 21.4. Nothing changes, it is getting boring.

Can I reset the thing and start again ?

 

 

S.

yep

[pathfinder123]

Tks.

[Greavsie]

I reset my MPG before leaving Devon yesterday on my way back to Bristol. I managed 31.7mpg. Not bad as I was doing 80-90 when I could. Also includes putting my foot down on a few occasions, Hills, Lancer EVO IV etc... If I was super sensible and did 70 I reckon it would of been 35ish or more.