Is driving with cruise control on a motorway more economical than driving without?

Question

Is driving with cruise control on a motorway more economical than driving without?

Answer 1

Only time i use mine is when going through a

cluster of speed cameras.Motorways ? never

use it,think i use less  juice by Manuel,that way

i can feather my accelerator,not under power

all the time as it is in cruse control.

Answer 2

Believe it or not, you use more fuel with cruize control than without on the whole. on a freeway it shouldnt make a huge amount of difference. But it would depend on hills etc

Answer 3

If the road is flat, cruise control is very efficient and allows the driver to relax the feet a bit while holding engine RPM and vehicle speed steady...Going up or down hills is a different matter.

Manual control of the throttle is more economical (and safer) while over hill and dale...Whereas cruise control will go into a passing gear or overdrive (higher RPM) to maintain a constant speed regardless of the terrain, the driver can manage the gas pedal more smoothly and even slow down to adjust to traffic and road conditions as required.

Thus about the only time feasible for cruise control is when you're on a flat highway with little or no traffic and everybody is going about the same speed.

Answer 4

Most would say it doesn't make any different.

  IT MAKES A LOT OF DIFFERENCE

What happens when your foot is held down on the Gas ?

It revs the engine, it is more economical not to over rev.

So, YES, It is more economical.

Answer 5

no,not really..your foot will do just as good as electronics.

Answer 6

Agree with ucantcme on this one, using cruise control is more economical. Data downloaded from our telematics system at work prove this!

Answer 7

My opinion would be NO. (may wrong) i have no CC on my car, and can easily cruise at 70MPH. So i dont see the difference CC would make doing it for me.

Answer 8

It makes absolutely no difference provided you maintain the same speed when not using it...

But - there is a way in which it might be more fuel efficient.

If you set the cruise control at 70mph, you will maintain that speed, but if you control your speed manually you might be tempted to go faster, which in turn uses more fuel....

Answer 9

All of the above answers are incorrect.........Cold Hard Facts: Up to 14-percent savings, average savings of 7 percent by using your cruise control.

Answer 10

Yes. There are always times when your speed will drift, be it days/weeks/months, it will happen, whereas cruise control is a constant.  

I swear by cruise control in my personal vehicles, and even my tractor trailer has it on all the time these days.  Since I fuel up at the same mileage and place every day, I see the savings every time the pump stops(side note, my run is dedicated/repeat freight, identical truck weight each day)

Answer 11

I'd like to think it helps because it keeps you at a constant speed rather then slowing down and accelerating over and over.  I like it because I don't have to worry about my speed and it doesn't make my feet work so hard during long trips.