cruise control/mpg
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 234
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cruise control/mpg
Does cruise control give the best mpg on long highway runs, or is there some other strategy for doing better? Normally I wouldn't worry about it, but I put a lot of highway miles on my truck and the price of diesel is killing me. Most of my driving involves long hills and declines in New York State. Thanks in advance, John
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 10,626
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From: Plano TX and Brentwood TN
Does cruise control give the best mpg on long highway runs, or is there some other strategy for doing better? Normally I wouldn't worry about it, but I put a lot of highway miles on my truck and the price of diesel is killing me. Most of my driving involves long hills and declines in New York State. Thanks in advance, John
Yes and no. It depends on the size of hills, but they can kill the cruise control argument for mpg that's for sure. If your doing a lot of flat stretches with rolling hills, then it might be alright(I've hit the appalachians and the quadalupe mts with cruise control and they didn't cause too much mpg lose), however, nothing beats human experiance on when to give the throttle a little help or let go, computer can't do that. Bottomline it really does depend on some variables, like alot of things that deal with mpg.
Posting Guru
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,990
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From: Middleburg, FL
Agree with Tex. It really depends on the terrain. If you're driving on fairly flat terrain then cruise is the best for mpg. If you're driving on hilly terrain then it's best to turn off the cruise. The cruise can't anticipate larger hills and gets behind the powercurve on maintaining speed going up a hill then overcompensates to bring the speed back to set point killing your mpg in the process. For hilly terrain it's best just to use your right foot with your brain to anticipate the hills.
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2003
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From: El Cajon, CA
