Cruise Control - threat or hazard?

How about some choices for those of us who don't know because we rarely or never use it?

 

I never had any problems with cruise control both in my Gen2 and Gen3. I wouldn't advise it in heavy traffic though.

 

I voted twice for 2010 Prius with CC no problem and for CC with problem: On the one hand it works fine with no unsafe condition/function noted so far. On the other hand it is much more responsive to increasing and decreasing speed then it was on my 2007 genII. I'm not use to this quicker response especially when increasing speed. I don't think this is a problem. I think it may waste gas though and wish the rate was adjustable? On the other hand, maybe I will use it a lot more and use the accelerator pedal a lot less? Does that make it more dangerous?

 

Bob, I use CC in my 2008 very often and never had any problems, but from what I read over the Internet, I believe that the CC problem only plagued 2004 and 2005 models, and apparently was cured during the 2006 upgrade. I read a lot of stories about "runaway Prii", some even from creditable people, so I believe there actually *was* a problem - but all these problems I read of were isolated to 04-05 cars. I even remember one guy saying (don't remember where I saw it) that his problem disappeared after a visit to his dealer in 2006 for a regular maintenance - who knows, maybe they re-flashed some ECU firmware secretly?

The fact is - if you look around for stories about Priuses gone wild, they are all from 2004 to 2006, and then they disappeared. I haven't seen any more recent reports. So maybe there was a firmware problem, but Toyota managed to fix it without public announcement, during regular maintenance visits of affected cars - that doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility to me.

Anyway, I can testify that in my car it works exactly as expected, and is being used *very* often.

 

In my one day with my Prius, I did notice that there is a slight feeling of not being control when pressing the brake very lightly and in cruise control. I didnt panic or anything, but I wanted to lightly press the brake as the car in front of me was slowing down as it was going up a slight incline.

I was pressing the brake very softly and then I heard the roar of the ICE and my car started to work harder to climb the hill and I held my speed even though I was pressing the brake. This was remedied in about .5 seconds and I just pressed the brake a little harder. I don't know if that qualifies as a problem, but I can certainly get used to just pressing the brake a tiny bit harder in order to disengage the CC.

In my old Ford Focus I developed a routine of obsessively pushing the Cruise control off since the cruise control on button was messed up and would sometimes get engaged when I was hitting the horn.

 

I just don't understand what is dangerous and hard to adjust to about having to push the brake pedal an extra 1/4 of an inch?

Yes, the Prius cruise control does not disengage as quickly as my last car did. It took one time for that to sink in and I didn't even remember it until I read the posts of despair.

Not a problem. Have the dealer adjust the brake light switch if it bothers you that much. It is hardly a runaway car scenario, in my opinion.

 

I love the DRCC on my 2010 V, I like how I can set it to 70-75, and if someone gets in front of me, it will slow sdown and adjust its speed downward, and then if they get out of the way, it speeds back up to it's set point.

and I have had no issues with it either

 

I voted No Problems, CC has worked as designed in both my '05 and the DRCC in my '10.

But I do have the issue with the brake light/CC cancel switch being misadjusted. I do not consider it a safety issue and it can be readjusted, but the switch is a little hard to get to (at least for old guys like me). I plan to leave it until I have the brake ECU reflash done.

I understand the concern over this because it does cause the engine and the brakes to interfere with each other until the CC finally lets go. This is quite noticeable when applying the brakes gradually and also means the brake lights are coming on a little late.

I had my car to the dealer for this once but they didn't want to adjust the switch and I didn't feel like pressing the issue, I don't like to argue with them.

 

One reason some of us are accustomed to canceling the CC with the brake is because a lot of older vehicles did not have a separate cancel switch. In fact my '92 Chevy pickup has a factory CC and it has no cancel switch except for the ones operated by the brake and clutch pedals. If you don't want to use one of those you can turn it completely off with a switch on turn signal stock but then you lose the speed setting. So I expect most of us with those older GM vehicles just tap the brake pedal to cancel.

 

You must be mistaken! I read on the internet (this forum) that everyone knows that the proper way to slow down from a cruise control ride is to pull the lever towards you. I must admit that this is the first car I have owned that worked that way, but obviously the guys who are smarter than we are have the world figured out according to them.

Most of us who have had almost any car with cruise control just tap the brake pedal so that the speed settings are not lost. PERIOD!

But I still don't think it is a hazard. I just don't understand freezing when a light brake pedal doesn't do anything. Push harder! Plenty of time to panic later. If you can't handle that, get a trike.

 

I voted no problem, but I think I have the second problem. The brake switch to turn it off is not adjusted correctly with mine. I switched to turning off the cruise control with the stalk. No problem on runaway cruise control, but I used the brakes on my old car so that the light would signal the driver behind me. I have not tried since installing the software update. I do like signalling to traffic that I am slowing down.

 

I have to bump the brake pedal a little harder in my 2010 Prius, compared to my other cars, but this slight difference does not represent a problem. I read a post on this site that the amount of pressure required to release the cruise control is adjustable, although mine is fine the way as it came from the dealer.

 

Hmmm... I drove another moderate trip today and now feel use to the slightly different feel/operation of the CC. I'm happy now with its operation and disengaging with the brake is no bother either.

 

I totally agree. I absolutely love the DRCC on my car. It was worth every penny I paid for it. I'm so used to it that I [almost] take it for granted. Now I'm actually reticent about using the old-fashioned cruise control on our other car. In fact, my S.O. , after driving the Prius for a while, almost had an accident in the other car because the cruise control did NOT slow him down as he creeped up on a slower vehicle.

Stu

 

Pulling the CC lever and tapping the brakes do exactly the same thing. Neither loses the speed settings, unless you slow down below the threshold speed. Below the threshold speed both lose the setting.

I have owned several cars with CC. Each worked differently. It's up to the driver to learn how to best use a new car. Pulling the CC stalk to cancel CC is a nice addition to the system. You don't need to use it, but it's a lot slicker than flashing the brakes.

Tom

 

My problem with the CC is that I am used to any tap of the brakes turning it off, and that is not the case with the Prius. I wish there was an option for that.