Stupid Question but, um, cruise control

Turn it on by clicking the button on the outside of the "stalk," reach desired speed and then press the "stalk" downward and release.

 

Just to add to the above, you can pull the stalk toward you to disengage cruise or press on the brake. Then you can press the stalk upward to resume.

Also, bumping the stalk downward decreases the cruise setpoint and bumping upward increases the setpoint 1 mpg at a time.

 

My favourite trick is trying to temporarily disable cruise with the stalk pull, but pulling the windshield washer stalk instead, which squirts the windshield and activates wipers

 

When you get to speed, push down "set" the cruise and on the '10, there is a "set" that lights up under the odometer-looking symbol. Another point, if you need to slow, push the lever down and hold, it will automatically use engine to reduce the speed. Lots of interesting little details to discover, read the manual and have fun.

 

For safety reasons all cruise controls (all the ones that I have used anyway) require two steps to initially engage them so as to avoid accidentally engaging the cruise. The first step is to "activate" the cruise control by turning it on. Then you set it at whatever speed you want. As long as you don't "deactivate" (i.e. turn off) the cruise control you can keep changing speed settings with just one click either up or down.

Toyota cruise controls have for many years had some very nice features that I am only now starting to find on other cars: As mentioned by jdcollins5 you can "cancel" (i.e. disengage) the cruise by pulling the stalk towards you. Why is this important? On most cars (up until recently) the only way to temporarily disengage was to deactivate the cruise (i.e. turn it off) or else touch the brake pedal. However if you deactivate the cruise on most cars it loses your setting, to set it again you have to do the two-step process all over again and you have to set your speed again. No big deal until you have done this for the 100th time on a highway drive . Your other option on most cars is to touch the brake pedal which cancels cruise without deactivating and keeps your setting in memory, and you can later press "resume" and it will get you back to your previous set speed. However I don't like to press the brake pedal on the freeway or highway when I don't have to.

With Toyota cruise controls (and increasing number of other cars) you have a third option to disengage cruise which which is to pull the stalk towards you, which cancels, does not deactivate, and when you are ready with just one click you can press resume to get back to your set speed. And you can do this without touching the brake.

Another advantage with Toyota, other cars (until recently) when you resume a previously set speed and you are say 10mph below that, it guns the engine and handles the situation very poorly. If you have a passenger in the car with you they will think you have lost your mind :crazy: however with Toyota cruise control I can be 20mph below my previously set speed, press "resume" and it smoothly brings me back up to my previous speed.

Note: if your speed drops below 25mph it will lose your setting and resume will not work.

One other nice touch - want to go 5mph faster? Click it five times very quickly, it will smoothly accelerate up to your new speed.

Want the ultimate cruise control? Get an ATP with DRCC! I am sort of kidding, that's an incredible feature on the high-end Prius options packages which will automatically adjust your speed based on the car in front of you. It's a great feature that I am determined to have on my next car which is why I haven't upgraded yet, it's very expensive to get DRCC at the moment

 

Note: if your speed drops below 25mph it will lose your setting and resume will not work.


My '97 Lexus loses it set speed if I get below 25mph, (very annoying) but the '10 Prius doesn't loose the setting even at a stop, the only way it loses memory is if cruise is turned off or turn the car off.

 

How do you know? It's an icon on the multifunction display -- sort of below the one that tells you the low beams are on. Looks like a round speedometer. When the speed has been set, another part of the display lights up ans says "set.". As with your old buttons, when you hold the wand up or down, the car will accekerate or decelerate until you let go.

 

Yes and no. From my experience, the cruise control in the 2010 Prius and 2012 Prius c behave identically. If you decelerate below 25mph and attempt to resume (or set it for that matter), neither of these cars will do so. However, neither lose the previous CC speed setting either. As long as you are traveling at 25mph or higher (even after a stop), the Prius c will resume at the last set speed when engaged.