Hey Everyone - my first post even though I have been reading PC for quite a while. I purchased a Spectre Blue 09 new September 19th and have put 4600 miles on it so far. I find that I am driving frequently on the highway and I do understand that one of the best ways to get high MPG is by using cruise control. I remember reading not too long ago that someone had an intuitive cruise control on their Prius. One that adjusts speed in regards to distance to the vehicle in front of you. Does this actually exist? If so, how intuitive is it and where do I get it and how much. It sure would be handy on the highway. Thanks ... Larry
I'm not aware of anyone modding their Prius with such a system. There's been a lot of discussion that the next generation Prius may well come with such a tool as an option, but there's been no confirmation at all to this point. FWIW, many of us do NOT use CC as we can get better FE by doing Pulse and glide and adapting our speed and technique to road conditions...even on the highway. That said, if your roads are fairly flat (not bloody likely in Golden, CO!!!) and you are going long distances then CC can make the driving experience more relaxing and will help your FE if your attention to driving tends to stray on long drives like that.
The title of your post and terminology was confusing to me at first. When I saw the title, I was thinking "what's unintuitive about the cruise control on the Prius?" You're looking for adaptive cruise control or intelligent cruise control which uses either radar or lasers depending on the implementation.
Hey 09BlueBoy, welcome and a great color choice if may say so !:rockon: I use the CC most times when travelling over 50 mph and where conditions allow. I find it helps my fuel economy too, but maybe because I'm not that great on the pulse and glide at lower speeds. There is rumour that adaptive CC might be on the '10 model (see the sneak peek series threads in the News section). However, you can sort of do this yourself, by cancelling CC to slow down and the resuming again to speed up, all without braking. You can also go faster by accelerating with the pedal and then letting up to return to normal CC speed. Not quite adaptive, but then you also need to be responsible for what your vehicles doing and I'm not sure I would like my car deciding it's going to slow down / speed up when it thinks its a good idea. Happy motoring !
