Daniel Who Wants to Know wrote:
> "Bill Putney" <bptn@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> news:63id2hF282echU1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> Daniel Who Wants to Know wrote:
>>> I have written about the '95 GC SE that I got recently before but I
>>> noticed a strange (to me) behavior that I had never heard of before.
On
>>> an 86 mile round trip that I do twice a week I usually set the
>>> speed/cruise control for 54MPH (55 speed limit) and I noticed that
when I
>>> was going down a hill and the speed hit 60 that the trans down****fted
to
>>> help keep my speed down.
>> It's a feature on the LH cars too - probably most car these days. It
is
>> generally helpful, but can be annoying in generally hilly terrain as
you
>> go down one hill and crest another (if anyone is familiar with hiway
460
>> East of Lynchburg and Appomattox, VA, that is the exact worst-case for
>> what I'm talking about).
>>
>> Also, if you have the cruise set just below ticket threshold for the
>> straight-and-level, this will put you well over that on a long
downgrade.
>> I am in the habit (on two particular hills that I drive on my daily
>> commute) of punching the 'Decel' button 3 or 4 times (drops cruise
control
>> setpoint 3 or 4 mph) just before the start of the downgrade to start
that
>> down****ft earlier and stay safely below the 'get a ticket' threshold,
and
>> then to punch the 'Accel' button 3 or 4 times (ups the setpoint 6 to 8
>> mph) at the bottom for the long descent, then hit the 'Decel' button 3
or
>> 4 times again when returning to straight and level to return to the
>> original setpoint.
>>
>> This will never be a completely acceptable speed control augmentation
for
>> all terrains. If they programed it to hold the speed too tight, the
>> constant up and down****fting would be very annoying on minor terrain
>> variations. The way they have them set now works well for relatively
>> level terrain. In constant short up/down hill, the constant ****fting
is
>> annoying and does not hold speed well; on long grades, it allows way
too
>> much speed variation on hills if your goal is too travel just below the
>> speeding ticket threshold on the level terrain using the same setpoint.
>>
>> Bill Putney
>> (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address
>> with the letter 'x')
>
> LOL I should have mentioned that while @[EMAIL PROTECTED]
54 the rest of the people pass
me
> like I am sitting still so speeding tickets should be a non issue. The
> route is just 2 lane with some short slow lanes going up the hills but
the
> strange part is that after tailgating me for a few miles rather than
wait 10
> more seconds for me to get in the slow lane most people seem to pass me
just
> as we are coming up on one. I guess I am the only one who values fuel
> savings over small time savings.
Well - the feature, with its ±4 mph window is perfect for you. No
tickets for 60 in a 50.
Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')
|
