Hi,
I have to install cruise because my back and legs have nerve problems, My Prius has cruise and I am about ready to start driving it again. I would rather do a mod for my Insight so I am open for some feedback. Thanks
Joe
Thanks again Insightful trekker because after doing my homework and shopping the net, I went to my local Summit racing and gave them a printout of what Brandon Distributing would sell the parts at $252, so Summit beat it by 1$ added the tax and thats the rest of the story.
Now comes the fun part - the install.
Joe
Has anyone done a test to see if cruise control or just plain foot are better for mileage? I am wondering about the cruise controls ability to stay in lean burn on the MT.
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Jim Isbell
2000, 5 speed, 250,000 miles
"If you are not living on the edge, well then,
you are just taking up too much space."
Has anyone done a test to see if cruise control or just plain foot are better for mileage?
No official testing, on my part. But I believe it is generally understood that you will get better fuel economy without using cruise control. The reason for this is that cruise control is generally designed to maintain a set speed -- even on hills. When hypermiling, if you allow yourself to decelerate some going uphill and either let off on the pedal or even FAS when going downhill, your fuel economy will be much greater than anything offered by cruise control.
Down here in south Texas, everything is flat. The change in elevation on the 200 mile trip from Corpus Christi to Houston is less than 200 feet. But I still think that the cruise control, not being tuned in to find lean burn would likely be less economical than a foot.
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Jim Isbell
2000, 5 speed, 250,000 miles
"If you are not living on the edge, well then,
you are just taking up too much space."
I've wondered about the possiblity of adding some terrain "smarts" to the cruise control. GPS could be used to look ahead for changes in elevation, or for shorter look-ahead, a front grill sensor that might bounce ultrasonic or laser off the road ahead and read the bounce back.
For lean burn, perhaps a feed back loop could be added that might run the cruise control ±4 mph from set speed hunting for lean burn then trying to keep it in the zone?
The reason for this is that cruise control is generally designed to maintain a set speed -- even on hills. When hypermiling, if you allow yourself to decelerate some going uphill and either let off on the pedal or even FAS when going downhill, your fuel economy will be much greater than anything offered by cruise control.
On our CVT, the tach increases slightly on uphills, as you would expect, to maintain a steady speed. But on the downhills, the tach shows lowered RPMs, the regen bars light up, and the speed is maintained. No argument that my foot is more accurate than the cruise, but the penalty for using cruise on our Insight at highway speeds is less than you would think... I'm not at all sure how cruise would affect a MT, but I would imagine the difference in mileage is much greater in a cruise-equipped MT Insight... =]
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Driving on down the road in my 2001 CVT, going "Boogety Boogety" ...and until avatars are provided, my car looks just like the original silver Insight on the header, above... =)
Thanks y'all,
I am heading south to Fla. 2-11 with my girl, roundtrip 2500 miles so I'll let ya know what my cruising data is. That is only if my cruise kit is installed this week.
Joe
... cruise control is generally designed to maintain a set speed -- even on hills. When hypermiling, if you allow yourself to decelerate some going uphill and either let off on the pedal ...
Rick Reece is an original hypermiler, long distance commuter and had cruise control installed. His report in these forums was that if he tired of the necessary hypermiler vigilance that the cruise could "beat" him MPG wise. Else it was the other way around. Usually a few MPG either way on his route. And remember his LMPG was in the 90's! :0
But the "key" to helping any cruise be more MPG friendly is add a _bit_ more slack in the control cable / chain from the servo to the throttle. AFAIK its a fussy balance but the added slack (up to a variable limit, varies accodring to terrain) adds some rollercoastering to the hills. With the expected MPG improvements.
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Easiest cruise control mod for 2000MT?
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$267 for my cruise mod
