Engine Braking - Page 2

 
It's real nice when you are exiting a mountain range.  It will slow the
car quite well on a 4 or 5 % slope.  I kick in the cruise control and
let it take care of business.  If the engine braking is not enough for
real steep downgrades you do have to tap the brakes.

   dbs__usenet@tanj.com wrote:


Remember that Cruise Control doesn't work when you are in "B" mode.

earle
*

 
I didn't know that! It makes sense, though, and could be an important
consideration when somebody says their cruise control doesn't work.

Mike

 
While I have heard that several times, I've proven it incorrect in
my 2002 Prius.  I've shifted to 'B' and set cruise while coming down
through the cascade mountain range in southern Oregon, and watched it
keep the speed close to where I wanted it.  I've also seen it hold the
speed as I went back up small inclines.  I've done this multiple times.
It's not a fluke.

Is it just the newer models that don't use the cruise when in 'B'?
Is it the act of shifting to B that turns off the cruise?  Is it the
fact that you typically tend to hit the brakes occasionally when going
downhill, thus disconnecting the cruise?

There is no intuitive reason for cruise to work incorrectly when in
'B'.  If the engine braking slows you too much, it speeds up the engine.
If you are going too fast it increases the drag.

It does not keep the speed as close to target when going downhill in
'B' as it does in 'D' on fairly flat land.  It might go 5 MPH over now
and again.


Daniel

 

I was confused as to why my '05 would not lock into cruise.  Turns out it
was in "B."  Maybe something changed the way they thought about its
operation?

B~