Can You Drive in the rain with your cruise control on?
You may know this already- but the highway patrolman told me that you should never drive in the rain with your cruise control on. He said if you did and hydroplaned (which I did) that when your tires were off the road your car would accelerate to a high rate of speed (which it did).
How does cruise control keep the car at a constant speed?
When cruise control is keeping your car at a constant speed it is actually overcoming the air pressure against the car, the mechanical losses through the gearbox and drivetrain, the rolling resistance of the tyres and any uphill gradient. It does this by doing the equivalent of keeping its foot on the accelerator a bit.
Is it safe to use cruise control in snow?
The answer is no, but only if you have traction control and electronic stability control enabled in your car. Ice, slush and snow is a different matter because you wouldn’t be travelling fast enough to warrant using cruise control and many vehicles don’t let you set cruise control at less than around 30kph.
Is it safe to set cruise control to 107kph?
Cruise control works by monitoring your car’s speed and then adjusting the throttle inputs to keep it at the same speed. It’s usually only accurate to within 3-5kph so it’s not a good idea to set it to 107kph because you will almost certainly exceed the police’s tolerance occasionally.
You may know this already- but the highway patrolman told me that you should never drive in the rain with your cruise control on. He said if you did and hydroplaned (which I did) that when your tires were off the road your car would accelerate to a high rate of speed (which it did).
When is it not safe to use cruise control?
When you SHOULDN’T use cruise control Don’t use cruise control when it’s raining, snowing, or when there are wet/ icy roads in general. While some newer vehicles have features that help your car handle wet roads and rain even while cruise is on, it’s best to be in total control of your car when you are driving in these conditions.
Why do you use cruise control on a long road trip?
When you use cruise control for long road trips or even short highway trips this allows your car to maintain a steady speed instead of accelerating and decelerating constantly. Because you are maintaining a steady speed this allows your engine to not have to work as hard to keep your vehicle moving at a steady speed.
What happens if you hit Cruise Control at 35 mph?
When that happens, it’s called Hydroplaning, and it can happen at speeds as low as 35 MPH. Cruise control makes hydroplaning worse by trying to keep your vehicle going at a constant speed. You can disable it by applying your brakes, but if you do not have anti-lock brakes, hitting your brakes while hydroplaning will only make the skidding worse.