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Author Topic: I-81 in Virginia  (Read 31530 times)

Beltway

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Re: I-81 in Virginia
« Reply #125 on: May 16, 2019, 08:16:16 PM »

My only experience with cruise control was during a trip in August 2007 when I drove a 2007 Chevy Silverado (4.3L V6) to Michigan. Cruise control was worthless in the mountains.
What sort of mountains and what elevations?  I can't say that I have driven at 10,000 feet or more anywhere, but at least up to 4,000 feet and 5.0% grades for Interstate highways.
I forget the exact spot, but it was somewhere in WV on I-77 between Beckley and Charleston.

With the amount of horizontal curvature and traffic on that highway segment, sometimes cruise control is not effective.
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webny99

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Re: I-81 in Virginia
« Reply #126 on: May 17, 2019, 10:34:18 AM »

... ... ...

Yeah, OK. If your preferred speed is within a few mph of 80, it's very easy to accidentally exceed 80. Enough said.

I'm with Scott regarding cruise control on I-81.  Except where you have to slow down for trucks or heavier traffic, it's not hard to maintain a consistent cruise control speed on 81.  If it is hard, it's probably because the "cruise control" in your vehicle is horrid.

Uh, yeah, that would be a rather significant percentage of the time.

Once your cruise control is on, of course it's not hard to maintain. But you can't even set it at all with trucks passing, and its not worth setting unless it is going to remain set for several miles, which is not very likely. Traffic has to be pretty light in order for you to keep the cruise set for any significant distance, exponentially so the higher your preferred cruising speed is. (i.e. setting the cruise at 70 is a lot more realistic than 75+).
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hbelkins

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Re: I-81 in Virginia
« Reply #127 on: May 17, 2019, 12:18:09 PM »

I drove a very new Jeep Compass (slightly more than 4,000 miles on it) for work yesterday to Paintsville, on the fairly gentle grades of the Mountain Parkway and US 460. With a new, modern vehicle like that, I'd easily pick up 5 mph going downhill with the cruise control activated. Engine braking was nonexistent.
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Beltway

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Re: I-81 in Virginia
« Reply #128 on: May 17, 2019, 01:36:15 PM »

... ... ...
Yeah, OK. If your preferred speed is within a few mph of 80, it's very easy to accidentally exceed 80. Enough said.

When I set my cruise control to 79 mph on an Interstate my speed does not go beyond that even on downgrades.

Once your cruise control is on, of course it's not hard to maintain. But you can't even set it at all with trucks passing, and its not worth setting unless it is going to remain set for several miles, which is not very likely.

If trucks are passing then you are probably going less than the speed limit in any case. 

I use cruise control in some cases on lower speed local roads.  If I look ahead and see a mile or so of potential usage on, say, a 35 mph street, I let the cruise control do the work.  Give my foot a rest but keep it near the brake pedal in case I need to brake.

I drove a very new Jeep Compass (slightly more than 4,000 miles on it) for work yesterday to Paintsville, on the fairly gentle grades of the Mountain Parkway and US 460. With a new, modern vehicle like that, I'd easily pick up 5 mph going downhill with the cruise control activated. Engine braking was nonexistent.

Rather poor cruise control, IYAM, at least on a freeway.  Above, 2016 Buick Lacrosse.  My previous vehicles had similar results (2003, 1994).

Now on a 7% downgrade on a 2-lane highway, that might not hold, but there we are talking about a 55 mph speed limit, and I can downshift from 6 down to 3 and get it to hold the set speed fine.
 
« Last Edit: May 17, 2019, 01:43:25 PM by Beltway »
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Rothman

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Re: I-81 in Virginia
« Reply #129 on: May 17, 2019, 05:47:35 PM »

I drove a very new Jeep Compass (slightly more than 4,000 miles on it) for work yesterday to Paintsville, on the fairly gentle grades of the Mountain Parkway and US 460. With a new, modern vehicle like that, I'd easily pick up 5 mph going downhill with the cruise control activated. Engine braking was nonexistent.
Huh?  I doubt that and haven't that kind of trouble with cruise control in a decade.  Modern cruise control is pretty good, even on downgrades.
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Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

1995hoo

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Re: I-81 in Virginia
« Reply #130 on: May 17, 2019, 09:15:48 PM »

I frequently use cruise control on local roads, especially in school zones when the reduced speed limit is in effect.
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famartin

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Re: I-81 in Virginia
« Reply #131 on: May 17, 2019, 09:32:25 PM »

I use cc almost all the time, granted sometimes it will only be good for a few seconds if someone gets in front of me unexpectedly or a light decides to turn. I try to make appearances in the left lane as brief as possible when using it, tho.

I’ve found my Prius cc extremely reliable, but on occasions when I needed a rental, they are hit and miss as far as how closely they stick to the speed. Don’t remember what type of vehicle failed most in this area.
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1995hoo

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Re: I-81 in Virginia
« Reply #132 on: May 17, 2019, 09:42:32 PM »

Funny thing about cruise control accuracy is that I’ve long found manual-shift cars’ cruise controls to be more reliable at holding a speed than automatics’ are, and that includes my 2004 TL (manual) versus my wife’s 2015 TLX (automatic). But I will use the TLX’s cruise in situations where I won’t use the other cars’, including in truck traffic on I-81, because it’s an “adaptive”  cruise control that adjusts the car’s speed to maintain a following distance. It does take a bit of learning at first to know when the system is likely to brake hard or when you need to cancel it to avoid it letting someone cut you off, but that’s relatively minor.
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"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
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"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

 


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