Does Using The Cruise Control Help to Improve MPG

First, congrats!

Now, on to the question. All in all it depends on your driving style. Some people learn all the little tricks and can gas miser their way to 50+ mpg without CC. At first I think CC probably will increase your mileage. But once you learn the car you can probably do better on your own.

For the first month I regularly used CC, but afterward I found I could get better mileage by planning ahead for things like hills and traffic.

Do a little experimenting and you'll learn the best way for you. Good luck

 

ifyou are able to devote 100 % of your concentration to your driving, then CC is not needed. you can do a better job. if you cant, and this car accelerates so smoothly that i have problems driving slow enough if im not paying attention.

for me, a combination of both works best for me. however, cruise control isnt better. manually driving after you have mastered the feathering touch is best by far, but i simply dont have the opportunity to devote that much concentration to driving. i frequently am talking on cellphone or concentrating on trying find where im going that i dont always pay attention to the speed, i admit, i do tend to read email and stuff also

 

Hey Fkeeler:

On my 3rd tank I goofed at first and got real poor mileage (37.8 mpg) so I set to "re habilitate" the tank. First hit the AC off., hard in TX with high temps and high humidity., also though with and w/o AC I found the CC could better run the car and that was at 25-40 mph in town WHEN SAFE TO DO SO. You can also ( I am in the process of learning that ) accellerate fast to 25-35 mph then SLIGHTLY ease off the gas and trigger either re-charge (green flow to BATT) or nothing (means coasting) and the mileage go up to 99.9, then EVER so lightly press down on the accelerator, to just maintain or prevent a large drop in CAR SPEED. If the car runs that way down on 99.9, you find that even if the mileage is atrocious on the run up, since this is a short period and the 99.9 MPG is a lot longer, the AVERAGE will be real nice. I was at 37.8 MPG at about 45 miles, now at 90 miles I am at 41.7 MPG, with room for more gain. All my trips are short, unfortunately, and lots of stop and go.

 

Sorry for the off-topic message, but......

FKEELER, I was wondering where you got $1500 under MSRP. I've been looking around at dealers in VA.

 

Craig the fact he was trading in a hybrid car with good re-sale enticed the dealer, and I am sure one way or the other the dealer made his profit. If you trade a gas guzzler you would not be treated so nice. someitmes if you just buy it cash the mSRP discount can occur. It was his whole deal that got him a good price.