Why does Cruise Control in Toyotas suck?

Not sure what this means? Ever looked into the actual uses of cruise control? Ever done the research on how to use cruise control? Inquiring minds want to know

 

I have a '10 Taco and a '16 4Runner and I agree - the cc is pretty bad. Want to open another can of worms? My Taco does less cc shifting on the rolling interstate hills if I put ethanol-free 91 in it. Because more power.

 

Here we go.....

 

I wonder if it's actually a software issue. No variance built into the program on the computer, so any change more then 1 or 2 MPH will cause it to do whatever it needs to do to keep the speed level...Even downshifting from O.D. into 4th or even 3rd, when it doesn't really need to.

 

Did I mention she's a good cook?

 

OP - does your Camry have an "econ" button? My wife has one on her Honda CRV and her cruise works a lot better with it off.

 

Did I mention she's a manual?

 

My Tacoma is a base so it doesn't have it, but I'll agree that Audi has it figured out, I have a '13 Allroad for roadtrips. It's so smooth on a resume when it starts accelerating and tapers off as you approach your speed, you can't tell when you actually reached your cruise speed. It also automatically applies the brakes at 2mph over so no worries of going way over speed on hills.

 

Wifey could drive a stick some 35 years ago when I met her. So either one of us could drive the Audi, the only question is who will drive the Semi to haul her shoes....

 

Well that's easy...

 

lol!! g'nite all

 

My wife's C300 is the same way. I regularly drive from Pittsburgh to Philly. If I set it to 75, it never sees 76 or 74. Makes me wish Mercedes made a truck that wasn't $500k.

 

Both of my Audi's and my TDI were pretty much the same as far as the how CC worked and every one was a stick. My 6 spd. Tacoma works just as well as they did. Comparing the Tacoma to an Audi etc. is kind of foolish. they have twice the wind drag and a good bit less HP to weight every single modern big truck I have driven does it's down shift thing in CC the more the gears the more likely it is to down shift.

 

Well, the man ain't wrong....

 

I agree. The only vehicles I've driven in the past 25 years that didn't slow down somewhat, or downshift to maintain speed going uphill were a Chevy El Camino and s GMC C15. Both had the 350 with the 4 bbl. Quadrajet and Turbo 350 transmissions. Plenty of torque for those occasions, which our newer, smaller motors don't have.

 

Can't wait for self driving cars!

 

Me too. Been loving cruise control since my folks got a late 70's Malibu that had it. Had a GF whose dad wanted me killed. They would track the minutes from when we left until we got home. So we were often getting busy rolling down the interstate with cruise on. I know, fuggin' insane. But you take a couple horny 16-year-olds and try to keep them apart they're going to be willing to take some chances.

My Taco is only the second vehicle I've had with an automatic. Ironically, cruise kinda works better on a manual just for this reason. The cruise throws too much throttle at it, but it can't downshift itself. My other auto was an '06 Tundra. Failing to pay attention cost several MPG. They downshift and flog the motor and the gas mileage goes south. Hadn't thought about the impact on the tranny...

I live in CO. Driving here even when not "in the mountains" it's always hilly enough to mess with cruise at highway speed. Paying attention to the multitude of things that happen when driving is the key to being a good driver. I love my cruise, but always kick myself a little when I fail to prepare for a hill (even a little one) by taking it off cruise and putting my foot back on the skinny pedal.

 

No econ button. Just a little bitty 4 cyl! Haha. I use CC a lot. Especially for commuting. Just drove the Camry on a 6 hr round trip Christmas eve and it was crazy how sucky the CC was. Haha. Maybe it's really the transmission. Like I said the CC on my 2000 Lexus GS300 was damn near perfect. Too bad some idiot totaled it in Miami.

 

Yep this is the problem. It waits way too long to react so it has to play wild catch up. For either accelerating, or decelerating.

 

Pic's or it didn't happen.