Cruise control has a lead foot

I have a V-6 with the automatic.

The past vehicles I have owned with cruise control, including 2 Toyota Celicas, were all very good at maintaining speed with the cruise control, and the cruise controls all had a very light touch to accerate when needed to maintain speed. They were all extremely good at maintaining the speed, consistently within a 1/2 mph range. Admittedly all had manual transmissions, the automatic on this truck was a concession to increasing age of the driver.

The cruise control on the Tacoma is not so good at maintaining a consistent speed, but drifts over a range of probably 2 mph. When it realizes the speed has dropped the damn thing seems to panic and floors it. This gets the speed back up quickly, but this has to be hurting the gas mileage as it typically shifts down 2 gears. It seems to me that in many cases a light touch on the gas should be enough to maintain the speed with no downshift, and the double downshift should be needed only in rare circumstances.

In addition to fuel economy, noise, and the discomfort of the sudden extreme acceleration, it seems to me this could be a safety issue. If the cruise control does this while going around a curve, the sudden unexpected acceleration could lead to a loss of control, expecially if there is any loose material on the road or it was otherwise slippery.

Anyway, is this typical? Does it diminish over time as the idiot computer learns (I have < 1000 miles). Have any service departments weighed in on this or done any work to reduce the heavy foot of the cruise control? Thanks for comments and info.

 

Normal won't change

 

Tacoma's cruise just sucks in general. All of them.

 

I have 12,000 miles on mine and it does exactly the same thing. If I try and maintain 75mph, it will constantly slow down then floor it .... then slow down then floor it again. I have tried sport mode and ECT mode with no difference averaging around 16mpg. It has been to the dealer many times and they say this is normal for this engine/tranny combo at speeds around 75mph.

Tons of threads on here about this.

Best recommendation ... on flat highway use the cruise; any inclines or hills then turn off the cruise. The Taco will slow down and regain momentum when the road levels out. My Taco cannot maintain 75 mph without constant shifting and flooring it, so I drive slower on the interstate at 70mph, and it is 80% better.

 

Yeah it's something to do with engine power and transmission. I know I know, second gen, but my 2011 4.0 Automatic used to do the same thing. Constantly at a different speed, going up hill it would lose speed and chunk hard down in to 4th and then I'd be going about 78.

My 2015 Supercharged Manual can sit in 6th gear at 75 for my whole commute home (about 10 miles up and down some hills and around some long curves) and doesn't deviate much from 75, maybe up or down 1MPH the whole time, but I can watch my boost gauge climb as I go up hills and then go down to nothing when going down hills.

I think the issue here is the power band on the third gens, when you start going up a hill, it can't maintain speed in 6th but it tries until it gets down a few MPH and then goes in to panic mode and probably shifts in to 4th to bring it up to a good power band to get back up to 75, but then over speeds since its still trying to get up the hill.

 

Yes you are right. The power band is not very good at 75mph. I have a ton of power if I ever need it, but it is up at the 3500 rpm range not at the 2000 rpm range at 75mph. The manuals seem to be better because the gearing is different.

Last weekend it was really windy/stormy here in Texas, and it struggled to maintain 70 mph on the freeway in 5th gear and mostly stayed in 4th at 3500 rpm for over 90 miles. My wife was with me and she couldn't believe the amount of shifting that was occurring. She said she heard the Taco say "I think I can ... I think I can ... everytime we came to an overpass and it had to floor it to get over the hill.

I really wish there was a supercharger option.

My Taco is "PERFECT" except for the lack of power/shifting on the highway. If it got more than 16/17 mpg, I probably never would complain.

 

Hello fellow Texan... the struggle is real trying to use cruise control on our highways where everything is 75-85mph..

 

You just described my old '07.
Haven't tried using cruise since '08.

 

Nothing has changed. Basically all you can do is use cruise control on flat roads and cancel the cruise when you're going up a hill and use your foot.

 

That's just how it is in a Taco... my 05 was that way and 16 hasn't changed.

 

Cruise on my 06 sucked too. I do think this one is slightly better.

G.

 

The taco doesn't have the low rpm torque needed to "adjust" when cruising at higher speeds without down shifting. This is especially true in hilly areas. The engine makes its power in the higher rpm bands, but the transmission is set to keep rpms low in order to improve fuel economy.... this ends up with cruise control being compromised to make this work.

 

I live in a hilly area of Wyoming with high winds and 80 speed limits. Use cruise in s6. Let the truck down shift when it goes up a hill, when you think that it should go back to 5th gear press on the gas and it will upshift back to where you want it. I hated the truck staying in 4th all the time. I know it has enough power because when I don't use cruise I can maintain freeway speeds in 5th unless there is an incline. Driving like that has made it a much better truck for long travel. It is a little annoying to have to make it upshift when I want it too but much better than running in 4th gear forever.

 

Same exact experience, I do the same thing you do.

 

Y'all just described my experience with cruise control in my Taco and 4runner I've had for 12 years. I just never put it into words. If your gonna use cruise it better be flat or your MPG will be destroyed. Glad I'm not the only one that feels this way.

I will say the 4runner handles it slightly better, maybe because of the DOHC.