Adaptive Cruise Control Question

I've notice that the adaptive Cruise control, it always speed matches the car in front of you, and when moving to the other lane it downshifts and seems to be at full throttle until its set speed is obtained. It also downshifts and seems to be full throttle to maintain the speed going up even small hills.
Is this normal?
I went on a long trip and on the way down I used cruise control and averaged 18 MPG.
On the way home I did not use Cruise control and averaged 21MPG.
I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express so according to the Old commercials I'm an expert.
So in my expertise I determined to not use Cruise control.
Anyone experience this, or were the Commercials just wrong and I'm not as smart as I hoped to be. LOL

 

Yeah my adaptive cruise does the same thing; I usually shut it off when it starts hammering like that

 

Can you turn off 'adaptive' and use it as a regular cruise?

 

If you don't like it just hold the cruise button and switch to standard cruise control

 

I'd wager that a head, and then tail, wind had more to do with it than the cruise did.

 

Normal. Adaptive cruise is handy but it isn't that smart. I haven't met a cruise control yet that I'll trust to do the accelerating for me. When I'm ready to pass I always disengage the cruise and then hit resume when I'm back at a steady speed.

I also wouldn't use it on hills. That's where it really kills milage.

 

I never use it even on level roads. The logic is flawed. It's not smart...it's dumb

 

Regular cruise control also full throttles going up hill, or if you increase the set speed.

 

I do exactly the same. I don’t think it is programmed advanced enough for a gentle acceleration. It probably could be programmed for a certain throttle amount, but so can my foot

@Rock Lobster , your pic freaked me out, love it. I just started drinking my martini but thought I already had 3. I was like, wait that dog blink? No. Took me 3 more times staring.

 

Or simply dont set adaptive cruise control speed to something significantly higher than the speed traffic is moving at.

 

Yes, long press of the button will switch it to “normal” cruise control.

 

Cruise control is not about mileage. It’s about staying at the speed that it was set to. There is a difference.

It does not read the road as well as you do, therefore even ‘adaptive’ cruise control does not adapt to the conditions in the same way (light throttle, coasting, etc...)

 

That was the intent. I'm glad it finally paid off.

 

Adaptive cruise control works great with the standard transmission. I can even shift up or down with the cruise enabled without loosing set speed.

 

I think it’s great when it’s late at night or you have been driving for awhile, or even when lighting is iffy. Great suggestions on turning it off when it’s not needed!