Depending on the manufacture a lot has changed in the past ten or so
years with cruise controls. On my '91 RV (Ford V8) I had to do the
shifting or there would not be enough torque left to get up hills at
any reasonable speed. With the 03 RV (Ford V10) I hardly ever have
to mess with the cruise control and it gets the same MPG as the 91
even though it is 6 ft longer and was towing 4K lbs! More over you
hardly know that it is shifting gears. On the other hand the 02 Jeep
GC (6 cly.) will shift on the smallest of grades even when there is
only one passenger and jar you with every shift. For some reason
they put a funny 3 speed +OD gear box in the 6 cly and a four speed
+OD in the V8. The funny 3 speed has a gear that is not selectable
with the shifter but only with the throttle and is not a passing
gear, go figure. The Miata, which has a 6 speed manual gear box, has
such a power range that the cruise control works great in 6th until
you get to some really steep hills.
Bob Kitterer
1960 Sprite (Mk IV in disguise)
1966 Sprite Mk III (Trevor, in boxes)
2000 Miata Special Edition
On Aug 16, 2005, at 7:06 AM, Robert E. Shlafer wrote:
> "....use gross throttle adjustments"
>
> Yep. My experience exactly albeit with older
> equipment. Wonder in these days of digital
> tech whether the new stuff is better in
> this respect??
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