Discombobulated On The Cruise Question

[Hoovie]

NO, the question is not 'is Tom taller then one of Snow Whites Dwarves' but is about Cruise Control ....

I have the RAV4.3 SR with the 6-Speed Autobox. It is a very nice autobox, lovely changes and has this sequential Manual mode (and even got flappy paddles to boot - well to hand, anyway )

I find that when I use Cruise Control generally and I push up for the "resume" after having slowed down for whatever reason, the car takes off like a wailing banshee wanting to get up to the set speed as quickly as mechanically possible.

That is often really not what is wanted so I decided to try and flick the box into Manual so it would stay in 6th Gear and not drop down in an effort in imitate Usan Bolt on the 100 metres when I hit the"resume", but found a bit of an oddity, hence the typing of this poser .....

When I put the SR into this Manual Model, I COULD NOT engage Cruise Control. I am unable right now to find the user manual to have a read to see if there is a logical reason for this but cannot image there is though.

So the question is:

Why should an Automatic- Equipped RAV4 not allow Cruise Control to be activated when used in Manual? The Manual Transmission RAV4s have Cruise Control, so it is not like Cruise and Manual are somehow alien to the vehicle.

Hoovie of the Confused Cranium.

[IanXT4]

Ok here is a guess,

If you impliment cruise in manual you have to write all the software to handle the exceptions.

Ie say you enter manual mode in six gear and then approach a hill, what do you do ?

Change down - (do you just change down, if so at what revs, or switch to full auto ?)

Work the engine till it stalls or the customer changes down.

There are probably loads of exceptions that need to be delt with.

All this software has to be tested, verified, features communicated to the customer and it all costs money.

So maybe they thought for simplicity (and cost) if you want to cruise stay in Auto.

[Hoovie]

Well, I see your point but the same things would apply with Cruise on a fully manual transmission, would they not?

Also, the auto box DOES shift itself even in Manual mode if the revs are too low ( it supposedly shifts when too high as well, but I've not seen that in practice. It just stays at the limiter).

So Cruise on the semi-auto still makes more sense then cruise on a fully manual I reckon.

[IanXT4]

You forget the world is becoming a nanny state, Mr Toyota cares for you, so he cannot allow you to stall your automatic car or get into difficult situations that would require you to use your brain.

Just look at all the problems and bad publicity Toyota had in the USA with supposed runaway throttle issues.

http://en.wikipedia....vehicle_recalls

I would not be surprised if they chose to opt for simplicity. I like the piece at the end of the article

"Driver error or pedal misapplication was found responsible for most of the incidents"

Now is the brake the left or right pedal, its so confusing

[shcm]

You need ACC (Active Cruise Control) Hoovie. A few of those are only implemented with an Auto Box. You might not get the rapid accel with that, if something in front.

I forget the cruise is there most of the time. I suppose using the coast (hold set down - it's supposed to use the brakes too with VSC equiped vehicles) and accel (hold resume up) rather than cancelling, sort of defeats the object of cruise?

[CharlieFarlie]

My Rav picks up speed gently when the resume button / stalk is pressed ...

My Jag has that adaptive cruise kit and its a strange thing to get used to .... Not a fan to be honest.....

On the Jag there are two ways of using the flappy paddles.. Just use the paddle in the normal way and it returns to auto if no input for a short time..

Or I can select Dynamic mode which on My car with adaptive suspension firms up the ride and gives a slightly more aggressive engine map.. Paddles work as above..

Or select Dynamic AND Sport mode at the same time. The gears will then change by paddle only. It will not change gear manually. Cruise will not work when the car is set up this way...

Took Me ages to work that lot out !! SCHM would have sussed it in seconds.......

[Hoovie]

My Rav picks up speed gently when the resume button / stalk is pressed ...

My Jag has that adaptive cruise kit and its a strange thing to get used to .... Not a fan to be honest.....

On the Jag there are two ways of using the flappy paddles.. Just use the paddle in the normal way and it returns to auto if no input for a short time..

Or I can select Dynamic mode which on My car with adaptive suspension firms up the ride and gives a slightly more aggressive engine map.. Paddles work as above..

Or select Dynamic AND Sport mode at the same time. The gears will then change by paddle only. It will not change gear manually. Cruise will not work when the car is set up this way...

Took Me ages to work that lot out !! SCHM would have sussed it in seconds.......

I think, IIRC, someone else with a revised RAV4 (150BHP version) said their cruise did a fast resume and was a manual - guess maybe a different program in the ECU?

Interesting comment about Cruise not working in 'Sport' mode on your Jag, Charlie - I have been trying out various settings and it could be I was trying the Cruise in Manual mode AND with 'Sport' enabled? I'll have to check that out next time I take the car out.

Ref the Flappy Paddle and the SR, they work as follows:

If Shift Lever in Auto Mode, you use the paddles to set the gearbox range. so Full range is 1 to 6 gears - you can go paddle-down to make the available range 1-5, do it again, 1-4, etc, Paddle-up reenables the next gear to be available and so on - so still full Auto, but limited in Gears.

If the Shift Lever is in Manual Model, then the Paddles become the more usual up and down shifters

[CharlieFarlie]

My Rav picks up speed gently when the resume button / stalk is pressed ...

My Jag has that adaptive cruise kit and its a strange thing to get used to .... Not a fan to be honest.....

On the Jag there are two ways of using the flappy paddles.. Just use the paddle in the normal way and it returns to auto if no input for a short time..

Or I can select Dynamic mode which on My car with adaptive suspension firms up the ride and gives a slightly more aggressive engine map.. Paddles work as above..

Or select Dynamic AND Sport mode at the same time. The gears will then change by paddle only. It will not change gear manually. Cruise will not work when the car is set up this way...

Took Me ages to work that lot out !! SCHM would have sussed it in seconds.......

I think, IIRC, someone else with a revised RAV4 (150BHP version) said their cruise did a fast resume and was a manual - guess maybe a different program in the ECU?

Interesting comment about Cruise not working in 'Sport' mode on your Jag, Charlie - I have been trying out various settings and it could be I was trying the Cruise in Manual mode AND with 'Sport' enabled? I'll have to check that out next time I take the car out.

Ref the Flappy Paddle and the SR, they work as follows:

If Shift Lever in Auto Mode, you use the paddles to set the gearbox range. so Full range is 1 to 6 gears - you can go paddle-down to make the available range 1-5, do it again, 1-4, etc, Paddle-up reenables the next gear to be available and so on - so still full Auto, but limited in Gears.

If the Shift Lever is in Manual Model, then the Paddles become the more usual up and down shifters

Sounds like a fairly normal auto / tiptronic box then Mate.. My neighbour has the same car as You but in black.. Nice drive with a smooth box... Lacks a little punch but I drive the rav fairly sedately so no worries. I guess like most auto s a little power is sapped by the torque converter...

How do You find fuel economy ?? My Mate complains of heavy consumption.. Again a result of being an auto ??

I just love auto s though so will grin and bear it ....

I must give Kingo a shout and see if there is a Lindop tuning box for the 150 engine.. Is that something You would consider David ?? I worry about the extra load on the transmission...

The Jag has been tuned by Spires. Warranty is unaffected as they are Jaguar approved.. Standard power on the S version of My car ( My car is the S version) is 275BHP and 600NM of torque. Spires tune takes this to 315 BHP and 690 NM of torque..

But the S diesel shares the same ZF transmission with the XFR V8 5.0 petrol so should be strong....

[Hoovie]

I am currently on an economy drive (hence the question about over-eager cruise resume) as far as the current tankful goes and am on around 34.5mpg after approx 250 miles so not too bad really (better by about 10% from my overall average) - my driving pattern is maybe a little like yours? no daily commuting involved so the car may sit there for days unused, but when I do get in, I would be doing 80+ miles in a day and more likely 150-300 miles in a day.

I find the power enough for my needs (coming out from a 100bhp car for the last 18 months, mind), so not looking for a chip except maybe for an improved map to give economy and power together. For you, coming from a Chipped T180 and the other vehicles you are used to, it may well be a different situation!!

The gearchange on the SR is sublime - it is hard to feel the changes at all - the only way I usually notice is when I hear the engine note rise and the tacho go up

[CharlieFarlie]

34 is a little disappointing David ? I did near 400 miles today and display shows 42MPG and 95 miles left in the tank.. Needle is just very slightly under the quarter mark..

How many miles has Your car done ? Is it still tight ?? Having said that I'm still under 1000 miles (just)........

I don't mind though as with a tuning box I should be able to stay high 30s..

I genuinely drive the rav in a steady fashion. I stick to 70 on cruise on the motorways and mostly to the limits everywhere else. So performance is not a major influence on choosing another rav....... Economy has to be sensible though !!

[Hoovie]

I'm on around 12,500 miles so would expect it was reasonably run in. I've never seemed to get the economy others achieve on cars and no idea why :(

on the Qashqai I was getting 44 if I remember right (in my sig but I can't see it) when others boasted of 55.

What is your neighbour getting and is a bit disappointed with?

[anchorman]

All the autos I have ever driven go into this "man possesed" mode and hammer back to the predetermined speed on resume. I find that easing it back towards the chosen speed manually then pressing resume is better - the closer it is the less it does it.

Is most of your driving motorway cruising Hoovie?

[Hoovie]

All the autos I have ever driven go into this "man possesed" mode and hammer back to the predetermined speed on resume. I find that easing it back towards the chosen speed manually then pressing resume is better - the closer it is the less it does it.

Is most of your driving motorway cruising Hoovie?

Thats the way I am now using it, but kind of defeats a little the point of a resume. My aftermwrket CC with the 3 presets was a great idea. Kind of tempte to drop it in just for that!

Mix of motorway and long clear country roads. VERY little urban driving.

[shcm]

the closer it is the less it does it.

Yeah, kind of expected. Normal control system stuff, so that it doesn't overshoot the set speed.

It one of those things where you're caught between rock and hard place. Implement gentle accel and somebody will complain and vice-versa.

[junebug1701]

When I put the SR into this Manual Model, I COULD NOT engage Cruise Control. I am unable right now to find the user manual to have a read to see if there is a logical reason for this but cannot image there is though.

So the question is:

Why should an Automatic- Equipped RAV4 not allow Cruise Control to be activated when used in Manual? The Manual Transmission RAV4s have Cruise Control, so it is not like Cruise and Manual are somehow alien to the vehicle.

When I read the title of this thread I thought maybe you had booked one of those Costa cruises!!

My owner's manual states that the cruise control only works when the shift lever is in D or 4. I have the 5-speed auto and we don't get paddle shifters over here.

[Parts-King]

All the autos I have ever driven go into this "man possesed" mode and hammer back to the predetermined speed on resume. I find that easing it back towards the chosen speed manually then pressing resume is better - the closer it is the less it does it.

I find the Auris HSD cruise control is a bit like that if you want to nudge the speed up a bit it screams like a scolded cat

June Bug: I had the same thought as you, cruising is getting a little dangerous these days :D:

Kingo