Cruise control not so good.

[Signess]

Anyone else notice that their cruise control is indecisive?
Driving on hilly interstates, it will downshift to 4th, then two seconds later to 3rd, and the rpms shoot up to 5000 or so to maintain 75 mph, and it will hold there even past an uphill climb. Seems a little weird/annoying/bad for the motor and tranny.

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

Anyone else notice that their cruise control is indecisive?
Driving on hilly interstates, it will downshift to 4th, then two seconds later to 3rd, and the rpms shoot up to 5000 or so to maintain 75 mph, and it will hold there even past an uphill climb. Seems a little weird/annoying/bad for the motor and tranny.

Mine is pretty bad. In Florida all we have are overpasses and some slight hilly inclines and it's terrible. Add some weight and it really has a hard time.

To help it out, I control the throttle by bumping the accl. on the cruise and speed up 5-10 mph like a trucker does to gain momentum for the next grade. Then when it starts losing speed, I ease my foot on the throttle and cancel the cruise so it doesn't kick down to 3rd.

Doing this on a long trip is a major PIA, but it helps with overall gas mileage for the trip. Keeping your speed in the mid 60s helps.

 

[3wbdriver]

What you can do to get it to upshift after you level out is put the shifter in S mode and bump it up manually. I had to do this several times while on a long trip through the western states a few years ago.

It's not actually dropping 2 gears most of the time. The first "downshift" is the torque converter lock disengaging, then it just drops to 4th unless you're on a real steep slope. If you watch the tachometer during the first drop it's pretty gentle and you only lose a couple hundred rpm.

This is my one major gripe about this model. To the point it has become almost automatic for me to disengage the cruise and use manual pedal on any upslope I think may cause it to downshift. But I'm happy with too many other things about it to make it a deal breaker.

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

^^x2 on the manual up shift into 5th. I also forgot to mention the first downshift being the torque converter unlocking as well. I do occasionally have it kick down to 3rd, but that's loaded down trying to do 75 mph.

My Son and I drove it to AZ for Christmas 16'. We drove it straight thru with 4 to 6hr stints averaging 65 to 70 mph. Adapting to the cruise limitations, we actually started wagering for the next meal as to who could gain a tenth on the gas mileage display. It made it a little more bearable.

And THE ONLY positive I see, is in hilly terrain you won't doze off with the cruise kicking in and out of gear.

 

[MissouriBreaks]

I simply disengage the cruise in hilly areas.

 

[3wbdriver]

Adapting to the cruise limitations, we actually started wagering for the next meal as to who could gain a tenth on the gas mileage display. It made it a little more bearable.

Lol! If only I could get my wife to play that game. She's all about "Get There, Get There, NOW". And I'm all about "Let's get a little farther, it'll only add a few minutes to the trip".

 

[Soneill]

I think it's funny that not matter how much gas the cruise applys the ECO light always stays on. Yet when I give 50%, off goes the light.:crazy:

 

[Breadman03]

I typically bump over to S mode and drop to 4th before notable hills. This allows me to make the shift when there is minimal strain on the driveline when the shift occurs and keeps my speed steady.

 

[Tuc4R]

Get a supercharger, problem solved. lol

 

[cbreze]

I think it's funny that not matter how much gas the cruise applys the ECO light always stays on. Yet when I give 50%, off goes the light.:crazy:

That ECO lite drove me nuts from day one, always flashing, on/off. Day two I turned it off permanently.

Regarding the Cruise Control I only use it on long flat highways, using "S" mode on hills gives me more control and some driving fun.

 

[WAT4R]

So throwing it into S mode while cruise is set won't cancel cruise? I just assumed it would so never tried.

 

[2012sr5]

The cruise control on 5th gens is more about convenience than economy. You can do better on any terrain than the cruise control in terms of MPGs. I stopped using it (and the ECO light) long ago.

 

[kenwilliams0803]

Exactly. I still use mine all the time due to 3-9 hour clips for work but it's not the best when hills are involved. Even in the hilly NE, I really don't find it that bad though. I just help it with a little gas to build speed if coming up on a big hill. Drive like a trucker and it's fine.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Magnetic]

I simply disengage the cruise in hilly areas.

:nod: :nod:​

 

[3wbdriver]

So throwing it into S mode while cruise is set won't cancel cruise? I just assumed it would so never tried.

Only if you shift below 4th, then it disengages. As I recall it is recommended that we tow heavier loads with these in 4th gear so it would stand to reason it would stay in cruise while in 4th.

 

[TRUSTYAXE]

With my mods and good gas, mine no longer downshifts on the over passes. It was annoying though.

 

[epjfsa]

Surprised no one mentioned what I think is the most annoying part of our cruise control: will take a few seconds to speed up after getting to a hill and not very aggressively, but then continues to accelerate until it's about 5 or more mph over the set speed before bringing the throttle back down.

 

[Ezlife45]

Doesn't sound like cruise control to me, rather more about the lack of power at 65+ mph making the tranny switch gears.

 

[gringo8251]

Like others have said, it sucks but not gonna change my love for the ride

 

[4FL]

I live in Miami and lack hills, but on my trips out of state, I find no issue with it. Of course my bar could be very low, I came from an Explorer that had a POS cruise, if not out right dangerous.