Oh well, I stand corrected.

In general I think Honda has excellent cruise control. I should of looked it up before commenting.

I guess I'd have to change my position. If cruise control is using engine instead of brakes to slow the vehicle than that would be an advantange in most situations.

Other than, obviously if you don't have cruise control engaged you are free to simply "go faster" and gain the momentum, even if you let the vehicle naturally slow back down once the downgrade is passed.

The longer I own The Fit, on open highway, the more I find myself using the cruise control.

 

Update to my previous post:

100% non-cruise driving (daily commutes) = 346.8 miles on tank = 38.2 mpg (fit gauge read 42.3 mpg) *tire pressure at 39 psi all around

This is almost completely identical to what I've gotten while using cruise whenever I have a chance.

 

I use CC all the time and control speed with the coast/accel button. The main reason is, if I don't I get sciatic pain down my right leg. I switch off if conditions are slippery, of course.

 

This doesn't make sense. With cruise on, if you want quick acceleration, just push on the gas pedal.

I use cruise as much as possible. It's like a creature comfort. Same for a/c. Being in SW FL, a/c is on most of the time. Some days I might turn the a/c off for better mpg, and as soon as I start coasting in gear, using zero gas, I turn the a/c on go get some cooling.

Using cruise, lets say on a 55 mph road, doing 55 mph, and approaching a slight hill, (not many real hills around here!) As I start up the grade, I hit the decrease button on the cruise, 1 time, and watch the instant mpg gauge. As it starts do drop, I push the button again. By the top of the hill, I may be at 50 - 55 mph, but the mpg. has remained fairly high. Accelerate, back to 55, going down hill.

 

I use the cruise control probably 80% of the time, even in fairly heavy traffic. But I seldom leave it alone, I use it almost like a hand throttle. I have always tried to leave pretty good following distances, so rapid speedups and slowdowns are few. (It's not like my underpowered Samurai, where following closely wasn't tailgating, it was drafting.)

So if I start gaining on the car in front I click the CC down a notch or temporarily disengage it. When I've matched speeds again I reset it or re-engage it. And I'm ready to use the brakes or step on the gas if the minor adjustments in speed either way just aren't cutting it with the cruise.

One feature that really surprised me in my '12 Base AT Fit was that the cruise control will downshift to lower gears for increased engine braking on descents when your speed approaches 5mph more than it was set for. I routinely drive a one-lane-each-way road about 12 miles, hilly with a 55mph limit. Since no one is passing all that way, there is no need to stay exactly x# of car lengths back from the car ahead. As I come up on what I know will be a loooong downgrade, i gently disengage the CC and let the car slow from 55 to 50, then I re-engage. My speed ramps to 55 on the downgrade then the trans downshifts, and maybe I'll eventually be doing about 58-60. Meanwhile I make it down the entire grade without braking, while every other vehicle I see is constantly on and off their brakes. Sometimes they get over enthusiastic in braking and I come up on them and have to brake myself. Usually that doesn't happen as my decrease to 50 right before the descent started had increased my following distance sufficiently.

Maybe because I learned to drive on a Farmall McCormick Tractor, that didn't have a gas pedal, just a hand throttle. Maybe because I drove some old cars that were equipped with real hand throttles, similar to their choke cables, made decades before cruise control was a reality.

I find using CC no more dangerous than gas and brake, as long as you don't let your attention wander.

Paul
'12 AT Base Fit, 25,000 miles