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      01-28-2013, 06:21 AM   #1
plymjack
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Arrow Europe Winter Roadtrip

Having driven back from Kitzbuhel to Plymouth yesterday I thought I would share the fuel economy figures. Our 2.0 Diesel was a great fun to drive and very comfortable for the entire trip - the German Autobahn were fast too. We swapped over every 2 hours and maintained (85MPH) 140Km/hour in cruise control for the most part. Did a few short high speed runs at up to 130MPH - and the X3 felt rock solid.
Fuel economy was 40MPG - so very pleased with that given the speed we made and the conditions.
Road conditions were mostly just cold (-10DegC rising to +4DegC). Traffic was light for the most part - except round London!
Winter tyres proved there worth giving some of the conditions we encountered.
PS all speed limits were observed for this trip.
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      01-28-2013, 06:54 AM   #2
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It's good to hear a good news story on this site rather than all the usual whinging! Very envious of your trip.
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      01-28-2013, 08:47 AM   #3
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I heard that the cruise control does have a negative impact on the fuel economy (ie it uses the brakes) -- anyone has managed to quantify this?
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      01-28-2013, 09:59 AM   #4
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It does use the brakes (and the brake lights do come on too) but not excessively, it makes use of the gearbox when going up hill too, but the figures seem to show that overall the impact is acceptable.
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      01-28-2013, 12:12 PM   #5
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Great results and sounds like a fun trip.
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      01-28-2013, 12:21 PM   #6
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I read that you should always use cruise control when safe to do so because it improves economy, especially on motorways when you're maintaining a constant speed. But clearly I was wrong after googling this! Thanks for bringing this up guys... Being a real tight arse I'm off to tape up the cruise control now just in case I accidentally activate it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...nsumption.html
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      01-28-2013, 12:26 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 18d View Post
I read that you should always use cruise control when safe to do so because it improves economy, especially on motorways when you're maintaining a constant speed. But clearly I was wrong after googling this! Thanks for bringing this up guys... Being a real tight arse I'm off to tape up the cruise control now just in case I accidentally activate it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/...nsumption.html
Fuel consumption might be worse with the BMW "Dynamic" cruise which brakes the car when going to fast downhill. Might have been a good idea to make that feature of the cruise control configurable in iDrive.
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      01-28-2013, 01:06 PM   #8
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I personally think people braking at cruisng speed on the motorway are a menace to everyone behind them, so I've very unlikely to use a "selfish" cruise control like that.
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      01-28-2013, 01:40 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by buze View Post
I personally think people braking at cruisng speed on the motorway are a menace to everyone behind them, so I've very unlikely to use a "selfish" cruise control like that.
What kind of a driver waits for their cruise control to brake for them, especially on a motorway!!! Agree with you though, avoidable braking on the motorway should be an offence. As bad as tailgating.
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      01-28-2013, 02:38 PM   #10
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Decent MPG return with that type of driving and high average speed - sounds like a great trip.
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      01-29-2013, 05:24 PM   #11
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UK to Les Arc 1950 (France)

I recently completed a high speed round trip to the Les Arc 1950 ski resort.
With the 30d and a large top box I managed approx 33mpg. Auroroute driving speed was 82mph, but did increase while overtaking. There were a few high speed get aways from the toll booths which probably didn't help the MPG.
Fortunately I had clear roads in the mountains- I only had stock tyres on the x3 along with backup autosocks in the boot.
I had a few slushy patches on the mountain hairpins, which kicked in the traction control- but all was in control.
Very happy with the X3 over the journey. Could have done with 100 litres more luggage space, but managed to cram it all in somehow.
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      01-30-2013, 03:08 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 18d View Post
What kind of a driver waits for their cruise control to brake for them, especially on a motorway!!! Agree with you though, avoidable braking on the motorway should be an offence. As bad as tailgating.
Since when has driving at a constant speed been an offence?
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      01-30-2013, 03:13 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by buze View Post
I personally think people braking at cruisng speed on the motorway are a menace to everyone behind them, so I've very unlikely to use a "selfish" cruise control like that.
Well your paying for it so it.... cant see the problem with maintaining a constant speed, how is that selfish?
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      01-30-2013, 04:35 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by plymjack View Post
Well your paying for it so it.... cant see the problem with maintaining a constant speed, how is that selfish?
I'm not too sure what the issue is with the Cruise Control braking. The only time I can see the cruise control braking is down a steep hill, when I wouldn't use cruise control anyway. I'd probably be braking or down shifting if the car was gaining speed from the road decline.
Wind resistance is a natural brake, so on the motorway you rarely have to brake to reduce speed unless in busy traffic, where again I wouldn't use cruise control.
It's all a bit academic in the SE of the UK. I very rarely get chance to use cruise control- it's too busy
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      01-30-2013, 07:20 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by plymjack View Post
Well your paying for it so it.... cant see the problem with maintaining a constant speed, how is that selfish?
It is because of the reported shockwave effect of brake lights on the motorway. Basically most drivers tail at a distance which means that when they see a brake light will automatically apply their own brakes and they invariably over compensate. This results in the build up of congestion and if you have a few tail-gaters in the mix it can result in standstill and/or accidents.

You should always drive at a comfortable distance from the car ahead so that you do not need to apply brakes (just use engine braking) for minor variations in speed. If you keep a reasonable distance, you very rarely need to apply the brakes on a motorway unless there is traffic.
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      01-30-2013, 09:08 AM   #16
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Im well aware of this effect, but if you are using cruise control to maintain a constant speed them it will not be an issue, the braking only occurs when going down hill to prevent an increase in speed.
The posts I was commenting on clearly do not understand cruise control. - as as stated (by Philtrick123) cruise control is only of real use on less crowded roads so the "shockwave effect is unlikely to be an issue - and most of this 1000 mile journey was on open fast clear Autobahn where cruise control worked extremely.
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      01-30-2013, 10:41 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by plymjack View Post
Im well aware of this effect, but if you are using cruise control to maintain a constant speed them it will not be an issue, the braking only occurs when going down hill to prevent an increase in speed.
The posts I was commenting on clearly do not understand cruise control. - as as stated (by Philtrick123) cruise control is only of real use on less crowded roads so the "shockwave effect is unlikely to be an issue - and most of this 1000 mile journey was on open fast clear Autobahn where cruise control worked extremely.
Fair enough if you are using it on an empty road, but if not then surely on most motorway journeys (outside of the Netherlands) you would be regularly hitting downhill stretches of road and the brakes would be applied? For a driver behind you not using cruise control that could conceivably be frustrating/confusing given that the road in front of you would be clear. Unless of course this only happens on exceptionally steep inclines and engine braking is otherwise employed.

Not particularly sure why I am trying to explain somebody else's comments other than that frequent and apparently unnecessary braking on the motorway is a pet hate of mine.
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      01-30-2013, 11:30 AM   #18
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Maybe you should give it a go and see when then system applies brakes. We drove across Germany mostly using Cruise control. Clearly on some of the larger descents the system would brake to control the speed, but so would anyone else do the same so I don't understand the problem. Maintaining a steady 140kph can hardly annoy a following driver.

How can constant speed driving annoy some one behind you?
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      01-30-2013, 11:52 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by plymjack View Post
Maybe you should give it a go and see when then system applies brakes. We drove across Germany mostly using Cruise control. Clearly on some of the larger descents the system would brake to control the speed, but so would anyone else do the same so I don't understand the problem. Maintaining a steady 140kph can hardly annoy a following driver.

How can constant speed driving annoy some one behind you?
Because it is not the natural, default driving style which conversely involves a constant variation of speed depending upon road conditions including gradient. Drivers generally (probably unconsciously half the time) speed up on downhill stretches of road and are more likely to use engine braking rather than their brakes. This is less abrupt and more economical. If a driver not using cruise control is following one that is using cruise control, they will likely end up having to apply their own brakes manually.

I have tried cruise control once on a short trip but I think I recall that it was not obvious to me whether or not the brakes were being applied or just engine braking. Will give it another go next time I get the opportunity for a roadtrip. I cannot imagine cruise control would work too well in London suburbs
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      01-30-2013, 12:09 PM   #20
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I don't understand what all the fuss is about. I've used cruise for years on motorways and local roads. It's a bit of a pain that other people on the motorway keep slowing down and speeding up when I'm using cruise, but it's also really useful to keep you within the speed limits on suburban roads.
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      01-30-2013, 03:13 PM   #21
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If ya wanna use it, do so. If not, don't... Simples!
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      01-30-2013, 03:39 PM   #22
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what the heck is cruise control braking?
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