The cruise control feature on your car can be quite controversial when it comes to fuel efficiency. It can be a great way to optimize your gas usage, but can also lead to unnecessary acceleration during uphill climbs. Here are a couple of helpful tips for when to use this semi-auto-pilot.
- Driving in Iowa (or any other straight, flat, sparsely-populated areas)? Use your cruise control.
- Driving anywhere else? Skip the cruise control.
The reasoning behind this? Cruise control is a fantastic tool for maintaining a constant speed. When you are driving on a straight, flat road, cruise control can do a much better at saving you gas. However, when you are driving through rolling hills, or winding roads, maintaining a constant speed is not only difficult, but it can also by quite dangerous. According to Popular Mechanics, if there is not a line of cars following you, let the uphills slow you down a bit, and let the downhill get you back up to speed.
Here are 6 tips from Popular Mechanics to improving your fuel efficiency (with awesome graphs).