Cruise Control???

[Sir. SpeedALot]

Ok guys, this may be a stupid questions, but I'm at work and can't reseach the answer for myself.

Do all the manual Mazda3s come with cruise control? I have it on my car. I haven't read the manual to see how it works, but it just caught me off guard. I have never seen this before. Anyway, just something I noticed.

 

[3junky]

Mine has CC. Never had a manny w/ cruise? I couldn't live without it, I use it all over the place not just on the highway.

All you do is turn it on, get to the speed you want to maintain (doesn't matter which gear you are in, although I only use it in 3,4,5), then hit the SET button.

 

[Sir. SpeedALot]

I know how to use it, I just thought it was odd in a manual car. My 6 has it and I use it all the time. Ok, so my question is this: If your going 75 and brake to 30-40, what happens when you push the reset button? Does the tranny automatically change gears to get back to 75? Anyway, I will play with it when I get off work.

 

[3junky]

No the tranny will not automatically shift, but it may try to reach the previous speed in whatever gear you are currently using. I would only use the resume button when staying in the same gear (such as breaking from 80 to 65, then back up to 80)

 

[PeteyBoy3K]

while you're crusin'

Ok, so my question is this: If your going 75 and brake to 30-40, what happens when you push the reset button? Does the tranny automatically change gears to get back to 75?

I think there is a threshold for when the cruise system "forgets" the speed you were going. I'm not sure what this is. it could be when you drop to 20 below your current speed... or just if you dip below 25 MPH.

in auto tranny cars, the cruise can usually set off the "kick down" switch and shift into a lower gear.... but in manual transmission cars, you get to shift on your own or let the car try to get from 40-70 in 5th gear. I've seen my manual happily climb back up 10 MPH after hitting resume (after I had to hit "cancel" and slow down). As for what happens if your car keeps losing speed: I think if you drop below 10 MPH after you set the cruise (on a hill or wind or something) the cruise control clicks off and lets you deal with shifting or driving slower.

just some thoughts of what thresholds to test if/when you find the time.

Fun side note: the cruise turns itself off if you hit the clutch or the brake, but not if the car get's knocked out of gear or with the e-brake, so when your friend is rooting around in the back seat and his knee bonks the car out of 5th... be prepared to press the clutch unless you want to see how many times the tach. can bounce off the rev limiter.