Problem??? with Cruise Control?

[ExDusterRacer]

My car is a 2009 Mazda 5, Grand Touring Edition.

I used the cruise control while driving from El Paso to Santa Fe last weekend.
There are no mountains on the route, but there are a few hills.

It was while negotiating some of the hills that I discovered an annoyance with
the cruise control. I set it on 80 mph indicated on level ground. When going
up hill, the car would down shift one time, wait a few seconds then down-shift to 3rd gear.

The engine would then buzz almost to redline and stay
there until the top of the hill was reached. By that time the speed had
increased to 88 mph or higher before the transmission shifted back into 5th
allowing the engine to slow down and the speed to settle back down to the
set speed of 80 mph.

So why did the cruise control take the car higher than the speed I set before
the hill? Do all Mazda cruise controls act this way, or does mine need to be checked out?

Thanks!

 

[Robotazky]

My car is a 2009 Mazda 5, Grand Touring Edition.

I used the cruise control while driving from El Paso to Santa Fe last weekend.
There are no mountains on the route, but there are a few hills.

It was while negotiating some of the hills that I discovered an annoyance with
the cruise control. I set it on 80 mph indicated on level ground. When going
up hill, the car would down shift one time, wait a few seconds then down-shift to 3rd gear.

The engine would then buzz almost to redline and stay
there until the top of the hill was reached. By that time the speed had
increased to 88 mph or higher before the transmission shifted back into 5th
allowing the engine to slow down and the speed to settle back down to the
set speed of 80 mph.

So why did the cruise control take the car higher than the speed I set before
the hill? Do all Mazda cruise controls act this way, or does mine need to be checked out?

Thanks!

That is normal. Mine does the exact same thing. My little Mazda MX3 is even worse. You'll just have to write it off as a negative in the pros and cons of owning a 5. It drives me nuts also. Apparently cruise control is not high on the list of priorities at Mazda.

 

[A1an]

Sounds like "normal" Mazda cruise control. Mine does the same thing and my wife's '04 Mazda 3 also worked this way. These are the only cars I've ever owned with cruise control that does not maintain speed on hills. Pretty much defeats the purpose in my opinion. Luckily I live in a fairly flat state so I don't have to deal with it too much.

What also really annoys me is when you want to bump down your speed a bit. It goes down like 3-4mph then goes back up a few mph. It is as if it overshoots your intended speed or something.

 

[njaremka]

as others have stated, its normal for mazda cruise control to ast that way. it works much better when you swap out the auto for a manual tranny.

the down shift and hold feature is part of the transmission control program. it designed to minmize gear hunting when running up hill.

 

[ljmattox]

My MT with cruise has no issues, works just about like you'd expect. The bump-increase and bump-decrease work particularly well compared to anything I've had in the past.

It can overrun the speed on steep hills, though, needing the brake pedal to intervene. Recent cars I've driven with automatics will downshift to hold the speed to the set value on steep descents, a nice feature not available on traditional MT cars.

 

[ExDusterRacer]

Well, thanks to all who replied!

I guess I'll just have to live with it!

It doesn't downshift when going down hill as someone mentioned.
I expected that and it really is no problem. I just touch the brakes
every once in a while when going downhill.

Later, TP

 

[mazdadude]

Yes it seems that the cruise control computer overcompensates when going uphill.

One thing I would mention that is handy with the Mazda Cruise, and most don't know about is this:

If you want to increase or decrease your speed while using the cruise control, instead of holding the button in until you reach your desired speed, just tap the button the number of MPH you want to ACCEL or DECEL. For example: you want to reduce your speed from 50-45? just tap the decel button 5 times. Want to go from 60-70 mph? then tap the accel button 10 times.

This will give you a smoother accel/decel, instead of the all or nothing approach when holding the button in.

 

[Robotazky]

Well, thanks to all who replied!

I guess I'll just have to live with it!

It doesn't downshift when going down hill as someone mentioned.
I expected that and it really is no problem. I just touch the brakes
every once in a while when going downhill.

Later, TP

Try tapping the accelerator to force the downshift earlier when going up hills. I forgot to mention that. If you do this it will not over shoot the top speed so badly when you get to the top of the hill. The computer really needs to be told to downshift earlier to help the problem, but I doubt Mazda will do anything since my cars are 16 years apart and do the same thing. Ultimately the problem is having such a small engine with such high revs when it downshifts on hills.

 

[morethan5]

Try using the manual shift feature of the AT.

 

[coolmazda5]

If you want to increase or decrease your speed while using the cruise control, instead of holding the button in until you reach your desired speed, just tap the button the number of MPH you want to ACCEL or DECEL. For example: you want to reduce your speed from 50-45? just tap the decel button 5 times. Want to go from 60-70 mph? then tap the accel button 10 times.

Cool stuff (2thumbs)

 

[Robotazky]

^^ Hmm, I thought all cruise control systems incremented 1 MPH at a time when you push the button and don't hold it.

 

[joeym509]

^^ Hmm, I thought all cruise control systems incremented 1 MPH at a time when you push the button and don't hold it.

Most do now I believe, but Dad had a mitsubishi galant in the 80's that did 2 mph up or down with just a tap.

 

[coolmazda5]

Yes, many cars use the same suppliers for the cruise control components, but the Mazda is very precise (Manual Tranny I should say, the AT I rented once was a little bit like the first post says). I actually tested with the GPS on

Remember that the CC has to be coupled to the engine to make it work well, regardless of being the same manufacturer.

Allright, CC brag off-topic

 

[morethan5]

^^ Hmm, I thought all cruise control systems incremented 1 MPH at a time when you push the button and don't hold it.

I can't think of one OEM cruise that I've used in the last 20 model-years worth of cars (that I've driven) that hasn't done the 1 MPH thing. However, I did install an Audiovox aftermarket CC on a Prizm that was better yet... It incremented at the rate of several (about 5) clicks per MPH. It was awesome for matching the speed of other vehicles that were running on cruise. After driving with such resolution for so long, I find 1 mph increments to be a bit too coarse. The best part was being able to compensate for differences in other vehicles that would speed-up or slow down on hills -- instead of constantly playing leapfrog.

 

[Robotazky]

^^ yeah, I would prefer the cruise increments be smaller than 1 MPH actually. It's damn near impossible to match the speed of other cars as it is.

 

[KBrian]

Pass the bastards and stay in front. Thats how you win.





400th post! woo hoo!

 

[mazdadude]

Well I am glad most know about the 1mph increments. When I read it in the manual, I felt like I had discovered a new planet!(nuts)