Cruise Control Downshifting
I have a 31' Minnie Winnie on a E450 chassis and I question rather or not the Cruise Control can be adjusted somehow as to not down shift when going up the slightest hill. This usually scares the beje...
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I guess I don't entirely understand the concern with downshifting. I mean, isn't that what the transmission is there for—to match the engine speed and power delivery to the conditions? The V10 is rather noisy at high RPMs, but c'est la vie.
The cruise control has no way of knowing if the incline it's going up is a little blip for an overpass or a long, fairly steep hill. Around here in Vermont, it's more likely the latter, and the cruise control seems to do OK on hills for me. Yes, it downshifts, but it would do so under manual control unless I didn't come anywhere near maintaining speed.
I do agree that closer spacing between the top gears (which presumably would mean additional gears) would be a welcome addition. It feels like a pretty big jump between 4th and 3rd (on the 4 speed). The top gears on the newer 5 speed transmissions have the same ratios for the highest gears.
Lugging an engine up a hill is in many ways harder on the engine than running at high rpm in a lower gear.
The cruise control has no way of knowing if the incline it's going up is a little blip for an overpass or a long, fairly steep hill. Around here in Vermont, it's more likely the latter, and the cruise control seems to do OK on hills for me. Yes, it downshifts, but it would do so under manual control unless I didn't come anywhere near maintaining speed.
I do agree that closer spacing between the top gears (which presumably would mean additional gears) would be a welcome addition. It feels like a pretty big jump between 4th and 3rd (on the 4 speed). The top gears on the newer 5 speed transmissions have the same ratios for the highest gears.
Lugging an engine up a hill is in many ways harder on the engine than running at high rpm in a lower gear.
