Yahoo Autos Can Cruise Control Save You Gas? Question Of The Day
Cruise control just might leave you with a little extra money in your pocket and fuel in your tank.
Photo by Nicholas A Tonelli / Flickr
Question: How much gas can be saved by using cruise control?
Answer: Unfortunately, there’s no definitive answer to this question. At best, a few scattered studies performed by auto-related organizations indicate that using cruise control correctly could boost gas mileage between 7 percent and 14 percent.
“There’s just not a lot of real-world data available,” says David Cooke, a vehicle analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists.
On the other hand, we do know that the converse of using cruise control – aggressive driving at highway speeds, including rapid acceleration and braking – can decrease gas mileage by as much as 33 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. So while it may not be exactly quantifiable, there’s definitely a benefit to using it, Cooke said.
