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This crappy cruise control

15K views 37 replies 20 participants last post by  Dovidan 
#1 ·
I know that for many the standard cruise control on the Niro is a mystery on how, why and if it works. I am not talking about the advanced models that have sensors and adaptive functions. This is the standard cruise control that I have in my 2018 Niro EX.


I did a rather long trip out from the GTA to Mount Tremblant in Quebec, so there were many hours of driving involved along both multi-lane highways and backroads with speeds ranging from 60-100km/h so I would say I averaged around the 86km/h for the 9-hour trip there but it was a bit faster for the return as there were fewer road accidents to navigate around.


What really bugs me about the NIRO is there is no indicator that says what you have set your cruise control to. You are really just guessing. On my older Ford cars, you could see on the display (cruise:###) showing what speed it was set for.



What I have found on the cruise for the Niro is that as it doesn't have a real set speed, it will change on you as you go. So I could be set the speed on a highway for 106km/h and for the most part it will keep to around that speed. it will slow down a bit going up an incline, and will for the most part break to keep itself around that speed going down the other side. I don't expect it to stay exactly on 106.


But you will inevitably get stuck behind another vehicle that is going slower than you. Worst is when you are behind a vehicle going slightly slower than you. You can then choose to either slow down to match their speed and hope they have cruise control that acts like yours or speed up to pass them. So you indicate out to the next lane and step on the accelerator. You speed up and pass them, then indicate and go back into your original lane. But now you are driving faster.



- If you just let your food off the accelerator, the CC will break, then you will be going too slow and the vehicle now behind you will get ticked off, but your Niro will then kick into rapid power acceleration to try and get back to the right speed.
- If you ease off the accelerator to try and get the car to about the right speed but in a more controlled manner, the car will still continue to slow down below the set cruise speed and then rev temporarily up to power then settle back to running in cruise. However, it will now be at the wrong speed. As you accelerated it will pick a speed generally 2-5km faster than what you had it set at before depending on how much you pressed on the accelerator to overtake the slower vehicle.
- If you tap the break to kick it out of cruise, then get your car around the correct speed and then click up + for resume, it will not resume cruise but 2km faster than before, so you need to then cick down - to take off that extra 2km you didn't want.


Likewise, if you hit traffic that results in you needing to break, it will get you out of cruise control so you can slow down. GREAT. But if you then choose resume, it will do the opposite to what happens with acceleration. You will resume with the engine racing well into the power zone, then settling in at a speed slower than before.


If you are in cruise and you are on a hill, then the engine will seem to want to stall swapping gears down till too late to keep momentum and force the engine to rev into power. After you get up the hill it will keep the engine in too low of a gear so it's revving far higher than needed and simply eating up fuel. So word of wisdom is don't use cruise on hills.
 
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#2 ·
Must be the difference with dynamic cruise. My dash shows the speed that is set, but only while it's engaged. If I cancel CC, the speed display changes to ---, but the set speed is still there because I can resume the previously set speed. Or, it could be that mine is a 2019 and they changed it for this year.
 
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#3 ·
My 2018 shows the set speed in standard and ACC and maintains set speed on hills. Standard cruise control works just like my last car, except my last car didn't show the set speed.

Don't all EXs have ACC? Switch to standard CC and you may find a lot of that irritating behavior goes away.
 
#6 ·
My 2018 shows the set speed in standard and ACC and maintains set speed on hills. Standard cruise control works just like my last car, except my last car didn't show the set speed.

Don't all EXs have ACC? Switch to standard CC and you may find a lot of that irritating behavior goes away.
In Canada, only the top of the line trim SX (2018-19 HEV, 2019 PHEV and 2019 EV) has the ACC. You have the ACC on your LX because you have the tech package that is available as an option in the US.
 
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#7 · (Edited)
I have the 2019 PHEV EX Premium that has the larger instrument panel screen and at the top it shows me the exact speed I have cruise set to. If cruise is cancelled it displays, "---" just like ATC said previously. I can also see the set speed on my speedometer and in the center of the screen if I switch over to the lane keep/SCC status screen.

I've noticed it bogs down a little bit on hills, but it will downshift pretty quickly to get back up to the set speed. Otherwise, on downhills and straightaways it holds pretty steady. If you have SCC, there are adjustments in the menu to change how quickly it adjusts which is nice. I've been playing with it to find my desired level of aggressiveness haha.

Maybe it's time to trade up for a PHEV with SCC??? ;) ;) ;)
 

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#8 ·
Oh, my! I guess you should have purchased the premium package... Our 2018 Kia Niro with premium package has absolutely fantastic cruise control! Others have outlined its features, but it is very easy to set, very easy to change what it's set to, easy to get out of and back into, follows the car in front of me at whatever speed it is going -- everything I want! We bought the premium package for the safety features and we absolutely love them. Neither of us wants to drive the old Prius any more. I really like their features and the way they implemented them!



(Well, it's now summer and the Prius air conditioning came on MUCH MUCH sooner than the Kia and it didn't blow hot air at us while it was thinking about cooling...)
 
#10 ·
(Well, it's now summer and the Prius air conditioning came on MUCH MUCH sooner than the Kia and it didn't blow hot air at us while it was thinking about cooling...)
My PHEV Niro blows cold air almost immediately. Are you using the climate AUTO function? I set mine at AUTO and 68 degrees at first and then within a minute or two I have to go up to 73 otherwise it freezes me out.
 
#15 ·
Roadkill401- I have a 2017 LX, the Adap.CC is part of the package of the AEP package I got. In the EX I think ACC is standard. So I think that's what youre describing. I don't like it at all and don't use it. I've had it slow down the car substantionally when someone changes lanes ahead or slows down. Even with the menu set to least reaction time. IMO, there's usually too much traffic on the highways for it to work well, it's always speeding up, braking. On hills it speeds up and downshifts, and brakes going down the hill to maintain the speed. As someone else mentioned, it will go into power zone to get back to set speed quicky. This is not fuel efficient at all, I can do much better, and coast down hills (within reason, and depending on car ahead).

That being said, I have never liked even standard CC in any car I've driven. There's just too much traffic most of the time for it to work smoothly and not waste fuel. The only time I'll use it is in long, flat highways with little traffic. I know some long commuters hate to have their foot on the pedal the whole time, but I could never deal with CC's and almost never use them.
 
#17 ·
I have a 2017 LX, the Adap.CC is part of the package of the AEP package I got. In the EX I think ACC is standard.
@realto, both me and Roadkill401 live in Canada and we do not have the extra package option that you have down in the States. Like i have wrote in page 1, the only trim line in the Canadian Niro model that has the ACC is on the SX version (your EX Premium/Touring version). :)
 
#16 ·
Ha! I use standard cruise control almost exclusively. My right foot is resting more than 80% of all miles. I use my thumb to control my speed, but seldom on divided roads. I time lane changes instead to maintain a constant speed. When I cannot do that on crowded urban highways, often all I have to do is cancel CC and slow via weak regen and then set a new lower speed or resume speed if the road is now clear. Seldom do I have to touch the brake pedal either except for full stops. But I'm always looking a quarter mile ahead for trends in traffic.
 
#19 ·
yticolev- I guess it's what ever you get used to, I've never used it enough to get comfortable with it. To me the roads, even interstates, are too busy to maintain a steady CC speed long. I don't really like switching lanes alot to maintain speed, or have to monitor it and react with thumb. Seems I can control gradual acceleration/deceleration with my foot much better than CC.
 
#20 ·
Don't forget that Adaptive Cruise has a sensitivity setting that make it more or less aggressive. I haven't played with the setting yet (still set to whatever the factory has it on), but compared to my Subaru Outback with Eyesight the ACC doesn't seem to be quite as sensitive to other vehicles around me. It doesn't brake as abruptly as the Sube did in general.
 
#21 ·
SCC and CC on 2017 Niro LX

Just finished a trip from US west coast (CA) to east coast (MD) and back mainly following I-80 and I-70 for the total of 6293 miles (10125 km). For the whole trip I have used cruise control set at 70 MPH (112 km/h) whenever it was possible, for SCC the longest distance and slow response settings was selected.
The outside temperature ranged from 40F to 96F in all kinds of weather conditions including thunderstorms and heavy winds. The climate control was set to 73F in the automatic mode for the whole trip.


In the eastbound direction (CA to MD) I have used only CC (not SCC) and adjusted the speed manually on the steering wheel as the traffic required.


In the westbound direction (MD to CA) only SCC (not CC) was used.
The SCC is very nice in following the vehicle in front of you and keeping the set distance in a straight line. If the road turns, slopes up or down or a vehicle moves in or out of lane the SCC may decide to accelerate or slow down and it is difficult to predict. The net result is less smooth operation of the vehicle, lower mileage and possible dangerous situations if the vehicle behind you is following closely. The SCC slowed the vehicle down several time in turns with no other vehicles around, possibly picking signal from road signs or pieces of debris at the side of the road or on the road.


Overall the vehicle performed flawlessly and for the 6293 miles travelled used 123.204 gallon of gasoline that equals to impressive 51.08 MPG (4.7 l/100 km), mostly in cruise control mode with minimal driver intervention.
 
#22 ·
Sounds like a great trip. Thanks for the great report also detailing your settings, MPG... Just two questions: I
1. Is your Niro HEV or PHEV?
2. What sort of load did you have in the car (passengers, gear...)?
 
#23 ·
cruise control


The vehicle is 2017 HEV LX with the tech package.
Only one person in the vehicle, total load approx. 200 kg (450 LB)


I wanted to test the cruise control , if you drive the car without the CC the mileage will be better or worse depending on your driving style.
Most of the time the "green" score was listed as 7 and in areas of high (head) wind it dropped to 6. And I tried to keep the speed as close to 70 MPH as possible.
 
#24 ·
Unless your concentration is intense and unlimited, your mpg will be better on standard CC (whose concentration is intense and unlimited).

In the old days with the ultralight and underpowered subcompacts I used to drive (none had CC), it was easy to discern a slight engine tone change and change the pedal setting before the speedo changed. I was pretty focused in my youth, in fact I think under those circumstances I was able to hold a set speed better than modern CC all day long. No way could I manage that in the Niro.

But I must say I wonder why modern CC cannot hold a speed on hills. Millions of inputs per second speed and load, electronic control, and it will still drop or exceed by a mph commonly and slightly more on certain hills. I suspect there is no inclinometer or accelerometer installed but for the buck it would cost, I'd think programming could be far better.
 
#29 ·
Actually as far as efficiency a constant throttle setting is more efficient than a constant speed. The drop in speed might well be intentional to increase economy. I've had cruise drop to 45 when set at 70 on a long grade. The battery went to 2%. Without cruise, the car would maintain 70 but barely.

Also remember that the lane exiting ahead unwanted slow down can be overridden with the accelerator and still keep cruise on.

Incidentally I've gone from being annoyed by adaptive cruise and lane keep assist to loving them both and wanting more.
 
#25 ·
the automatic safety features are a major reason i chose my niro PHEV. best part was the majority of them came with the base model. i love ACC because i don’t have to constantly adjust it in traffic and it maintains distance from the vehicles in front of me. it’s not perfect though and traffic moving into my lane can be a problem especially at highway interchanges so i avoid driving in the right lane and if i do i usually turn it off. it also brakes aggressively for no apparent reason occasionally. there was a large trailer ahead of me in the next lane the last time it happened and i thought that might be the reason. lastly, i would prefer that it bring the car to a complete stop like my subaru eyesight system.
 
#26 · (Edited)
The more I use the adaptive cruise, the more I like it. It and the autonomous braking combined with lane keeping makes me think that the car is just a software upgrade from autopilot. Disconnecting autonomous braking at near a stop and disconnecting lane keep without steering input are all that would need to be overridden/modified. I'm sure it wouldn't be up to Tesla trustworthyness, but useful none the less.

I'm also sure that KIA's lawyers won't let it happen but I'd sure buy into it.
 
#27 ·
Well, the Niro EV does have stop and go ACC, so there's no reason we couldn't have it in ours. I doubt they have any different sensors than we do.
 
#28 ·
#33 ·
I know that for many the standard cruise control on the Niro is a mystery on how, why and if it works. I am not talking about the advanced models that have sensors and adaptive functions. This is the standard cruise control that I have in my 2018 Niro EX.


I did a rather long trip out from the GTA to Mount Tremblant in Quebec, so there were many hours of driving involved along both multi-lane highways and backroads with speeds ranging from 60-100km/h so I would say I averaged around the 86km/h for the 9-hour trip there but it was a bit faster for the return as there were fewer road accidents to navigate around.


What really bugs me about the NIRO is there is no indicator that says what you have set your cruise control to. You are really just guessing. On my older Ford cars, you could see on the display (cruise:###) showing what speed it was set for.



What I have found on the cruise for the Niro is that as it doesn't have a real set speed, it will change on you as you go. So I could be set the speed on a highway for 106km/h and for the most part it will keep to around that speed. it will slow down a bit going up an incline, and will for the most part break to keep itself around that speed going down the other side. I don't expect it to stay exactly on 106.


But you will inevitably get stuck behind another vehicle that is going slower than you. Worst is when you are behind a vehicle going slightly slower than you. You can then choose to either slow down to match their speed and hope they have cruise control that acts like yours or speed up to pass them. So you indicate out to the next lane and step on the accelerator. You speed up and pass them, then indicate and go back into your original lane. But now you are driving faster.



  • If you just let your food off the accelerator, the CC will break, then you will be going too slow and the vehicle now behind you will get ticked off, but your Niro will then kick into rapid power acceleration to try and get back to the right speed.
  • If you ease off the accelerator to try and get the car to about the right speed but in a more controlled manner, the car will still continue to slow down below the set cruise speed and then rev temporarily up to power then settle back to running in cruise. However, it will now be at the wrong speed. As you accelerated it will pick a speed generally 2-5km faster than what you had it set at before depending on how much you pressed on the accelerator to overtake the slower vehicle.
  • If you tap the break to kick it out of cruise, then get your car around the correct speed and then click up + for resume, it will not resume cruise but 2km faster than before, so you need to then cick down - to take off that extra 2km you didn't want.


Likewise, if you hit traffic that results in you needing to break, it will get you out of cruise control so you can slow down. GREAT. But if you then choose resume, it will do the opposite to what happens with acceleration. You will resume with the engine racing well into the power zone, then settling in at a speed slower than before.


If you are in cruise and you are on a hill, then the engine will seem to want to stall swapping gears down till too late to keep momentum and force the engine to rev into power. After you get up the hill it will keep the engine in too low of a gear so it's revving far higher than needed and simply eating up fuel. So word of wisdom is don't use cruise on hills.
My Kia Niro has been having this problem too. When I hit set, it will FULL OPEN Throttle, and go a few MPH above where I clicked to engage it. Then I have to click it down a few notches. But this can't be good for the engine or gas millage.

Did anyone find a fix for this?
 
#35 ·
At least on my '19 with adaptive cruise, I can press Set or Resume, but if my foot is pressing the throttle nothing happens until I release the pedal. Acceleration drops until the CC assumes control and begins speeding back up to the setting. That is so annoying my wife will often comment about my driving smoothness. I've never had a car with CC that did that before. The CC would always take control of the throttle as soon as I engaged it, regardless if I was pressing the pedal. Of course, if the set speed was below my current speed, even when it "took control" it would still coast back down to the set speed. But if the set speed was faster than the current speed, I could release the throttle without feeling any loss of acceleration.
 
#37 ·
On my Niro HEV MY2020 it works perfect, I can adjust it by 1 km/h plus and minus and it keeps the speed perfect. Also a little bit pressure on the gas pedal accelerates then very smooth.
 
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