Auto Cruise

The Auto Cruise or Cruise Control is not a new invention and have been available in cars since the 1950s but not all cars have it. It used to be a luxurious gadget for all the big brands and now it finds itself in almost all kinds of car. I knew about the existence and an idea of what it could do but I have never needed it. So, it was not a big deal for me until I started driving the Mazda 6. The Cruise Control comes as a standard and as a car-nut, I fiddled with it some times. I was impressed from the first time I tried the Cruise Control and I started to see why people especially in Europe love the Cruise Control. Being able to maintain a certain speed without the hassle of keeping the throttle steady and most importantly lower fuel consumption. I already know the Sky-Activ engines are good with fuel economy  and so the Cruise Control should be a very good compliment to it.

One day I had to make a trip down south to a state called Malacca and its around 148 kilometers from my house. Being confident with the Mazda 6's fuel efficiency and wanting to get every kilometers out of a full tank of petrol, I left home with only 1 bar of fuel left on the indicator. I figured with Cruise Control I could get quite a distance before I need to pump petrol and there would be petrol stations along the highway to Malacca. In addition, all new high tech cars are equipped with an indicator of remaining distance you could travel based on current petrol level. I started my journey with full confidence and with my 2 important tools, I was all set. I set my Cruise Control for about 110 km/h and although the indicator displayed I could only go for 18 kilometers but I already drove for almost 35 kilometers, which boost my confidence. 

Soon I reached the zero mark and have no bar left on the fuel gauge. I started to calculate that the full fuel tank can hold 60 liters and I usually only pump 53 liters. So, there should be 7 liters for me to use after I reached the zero mark but just to be safe I lowered the Cruise Control speed to 85 km/h and waited for the next petrol station to appear. However, soon I noticed something was amiss. The highway was passing by mountains and that is a sign where no petrol station will appear and I worried. My worries increased and started to panic. I put the speed to 70 km/h, rolling along the highway and started praying. I really did pray and I turned off the radio and air-cons with my window down. The thoughts of being stranded on the highway crossed my mind several times. After 53 meters of rolling at 70 km/h, I finally found a petrol station by a rest stop. 

It was a risky thing to do I would say. I miscalculated and thought that there would be more petrol stations along the way. However, I did proved that it is in fact that the Mazda 6 is very fuel economical especially with the Cruise Control. I truly think the Cruise Control is a marvel and a useful gadget but I won't be using it much though. On the way back from Malacca, I hit the highway with the Cruise Control at 140 km/h and I arrived back in KL in no time with great mileage. It was a blast and I have learned my lesson. The next time I have to travel far, I will start my journey with a full tank.