saholz

I hadn't expected this but, going down hills, my B8 does brake to hold the set speed while on cruise control. I don't recall reading about this feature, but it's definitely there.

At first I thought the car might be downshifting to hold speed, but the revs hold steady so it's modulating the brakes to keep the speed within the set range. My B7 did not have this feature, so I am a bit surprised to see this.

(I have the Premium Plus package, which does not have adaptive cruise control.)

AutoUnionQ7

Doesn't the engine usually engine-brake, when using Cruise Control?

afouralex

a toll road I use daily has a steep downhill portion and 9 times out of 10 there is a cop waiting at the bottom so now I just cruise it and it holds the speed, whereas the B7 would increase with no regard to the speed I had set.

BMWBig6

So is it really engaging the brakes, or engine-braking while holding gear? Do brake lights come on?

saholz

...since it stays in 6th gear with no change in revs. If I'm not in cruise, I'll pick up speed going down the same hills in 6th.

Winesap

I came down a long steep residential hill last night (steepest and longest in the Bay area). The Avant stayed in second.

markcincinnati

. . . when I took a driving "tour" through West Virginia and set the control for about 55MPH and the thing, down hill would brake as much as needed to keep me at 55.

My wife's BMW on the other hand, just lets the speed build up to what ever gravity calls for.

I love this feature and was concerned it would NOT be offered on the '09 A4.

Here is the proof -- have someone follow you on a road that has hills -- get on the cell phone with them and ask them if your brake lights come on! They do, when the car attempts to keep the speed at your preset (which it does with nearly perfect pitch, so to speak.)

You can, by the way, also use the cruise to slow you down in traffic or for exit ramps.

Set the cruise for 75, take your long sweeping exit ramp and knock the speed down (with the stalk on the the left hand side) to 45 and watch what happens next. Smooth orderly, non panic, but firm braking to 45 or 35 or whatever.

Way cool.

markcincinnati

Yes.

markcincinnati

. . .the tiptronic program does "know" when you are going down hill and will engage a lower gear when a certain threshold is met, regardless of the cruise setting.

My A4 will down shift going down a steep hill near my house period (it seems damn near intuitive, since it will down shift when I'm slowing or accelerating.) The cruise can be on or off, it all depends on certain parms probably programmed by some clever German.

BMWBig6

Too bad about the brake lights, just attracts more attention when passing a downhill speedtrap, LOL