Many vehicle owners wish to retrofit cruise control. There are various options, such as a universal cruise control for retrofitting a wide variety of vehicle models. In the following article we will get to the bottom of the question of how exactly cruise control can be retrofitted and how reliable these systems really are in everyday life. Finally, we also deal with the costs for retrofitting a cruise control so that you have an aid in deciding whether such an effort is worthwhile for your needs.
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What is actually meant under cruise control?
Before we can delve into the question of how to retrofit cruise control to your vehicle model, you must first understand what this system can do. In principle, such a system is also referred to as a cruise control system, or GRA for short. The first system that enabled automatic speed control was installed in a vehicle in 1945 by Ralph Teetor. You could buy such a comfort system from 1958. While the first assistance system variants concentrated on keeping the engine speed and/or the driving speed at a certain value, modern assistance systems can do a lot more.
Adaptive cruise control systems, or ACC (for Automatic Cruise Control) for short, are being used more and more frequently today. These are able, for example, to include the distance to the vehicle in front in the regulation. A system that can also regulate vehicle speed to some extent is the speed limiter. This allows you to determine a maximum speed that can then no longer be exceeded.
Can you really retrofit a cruise-control system for any vehicle?
Even if there is a cruise control for retrofitting for many vehicles, you can by no means equip all vehicle models and variants with such a comfort system. A prerequisite for retrofitting cruise control is that your vehicle already has an electronic accelerator pedal and is not too old. If this is not the case, the retrofit options are very limited. This also quickly results in high costs for retrofitting your cruise control, because mechanically working accelerator pedals must be retrofitted with the appropriate servomotors. In many cases this is very expensive. Some vehicle manufacturers also offer suitable retrofit kits for their own vehicle models. In such a case, you are able to equip your vehicle with a system that is otherwise installed in the factory. Of course, such kits offer the highest guarantee that the system will fit well and also work efficiently. This is different if you want to retrofit a universal cruise control.
If your vehicle has an automatic transmission or even an automatic dual-clutch transmission, some cruise control systems can even trigger a gear change, for example, to master hills at the specified speed without any problems. There is a seemingly endless variety of systems on the auto aftermarket, with some manufacturers claiming that their systems can be easily fitted by a vehicle do-it-yourselfer. Since cruise control has its pitfalls and can quickly become a safety risk, we strongly recommend that you have the installation carried out in a local specialist workshop.
What steps are required to retrofit cruise control?
The first step is to find out exactly what options you have. This article is intended to be a handout for you so that you already have a rough overview of the market before you start a detailed search. In the next step, we strongly recommend that you obtain a number of different offers from various specialist workshops. This is the only way you will be able to pay the best price in the end. If you receive an offer that appeals to you, we recommend that you initiate the corresponding order immediately.
If no offer corresponds to your concrete price expectations, you can still think about ordering a suitable retrofit kit on your own. You should make sure that the kit you order fits your car or its model variant and engine. If you fail to do this, unpleasant surprises can quickly arise.
How much does it cost to retrofit a cruise control?
If you are interested in driving more relaxed in the future, you naturally want to know exactly what the costs of retrofitting cruise control will be. Ultimately, the exact costs depend on a number of factors. First of all, the type of system determines the price to a significant extent. For example, a universal cruise control is often cheaper than a system designed specifically for your vehicle. This is simply due to the fact that a significantly larger number of such systems are manufactured. Ultimately, this makes production considerably cheaper.
Other important points are model year, year of construction, model generation, vehicle variant and equipment. In addition, retrofit kits from your vehicle manufacturer are slightly more expensive than products offered on the vehicle aftermarket. It is also important whether cables and switches are already available or whether you have to retrofit the controls on the steering wheel at great expense. Ultimately, the budget ranges from 150 to 600 euros.
Conclusion
Retrofitting a cruise control can be very easy. On the other hand, the installation of the retrofit kit can be very expensive, especially when it comes to kits that are not offered by the vehicle manufacturer. Nevertheless, this is possible for a large number of vehicles, but you should take a close look at the cost of retrofitting cruise control. The best way to protect yourself from surprises is to have your specialist workshop make you a suitable fixed price offer.
A tip from CarTipsandmore: Your cruise control does not know what the maximum speed is, you should do it yourself be careful not to get a ticket. Ultimately, you are responsible for your own driving behavior and ultimately have to answer for it if you are checked or an accident occurs.