Cruise Control

[rickisapilot]

Has anyone thought about installing cruise control? I know that's very un-GT40, but then so is air conditioning, sub-woffers, backup cams, etc. On long drives, I prefer to set a speed & just take the curves as they come. Cruise control has also saved me a lot on speeding tickets too, I'm sure. I think most aftermarket cruise control setups use the car's "speed wire" already in the wiring harness (is this the wiring for the tach?). Anyone know if there's a "speed wire" on the GT? Or more generally, has anyone installed cruise control or researched the possibilities?

 

[Roger Vincent]

Rick did you ever find a solution to your cruise control, as I am in agreement with you for all the reasons you stated?

Roger
05 1490

 

[Tungsten]

Speed Control

Rick,
Having just completed my 750 mile drive back from Detroit...I too would like a cruise control. Let me know what success you have. I wonder if Ford thought about it or tested one? Maybe the Saleen folks have some ideas?
Don

 

[SuperB]

Crusie control is my biggest gripe about the GT. Every little bump and my foot moves, altering speed by 10 MPH. And the new speed is so comfy I don't realize I'm going that fast.

I'd really like a backup camera too.

 

[FB GT40]

Agree...

I agree. After 13 hours in the saddle on Sunday, I was trying to remember the foot and leg exercises they give you to do on long international flights! I got cramps more than once on the drive back. “ Deep vein thrombosis” could be a problem on very long hauls! Although stopping for gas every 250 to 300 miles assures one of a break. By the way, I averaged 20 to 22 mpg cruising at 80+ with an average speed of 71.5 mph.

Gordo.

 

[rickisapilot]

Haven't Followed-Up

Hey, glad to see that this thread was awakened! It's the one mod that I'd love to add first!
I haven't followed-up on the cruise control idea. If there is a speed wire in the wiring harness, then I would guess it might be a pretty simple aftermarket install. Altho . . . with the engine *behind* the cockpit, I suppose the wiring from the instrument panel (steering column area) & "brain box" back to the servo near the throttle body linkage might be a bit more involved.
Also, I suppose some sort of a mount would have to be created (drilled??? :frown ) for the crise control servo (that "pulls" on the throttle linkage) back in the engine compartment.
I haven't looked into any of this, and just expressing my thoughts based on aftermarket controls I've had added to daily drivers (none of which have ever performed as reliably & accurately & smoothly as *factory installed* setups. :confused ).

----Rick

 

[twobjshelbys]

Everyone says "Search can be your friend", so I'm going to tap an old topic. Has anyone come up with one? Heck I'd even be willing to wire it into the harness in the rear and mount it with a suction cup. I wouldn't use it except on the once a year trip to Vegas but having it sure would be nice for that long stretch across Utah and Nevada.

T-11 days.

 

[nota4re]

We could add this to a GT and in the process we could take a generic kit and customize it for installation in other GTs. Just need a volunteer who is willing to have his/her car in SoCal for a few days to get the install done.

 

[TO AWSUM]

Wouldn't this be a fairly straight forward modification to the launch control module that was developed 1-2 years ago? This module monitors tire speed, engine performance, etc. the same things that would be needed for cruise control. I suggested this addition to the launch control when it was being developed and got flamed pretty bad. Still think it is a good idea to add cruise control to the launch control module creating a great safety combination for controlling the awesome power of these GTs.

 

[nota4re]

Wouldn't this be a fairly straight forward modification to the launch control module that was developed 1-2 years ago?

That could be the case but having the launch control as a prerequisite for a comparitively inexpensive cruise control solution might be a big no-go for many owners. I think that launch control was a price of $10K or so? (Please correct if I am wrong.)

 

[zrchris]

I installed an aftermarket CC on a 1996 RAV4 some years back, pretty sure it was from these guys (bought through a distributor):

http://rostra.com/

Probably others out there, JC Whitney sells some (including from Rostra I believe) but you never know what brand they are or what you will get... but in my case the install was pretty easy and it worked fine. Cost around $400 I think.

 

[FastFords]

Some food for thought for you guys on the cruise control. Could the cruise control from a late model Mustang work? Sure some work would have to be done in order to make it fit and look right, but the spokes on the steering wheel of the GT would be a perfect location for cruise control buttons. That or use something similar to Rostra's cruise control, perhaps the buttons can be separated if there isn't a single circuit board.

Rostra's system.

 

[twobjshelbys]

Some food for thought for you guys on the cruise control. Could the cruise control from a late model Mustang work? Sure some work would have to be done in order to make it fit and look right, but the spokes on the steering wheel of the GT would be a perfect location for cruise control buttons. That or use something similar to Rostra's cruise control, perhaps the buttons can be separated if there isn't a single circuit board.

The Rostra system is for a mechanical connection to the accelerator pedal. Those haven't been used for years. The Ford GT is not listed as compatible. New cruise control manages speed by the ECU. I would be amazed if the hooks for ECU based aren't in the program, and maybe even the wires in the harness, but just not exposed outside.

 

[Luke Warmwater]

Everyone says "Search can be your friend", so I'm going to tap an old topic. Has anyone come up with one? Heck I'd even be willing to wire it into the harness in the rear and mount it with a suction cup. I wouldn't use it except on the once a year trip to Vegas but having it sure would be nice for that long stretch across Utah and Nevada.

T-11 days.

Cruise control? What?! Haha congrats Tony on the new GT. You will love it!

 

[FastFords]

The Rostra system is for a mechanical connection to the accelerator pedal. Those haven't been used for years. The Ford GT is not listed as compatible. New cruise control manages speed by the ECU. I would be amazed if the hooks for ECU based aren't in the program, and maybe even the wires in the harness, but just not exposed outside.

Personally I'd try to go with a Mustang based unit over anything else on the market. The controls are already split in half and it's a Ford system so it would have the best chance of working with the ECU. It's possible that in order to use the Mustang unit, all you'd have to do is use a Mustang ECU and have some plastic pieces made to the shape of GT spokes. I'm not sure if the Mustang has roughly the same ECU (why wouldn't it?) as the GT, but I'm pretty sure after a tune the Mustang unit would run a GT just fine. It would be something if Ford used the same wiring harness to the dash and just hid the CC wires like they capped the aux ports on the McIntosh radio. That would make a CC conversion real simple. I look at the spokes on the GT steering wheel and to me, it looks like Ford wanted to put cruise control on the car and decided not to in the end. Why else have a valley made in the plastic spokes at 9 and 3? The design would make a good place for a cruise control option that never made it to production.

It's a bit crude for photoshop, but it gives you the idea.

 

[TO AWSUM]

Wow. $10 grand? I guess that's pocket change for some. I like the $400 price point much better. That Mustang idea sure sounds intriguing. Sure would be nice if that could be used. Looks great in Photoshop.

 

[DoctorV8]

I really doubt the Mustang system would be a possibility, given the drive by wire setup. The GT runs mechanical throttle linkage, remember?

The steering wheel cosmetics are only a tiny portion of this project.....

 

[twobjshelbys]

I really doubt the Mustang system would be a possibility, given the drive by wire setup. The GT runs mechanical throttle linkage, remember?

The steering wheel cosmetics are only a tiny portion of this project.....

Maybe the Mustang system from the 2005-2009 era. My '08 Shelby GT was not drive by wire, but I'm sure it had a ECU driven cruise. I'll check with a few people on some more ideas.

 

[FastFords]

I really doubt the Mustang system would be a possibility, given the drive by wire setup. The GT runs mechanical throttle linkage, remember?

The steering wheel cosmetics are only a tiny portion of this project.....

That still doesn't mean a Mustang cruise control system won't work, just means you would have to use one from a 2004 'Stang. I had thought the fly by wire was only on 2010 and newer Mustangs. The older Mustangs had bigger cruise control buttons however that doesn't mean a whole lot if the system can still be redesigned to fit in the GT steering wheel. Plus if what twobjshelbys said is true, then there is a way around it. And yes, the controls are only a small part of it. What's important is that a Mustang unit most likely would work, that would take a lot of guess work out of it being compatible and how it would perform. That still doesn't make it a walk in the park though. What really needs to be figured out is how much or little is already in place in a GT.

 

[zrchris]

The buttons are honestly a minor detail, there are various options - how OE it can look, I am not sure. The only way CC will work on our cars is with a servo cable pulling on the throttle body, in parallel at the TB, or back at the pedal. OE systems typically are not centralized and therefore very specialized, it would probably take a Ford CC engineer with time on his hands to figure it out, if even possible with any existing parts. Keep in mind when thinking of other cars as sources - this is not just about being cable driven, but also being completely in parallel to the TB. Cars with traction / stability control that I have seen have a servo that intercepts the pedal cable, which also drives commands from the CC and traction control - if we get into this it will be a real mess with custom cables etc maybe even custom electronics to match. Look at our traction control system - the aftermarket one is enough of a mess - who wants to even think of going OE?


The primary problem with CC is a processor and servo actuator. That is what the Rostra unit gives you, in one package. This is not some ancient vacuum based thing - it is 100% electronic (w/ VSS input) until the cable output. The generic instructions are here:

http://www.rostra.com/manuals/250-1223Form4565E.pdf

Of course they don't mention it for the FGT, who outside of us would think we are crazy enough to want this? All that really means is no one figured out which throttle cable bracket to use, as you are adding a cable in parallel. They have generic brackets but I suspect if we find our OE TB cable bracket came on another car, they probably have a conversion bracket for that application that will work just as well for us. In looking at the "Ford" connection on pg 13 I think it can actually be done by drilling a hole in our bracket beside the current one and holding their housing with nuts, as I realized last time that the outside of their cable housing can be threaded (see pg 15). The tube clamp would be needed to connect it at the end, not ideal. It does appear that this could also be done under the dash at the pedal as well (see pg 12), but that could be a tough job though totally out of sight. As far as the CC system is concerned, this is a regular V8 car like any other. Their system has dip switches to change the sensitivity and damping rate, etc, but I found the defaults fine last time. Yeah this will not look very OE, but it will actually work without getting extremely complicated.