Cruise control is really sucky for fuel efficiency, because it does exactly the opposite of what makes sense: It applies more gas when you're going uphill, and then slows you down when you're going downhill (and makes no use of flat sections). It's basically trying its best to waste gas without driving unreasonably.

Which is to say: I do not want cruise control, even though I do a lot of all-day drives :)

Which is the little box, the xB? If it has trouble with route 2, it probably wouldn't do at all for the kinds of roads I'm thinking of, but maybe there's another Scion that's better at those. What kind of drive is it?