[mauvehaus]

In cars with manual transmissions, stepping on the clutch turns off the cruise control. In one '96 Honda Civic I was driving, I decided to see what happens if you slip it out of gear while cruise control is on without stepping on the clutch.

Answer: it revs the engine up. I hit the clutch before I got the chance to find out whether the cruise control or the rev limiter has ultimate authority. My guess is the rev limiter, but I didn't want to bet on it.

Still, it's surprising that a computer that clearly knows vehicle speed (well, wheel speed) and engine speed (presumably, for engine control reasons) doesn't know that the vehicle is out of gear (or suffering some kind of serious mechanical malady) and respond appropriately.