[10068]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redo /img/forum/go_quote.gif What are you driving? If you are flying at 80-85 and still getting 33mpg, you must be accelerating slow and driving a Mini.

Actually I drive a 1.6L Nissan Sentra, 1985 w/223,000 miles. New engine though with about 115,000miles on it. I take good care of it. More people should drive older Japanese coupes. Who wants to get 10MPG? Screw that.

And actually, i've seen commercials for the new Nissan cars that get ~30mpg and have 200+ Horsepower, so Nissan is still going strong. Honda and Hyundai are good choices too.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...san_Sentra.jpg
Not my exact model but close enough

My car doesn't look like much but passing SUVs and Minivans drivng 15 under and knowing my mileage is 2-3x theirs is almost satisfying enough to forget how horrible of a driver they are. But not quite.

 

[porschemad911]

Sure, speeding's safe.

Until you have a lose on wet, oily road ... it's *much* harder to catch at higher speeds.

 

[MrSlacker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThomasJB /img/forum/go_quote.gif But as a new driver, I don't know how anyone can drive safely at over 85 mph or so even on a highway. I agree with MrSlacker in that you have a lot more time to react to anything if you drive slower

heh I know you are correct, but I am a bit of a hypocrite on that matter. My very first time driving on the high way, I was going 85 in 65 for about 30 miles. It was a wide open 4 lane high way and everyone was going in that speed range. Then it started POURING and I dropped my speed to about 75...

 

[grawk]

There are people who live their lives to be safe, and people who have other priorities. Unfortunately, the people in the first column like to preach. And drive in the left lane.

 

[analogbox]

I've come to learn that the suggested speed is within 5mph to the speed limit but you can still go until you get to 10mph. That's when they start to pull you over and give you a big fat ticket/warning. The fine starts at $50.00 on the high-way and for every 1mph over that adds $10.00 or so to the ticket. At least it used to be that way. So that's how I drive, 5mph over the limit. Never been pulled over since.

 

[craiglester]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pne /img/forum/go_quote.gif fitness has little to do with it. Driving in a straight freeway or interstate is different from racing where your body has to deal with lateral g-forces. I assume you probably haven't driven much highway milage. Lets say you are driving for a couple of hours on the interstate and pass through a city where the speed limit drops to 35. Usually you will slow down to what you perceive to be 35mph based on how fast the landscape is moving by, and look down to find you are actually going 50mph. That is because your brain/vision has adapted to driving at higher speeds. In the city, we are used to being lazy and only looking as far ahead as we need to, based on how far away the next intersection or light is. Because this is the only driving experience you have, travelling at 85mph would indeed be too fast for you to make fast reactions to. Most americans however, have driven on the interstate or freeway at least once in their life. Of course there is a limit of how fast you can go before you start to lose control. That is dependant on your skill level but for most people it is a great deal higher than the speed limit. I would wager that most people do not speed to get there faster, but rather they drive at what pace is deemed comfortable to them based on their abilities and road conditions. Often this speed is a good 10-15mph over the limit. i disagree. driving an underpowered car can be very dangerous if you suddenly need to make an emergency maneuver. What if you do not have the power to merge safely onto the freeway? If you think this is bull, explain to me what you would do in a situation where you are in the merging lane trying to get the an open spot a few car lengths ahead. You are in a econobox that makes 80hp. I'll take my 250hp car thanks! If you have never been on a motorcycle, there are plenty of times when people swerve into your lane and your only escape path is to accelerate out of the way. The typical motorcycle engine is under 1L displacement and gets 35-50mpg.

If you're flooring your car to squeeze into a gap in traffic on the freeway on ramp, you're doing something wrong, I used to drive a Nissa Micra with 55 hp and I NEVER once had any trouble matching the speeds of those on the motorways, it's all just planning and attention. And i've ridden bikes scooters 4wds cars bicycles and trucks, so i have a little experience.

 

[JSTpt1022]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redo /img/forum/go_quote.gif What are you driving? If you are flying at 80-85 and still getting 33mpg, you must be accelerating slow and driving a Mini.

NOT TRUE! 2 years ago when when my engine was running better I could AVERAGE 35 mpg driving 80 all day on the highway. Car: 95 civic. Now she is starting to show her age a little and I only get 32. Bottom line here is, don't drive American cars. Period.

 

[grawk]

My old passat TDI could get 40mpg at 110 mph, or 45mpg at 85. I miss that car.

 

[JSTpt1022]

NICE

 

[10068]

Hey on my last fillup I got 40mpg! Maybe it's a sign of things to come

:

 

[pne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by craiglester /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you're flooring your car to squeeze into a gap in traffic on the freeway on ramp, you're doing something wrong, I used to drive a Nissa Micra with 55 hp and I NEVER once had any trouble matching the speeds of those on the motorways, it's all just planning and attention. And i've ridden bikes scooters 4wds cars bicycles and trucks, so i have a little experience.

i beg to differ. how are you going to plan your way to 80mph when you have a certain length of on-ramp and a certain gap you must get into with only 55hp to work with? What you have explained is just that you have never been put into this type of scenario. Doesn't matter how much planning and attention I give in my civic, its never going to run a 10 second quarter mile.

 

[WhatMACHI]

Sduibek: While i do understand where you are coming from limits are there because people have accidents in unexpected situations. Im sure most of the people who have crashes THOUGHT they were under control, and had an ACCIDENT which is just that, something that they didn't intend to happen.

As for cars with 4x your power keeping to the limit, are you saying that a car with 4x the power should be flooring it 4x as fast as you are? Maybe they are more concerned with keeping their license and driving their car, than not driving at all?

A mate just got suspended from his new S2k just a month ago, only had it a short while, and he was ******** himself for what he did, a lesson learnt the hard way.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Just remember that brake distance is not a straight line, it is on a mathematical curve.
Stopping from 60mph is much greater than simply stopping from 10mph multiplied by 6. And stopping from 85 is greater than stopping from 55mph and 30mph together.

Just something to think about ther next time a deer jumps into the road (which sucks when you're on a motorbike).

also: You can do 10 over on most roads here without getting a ticket. This doesn't apply in school zones and residential neighborhoods of course.

 

[Samgotit]

Only problem with the ad is the cars don't have chrome muffler tips or gargantuan spoilers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2nvA...ion%2Fpage%2F5

 

[slick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by craiglester /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you're flooring your car to squeeze into a gap in traffic on the freeway on ramp, you're doing something wrong, I used to drive a Nissa Micra with 55 hp and I NEVER once had any trouble matching the speeds of those on the motorways, it's all just planning and attention. And i've ridden bikes scooters 4wds cars bicycles and trucks, so i have a little experience.

Then you have to come to Oklahoma to see the crap we go through on the Interstates! We have plenty of on ramps that I will hit doing 40mph, and even after flooring it, I still wont hit 50mph before hitting the Interstate (not like my car is fast, 166hp 4cyl Accord, but still). Yes, they are that bad/short. Even the off ramps are short. I have gotten off the Interstate once, and litterally had to slam my brakes just so I can make some ridiculous 90 degree turn that ends at a stop sign.

I have no problem with people speeding a little, I usually do 10mph over the limit, unless the Interstate is busy. If I have to constantly change lanes and weave around people, then I don't speed, I stick with the flow of traffic. However, when I drive State to State, and I get on that stretch of Interstate where, even during the daytime, I see no cars ahead or behind me, I will go over the limit everytime.

Wanna talk gas mileage? 90+ degrees outside, A/C on, 800lbs of stuff in the trunk, 85mph avg., 35mpg

Car may be slow, but getting 420 miles range out of 12 gallons of gas is a pretty good feeling.