Do You Speed?

Just be careful in case the man is out with a radar trap...

 

Going down into the South Bay in SD you had better not be putzin around at the speed limit. You will get run over!
In town on surface street I am at or just above.
Freeways in town, 5-10 depending on time of day and traffic flow.
Road Tripping .....anything goes. Often find the speedometer up in the 90's especially if highway is straight and not crowded (nothing to reference your own speed to). It just creeps up on you in this car.

 

nope....don't speed. I figure it's my job in life to keep those people behind me from getting a speeding ticket!!!....

 

That'll never work - they'll just zoom past you in frustration the first chance they get.

 

My son just saw one of those. He was on his normal morning commute in downtown Detroit, passing through a know speed trap. A car zoomed past him, and a police car pulled out with flashing lights. Both stopped at a red light, with the police car right behind the speeder.

Meanwhile another speeder zoomed through the speed trap, even faster than the first. As he neared the traffic light it turned green. The police car flipped off his lights, changed lanes, flipped on the lights, and stopped the even faster speeder.

Speeder #1 got lucky that day.

Tom

 

Lol. That was exactly my thought when I read the poll.

I live in Ohio. From what I've heard, Ohio State Troopers are well known throughout the country.

 

Re: Just be careful in case the man is out with a radar trap...

 

Hyo.........I'll see 'em at the next intersection. I'm just way too old to care!!! The blessing of middle age.....

 

Ohio is the only state where speeding is a capital offense. Driving through Ohio with an out-of-state plate is like walking around with a "kick me" sign on your back.

On the other hand, if I recall correctly from when I used to live in Ohio, you need two vehicular manslaughter convictions to lose your license. Different priorities, I guess.

Tom

 

That's a common misconception. The truth is, you don't need an out of state plate. They're just as happy to pull you over with Ohio plates. I guess its got good points, though. I don't see a lot of road rage incidents here, and you very rarely see the idiot drivers that weave in and out of traffic at 80 mph. When you do, there's truly a 99% chance you'll see them within a mile or two with 2 or 3 Troopers tucked in behind them.
:mod::mod::mod:

 

I used to drive professionally, 18 Wheeler flat beds, and gained a lot of respect for speed. Stopping 40 tons from 80 MPH in a short distance is a very scary thing. I usually keep it within 5 over if I can, and usually around here you can go 8 over without getting pulled over. My driving is on 2 lane country roads for the most part, and even though most drivers tend to do 80 on them, I dont, I rarely go above 60, mainly because the roads are so crappy. On the highways I do the pacing, basically going with the flow, occasionally going balls out, but only for a short distance, then bring it down to about 65 or so where its 55, or 70 when its 65 depending on traffic. In city driving, where its 35-45, I keep it well within 5 MPH of posted, the city cops have traps everywhere, but only nail those doing 6 over or more. I just don't get those who have to weave in and out so they can do 50 in a 35, only to be stopped at the next light, and usually in an SUV.

Here's what I find funny, almost every car I drove got much better fuel efficiency at speeds above 60 MPH, EXCEPT the Prius. The TCH, consistently got above 40 MPG on the highway doing 65, My Fusion Sport, 31 @ 65, a Crown Vic I had, 28 @ 68 MPH, my F350, 22 @ 64 MPH. The Prius got its best at 58 MPH, unless I was following an empty Flat bed, then I got 65 MPG @ 63 MPH. The only car that I had that got decent MPG when doing 55 was the Prius, all the rest burned more gas at the slower speeds.

 

Things haven't changed have they. Back in the 80's, driving a semi through OhIo was a pain, you did the speed limit or else! You had better have your papers in order, and your truck in good shape or you were pulled in back on the scales. I still stick to the limit when driving through Ohio, I dont trust those mounties there at all.

 

This surprises me, so much so that I won't be able to believe it without some supporting evidence. I must wonder if driving style changed at lower speed in a way that sabotaged fuel economy.

According to a ScanGauge, my Subaru does best at 30-35 mph. This is consistent with the general theory that manual transmission rigs do best at their slowest speed in highest gear without lugging. Before obtaining a ScanGauge, its mpg clearly suffered serious drops above 50 mph.

The old Accord was too old to fit a ScanGauge, but the above theory places its best at 35-40 mpg. From general experience, I believe this was close. Its mpg was also much less speed sensitive than the Subaru.

Unfortunately, like most American market cars, my Subaru is geared for performance, and turns much too high RPM at highway speed. Had it been geared for economy, turning a slower RPM unless downshifted, the best MPG speed would be higher. For reasons of both gearing and torque converter operation, I understand that typical ATs hit their best MPG at higher speed than typical MTs.

As for the Prius, Bob Wilson's graphed measurements clearly show that it continues to get better MPG as it slows down, at least down to 25 mph.