Why bother with a 500bhp V10 if....

[CarAbuser]

It still sounds really nice at 50mph.

Extra brilliant when he's stuck in traffic creeping along in 1st gear and can hear the lovely rumble.

[Hasbeen]

I did 2900 Km in my 330 BHP TR8 in 3 days recently. Most of this was really good light traffic country roads. Assuming it has about 4" of throttle control, I would only have used 2" on a few occasions, & full throttle only once, to pass a low loader in the twisties.

When you have adequate power you don't feel any need to use it all the time, only when necessary. The main thing is to have it if you want it, or ever actually need it. I was very pleased with the little lady using just 10.1L/100Km for the trip, while giving very good average speeds, considering the speed limits imposed.

[Mr SFJ]

I pootle along to work at 45-50 when I could easily overtake everything doing 80, but there's no point. I get to work/home no quicker, just using more fuel along the way, doing a week of it at 80 I was getting 32mpg, at 50, 38mpg, and I get there less stressed and a little faster because by the time I raced up and stopped at the various lights on the road, pootling along at 50 means I can get through 80% of them in one go. It's nice. I save the hoons for other roads though.

[gazchap]

I think he should be bloody applauded for his restraint.

I found it practically impossible to not treat the accelerator like a binary switch when I had my two M5s, and my fuel bill was sky high as a result.

[T0MMY]

I putter along at 70mph on motorways as there's no fun in going faster in a straight line, more MPG and less stress looking out for cameras and unmarked police cars. As soon as I hit a suitably quiet country road though I'll open the taps and unleash the full power of my Astra Estate's 1.7 CDTI engine.

How people drive on the motorway is no indication of how they'll go round corners or how much of an "enthusiast" they are. My dad does 90 on the motorway then holds up tractors on twisty country roads.

[The Wookie]

Motorway driving is indeed dull at both 50mph and 100mph, however it is dull for twice as much time doing 50mph.

The 'it wont get you there any faster' brigade are kidding themselves, fair enough (assuming you're not holding anyone up) if you want to save money or don't lead a busy life and the extra time doesn't bother you but saying going faster doesn't reduce your journey time is patently illogical and completely in contradiction to the vast majority of journeys I make.

[Sump]

The Wookie said:

Motorway driving is indeed dull at both 50mph and 100mph, however it is dull for twice as much time doing 50mph.

The 'it wont get you there any faster' brigade are kidding themselves, fair enough (assuming you're not holding anyone up) if you want to save money or don't lead a busy life and the extra time doesn't bother you but saying going faster doesn't reduce your journey time is patently illogical and completely in contradiction to the vast majority of journeys I make.

It will only make a difference if the journey is longer than average.

On a normal 30 minutes commute it won't make an ounce of difference if you're bombing it everywhere during peak travelling times.

[Zod]

I dn't understand why you'd cruise at 70. unless there is traffic, 90 is fine and gets you there a lot quicker. Just keep an eye out for the rare sight of a police car (marked or unmarked).

[Leins]

"Speak softly, and carry a big stick" springs to mind. Don't know why though, and in unrelated matters this guy in the M6 just needs to man up!

[thatdude]

I have a 1.6 litre civic sport, I do 60-70

I dont think it matters what you got, on the motorway or long dual carrigeway stretches just pick a speed your comfy at and sit there


If I had a V10 m5 though I would make a huge event out of joining the motorway, blasting down the slip road....and once I'm on, settle down to my preffered speed

[The Wookie]

Sump said:

It will only make a difference if the journey is longer than average.

On a normal 30 minutes commute it won't make an ounce of difference if you're bombing it everywhere during peak travelling times.

I'd call 5-10 minutes over half an hour a difference. Whether it's worthwhile or not is a question of whether something stopped you from leaving earlier and whether or not you can be 5-10 minutes late for wherever you're going!

[Sump]

It's never going to be 10 minutes.

[Major Fallout]

Motorways are boing and the BMW 6 is a nice place to be.

Ok i only have the V8 and 360 something bhp, but on motorways you will find me plodding along the inside lane. About 55-60mph with the rest of the relaxed people, not in the outside lane with the angry dads and 18-28 year old girls in 1.1 hatchbacks 1" from the steering wheel and the same from the bumper of the person in front.


Inside lane = relaxed people.

Outside lane = angry/aggressive.

Middle lane = bit of both.

A and wide B road = Redline

[Leins]

Major Fallout said:

Motorways are boing

Sorry, that just entertained me! I agree though, unless you decide to ignore the consequences and pretend you're bahn-storming, they're shockingly dull things to use. And even then, give me a decent back road for a bit of fun any day. All about the comfort and getting there as cheaply as possible otherwise for me

[The Wookie]

Sump said:

It's never going to be 10 minutes.

I have a 40 mile virtually all Motorway commute. If I sit relaxing at 60, as many are saying they do, and there's no traffic (as there often isn't) it'll take me 40 minutes, if I sit at a thoroughly acceptable but technically illegal 80 then it'll take me 30 minutes.

[Sir Humphrey]

Well he's not going to max it out is he?

[eltax91]

His wife is a grade 1 bh. The car is his only salvation, so he drives it home slowly in order to maximise car time and minimise wife time

[Rawwr]

I commute on the M1 and M25 on a Fireblade and most of the time I'm just plodding in L1 (as this is by far the quickest lane overall). Sometimes, just knowing you have devastating power is enough.

[TheAngryDog]

I sit at 75 on the motorway in my 5.0 V8. Saw 30mpg on the obc briefly.

Motorways are too busy to go quickly on these days.

[T0MMY]

The Wookie said:

I have a 40 mile virtually all Motorway commute. If I sit relaxing at 60, as many are saying they do, and there's no traffic (as there often isn't) it'll take me 40 minutes, if I sit at a thoroughly acceptable but technically illegal 80 then it'll take me 30 minutes.

I'm not one of the people that says it makes no difference but I suspect you'd be disappointed about how much difference it actually made if you tried it. At 80 you spend a lot of time catching people and having to slow then pulling away again.

Being a science dweeb I did some experimenting on my 70 mile commute. Used to do 80 everywhere so tried 60 and 70. The MPG was far better at the lower speeds though not much difference between 60 and 70 bizarrely (80 dropped it by about 15%). 60 was stressful as you have to get in people's way to get past lorries and I just felt like a knob. 70 was less stressful, took not much more time than 80 and saved me a shedload in fuel. At 80 you have to keep an eye out for cameras, you get pissed at people holding you up and you use lots more fuel so now I do 70 as I just find myself road raging less

I still get pissed off at people holding me up on country roads but it's rarely an issue on the motorway now.