Appologies Mr Twingo
Discussion
Okay, as a petrol head I have an appology to make. You see so many rants on here about poor standards of other drivers, and of course, all the ops are actually in the right, I thought I post a mistake I'd made to redress the balance.
Comming along the A20 last night two cars behind me for a while. I was actually concentrating on fuel consumption. Trying for a number of miles to get the fuel consumption to 25mpg. It had been 24.9 for ages and I was trying to hit the magic target. This meant I was keeping to the speed limit, and on this particular stretch on the A20 I was creeping slightly over the 60 limit so stuck the car into neutral down a long straight hill to get that elusive 25. At the bottom of this half mile long hill I was turning left into country roads anyway.
Twingo was on my immediate tail, and obviously looking for an overtake so I pulled to the left side, but he kept hugging my tail looking for an overtake gap.
Still in the 60 limit I let the speed on the car wash down as in a few hundred yards I was pulling left, probably about fifty five, and put my indicator on considering how near the Twingo was to my boot.
This is a road where people regular exceed the 60 by a fair margin on a normal day so in dropping my speed I was obviously frustrating him.
The twingo had enough of waiting and went for the overtake. I stayed left with my indicator still on.
Twingo passed me with fair aplomb, and exactly as he did this blue lights came on in my rear view. Obviously the car behind him and been an unmarked.
It overtook me and went after him. Both his and the police cars brake lights came on to pull to the side of the road just as I turned left.
Now I kind of feel I'm responsible for that, and that karma is comming for me, so I thought I'd appologise to try and make peace with the God of car drivers.
Comming along the A20 last night two cars behind me for a while. I was actually concentrating on fuel consumption. Trying for a number of miles to get the fuel consumption to 25mpg. It had been 24.9 for ages and I was trying to hit the magic target. This meant I was keeping to the speed limit, and on this particular stretch on the A20 I was creeping slightly over the 60 limit so stuck the car into neutral down a long straight hill to get that elusive 25. At the bottom of this half mile long hill I was turning left into country roads anyway.
Twingo was on my immediate tail, and obviously looking for an overtake so I pulled to the left side, but he kept hugging my tail looking for an overtake gap.
Still in the 60 limit I let the speed on the car wash down as in a few hundred yards I was pulling left, probably about fifty five, and put my indicator on considering how near the Twingo was to my boot.
This is a road where people regular exceed the 60 by a fair margin on a normal day so in dropping my speed I was obviously frustrating him.
The twingo had enough of waiting and went for the overtake. I stayed left with my indicator still on.
Twingo passed me with fair aplomb, and exactly as he did this blue lights came on in my rear view. Obviously the car behind him and been an unmarked.
It overtook me and went after him. Both his and the police cars brake lights came on to pull to the side of the road just as I turned left.
Now I kind of feel I'm responsible for that, and that karma is comming for me, so I thought I'd appologise to try and make peace with the God of car drivers.
trickywoo said:
julian64 said:
I have an appology to make. Stuck the car into neutral down a long straight hill to get that elusive 25.
This is where you are going wrong. With no throttle opening the engine will use less fuel in gear than in neutral.Will only work with modern engine management I believe (not carbs)? If it's the gorgeous XKSS (replica I assume) in the OP's profile then he might have been better in neutral. I guess it'd still be a 'motored' condition in gear so less vacuum in the manifold, but it can't take that much fuel to idle in neutral.
[/pedant]
The only bad karma coming back around is the bad fuel consumption juju! Keep it in gear and let it coast, revs are high but consumption stays low, car with an ecu will match fuel to air for you, throttle controls the air flow. Engine idling will require fuel to keep turning over wheras coasting uses mechanical momentum to keep the engine turning over.
Sod the Twingo driver, they had it coming. If they had just swiftly overtaken you at the first opportunity chances are they wouldn't have been pulled.
Now where's the whoosh parrot I was promised?
Sod the Twingo driver, they had it coming. If they had just swiftly overtaken you at the first opportunity chances are they wouldn't have been pulled.
Now where's the whoosh parrot I was promised?
Chris71 said:
[pedant]
Will only work with modern engine management I believe (not carbs)? If it's the gorgeous XKSS (replica I assume) in the OP's profile then he might have been better in neutral.[/pedant]
I'm thinking its something with an OBC from the way its written. Guess the M5?Will only work with modern engine management I believe (not carbs)? If it's the gorgeous XKSS (replica I assume) in the OP's profile then he might have been better in neutral.[/pedant]
Nope, five miles an hour faster and I don't think the twingo would have got frustrated, wouldn't have tried the overtake, and wouldn't have got pulled.
The twingo had been behind me for a few miles, and had only been tailgating prior to the overtake which I personally consider entirely reasonable.
Car was an E39 M5. Above 1800 rpm it has fuel cutout with no foot on the throttle, but the big V8 would slow the car down very fast with no foot on the throttle and I wouldn't have made the turning without having to apply it again. So in that circumstance idle is more fuel efficient than light, or foot off, as in neutral with the slight hill the car was just about maintaining 60.
The twingo had been behind me for a few miles, and had only been tailgating prior to the overtake which I personally consider entirely reasonable.
Car was an E39 M5. Above 1800 rpm it has fuel cutout with no foot on the throttle, but the big V8 would slow the car down very fast with no foot on the throttle and I wouldn't have made the turning without having to apply it again. So in that circumstance idle is more fuel efficient than light, or foot off, as in neutral with the slight hill the car was just about maintaining 60.
k are you apologizing you fYou've said yourself that he was 'tailgating' and 'on my immediate tail'. It's the Twingo drivers own fault.
You were driving almost at the speed limit anyway so no need for the Twingo driver to get frustrated.
Probably just got a talking to by Plod, unless the overtake was particularly dangerous.
You were driving almost at the speed limit anyway so no need for the Twingo driver to get frustrated.
Probably just got a talking to by Plod, unless the overtake was particularly dangerous.
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