Average driving speeds

[Jasandjules]

Are definately on the way down.

Just did 260 miles today, round the M25 and so on, and doing 70mph (on the sat nav) I was pretty much the fastest car on the road most of the time. An awful lot of people were doing 50-60mph (oh, including a Diablo VT!)

4 lanes, and still I was in the outside lane at 70 to get past people.

[McSam]

Depends where you are and when you are, I think. I sometimes find this, but usually only when there's enough retards in the outside lane that you can't go much faster anyway.

Conversely, at some times 80mph on the M1 or A42 in the Midlands sees you left behind by most.

Don't forget it's a bank holiday

[Caulkhead]

It's a bank holiday weekend. Last week I drove from Manchester to Southampton at around 0.95 leptons and I was regularly moving over for faster traffic.

[GSP]

I know someone that managed 87.7mph over a 350 miles commute... They leave at silly o'clock in the morning when the roads are empty.

[Jasandjules]

Maybe it's just the M25 and A12 then!!

[Dyl]

I'd agree with the OP, up here in Scotland at least. 70mph on the M8 these days will see you overtake 99% of other cars

[Benbay001]

Was on the Mway the other day, and i cruise at around 75, i barely overtook another car, instead everything was coming past me.
Your speedo must be out.

[McSam]

Benbay001 said:

Your speedo must be out.

Jasandjules said:

doing 70mph (on the sat nav)

Unlucky

[Sam.F]

I think it's very much more variable these days depending on time of day and place - the prevailing speed of most of the traffic on the M61/M6 today certainly seemed to be ~85mph whereas last week when we were up in Scotland I'd certainly say it was more like ~75mph on the A74(M).

[RizzoTheRat]

Jasandjules said:

4 lanes, and still I was in the outside lane at 70 to get past people.

On the M25 that surprises me, it's usually fastest to stay in the left hand lane as nobody else seem to use it.

[Jasandjules]

RizzoTheRat said:

Jasandjules said:

4 lanes, and still I was in the outside lane at 70 to get past people.

On the M25 that surprises me, it's usually fastest to stay in the left hand lane as nobody else seem to use it.

Oh yes, the inside lane was clear, and I did think about just streaming past them on the inside, but I just know if I do that one of the t**ts will finally pull over and smack into me!

[mike88]

I did a 400+ mile round trip last Sunday and cruising at 80 leptons saw me getting overtaken by very few cars, A+M180/A1/M11/M25/A127 was the route. Grimsby to Southend so a varied route.

[spikeyhead]

Average speeds have fallen significant;y since the recent climb in fuel prices.

[anonymous-user]

Yeah, noticed this too. I don't go in cars too often (at uni, I walk everywhere) and since Christmas I can really see the difference. It's frustrating, very very slow progress these days.

Last year I did a lot of motorway miles and found doing 65 in lane 1 pretty relaxing after a week at work. Just sat there chilling out a bit with some music

Edited by MSTRBKR on Saturday 30th April 18:32

[OldSkoolRS]

About 22 years ago I used to drive home from Edinburgh to Sandhurst for the weekend: I'd leave very late on Sunday night to prolong the weekend and also to avoid the traffic on the M3, M25 and M6 as my route was then. It used to take me about 5.5 hours to do just over 450 miles (just under 82mph average I worked out), including a refuel as the tank wasn't big enough to get there in one go. That was in a Mk3 1600 Escort that didn't even have a 5th gear so it was noisy and only did about 30mpg at higher speeds.

I drive alot slower these days though and often end up cruising on the inside lane at 60-65 to save fuel especially if I have plenty of time in hand. The thing is I'd have loved to have owned a car like my current A4 back then as it would have been much more comfortable, economical and quieter to do that 450 mile journey and now I have I drive it slowly...

Edited by OldSkoolRS on Saturday 30th April 18:58

[ajcj]

Agree that speeds seem to be falling a bit, I always reckon that 50mph is a good benchmark to beat cross-country, really hard to do on most routes with no motorway involved.

[anonymous-user]

When ever I've been on the M25 in the past four years I've alway found the average speed to be 70mph or lower, maybe due to average speed cameras?

I have to agree though, I've definitly noticed average speeds falling on other roads. Back when I first passed my test if I was doing 80mph on the M5 (only had a 1.0 car) I would be constantly getting overtaken. These days seeing people travelling much faster than 75-80mph seems to be a rarity. 90mph used to seem the norm, but these days I find I'm one of the few who still travels at that sort of speed.

[RizzoTheRat]

I've been commuting 75 miles each way recently on the M3 and A303, with the cruise control set at about 75-80 I find very few cars overtake me.

[Boba Fret]

RizzoTheRat said:

I've been commuting 75 miles each way recently on the M3 and A303, with the cruise control set at about 75-80 I find very few cars overtake me.

and do you ever move in from the outside lane?

[robsco]

Average speeds have definitely reduced. I understand why. I spend far more time than I should do checking my speedo (time that, admittedly, I should be using to watch the road ahead) to make sure I'm not straying over the limit for Mr Plod to zap me with his handheld and brand me a criminal.