maximum speed on motorway?
Discussion
No wonder when i'm travelling on motorways at 70, i have cars zooming past. You're all doing 85's and above.
I usually cruise mid to high 70's i get a decent enough mpg and it looks like i'm flying, but not fast enough to make pc plod pay attention.
The worst thing is the t
ts that brake hard at at road works 50 limit,
I usually cruise mid to high 70's i get a decent enough mpg and it looks like i'm flying, but not fast enough to make pc plod pay attention.
The worst thing is the t
ts that brake hard at at road works 50 limit, I usually trundle along at 70-75, seems to be a sweet spot with gearing/comfort/fuel economy/tyre noise (on winters) for making relaxed motorway progress. In the warmer months, with summer tyres on, the thing seems to sit nicely at 80. The other car seem to like 68 on the CC, again sweet spot for economy/ride quality/noise.
My nearest section of motorway is currently under the curse of the average 50 zone, once you're through it's immediately HADECS3 on every other gantry for a good 60 miles, unless you need to push on, it's more relaxing to sit near the 70 mark, as opposed to accelerating up and easing off between gantries. There's also one of those VOSA/police checkpoint things nearby, often see unmarked plod in their plain car joining the motorway and blending in, so it pays not to draw attention to yourself.
Once on the M40, as previously mentioned a majority seem to do 80+, so being back at 70-75 makes for relaxing progress while at no risk of a ticket.
My nearest section of motorway is currently under the curse of the average 50 zone, once you're through it's immediately HADECS3 on every other gantry for a good 60 miles, unless you need to push on, it's more relaxing to sit near the 70 mark, as opposed to accelerating up and easing off between gantries. There's also one of those VOSA/police checkpoint things nearby, often see unmarked plod in their plain car joining the motorway and blending in, so it pays not to draw attention to yourself.
Once on the M40, as previously mentioned a majority seem to do 80+, so being back at 70-75 makes for relaxing progress while at no risk of a ticket.
Muddle238 said:
Once on the M40, as previously mentioned a majority seem to do 80+, so being back at 70-75 makes for relaxing progress while at no risk of a ticket.
I find sitting on the inside lane with lorries and constantly having to move out to overtake them,the least relaxing place to be.The middle lane isn't any better with lorries pulling out and having to watch the outside lane too
The most relaxing place IME is the outside lane
Obviously on a deserted MW the inside lane is fine
I tend to drive at 80 indicated as it is about 77 GPS , however some sections of my early morning commute I will hit indicated 90 for long stretches I find I get tired driving any slower although its marginal to my arrival time. Occasionally I will exceed the 100 to get some space or overtake if bunched up. Funny as a delivery driver for jaguar in the 80s I would always cruise at 100 or even 120, things tend to get a bit busy after those speeds but too many cars and too many cameras these days.
Like others have said I find that doing 65-75 is possibly the least 'relaxing' speed as you tend to be both overtaking a lot of stuff but are also being overtaken a lot too. Quite often I set off on a long journey with the intention of having a 'relaxed cruise' in the low 70s but find that it's actually less bother to do low-mid 80s, as at least then I only have to worry about what's in front of me for the most part. Funnily enough when I do a late-night motorway jaunt with basically no traffic I will bimble along at 70-75 though.
Roger Irrelevant said:
Funnily enough when I do a late-night motorway jaunt with basically no traffic I will bimble along at 70-75 though.
Much easier to pick a cruising speed when it's empty as you're not surrounded by those doing your speed +-2 mph.Found that cruising through France / Belgium on the way to Amsterdam at 3am; It's much easier to set cruise at 130Kmh and just point the car in the general direction when you've got all 6 lanes to yourself. Swerve around the truck every 15 minutes or so, and enjoy the music and sunrise over the rural Netherlands.
A44RON said:
Lemming Train said:
I'm genuinely puzzled by all these replies from people who claim to drive at 60-70 mph because "it's relaxing". Where are these mythical "relaxing" motorways located because I've never found any. 60-70mph is the worst speed because you're stuck in the middle of all the lemmings that have no awareness and can't keep a constant speed to save their lives. Person in front starts to slow down so you go for the overtake, then they speed up a bit so you either have to speed up yourself to save yourself from looking like a nob making no progress or ease off and drop back in behind, where 10 seconds later they're easing off again. If you do manage to overtake them and resume the speed you're doing, 30 seconds later they're overtaking you and then pull in front and start slowing down again. How the juddering fk is that nonsense in any way, shape or form "relaxing"? 
What is relaxing is to do 90 when able so that none of the above clowns are under your feet and it's rare to have anyone come up behind you wanting to go faster. The only caveat is that in addition to keeping tabs on what everyone else is doing you also need to keep your eyes peeled for plod, marked and unmarked, vans parked on bridges and looking to see which gantries have speed cameras on them. I'm sure some will argue that is the exact opposite of 'relaxing' but it comes as second nature if you like to press on and you don't even have to think about it. Sure, the time differential is negligible and it's going to cost more in fuel but I'm happy to pay that price just to keep well away from all the 60-70mph clusterfk of idiots that can't drive for toffee.
Agreed and I adopt this philosophy too. 60-70mph on a UK motorway I find far more stressful.k is that nonsense in any way, shape or form "relaxing"? What is relaxing is to do 90 when able so that none of the above clowns are under your feet and it's rare to have anyone come up behind you wanting to go faster. The only caveat is that in addition to keeping tabs on what everyone else is doing you also need to keep your eyes peeled for plod, marked and unmarked, vans parked on bridges and looking to see which gantries have speed cameras on them. I'm sure some will argue that is the exact opposite of 'relaxing' but it comes as second nature if you like to press on and you don't even have to think about it. Sure, the time differential is negligible and it's going to cost more in fuel but I'm happy to pay that price just to keep well away from all the 60-70mph clusterf
k of idiots that can't drive for toffee.Did several journeys from London to Bath/Bristol and back throughout November during busy times and still managed to cruise mostly at 80-95(ish) with minimal stress (plus arrived 30 mins quicker than the satnav suggested). Even when motorways are busy they still flow nicely most of the time, exception being M25.
As much as we beat up on the UK motorway network and driving standards, it's still much much better than driving in other countries, like Australia and New Zealand for example.
t scared of being caught speeding so you end up with 3 lanes of traffic doing bang on 100 km/h. I despair.It depends which one of my motors I'm driving. Most of the time, when I'm commuting back from my day job as a company director, I like to cruise at a steady 132mph in my BMW 335d M Sport. I regularly overtake other drivers in Porsches, Ferraris etc. I suppose they just don't know how to utilise the performance of their motors, but as someone with extensive track experience I have the requisite driving ability to do so.
Occasionally - when I'm really pumped up driving home after an intense gym session - I'll max the 335d M Sport out to 174mph on the M6 (I had the limiter removed to suit my driving style).
Occasionally - when I'm really pumped up driving home after an intense gym session - I'll max the 335d M Sport out to 174mph on the M6 (I had the limiter removed to suit my driving style).
RushDom said:
It depends which one of my motors I'm driving. Most of the time, when I'm commuting back from my day job as a company director, I like to cruise at a steady 132mph in my BMW 335d M Sport. I regularly overtake other drivers in Porsches, Ferraris etc. I suppose they just don't know how to utilise the performance of their motors, but as someone with extensive track experience I have the requisite driving ability to do so.
Occasionally - when I'm really pumped up driving home after an intense gym session - I'll max the 335d M Sport out to 174mph on the M6 (I had the limiter removed to suit my driving style).
Occasionally - when I'm really pumped up driving home after an intense gym session - I'll max the 335d M Sport out to 174mph on the M6 (I had the limiter removed to suit my driving style).
RushDom said:
It depends which one of my motors I'm driving. Most of the time, when I'm commuting back from my day job as a company director, I like to cruise at a steady 132mph in my BMW 335d M Sport. I regularly overtake other drivers in Porsches, Ferraris etc. I suppose they just don't know how to utilise the performance of their motors, but as someone with extensive track experience I have the requisite driving ability to do so.
Occasionally - when I'm really pumped up driving home after an intense gym session - I'll max the 335d M Sport out to 174mph on the M6 (I had the limiter removed to suit my driving style).
Well it made me laugh!Occasionally - when I'm really pumped up driving home after an intense gym session - I'll max the 335d M Sport out to 174mph on the M6 (I had the limiter removed to suit my driving style).
Alex said:
Speed Badger said:
I usually travel at around 67mph. I once did a regular late night journey halfway round the M25 and into Surrey, usually hardly any traffic. I tried an experiment; One time I did the journey at mostly an average speed of around 65mph, another journey at 85mph. It saved me about 4 minutes or so. Kinda felt its pointless ever since to risk my life and others for 4 minutes.
Say that's a journey of 80 miles. 85mph versus 65mph will save you 17.4 minutes.Which on the M25 is highly unlikely at any time of the day or night.
dcb said:
All this speed control has an economic consequence. Journeys take more time, which
mean they cost more. This feeds through into the general economy.
Of course, motorways are the safest type of road by far, so clearly the least useful
place to have a speed camera. But this is result of the UK Department of Transport,
where sadly politics trumps rational action.
Remember, 99% of the population are not car-loving PH'ers.
acme said:
RushDom said:
It depends which one of my motors I'm driving. Most of the time, when I'm commuting back from my day job as a company director, I like to cruise at a steady 132mph in my BMW 335d M Sport. I regularly overtake other drivers in Porsches, Ferraris etc. I suppose they just don't know how to utilise the performance of their motors, but as someone with extensive track experience I have the requisite driving ability to do so.
Occasionally - when I'm really pumped up driving home after an intense gym session - I'll max the 335d M Sport out to 174mph on the M6 (I had the limiter removed to suit my driving style).
Well it made me laugh!Occasionally - when I'm really pumped up driving home after an intense gym session - I'll max the 335d M Sport out to 174mph on the M6 (I had the limiter removed to suit my driving style).
Salmonofdoubt said:
My car returns optimal MPG at 61.37 mph on a motorway, using only 22% of the available throttle travel.
However if I use 37.96% throttle the speed increases to 70.65mph and at that speed the suspension seems to work far better giving a more comfortable ride.
I've found that if I cut my steering inputs to zero cornering becomes hard but tyre wear decreased by enough to allow lower mpg. Therefore I now drive at 67.324 mph which on my venn diagram gives the best mix of journey time, mpg, wear and tear and comfort.
Why nobody else considers throttle and steering input before driving at speed just makes me sad for the human race.
However if I use 37.96% throttle the speed increases to 70.65mph and at that speed the suspension seems to work far better giving a more comfortable ride.
I've found that if I cut my steering inputs to zero cornering becomes hard but tyre wear decreased by enough to allow lower mpg. Therefore I now drive at 67.324 mph which on my venn diagram gives the best mix of journey time, mpg, wear and tear and comfort.
Why nobody else considers throttle and steering input before driving at speed just makes me sad for the human race.
crusty said:
I never drop below a ton, whatever the journey, even if it's to buy some milk from the local shop
colin_p said:
In the olden days before the internet, satnav, smartphones and when you would expect there to be actual Police out and about I had two rules;
1, Never go over the ton. At the time folklore dictated that whilst you'd get a bking, a fine and maybe upto six points, you wouldn't get banned. I never got caught and used to love going 0.98 leptons.
2, Never be the fastest. If there were Police about, then my logic dictated they would got for the faster vehicle.
And then the internet happened and sometime after (maybe ten years) I joined Pistonheads, saw the error of my ways and now I drive at least 30mph lower than any speed limit. In 20 zones that may mean I have to do 10mph going backwards, minus 10, just to be safe.
But at least I'm not speeding, which as we all know is the absolute most important thing of all things that are important not to do.
1, Never go over the ton. At the time folklore dictated that whilst you'd get a b
king, a fine and maybe upto six points, you wouldn't get banned. I never got caught and used to love going 0.98 leptons.2, Never be the fastest. If there were Police about, then my logic dictated they would got for the faster vehicle.
And then the internet happened and sometime after (maybe ten years) I joined Pistonheads, saw the error of my ways and now I drive at least 30mph lower than any speed limit. In 20 zones that may mean I have to do 10mph going backwards, minus 10, just to be safe.
But at least I'm not speeding, which as we all know is the absolute most important thing of all things that are important not to do.
Sheepshanks said:
It's safer to go faster as it reduces your time exposed to danger (TED).
edd344 said:
If you can plan a nice straight route you can also remove your steering wheel. This will reduce your USM and increase mpg too.
Shakermaker said:
I have a 2 litre diesel Skoda, which being part of the Volkswagen group, obviously lies about its emissions output. Therefore I have to go faster than normal to account for this. Add in the "repmobile" status of the vehicle which means I have to get everywhere immediately because I am very important and I must be at the other end of the M4 before my next client relationship engagement appointment, I'll be going around 1-2mph faster than the car in front until they eventually move over. One time I got caught behind a police car and had to do 120 just to keep up with them and the bloke in front and still they wouldn't move over!!! Both the police car and I were rapidly flashing our lights to signal to this inconsiderate soul that we needed him to get past but he just kept going for miles on end.
Of course when conditions dictate I'll drop right down and drive at a sensible limit of probably 85-90 and hold up anyone who is attempting to overtake me, offering my services as some kind of road guardian, to prevent them driving at an maniacal high speed when the road conditions don't allow it. Sometimes that will be because of inclement weather, sometimes that will be because I'm more relaxed, but if I am relaxed, they should be as well.
Of course when conditions dictate I'll drop right down and drive at a sensible limit of probably 85-90 and hold up anyone who is attempting to overtake me, offering my services as some kind of road guardian, to prevent them driving at an maniacal high speed when the road conditions don't allow it. Sometimes that will be because of inclement weather, sometimes that will be because I'm more relaxed, but if I am relaxed, they should be as well.
AC43 said:
Plus if it's raining you should deffo go faster as you will miss a lot of the rain if you go much faster because you duck under it.
RushDom said:
It depends which one of my motors I'm driving. Most of the time, when I'm commuting back from my day job as a company director, I like to cruise at a steady 132mph in my BMW 335d M Sport. I regularly overtake other drivers in Porsches, Ferraris etc. I suppose they just don't know how to utilise the performance of their motors, but as someone with extensive track experience I have the requisite driving ability to do so.
Occasionally - when I'm really pumped up driving home after an intense gym session - I'll max the 335d M Sport out to 174mph on the M6 (I had the limiter removed to suit my driving style).
Just summarising some of my favourite responses to this cracking thread.Occasionally - when I'm really pumped up driving home after an intense gym session - I'll max the 335d M Sport out to 174mph on the M6 (I had the limiter removed to suit my driving style).
Thanks.
Similar to others on here, try to keep below 100 as a ban would be a trifle inconvenient but other than that it's basically as fast as is reasonably 'safe' in the conditions. Waze is a very useful tool showing where scamera vans and plod are sat, unfortunately keeping your eyes open isn't really enough now as even most vans will have done you by the time you've clocked them.
Never speed through the smart motorway sections or roadworks, never tailgate or flash people, always stay alert etc...8 years of driving and no points, never been pulled...time and a place and all that.
Never speed through the smart motorway sections or roadworks, never tailgate or flash people, always stay alert etc...8 years of driving and no points, never been pulled...time and a place and all that.
Europa1 said:
Me too. I only marked it down for not referring to "track work".
I guess an added stair domination and somehow shoeing in a MX5 reference and it'd be the full suite, but I'm being far too picky, as if anyone would do that on here!Shame the old coke and hookers line wasn't added too, I miss the days when every second response to a car thread was C & H!
sunbeam alpine said:
The M40 between the M25 and Oxford is the only bit where I'll stretch the car's legs a bit more (and where I regularly get passed by cars which must be into 3 figures). I imagine this reflects the relative lack of policing on that stretch of motorway.
I frequently see camera vans on the bridges on that stretch and the other day there was one on the London bound carriageway, tucked off to the left behind the barrier on the uphill bit from junctions 6 to 5 - a most odd location, I guess hoping to catch people out who thought the same.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff