Motorway speeding - Is it worth it?
Discussion
As the title reads.
First of all, I do speed on the motorway. )Usually like to cruise between 80-90mph if the flow allows me).
My query is is it worth it though?
The car uses quite a fair amount more fuel in these higher speeds (especially the smaller engine cars) and you don't really get anywhere that much faster if you look at your ETA on the sat-nav.(unless you're going over 100mph)
But as I said, I do speed on the motorway but I am not sure why and I'll carry on doing so.
I want people's opinions on whether they think it is actually worth it when you take fuel, noise, lack of real time saved and potential fine involved.
First of all, I do speed on the motorway. )Usually like to cruise between 80-90mph if the flow allows me).
My query is is it worth it though?
The car uses quite a fair amount more fuel in these higher speeds (especially the smaller engine cars) and you don't really get anywhere that much faster if you look at your ETA on the sat-nav.(unless you're going over 100mph)
But as I said, I do speed on the motorway but I am not sure why and I'll carry on doing so.
I want people's opinions on whether they think it is actually worth it when you take fuel, noise, lack of real time saved and potential fine involved.
- Actually you could just say speeding, not just motorway speeding...but you know, let's keep this motorway related.
I don't really bother. My commute has about half an hour of motorway and if I cruised at 80 rather than 70 that would gain me, what, 5 minutes at best, while bringing economy down by quite a bit. getting to work 5 minutes earlier doesn't seem like a good trade-off for the extra fuel cost.
Plus rush hour on the M8 is so erratic you can never cruise at 80 for more than a few minutes at a time anyway.
Plus rush hour on the M8 is so erratic you can never cruise at 80 for more than a few minutes at a time anyway.
Dodgy topic.
The correct answer is no, as breaking the speed limit is an offence. Get caught four times (assuming 3-points a pop) and you'll 'tot' your way to a six month ban. Crash and badly hurt / kill someone and you'll possibly go to prison (read the infamous ten pence short thread). Either way, you'll probably feel quite bad for the rest of your life.
In most driving situations on the motorway, 80-90mph is hard to achieve and when you could, there's lots of other road users = loads of risk. Modern cars that are well maintained are more than up to sailing along at 80-90mph on an open M-road. Sadly, this is when you're most likely to be pulled for speeding (working on the theory that the BIB find it easier to spot you).
However, as for the 'worth' part of your question, I've recently started driving at quite a bit less than the speed limit on the motorway (say 55-60mph). This gives me the inside (not the middle) lane all to myself. Watching the antics of those passing me by is quite alarming to say the least. My fuel economy is noticeably improved, as is my mood when I arrive. More importantly, I don't see a noticeable change in the journey time.
As for driving for fun, well I save that for the racing season.
The correct answer is no, as breaking the speed limit is an offence. Get caught four times (assuming 3-points a pop) and you'll 'tot' your way to a six month ban. Crash and badly hurt / kill someone and you'll possibly go to prison (read the infamous ten pence short thread). Either way, you'll probably feel quite bad for the rest of your life.
In most driving situations on the motorway, 80-90mph is hard to achieve and when you could, there's lots of other road users = loads of risk. Modern cars that are well maintained are more than up to sailing along at 80-90mph on an open M-road. Sadly, this is when you're most likely to be pulled for speeding (working on the theory that the BIB find it easier to spot you).
However, as for the 'worth' part of your question, I've recently started driving at quite a bit less than the speed limit on the motorway (say 55-60mph). This gives me the inside (not the middle) lane all to myself. Watching the antics of those passing me by is quite alarming to say the least. My fuel economy is noticeably improved, as is my mood when I arrive. More importantly, I don't see a noticeable change in the journey time.
As for driving for fun, well I save that for the racing season.
At times I prefer it just so it's easier to keep a constant speed. Sitting at 70 inevitably has you come across people sitting at 68mph (not that there's anything wrong with that of course) and then if there's a stream of faster traffic it can be a pain trying to get back out and not hold them up.
Sitting at 80 leaves you to pass more often than you're passed and not get in anyone's way.
Sitting at 80 leaves you to pass more often than you're passed and not get in anyone's way.
On dayshifts I set off at 05:30 for work which is 27 miles away, at least 20 miles of which is quiet dual carriageway.
At that time of the morning it's reasonably empty and on a few occasions I've pressed on, however I just don't seem to get to work any quicker.
So I just relax, set cruise to 65, sip my coffee from my thermos mug and enjoy Radio 2, while marvelling at the novelty of getting 32 mpg
At that time of the morning it's reasonably empty and on a few occasions I've pressed on, however I just don't seem to get to work any quicker.
So I just relax, set cruise to 65, sip my coffee from my thermos mug and enjoy Radio 2, while marvelling at the novelty of getting 32 mpg
slipstream 1985 said:
Nail that sticks out gets hammered. I have found as you go further south the average speed of everyone raises up from 70-75 in Scotland to 85-90 in the south of England.
Hmmmm. You appear to exist in some parallel universe! Don't see much of that round my way. I'd say it's rare to see anyone over 80 on the motorways.Patrick Bateman said:
Sitting at 80 leaves you to pass more often than you're passed and not get in anyone's way.
I find motorway driving at around 80mph whilst overtaking entices drivers to speed up to your bumper and tailgate until you move in. I like to drive 'quickly' when the situation allows but I do find 70 mph is good for the mind. It's quite a relaxing speed, you make more manoeuvres around slower traffic and it keeps you alert. If the motorway is empty though 70 mph can be quite tiring.
Note; to me speeding isnt worth it, it's doesnt really cut journy times that much and can be quite stressful.
GravelMachineGun said:
...and you don't really get anywhere that much faster if you look at your ETA on the sat-nav.(unless you're going over 100mph)
I could be wrong, but I would've thought that the ETA on the satnav just looks at the distance remaining, then chooses an average speed (say 65mph on the motorway) and calculates from that. So even if you were doing 100mph, it would assume that the remaining distance would be completed at an average 65mph.As I said, I could be wrong.
ArnieVXR said:
In most driving situations on the motorway, 80-90mph is hard to achieve and when you could, there's lots of other road users = loads of risk.
I don't agree with that at all.I use a motorway at least twice a day and 80mph is the speed of lane 2 usually (L1 with lorries). 90mph is no issue at all.
GravelMachineGun said:
slipstream 1985 said:
Nail that sticks out gets hammered. I have found as you go further south the average speed of everyone raises up from 70-75 in Scotland to 85-90 in the south of England.
I recently drove to Skye and found this to be the other way round!
(lights touch paper and runs!!)
Generally, no.
I think that the problem with motorways is not how much time we can spend on them, but just how long that time feels.
If I am going faster than everybody else, continually overtaking, the stress involved means that even 20 minutes feels interminably long. No way could I do 3 or 4 hours driving like that.
Best way to "shorten" a motorway journey is to try to go with the flow. Motorways are boring, going faster won't make them less boring, just boring, stressful, and seemingly interminably long.
I think that the problem with motorways is not how much time we can spend on them, but just how long that time feels.
If I am going faster than everybody else, continually overtaking, the stress involved means that even 20 minutes feels interminably long. No way could I do 3 or 4 hours driving like that.
Best way to "shorten" a motorway journey is to try to go with the flow. Motorways are boring, going faster won't make them less boring, just boring, stressful, and seemingly interminably long.
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