60 mph - how do you do it?

[Snax]

Originally Posted by tjts1

I don't know how you people do it. I have a 400 mile drive from SF to LA for 4th of July. At 60mph it would 6 hours and 30 minutes. At 80mph (normal speed on i5) 5 hours flat. Thats an extra 3 hours on the road for the round trip. My time is more valuable than the gas I would save.

I agree with that under most longer trip conditions to a point. There was a time when I would not hesitate to drive extremely fast to cover the 900 miles between here and southern California. I've done it in 13 hours multiple times with only stopping for fuel, food, and porcelain. Going the speed limit would require a hotel stay, jacking up the cost and time of travel significantly. The hit on fuel economy simply isn't enough to detract from the time saved.

Around town it comes down to just a few minutes difference - sometimes seconds, that are simply not worth fussing over.

[kwtorbe]

A vacuum gauge works for me! Summitracing.com sells a nice one for $20 and it pretty much behaves as a Throttle Position indicator.... Much much cheaper than a Scangauge...

[diamondlarry]

Originally Posted by DracoFelis

3) While discussing cruse controls (and fuel economy) with my mechanic, the point that constant throttle pressure (what used to be known as a "throttle lock") is often (in many driving situations) even better for fuel economy than a traditional "cruse control" (which maintains a constant speed, by varying the throttle pressure) came up. It was at that point, that I mentioned a hack that a fellow gassavers forum member made, whereby they added a power switch to the servo motor in their cruse. This (apparently very simple) mod allows you to take a normal (constant speed, but variable throttle) cruse control, and convert it (at the flip of a switch) into a (constant throttle, but speed may "drift") "throttle lock" (and back again, as needs arise). And in either mode, the original "safety features" (of automatically disengaging the cruse control when you step on a pedal) are fully retained! Once my mechanic heard about that mod (and how it worked), he thought the idea was fantastic! So we plan to also add in this "cruse control to throttle lock" switch to the cruse control we put on my car (so I can choose either operating mode whenever I wish, even switching modes while driving down the road)!

NOTE: If you are really cheap, there are mechanical "throttle locks" on the market for much cheaper than full cruse controls (some mechanical options costing $40 or less). However, the reason I finally decided to go with the cruse (with the "throttle lock switch" hack), instead of one of the mechanical options, is that the cruse/hack combo gives me both options, and retains the full (automatic cutoff when a pedal is used) features of modern cruse controls. So I really get pretty much the best of all worlds this way, except for the initially higher cost of this option.

And remember, in either mode (normal "cruse control" mode or hacked "throttle lock" mode) my cruse control (once it's installed, which will hopefully be "soon") will do the work of maintaining a slower speed (if that's what I want), instead of me having to force my foot back when my foot naturally wants to step harder. So I should be able to "relax" (with my foot off the gas pedal) and just make sure the car is pointed where I want it to go...

This sounds like a very interesting idea. Please keep us posted on your progress. I have been interested in a "throttle lock" ever since I saw it on the dash(factory installed) of my grandpa's '52 Ford F2 truck. I'm wondering if I could get it to work on my Prius without the ECU have a major fit.

Edit: Something else I've noticed, especially when out in the country, is that the slower you go the quicker people are to pass. It works pretty well in the city and highway as well. For example, if I'm going 40-45 in a 50, people(proctologists) are more likely to hang on the bumper. If I'm going closer to 30 in that same 50 zone, they are much quicker to whip around and keep going. It's kind of like working with other people's tendency to want to speed more than be inconvenienced by going slower.

[slurp812]

Originally Posted by tjts1

I don't know how you people do it. I have a 400 mile drive from SF to LA for 4th of July. At 60mph it would 6 hours and 30 minutes. At 80mph (normal speed on i5) 5 hours flat. Thats an extra 3 hours on the road for the round trip. My time is more valuable than the gas I would save.

I don't mind other people driving below the speed limit as long as they don't do it in the left lane. If you drive more than about 5mph below the limit or if semi trucks are passing you the CHP will pull you over. I've seen it happen more than once. At some point you become a hazard to other road users.

Really? Thats wired. Here in Ohio, if too many trucks are passing, the highway patrol will probably pull them over. On the open highway here, away from the cites, its 65 for cars, and 55 for trucks. and I do 60.

[diamondlarry]

Originally Posted by slurp812

Really? Thats wired. Here in Ohio, if too many trucks are passing, the highway patrol will probably pull them over. On the open highway here, away from the cites, its 65 for cars, and 55 for trucks. and I do 60.

I'm going to be coming through your area tomorrow and Saturday. We're going to Cedar Point. I plan on going closer to the truck limit if at all possible. I'm assuming there is a minimum of 45 in Ohio?

[jharbert]

I'm used to driving slow in the Metro. Only having 55hp is part of that, plus it's really easy to remind myself, especially being what kind of car it is, that I'm getting great FE by not speeding. I'm hoping the 'being used to it' factor along with the SG2 and cruise control will aid me in getting better-than-rated FE in the Prot?g

[baddog671]

jharbert, the sad thing is that's 55hp at the crank. I think it'd be very depressing to know what it is at the wheel

I used to drive mine at 70-80 and I would get very very poor mpg. I tend to stay about 60 now if on the highway but I stay on backroads as much as possible where I can drive 50 and do lots of coasting.

[1993CivicVX]

Originally Posted by McPatrick

I just spent some time looking for bumper stickers that will let my fellow road user know "what the heck he's doing driving THAT slow".

I found this one:



And there are more here:

http://www.cafepress.com/peacetrain/1780576

Anybody know of more cool bumper stickers, beside the one from Gassavers.org of course ?

How about a really small one on your bumper that reads: "you can read this because I am trying to get a bazillion miles per gallon!"

[skale7]

On a multi-lane freeway (as in 3+) stay in the lane left of the rightmost lane, and do whatever you want. In the right lane you have to worry about merging traffic, but in the next lane, you don't. If its a two laner, stay in the right lane.

I usually go between 55-60 on the freeway, and around 40 (the most efficient speed for the van) on the 35/45mph streets. You can't go less than 55 in ATL without a Chevy 3500 banging you in the rear.

[popimp]

The best way:

Determine what your morals, wallet, and mpg are Then drive that way. You're damned if you do and your damned if you dont.