Slow down on the Kings Highway this summer

magiccar9 said :

milkman said :

magiccar9 said :

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Best thing to do if you get stuck in a huge line of cars doing 80-90km/h is to put on some good music and enjoy trip. Your fuel economy will be better as well.

Not entirely true. The constant slowing down and speeding up of the gaggle of cars would actually decrease your economy. Cruising at 100km/h with little adjustment (next to impossible with others in front of you) would result in a better economy.

Google ‘pulse and glide’ as a hypermiling technique. Varying your speed can actually improve economy.

A technique that is only effective by placing the car in neutral or turning it off completely. Keeping your vehicle in gear uses engine braking and let’s face it, being in a train of cars on the Kings Hwy is hardly a place you could P&G.

In a modern fuel injected engine the fuel systenm delivers no fuel when the engine is turning aboive about 1000rpm with no throttle opening. You also have the ability to expand and contract the gap in front of you to smooth your speed changes.

I don’t think it would make a lot of difference either way, frankly.

milkman said :

magiccar9 said :

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Best thing to do if you get stuck in a huge line of cars doing 80-90km/h is to put on some good music and enjoy trip. Your fuel economy will be better as well.

Not entirely true. The constant slowing down and speeding up of the gaggle of cars would actually decrease your economy. Cruising at 100km/h with little adjustment (next to impossible with others in front of you) would result in a better economy.

Google ‘pulse and glide’ as a hypermiling technique. Varying your speed can actually improve economy.

A technique that is only effective by placing the car in neutral or turning it off completely. Keeping your vehicle in gear uses engine braking and let’s face it, being in a train of cars on the Kings Hwy is hardly a place you could P&G.

magiccar9 said :

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Best thing to do if you get stuck in a huge line of cars doing 80-90km/h is to put on some good music and enjoy trip. Your fuel economy will be better as well.

Not entirely true. The constant slowing down and speeding up of the gaggle of cars would actually decrease your economy. Cruising at 100km/h with little adjustment (next to impossible with others in front of you) would result in a better economy.

That will all depend on your gaps and throttle input. The bigger the gap the less time spent on and off the throttle. You also need a lot less throttle to hold 80 (even with fluctuation) than at 100.

Then there is the effect of wind resistance which increases on a linear scale rather then a sliding scale with speed.

It would be an interesting comparison to make.

No issues with this, Canberra desperately needs more marked cars on the roads all the time and not for occasions like this. One hopes they will not just be targeting speeders though.

magiccar9 said :

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Best thing to do if you get stuck in a huge line of cars doing 80-90km/h is to put on some good music and enjoy trip. Your fuel economy will be better as well.

Not entirely true. The constant slowing down and speeding up of the gaggle of cars would actually decrease your economy. Cruising at 100km/h with little adjustment (next to impossible with others in front of you) would result in a better economy.

Google ‘pulse and glide’ as a hypermiling technique. Varying your speed can actually improve economy.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Best thing to do if you get stuck in a huge line of cars doing 80-90km/h is to put on some good music and enjoy trip. Your fuel economy will be better as well.

Not entirely true. The constant slowing down and speeding up of the gaggle of cars would actually decrease your economy. Cruising at 100km/h with little adjustment (next to impossible with others in front of you) would result in a better economy.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

KB1971 said :

Tenpoints said :

Cheap cars with inaccurate speedometers? Where on earth did you get that information from?

Usually on the drive to the coast in the holidays you get stuck in a long train of cars lead by either a slow caravan or other driver. That’s how it is in peak times. There’s generally jack squat you can do about it without putting everyone at risk with dangerous manoeuvres. Given everyone has the same destination, it’s almost the same as jumping a queue. Want a fast run to the coast? Do it at 2am on a Tuesday.

Same thing happens in the snow season and the train usually cruises along at 80-90 anyway so it’s not really going that slow.

Best thing to do if you get stuck in a huge line of cars doing 80-90km/h is to put on some good music and enjoy trip. Your fuel economy will be better as well.

Yep, my car has comfy seats, AC and a stereo that drowns out the kids……what more could you want!

KB1971 said :

Tenpoints said :

Cheap cars with inaccurate speedometers? Where on earth did you get that information from?

Usually on the drive to the coast in the holidays you get stuck in a long train of cars lead by either a slow caravan or other driver. That’s how it is in peak times. There’s generally jack squat you can do about it without putting everyone at risk with dangerous manoeuvres. Given everyone has the same destination, it’s almost the same as jumping a queue. Want a fast run to the coast? Do it at 2am on a Tuesday.

Same thing happens in the snow season and the train usually cruises along at 80-90 anyway so it’s not really going that slow.

Best thing to do if you get stuck in a huge line of cars doing 80-90km/h is to put on some good music and enjoy trip. Your fuel economy will be better as well.

Tenpoints said :

Cheap cars with inaccurate speedometers? Where on earth did you get that information from?

Usually on the drive to the coast in the holidays you get stuck in a long train of cars lead by either a slow caravan or other driver. That’s how it is in peak times. There’s generally jack squat you can do about it without putting everyone at risk with dangerous manoeuvres. Given everyone has the same destination, it’s almost the same as jumping a queue. Want a fast run to the coast? Do it at 2am on a Tuesday.

Same thing happens in the snow season and the train usually cruises along at 80-90 anyway so it’s not really going that slow.

This is the whole thing about planning your trip, if you don’t like the traffic, travel on a different day. I do it all the time but noooooo, like lemmings we do it every year.

Mysteryman said :

Alien Fiend said :

Of course, I stick to the limits – including the 70, 80 and 90 bits. I don’t accelerate on the overtaking lanes – except where there are trucks or caravans etc, and generally enjoy what has become a very pleasant drive.

In my experience, it’s the people who say this who usually travel well below the speed limit and speed up considerably on the overtaking section. Quite often they are driving cheap cars with very inaccurate speedometers.

Hahahahhaaa, I love the assumptions people make here. ….. you have no clue how alien drives so why try to make an issue of it with no basis?

On the issue of inaccurate speedometers, I have a fairly expensive Nissan that reads 7km/h fast. What that means is it is doing 93 while reading 100. There is nothing wrong with the car, it meets the ADR which says that the accuracy must be within 10% +4km/h. This means that the vehicle can be doing 86 and still meet the requirements of the law.