“We're Not Unfairly Complaining About Congestion”

A 1998 Buick will go 750 km on a tank at 140 kph and 600 km at 100 kph

Typo??

Mileage is always better at 100 as opposed to 120......air resistance is a exponential same as braking......different cars will get their best mileage at different speeds....the limit is irrelavent anyway. Take a trip in the morning, 5:30-6:00 am and check the speeds of all the cars, 4 series highway, 115-125 plus or minus. Now check the speeds at 6:30-7:00pm, 105-115. Check again at 11:00pm-12:00, 100-105. According to the average speed on the roads, we have variable speed limits....

viper1 wrote:I think the on ramp problems are from new drivers who think the yellow/black speed signs are the limit.(so they speed up to 60 on the ramp and find highway speed after they enter it).

Or... upon reaching the end of the ramp, fearful of getting rear-ended... they slow down.

Afraid of getting rear-ended... so drive even more slowly into a high-speed traffic stream... well no one said common sense is a pre-requisite for a driver's licence. But the stupid thing is, that's what people do! And because motorists are afraid of slow-moving traffic coming from the merge lanes, they drive in the middle lane and clog that up, too.

Reflections wrote:

A 1998 Buick will go 750 km on a tank at 140 kph and 600 km at 100 kph

Typo??

Mileage is always better at 100 as opposed to 120......air resistance is a exponential same as braking......different cars will get their best mileage at different speeds....the limit is irrelavent anyway. Take a trip in the morning, 5:30-6:00 am and check the speeds of all the cars, 4 series highway, 115-125 plus or minus. Now check the speeds at 6:30-7:00pm, 105-115. Check again at 11:00pm-12:00, 100-105. According to the average speed on the roads, we have variable speed limits....

Not a typo reflections

My car gets better mileage at about 135 kph.

That 100 stuff came from the v8 days.

Try it with whatever car you drive.

Pick a gas station and fill it up. Then drive at 100 kph to any other gas station, fill it again. Then drive back to the first station (at 135) and fill it

again.

You will be surprised about the difference.

Cheers

Viper1

Steady speed fuel economy.

Fuel economy at steady speeds with selected vehicles was studied in 1973, 1984, and 1997. The most recent study[11] indicates greater fuel efficiency at higher speeds than earlier studies; for example, some vehicles achieve better mileage at 65 than at 45 mph (72 km/h),[11] although not their best economy, such as the 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass, which has its best economy at 55 mph (29.1 mpg), and gets 2 mpg better economy at 65 than at 45 (25 vs 23 mpg). All cars demonstrated decreasing fuel economy beyond 65 mph (105 km/h), with wind resistance the dominant factor, and save up to 25% by slowing from 70 mph (110 km/h) to 55 mph (89 km/h). However, the proportion of driving on high speed roadways varies from 4% in Ireland to 41% in Netherlands.

There were complaints when the U.S. National 55 mph (89 km/h) speed limit was mandated that it could lower, instead of increase fuel economy. The 1997 Toyota Celica, got 1 mpg better fuel-efficiency at 65 than it did at 55 (43.5 vs 42.5), although almost 5 mpg better at 60 than at 65 (48.4 vs 43.5), and its best economy (52.6 mpg) at only 25 mph (40 km/h). Other vehicles tested had from 1.4 to 20.2% better fuel-efficiency at 55 mph (89 km/h) vs. 65 mph (105 km/h). Their best economy was reached at speeds of 25 to 55 mph (see graph).[11]

ok, made my way thru the dreadful GTA today....phew...in one piece...freaking crazy out there....every 5th person yacking with a cellphone (not hands free)...2 with maps across their wheel, 4 writing while driving, one with an IPAD......too many people not moving to the right (including those in the centre lane that should move over too), thus others now criss crossing thru traffic to get one car length ahead rather than waiting 10 more seconds, and of course those people cheaped out and forgot to buy the extra option on their car "signals"

hwybear wrote:freaking crazy out there....

I still get WTF moments on a regular basis... things I never saw when living in Detroit, Windsor, Vancouver, Memphis or Ottawa, I see all the time here. Driving in the GTA is really good for shock value.

You're not kidding! Yesterday evening driving west on the QEW, I had two cars nearly sideswipe me attempting to bully me into going faster (110km middle lane, and I was keeping pace with the left-lane). Another one played chicken with me so as not to let me merge on the QEW from 427 southbound ramp, and so many more not signalling, lane straddling, etc. I get bullied all of the time because I don't speed excessively (and I also do not ride in the left lane unless I AM prepared to go over considerably, and only to pass another vehicle or group of vehicles in the middle or right lane).

The people are so aggressive, and it gets to the point where I just say F/U and keep driving safely. It's not a situation where I'm the only one turtling in the middle lane while cars are zipping by me. I'm at the speed of the SANE folks on the road and if I don't feel like going over 110km, it's the right lane for me (and it's quite a peaceful ride, even if that lane is the most dangerous). Still, I STILL get bullied by morons who are trying to win some imaginary race and go over into the right lane to by-pass the blocked left and middle lanes.

We have a few absolute twits zig-zagging through everyone and god help you if you are in their way. This happens to me all the bloody time. ALL the time. Makes me wonder why there are even speed limits posted as they are never ever observed unless cherries are up ahead. Sheesh, I'm damned if I do go over, and damned if I don't.

Hence, why good unmarked cruisers would be helpful, to see what I saw and Marquisse, at least would clean up a lot of stupid driving.

Ironically, I've been thinking about what I previously said about being opposed to umarked cruisers. I think I was wrong. My previous perspective was that it appeared to be that the umarked cruisers were there to nab people and nothing more. I failed to see the subconscious warning their presence instilled in people. If drivers were consciously aware that there may be an umarked vehicle ready to nab them driving dangerously at any given time, then they would be less inclined to take that risk.

I find the roads getting worse for people like me. I find people to be so aggressive that there have been occasions where my life was on the line because of their bully-driving. I'm not just using overblown prose here, either. I've been frightened - not by the speed of the highway as I've travelled the highways (particularly the QEW from Toronto all the way to Fort Erie) on a very frequent basis since the very day I got my license. I am afraid of the drivers. They've changed, or I've mellowed out myself to the point of seeing the madness zip past me (and almost into me).

I'm not just using overblown prose here

English major/minor?

To the rest of us the "pros" are hockey players.

English major/minor?

To the rest of us the "pros" are hockey players.

Actually, minor, and sometimes it sneaks in without me realizing it.

My hubby is the former pro hockey player! It was quite the scandal when it was discovered that I didn't know what icing was. I must say, he's got quite the talent for trash talking on the bench. Nobody can heckle like a former member of the goon squad.

Marquisse wrote:I find people to be so aggressive that there have been occasions where my life was on the line because of their bully-driving. I'm not just using overblown prose here, either. I've been frightened - not by the speed of the highway as I've travelled the highways (particularly the QEW from Toronto all the way to Fort Erie) on a very frequent basis since the very day I got my license. I am afraid of the drivers.

Drivers are changing. Aggressive drivers seem to be getting more so, ditto for incompetent drivers (e.g. the types who slam on the brakes and make a sudden right turn from the left lane), and those who think driving is something that's done while you're doing something else... like text-messaging... are getting more and more pre-occupied with "other tasks" while driving.

Thing about the GTA is that it isn't just one particular style/habit of driving. There are so many, you can't predict what's going to happen. That's what bothers me more than anything.

Our daily commutes have been turned into a genuine effort to survive, literally.

so today, I thought I would make a change. I thought I would go big or go home, soI went and jumped in and drove a relative's "International". So off I went at 7am. Figured I would go for a little drive and see how it went. Well I loved it so much I came back at 8pm tonight......13hrs of driving. The best was that everything was that much easier to see when your a little bit higher than sitting in a car. It was shocking to see how far away traffic stayed from me, but man this has got to be a good thing. Not quite sure how far I drove, but sometimes it almost felt like I had been down the same path before, but not quite the same. With the higher point of view I was able to see a flock of geese landing in a pond. What a great relaxing day of driving, no worries, just me.....oh forgot one small detail it was a "Case International".

hwybear wrote:so today, I thought I would make a change. I thought I would go big or go home, soI went and jumped in and drove a relative's "International". So off I went at 7am. Figured I would go for a little drive and see how it went. Well I loved it so much I came back at 8pm tonight......13hrs of driving. The best was that everything was that much easier to see when your a little bit higher than sitting in a car. It was shocking to see how far away traffic stayed from me, but man this has got to be a good thing. Not quite sure how far I drove, but sometimes it almost felt like I had been down the same path before, but not quite the same. With the higher point of view I was able to see a flock of geese landing in a pond. What a great relaxing day of driving, no worries, just me.....oh forgot one small detail it was a "Case International".

So, how much red diesel DID you burn at the end of it all?