Driving at 88.5 KMPH for maximum fuel efficiency.

Silversurfer said:
Last December the week before Christmas while driving from Wexford on the M11 a driver came towards me on my side of the motorway on the outside lane. He caused two accidents. This is apparently quite common. Always drive on the inside lanes.
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On a four lane national road I had a car veer onto my side of the road... seemed to lose control of the car temporarily, managed to swerve back before hitting me.
 
I think the chaos really ensues where someone is in the overtaking lane passing cars that are travelling slower in the inside lanes and some jackass come flying up behind said person tailgating them and flashing.

Rather than suspend their overtaking manoeuvre, slow down, and try and re-enter the traffic inside, the person should rightly complete the overtaking and move back when it’s safe.

In my experience, it’s the flashing jackass who doesn’t actually understand the rules.
 
I really don't buy the argument that driving at 88kmph on a motorway is dangerous and to suggest that the reason it is dangerous is because people need to change lanes to overtake you is also not really my view on it. If you cannot change lanes safely on a motorway then you are the problem, not the car doing 88kmph. Every driver must be able to safely carry out manouevres such as changing lanes.
You cannot enter the motorway if your vehicle cannot reach a speed of 50kmph so that suggests the minimum speed but I'm not sure if that is a legally enforceable minimum driving speed.
 
Maybe it should be the case that other drivers take their place behind the slow moving vehicle but that doesn't happen, so in theory it shouldn't be dangerous but in practice it is. People drive close to the speed limit as that's the maximum safe speed to drive at. If someone is driving 30Kmph slower than that they'll pass them and passing in inherently more dangerous than just staying in your own lane.

If the people of Ireland, through their Parliament, decide to reduce the speed limit in order to reduce fuel consumption that's a completely different matter.
 
As somebody who drove an older low range electric vehicle on the motorways for a few years, driving slower to give you extra range was a necessity. My two cents is that 88km/h will have every truck in the country stuck to your bumper, flashing and beeping and then very slowly overtaking you with a queue of cars building up behind it. Trucks are limited to 90km/h and they understandably want every last bit of speed they can get.

The fact there are so many trucks on the motorway doing 90km/h though, I don’t know that you’re causing danger by driving that speed in a car. You just end up tucked in behind a truck and the people overtaking the truck overtake you at the same time.
 
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Steven Barrett said:
If you drove on the speed limit in the overtaking lane on the continent, you'd be run off the road, especially on the autoban in Germany.
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When the gridlocked M50 relocates to the continent, you may rest assured that I'll modify my driving technique appropriately.
In the meantime, I shall continue to drive on the M50 as I deem appropriate and will run the risk of being prosecuted by Ireland's finest for abiding by the speed limit.
 
So you are happy to obey the rules of the road on the continent but break them in Ireland?
 
Do you drive in a lane and at a speed where the traffic on your left is moving faster than you?
 
Baby boomer said:
By law, car manufacturers are actually obliged to ensure that the speedometer displays at least 5% in excess of the actual speed.
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I believe it's more complex than that. I stand to be corrected but I think EU law says car makers have to ensure that the speedo shows no lower than the actual speed (in which case, if the actual speed were 100, the speedo would show 100), and no more than 10% + 4km/h above the actual speed (in which maximal case, if the speed were 100, the speedo would show 114). This is to allow for you putting different size tyres and/or rims on the car, or new/old thread depth or less/more pressure in the tyres. So, it would be up to each maker to decide where they'll sit in this range (and maybe even different for different models), and depending on your setup, the speedo may be giving an exactly accurate reading of your speed. So, safest thing is to stay below (or, at most, at) the speed limit, as shown on the speedo.
 
Purple said:
That's the thing though, there is no fast lane. You drive on the left unless you are overtaking slower moving traffic. When the left hand lane is clear you move back into it.
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And the when you reach the next car in the slow lane you a boxed in by cars overtaking you
 
I have been driving on the left lane of the M50 at 70 km per hour for the last week. Usually at quite times. I have had a mini convoy behind me for several Kilometres on a few occasions when the other lanes remained relatively empty. Seemly quite a few drivers are now content to drive at a moderate speed to save fuel and help the environment.They seem to like to play follow the leader. It's has also reduced my stress level and I have arrived at my destination happy and with more fuel in my tank.
 

Vehicles have to be able to go above certain speeds to be allowed on a motorway but there is no minimum speed that I can find.

I would agree that you don't have to do the Max speed, but also it can be dangerous to be driving too slow at the same time.

In one of our older cars it was unwise to exceed 80kmph in it so you'd stay left as much as possible in it.
 

People drive like lemmings though, often on your bumper and don't want to pass. Often it takes real effort to get them to pass you. Long before any notion of fuel saving.
 
Perhaps it's just me getting older, but I find that my driving speeds have come down a lot in recent years. Before I retired, I was doing about 1000 business kilometres in a typical working week. I would usually do about 125-130kph on the motorway. Post retirement, I'm content to tootle along at 100-120 kph. And now that I'm paying for my own diesel, I'm saving a few bob too.
Eating healthier too, with forecourt dining a thing of the past, (almost!)
Chicken fillet rolls and potato wedges with mayo is not a balanced diet.
 
cremeegg said:
Drove 200 km on the motorway to Dublin yesterday. The fuel consumption fell from the usual 6.5l per 100km to 4.5l per 100 km. At €1.80 a litre that is a saving of €9.

I was so bored that I drove home at the usual speed.
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Time Value Money.

I suspect that the 6.5l was circa 130kmh which means that the "savings" cost you 30min.

On top of that it was not an enjoyable drive.

Hence more efficient for you to go back to your normal driving.

I've found my sweet spot for Kildare to Cahir drives to be 115-125kmh. Enjoyable, reasonably efficient and no chance of being stopped by the numerous Garda speed cars.
 
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