Safe Speed Forums

I think pretty much ALL cars carry more weight than they "need" to - no reason to single the "Pious" out!

As for the children, I can't remember where I heard it but someone once said that we don't "own" the earth, we merely "borrow" it from our children. He then went on to say that if this was true, he had no compunction about driving a gas guzzler and trashing the earth because everything he'd ever lent HIS kids came back trashed!

on the contrary, many (all?) of the people driving them are doing so they can claim they're saving the planet. If they were really serious about doing so then shouldn't they be burning as little fuel as possible?
I know, they should have done a bit more reasearch and bought a more economical car in the first place but there's a lot that can be done to make the "pious" more economical.

I've got my physics hat on again.

Ahem…

I remember the first law of thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed.

That does it for me - I'm gunna buy a Hummer

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

thats another thing that popped into my head today after reading this- mpg gauges!

my first car was a big old 1.8 passat estate, but by driving with consideration (NOT total commitment I assure you..) for the 'E' meter I'd regularly return mid 40's mpg, very good for the type of car. And since then I've often pondered if you wanted to slow drivers down all you'd have to do is make mpg gauges mandatory, watching it swing from 60 to 30 cos you moved your foot an inch brings out the miser in most of us...

wonder how much of the hybrid owners claimed economy is down to this feature alone?

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Fear is a weapon of mass distraction

Whilst I'll admit to playing the "how high can I get my average MPG" game on long cruises, I also get an almost childish level of glee out of seeing how far into single digits I can get the instantaneous readout when pulling away from a standing start with the auto box in sport mode... But yeah, I suppose if my overall driving style meant the average readout was just creeping into double digits rather than sitting around the mid-high 20's (urban driving is a killer!) as it normally does, I'd be rethinking how hard I pressed the right hand pedal.

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Chris

Must admit i've done what Twister talks about - out of interest ,and ( since a TD car is a new thing to me ) to see what difference can be made. I've had the instantaneous as low as almost single figures and as blanked it out. It's also interesting to see what difference i can make to the overall figure - trouble is top economy is boring - so now looking for a mix - and it makes the run to work a bit more interesting.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

My old Mazda 323F Sport would do 50 mpg on a run. When I was buying it I wondered how a 2 litre sports car could do so well, even the sales lady was surprised when she looked at the details but sure enough - I could easily get that figure when I travelled between 55-65 mph. The display shows it as litres per 100 miles, unfortunately, but 9.8 litres per 100 miles is 50 mpg.

Who says you can't have it both ways? You'd be amazed at a Mazda.

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

err, surely that's L/100km (the measurement used in the civilised world )... or around 30mpg and pretty standard consumption for a 2L Mazda.

Nope. Honest onion. Sounds bazzar I know. I'll take a pic and post it if you think I'm fibbing

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The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not necessarily represent the views of Safe Speed.
You will be branded a threat to society by going over a speed limit where it is safe to do so, and suffer the consequences of your actions in a way criminals do not, more so than someone who is a real threat to our society.

you know what, I've just checked the official figures and it's 6.6L/100km which would be 10.5L/100miles. So your 9.8L/100miles (46mpg) isn't that far from what they officially claim.

Pretty impressive though as my brother had the 1.8 astina which supposedly is slightly more economical on the highway cycle and I can't remember getting anything like that on a long run.

Agreed! The modern ones aren't just too "techy", they'r far too "townie" (leather seats, fancy gadgets, alloy wheels, metallic paint etc). They don't even want to get them scratched, never mind muddy boots/foul-smelling wet spaniels/sheep shit/dog hairs/stray bits of hay/odd lumps of redundant machinery in the back etc etc.

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Save a cow - eat a vegetarian

Tell me about it! Up here in Cumbria where I do a lot of mileage on single track roads, I'm forever having to put 2 wheels on the grass (in my 2WD MPV!) to let these poseurs past in their shiny new Discovery 3s without them having to risk getting their alloys dirty!

It's disgusting where I live. The farmers have no consideration. They let their cows cross the road without wiping their feet. My X5 gets dirty just driving round the corner. Something should be done!

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

I'm with Mole on this... what most of them need is the vehicular equivalent of a condom.
Rather appropriate really given the attitude of many of the people inside them!!

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Bit late in the day - the townies attitude to single tracks ain't changed, it seems - perhaps it's their parents that should have been given one. Perhaps a bit of education , such as stopping in the middle of the road ( when they can see you from a distance ) and suggest that they reverse to the passing place they've (usually) just passed. (Cue "what passing place ,and i can't reverse " )

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

I assume you get over and stop. You are probably better offf doing this than trying to creep past them as, if they hit you, then they are the one at fault.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

Ok, going off topic a bit here but interesting you should say that!

A couple of years ago, I had just such a misfortune. I was heading down a steep hill, single track road - about 1 in 5 with a few bends. Over the hedges I get a glimpse of something coming the other way - fast. I swerve over as far as I can onto the grass. Nearside mirror slaps back in the hedge and I stop just as Mr. plonker comes tanking round the last bend, sees me and stands on the brakes only to slide straight into me. Neither of us was hurt, but damage was substantial. Fortunately, he admits fault.

Now it turned out that it was just as well he was honest because if he hadn't, in the abscence of witnesses, the copper told me that the insurance companies tend to go for a "knock-for-knock" settlement in cases where there are no whie lines down the middle of the road! It wouldn't have mattered that I was stationary and on the grass while he was sideways across the entire road! As it happens, because neither car could move and were were not far round a blind bend, the coppers came and at least they therefore had a chance to to see the vehicle positions and take statements but I'd have been mightily miffed if it HAD ended up knock-for knock!

Anyway, to answer your question, I usually carry on slowly - to be fair, the vast majority of drivers - even those in shiny new X5s, Cherokees, Pajeros, Shoguns, Landcruisers, etc tend not to drive quickly either. They're just a bit poncy when it comes to going "off road". The big danger with stopping completely (for me, with a nearly 2 ton MPV and front wheel drive anwyay) is getting stuck!

guys get an old diesel and use veggy fuel....50p a litre and saving the planet at the same time................what more could you want?

...some legal way of avoiding the duty on top of the 50p that makes it barely worthwhile?

duty was removed the end of last month

up to 2500 litres tax free