cruising / top speed

[discipleofsketch]

'Pionte' my point exactly! Motorways are allot less stressful in the fast lane, away from lorries and people who for some unknown reason find it impossible to stay at a constant speed. Repeatedly accelerating then breaking is very frustrating.

In my bus i'm most relaxed in the slow lane just travelling slightly faster than the trucks, so I overtake only occasionally and don't have trucks creeping up on me. Window down, music on, enjoy the scenery, what's the hurry?

In my car it's totally different, I drive faster, but get wound up by middle lane hoggers who refuse to move into the first lane when there is nothing in it for miles, or pull into the fast lane to pass another middle-laner (hence the constant slowing down and speeding up) so I have to cross from one to three than back to one to overtake, avoiding clumps of Audi drivers tailgating each other down the fast lane. I always arrive at my destination totally stressed and knackered.

I agree it's least stressful driving fast in the third lane, but only if you aren't being tailgated by an Audi when you can't pull into the middle lane to let them past because of the middle lane hoggers! Different case on a dual carriageway though, you are either overtaking or being overtaken, no middle lane idiots to negotiate!

[faggie]

i too was not brave enough to find out the top speed of my old van 100mph was enough , also the fear of getting pulled by the police

[HarryMann]

The police!!!
Didn't think they existed anymore, certainly not on the roads. All cameras now which can't police dangerous or bad driving. ..

[shepster]

Since becoming a farther of two, i had to swap my . . ST for a sensible 5 door diesel family car. So the camper is my play thing, miss my loud exuasts and turbo chargers. Im a ex chav still in recovery. Can't afford to run a third car else id get another mk1 golf.

Buy a T5 then!

[Tobyt25]

Im thinking subaru wrx conversion, been pricing it up

[nevill3]

I have just returned from our annual sojourn to Cornwall, I cruised at an indicated 62-65 mph and got 39mpg from my 1.6D. Whilst driving past Cheltenham on the M5 at 4 in the morning I decided to find out what my top speed is fully loaded, I managed 78mph indicated by the speedo so probably about 71-71mph actual.

I traveled at just above the speed of the big trucks because this is the most relaxing way for me to drive on the British motorways.

I managed to drive from Lake Windermere to Cambourne near Hale on one tank of fuel and put 50.25 litres if diesel in at the petrol station!!

[300CE]

Still running in my 1.9DG and have been down to my folks in Wiltshire from Kent this weekend which is an approximate 220 mile round trip. Van ran great & am pretty impressed with the little Weber that's pushing it along. Running at 45-50 mph and returned pretty good mpg - spent £50 in fuel & she was loaded up with 4 of us in total. Almost up to 500 miles now, so ready to be serviced shortly.

Worked this out using an mpg calculator - 220 miles at £1.38.9 with a cost of £50 = 27.8 mpg.

Once she's nicely run in will post up new speed and mpg.

[pi quattro]

Interesting thread!
Just returned to Scotland from a trip to the Netherlands. Fully loaded 5 up and all the kids junk plus a towbar bike rack with 4 bikes.

I found it a bit stressful being in the inside lane with all the lorries especially with the strong side winds. The weight at the rear seemed to make the steering even more vague!

On the way there I sat at 50-55 (sat nav) but on the way home the van felt happier at 60 mph. I was really worried about pushing it further. What is the best revs to stick between? Am I right in saying that revs v's speed will be the same irrespective of the load? i.e. if it takes 3000 revs to reach a speed unloaded, the revs wouldnt increase at the same speed if carriage alot more weight, it just works harder?

[HarryMann]

Yes, loading doesn't change the gearing except with automatics.

As said above, a rear c.g. in any vehicle is not good for directional stability. In aircraft progressively lethal, overload a Transhite pickup and much the same, ask any p****y

[rikg24]

Having been on my first trip in my camper i was surprised and quite pleased with it ability to keep up with traffic on motorways and A roads .So i was wondering what the different engine /models cruised at ? mine is a 1.6td westy poptop and sat happily at 70/75 mph and even hit the heady height downhill of 85mph while using just over half a tank of diesel and covering 275 miles

Having just returned from Devon i can report that according to my sat nav the above speedo readings are total "Balls" and 75 would be very much the max cruising happily at 65/70 but woefull performance up the long Devon hills unless perfect run up achieved .on the plus side 36mpg overall

[faggie]

85mph out of a 1.6td you are a braver man than me the one i had i think 70 was about as fast as i dared to take it

[MattBW]

There is a thread about replacing engines somewhere around here lol

[HarryMann]

With 15" wheels and 205/215 MT or AT tyres speedo is usually within +/- 1 mph ( on a Syncro anyway)

[Mocki]

With 16x225 on a 2wd my speedo speed is about 10% below real speed according to GPS , but on a plus side 70mph GPS speed is only 2850 rpm in 5th