Why do people tailgate?

[earlestownflya]

[QUOTE 3923908, member: 9609"]are you allowed to go a little slower if you wish to kill less wildlife or simply to save fuel and create less pollution ?[/QUOTE]
i don't think going slower will help you to achieve any of those things,each car has it's optimum point at which it using less fuel at a constant speed in a certain gear at a certain number of revs..as for wildlife that can happen at any speed.

 

[earlestownflya]

60-70 to the gallon? i propose that i'd like to purchase your car

 

[earlestownflya]

van - even better i've got 2 myself but i'm after another, what make is it?

 

[Smurfy]

what make is it?

It's often more about the driving style than the vehicle. Being on and off the brakes all the time is going to suck fuel. Much more efficient to ease off when you see bends or queues ahead, but then you get some hothead tailgating you.

 

[earlestownflya]

i know tim,i was just getting some advice..i am in the market for a van and that's really good economy to me,i know about driving styles and saving fuel,i've got a 3.5 tonne hymer i drive regular and on the continent every year,i also had a spell on hgv's..i have a lot of experience driving slow moving restricted vehicles..but i still stand behind my belief

 

[vernon]

i don't think going slower will help you to achieve any of those things,

An opinion not supported by facts.

Show me evidence to the contrary....

 

[earlestownflya]

An opinion not supported by facts.

Show me evidence to the contrary....

it's irrelevant to the post

 

[vernon]

it's irrelevant to the post

You'll be clainming the earth is flat next.

 

[Smurfy]

My record is over 73mpg, and my last 5 tanks of fuel have averaged 70mpg. It will come down a bit when the weather gets colder and the engine takes longer to warm up. First few tanks of fuel I was learning to drive it efficiently, but after that I've rarely had less than 65mpg.

Edit: Not bad for a car well over 10 years old!

 

[gavintc]

it's irrelevant to the post

More accurately - it is irrelevant to your opinions.

 

[Smurfy]

[QUOTE 3924368, member: 9609"]I nearly made it to 70 this summer but as you can see, i was close but no cigar. 69.09mpg over 855 mile between 10th of June and 10th August (it's adjusted to allow 3.5% for the milometer over reading)

And yes the colder weather does make a fair bit of difference warm up time, lubricants more viscous etc, but I wonder if one of the biggest factors is the tyres and the rubber becoming less pliable in cold weather, think of the distortion in the tyre where it presses on the road surface, takes quite a bit of energy to distort the tyre like that, every time the wheel rotates that distortion has to be moved around the tyre - in the winter rubber is far less pliable and takes more energy.


I read it at every increment on the fuel gauge (surprisingly accurate) MPG in Red

[/QUOTE]
I've got a spreadsheet too, but I also have columns for where I filled up, and PPP (pence per mile). I haven't adjusted mine for under or over reading, which might be significant, as the speedometer unit has to function over the entire range of tyre wear.

You might be able to break the 70mpg mark by putting a few more psi in your tyres, although the penalty could well be increased road noise, a harsher ride, and decreased grip. Higher pressure will also reduce the issue of rolling resistance increasing in cold weather.

 

[Tin Pot]

[QUOTE 3923921, member: 9609"]its very rare to kill birds when below 40 - and at this speed you get to enjoy the countryside you're driving through much more, its also easy to get 60 - 70 to the gallon. WIN WIN WIN[/QUOTE]

?

How many birds have you killed with your car?

 

[Nigeyy]

Bit late to the party. Who tailgates? I think anyone who just isn't thinking -but that doesn't mean they are d**khedz -though given some are (OK, OK, got to be honest, most of the people who badly tailgate seem to be BMW drivers over here). I recall a very strong memory of my brother (who is a really nice stand up guy and isn't aggressive) complaining about people tailgating. Literally a couple of weeks later he's giving me a ride back from college in Nottingham and because he's keen to get home he's really tailgating cars in front of him. Given he's good enough to give me a ride back home, it was hard to be critical, but I tried to make a joke about he'd been complaining about the same thing (probably not something I'd done had it not been my brother or family member mind you). I've never seen him tailgate in the 30 years since.

While I do believe in the better choice of letting people go ahead if they are tailgating, I'm also of the opinion that if someone is that close to you, you might as well go exactly the speed limit as if they do go into the back of you, the slower you are, the better off for you (not advocating going under the speed limit mind you or trying to wind them up either).

 

[Simpleton]

Cyclists that tailgate annoy me more.

 

[summerdays]

I don't know what goes through their mind.... Probably that "you are holding me up", I always assume they must have fairly high blood pressure as their entire journey is made up of "stuck behind a slow tortoise, ah escape for 2 seconds, oh stuck behind another tortoise". It's rare that you see then just disappear into the distance. Sometimes I've travelled for 5 plus miles and each time you reach traffic lights you realise the car in front or just a couple in front was that one that overtook because you weren't going fast enough.

My only disappointment is that they don't get caught. Still I console myself with their fuel economy and long term health!