Quote:
Originally Posted by whitevette
HOW does one "calibrate" a car for lower speed? How? Your Dodge pick-up suffers from what conundrum? Methinks it's not your truck which suffers....
Rigs suffer MPG loss under this new law? I see the laws of physics & thermo have been waived again for you boys.
"Some motorists literally fell asleep at the wheel...yada, yada, yada. So? Don't other motorists do this, also? Does 55 bore them to sleep? This sounds like "We need an argument, quick!"
Billions of dollars in man-hours were lost...". What has this got to do with anything? Have you priced funerals lately?
This next is so absurd...where does one start? "...'impeded' speeders, wasted millions of gallons of fuel through MOMENTUM DEATH ( What is this ???), caused by velocity discrepancies, deceleration, and re-acceleration. Poor truckers! Are these the same scum-sucking *&%!#$! who shove me from the rear in their 60,000 pound rigs? I got news for these cats...BRAKES !!!
Enough foolishness for one month!  -whitevette |
whitevette,I knew when RH77 broached the subject of lowering the speed limit it would touch nerves,in your case,its an inverse reaction to mainstream America's,when the 55-mph National speed limit was enacted in the 1970s,and this is the context to which I made my comments.This is the era when I began ecomodding and I paid very close attention and have accumulated over 30 years of data,as I could,just to document developments.--------------------------- Your points are well taken and I'll address them in order of listing
1) The American automotive fleet on the roads at the time of the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973,was not designed around,nor optimized for a 55-mph cruise speed.When Congress passed legislation which enacted the speed limit,motorists were forced to operate at the new speed limit,whether their car got better fuel economy or not.As I mentioned in my post,Physics does dictate that a vehicles road-load WOULD be reduced at the lower speed,but what physics doesn't take into account,is that a vehicles best BSFC may not be improved by arbitrarily lowering the load(i.e. its calibration).You should know this!---------------------------------(2) With respect to the Dodge pickup,it's been in the family since it was purchased new in 1962.My Grandfather kept a vehicle diary.When the vehicle passed into my parents possession,my father kept a logbook.I've had the truck since 1998,and I've recorded all mileage data since its been in my possession.--------------- The truck gets its best mpg at 65-mph.If I slow down to 55-mph the mpg suffers.the environment suffers,as well as the US balance of trade.(Soldiers?)You may not like that but it happens to be fact.------------------------ (3) My uncle Ellis Conner Burnett owned a trucking company.He owned dozens of Peterbilt conventional tractors and did OTR long haul all over the Continental US and Canada.His rigs got lower mpg with the 55-mph speed limit.He was a business man and he was interested in such things.--------------------------------- (4)Some motorists which did not fall asleep and die at 65 and 70-mph,fell asleep and died at 55-mph.Some killed other motorists when they veered out of their lanes or crossed medians into on-coming traffic.---------------------------- (6) The Harvard Business School appears to establish methodologies for economic analysis used widely in the United States.In the United States,time has been associated with Gross National Product.When time lost to vehicular incidents were factored against the average wage for American labor,the losses to GNP were measured in the billions of dollars.This may have no significance to you,but I thought I'd mention it to RH77,since he's going to have to defend his position.----------------------(7) If you're a "hyper-miler",then you are practicing "MOMENTUM-DRIVING",introduced around 1945,with the Shell and Mobil Economy Runs."Momentum-Death" is my expression,and I use it to illustrate how momentum is killed anytime a vehicle changes its velocity.Since very few Americans respected the 55-mph limit,they would be "impeded" by the few who were driving the limit(Me),for perhaps a net loss in efficiency,as the pissed-off motorists,which had to slow to prevent colliding with me,once past me,would gun the throttle,hurtling down the road,burning untold gallons over the course of a year ( times 180-million cars).------------------------------(8) Yes truckers speeded.They're paid by the mile.You can divide 200,000 miles(they drive each year) by 70 and 55 to calculate their "lost time".If it were up to me,I'd "professionalize" trucking,and pay the drivers a salary,taking the time pressure off driving.I'm happy to pay a little more for shipping.