10 car convoy following as I drive 50mph

[Handsome Jack]

A fuel economy gauge has helped me to determine that the sweet spot for my Tercel is around 50mph. When I'm humming along in 5th gear driving this speed other drivers tend to pile up behind me. I try to ride the white line and encourage them to pass, but I still get as many as 10-15 cars behind me at times and they all seem to be in a hurry. Today was one of those days. I imagined the other drivers feeling agitated about being held up. But rather than giving in to the pressure to speed up myself, I realized that by driving 50mph I had increased the efficiency of the entire fleet of vehicles behind me. This was an amusing thought, that my desire to drive more efficiently was rubbing off on other drivers whether they liked it or not. Each one of those cars behind me not only benefited from the slightly reduced speed but also from the draft created by the other vehicles in the convoy. With all the vehicles combined I wonder how much fuel was saved...

[Stubby79]

It doesn't seem to matter what speed I do...10 under, right on, 10 over...they pile up behind me, ride my ass and half don't bother to overtake when a passing lane appears.

[Fat Charlie]

Welcome! What info are you getting from Fusion, how do you have it set up?

I don't know if being behind you helped those 10 cars' mileage much. There was probably a lot of accordion action going on back there as people thought someone ahead might be going faster for a moment. On and on and on.

The way I see it, I've already got a job and it doesn't involve worrying about them. They can pass me if they want, but there's going to be another car or combination of cars just a bit ahead- that's why they generally don't pass, even though they want to push you to go faster.

It's truly amazing how little you can change your commute time by being in a hurry. Don't "help them out" by demonstrating this, just do your 50, get your numbers and live your life. Do keep coming here to talk about your numbers, though- we care about them.

[ksa8907]

Yeah, and somebody didn't get to see their dad before he died, thanks for being selfish.

[Daschicken]

Originally Posted by Stubby79

It doesn't seem to matter what speed I do...10 under, right on, 10 over...they pile up behind me, ride my ass and half don't bother to overtake when a passing lane appears.

Similar experience here, except when I go 55, people seem to stay behind me and never pass, but if I go 62+ they will pass at will.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Speeds above 50 MPH are usually worse aerodynamically-wise. Maybe some of those drivers got amused by that subtle fuel-efficiency increase

[slowmover]

60-mph is the wall. Test it. And correlate against the engine hours for just that drive on just that road. What's the annual percentage difference? Cold cash savings.

It's not enough, is it, to justify being 10-15/mph slow on a metro road?

That car is tiny. Not worth the risk.

Besides, if one wants bragging rights about FE that's a matter of loading the vehicle to maximum vehicle manufacturer weight number. Then bringing the average high. Make this something other than a stunt. Make it about skill.

Skill is in understanding that highway MPG is not high. Steady-state is high. So the test is in bringing town mpg close to country mpg. Empty and loaded.

If one sees 40-mpg average over 10k (250-gl) then the annual fuel bill at $2.50/gl is $625 . At 30-mpg (333-gls) it's $835.

Run at a higher speed. 59-mph won't change that $4/week "savings" enough to matter. Because the annual average wouldn't change that much. Focus on the 80-gals, instead.

The annual average is gallons consumed against engine hours. High average mph wins.

Keep the risk low, is the first priority. Second is component longevity. FE is last. It's not a "win" worrying over 47-cents per day when what's least important is made first.

.

[jamesqf]

And you don't have the common (ok, not so common :-() courtesy to pull over and let them by? When one of those people stuck behind you is having a really bad day, succumbs to road rage, and puts a couple of bullets through your rear window... Well, if I'm on the jury, he'll get off with justifiable homicide.

[Fat Charlie]

So some gun toting psychopath's right to travel at his preferred rate of speed is more valuable than my right to... travel at my preferred rate of speed? Awesome. Pull a gun because you didn't want to leave 5 minutes earlier.

I'm not trying to prevent anyone from doing what they want, but if I happen to simply be on the road ahead of someone their rush isn't my problem, it's just traffic. Pull that $#*+ in the grocery checkout sometime: we're all doing the same thing, but you're in a hurry? I'd apologize for simply being ahead of you, but it wouldn't be sincere.

[JockoT]

I NEVER travel faster than 50 mph on a two lane road, irrespective of traffic. If the road is quiet and/or there is an opportunity for following drivers to pass I'll quite happily travel at 40 mph.