Why do Americans drive so fast?

[UltArc]

Originally Posted by mikeyjd

I'm not saying the majority of drivers won't be interested in bigger, faster, stronger. But there are people that value efficiency quite highly and even in the "pickups" sector might make their decision based on the efficiency of options available.

Ford Ecoboost F150, for example.

[Frank Lee]

Not hearing too many raves about ecoboost fe...

[EL3CTR1CSHEEPZ]

I will say I was shocked when I moved out to Japan. Growing up in the states and learning everything I know about driving in a country where everyone has an addiction to speed I was blown away by how slow everyone drives in Japan. Over here, the highways are 100 km/h and the Japanese are happy to drive 80. Cracks me up.

Even funnier considering Toyota, Honda and Subaru's continued dedication to very small, very fast cars.

[101Volts]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

You can get killed getting out of bed in the morning. Turn off the hysterical "news" channel of your choice, relax a bit and get over yourself.

How many blowouts have you had? Per 100,000 miles traveled? How many blowouts have people you know had... per 100,000 miles traveled?

I've never had a blowout, but I have had flats. Been okay. I've had other mechanical failures. I'm more likely to pick up a winning powerball ticket from the gutter than I am to have a blowout in a situation that I can't recover from. I'm taking more of a risk putting money in my 401k than I am when I'm driving.

Zero (Though I was a passenger when one happened under 20 MPH in a turn) And I don't think I drove as many as 20,000 miles and I haven't had my driving license for three years as of this posting time.

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Yes, there are people... you, me, the EMers, and maybe another handful.

That's why I love teh interwebs so much. There wouldn't be an EM or hypermiling community without it because we're so spread out.

101Volts- And if you look at your tires periodically (monitoring your tire pressure is good for this), replace them when needed and don't overload the vehicle, you're more likely to hit that huge lottery jackpot than have a blowout. Your acquaintance with the 20 mph blowout probably had to go pretty far out of his way to make it happen.

[Sven7]

Originally Posted by mikeyjd

I'm not saying the majority of drivers won't be interested in bigger, faster, stronger. But there are people that value efficiency quite highly and even in the "pickups" sector might make their decision based on the efficiency of options available.

From what I can see, the majority of pickup truck buyers either...

1. Have legitimate uses for a heavy duty chassis and V8 power

2. Like to make themselves think the purchase is justified

or...

3. Take great pleasure in wasting energy while simultaneously annoying us efficiency minded people. Because it's "their right as Americans".

Anyway, the real reason people speed in this country is the old adage,

"Hurry up and wait."

The faster you get to your destination, the more you can complain about how slow the service is. Shave 60 seconds off your 15 minute drive, and wait for three minutes at McDonald's. It makes people feel good that they can get there as soon as humanly possible, so all the 'blame' goes to whoever's on the receiving end of their patronage.

Anyway, that's my over-analyzed take on it. "I GOTTA GET THERE RIGHT NOW!"

[rfdesigner]

Here in the UK, our speed limit is 70.. but the police are known for giving you 10%+2mph so that's 79mph, real world.

Until 2007 people would usually sit at about 80~85 indicated a few doing 90+, and the very occasional one doing a ton+

I know having GPS calibrated my speedo that my Merc is 5% optimistic on speed, so an indicated 80 will be 76 real world.. and Mr plod will not be interested.

What does get scary is when you have people doing 90+ and trucks doing 56 pulling straight out, more than a few accidents have happened that way.

Anyway since 2007 things have changed.. people have slowed down and they are driving less, 70 is now far more common and 80 is the old 90.

Which brings me to another point.. prices in the UK are pretty much at breaking point.. back in 2000 we had fuel price protests (fuel blockades etc.. shops started running out of stock.. in some places there was no fuel to be bought) and the government backed down on fuel prices, so although they haven't gone up much in real terms neither have the fallen much. What has happened is that we now mostly drive diesels, and we drive them a little slower.

What is this threshold price?

In today's money, about £1.50 a litre, or about $9 a gallon.. give or take.

If we had fuel at 75p/litre we'd all be driving much faster and longer.

Derek

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Not hearing too many raves about ecoboost fe...

My 1989 ecoboosted diesel suburban seems to do better on fuel than a real ecobooster

Then again it seems like my fathers 1930's granny geared pickup also did better tooting around town.

[Frank Lee]

Sorry- "Eco-Boost".

[UltArc]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Not hearing too many raves about ecoboost fe...

I don't have personal experience with the F150 ecoboost. From reading reviews and stats online, it seems the mileage for the power in the vehicle is great compared to what was available before.

But people expect 30 mpg for their 2.5+ ton truck that they use to haul groceries, or a pile of wood once per year, so on. Again, no personal experience, but it seems the people who buy this truck often buy it for the wrong reasons- go figure- and expect a miracle.

I imagine someone hyper miling it would get decent mpg-for the vehicle.

This is my fathers truck: Fuel Economy of the 2008 Ford F150 Pickup 4WD

I was disappointed when I used it for about a month when I was between the Escort and Mustang, and I averaged 19 mpg. I thought it was disgusting, but now I see I was exceeding highway.

3.7L Ti-VCT 4-Valve V6 FFV has 302 @ 6500/278 @ 4000 w/ 17 city/23 hwy
3.5L Ti-VCT 4-Valve V6 EcoBoost™ has 365 @ 5000/420 @ 2500 w/ 16 city/22 hwy
5.0L Ti-VCT 4-Valve V8 FFV has 360 @ 5500/380 @ 4250 w/ 15 city/21 hwy

I agree, this isn't amazing- but to have a smaller engine (3.5 instead of 5.0) while making more power sooner, and the MPG almost where the 3.7 is, it's a pretty decent in between spot.