This is exactly correct. Off the top of my head, I can put the same variant of a motor in a Caddy small SUV, a Chevy Traverse, and a Chevy Camaro. The Camaro will likely have over 320 HP, but all 3 of these cars will likely hit a peak torque of maybe 280'ish. The only reason the Camaro has such HP is to appease Saatchi & Fonzie, for no other reason. It is really no more "powerful" than the Traverse. Infiniti is quite guilty of this practice, as is Toyota.

But marketing is successful, because not everyone attended Bronx Science!

 

Yes, you (especially) see that with the normally-aspirated GM 3.6L V6. It comes in a number of different HP/torque variants for Chevy, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles.

 

So in the interest of science, I risked my life to bring you a video of what I'm talking about on I-270.

As you can see in the video I am driving between 65-70 MPH, and the traffic around me is all driving the same speed, or slightly faster. The speed limit on this road is 55, I am driving enough over the limit to get a ticket for sure. Am I driving unsafely for the road and conditions? I don't see how anybody can say I am.

The speed limit on this road needs to be at least 65, perhaps 70. Its too low for the average speeds on the road.

 

Thank you for this. There are plenty of highways in America where almost everyone goes faster than the speed limit on all the lanes. There are people that do follow the limit, but they are getting passed pretty quickly by the other cars trying to get around them. I honestly don't feel safe when cars are zooming by or on my tail because i'm going less than the flow of traffic. So-cal drivers are completely nuts and they'll road rage on you if you don't at least go the flow.

 

I'm familiar with 270, and clearly there is nothing wrong with 70 mph traffic permitting (if they put up mobile cams then that's another story, 66 only). And also, in general, nothing wrong with 70 mph for most people having the driving skills to travel at that rate of speed. I really think that to go beyond, 85, 95, 100, those speeds are not for everyone. On the PA turnpike where the speed limit is 70 mph, people tend to do the 10+ rule and now you have seniors in their vehicles doing 80+. And a really bad habit that I observe in PA, is vehicles routinely passing on the right. What I mean is they have the left wide open to pass, but they choose the right. In PA, trucks do not have a no zone, for real. You should see 476N where it joins 76W as rush hour is starting. That's a death trap.

When New Yorkers bypass a line and cut in at the last minute, it's usually with skill. When this is done in PA, it's random and often a crash (come here to observe people stopping on an onramp, and barging to traffic, as opposed to using the merge lane to match the speed of traffic--it is very very bizarre).

jmo there is a speed at which more alertness and skill is needed.

 

So funny- I actually thought about doing this same thing (thanks to this thread) the other day when I was driving on the FL Turnpike. Speed limit is 70- I was doing 78mph on cruise and getting passed occasionally but in general keeping up with the flow of traffic. Anyone who has driven the Turnpike (or 95) in Florida knows it's very common to see people driving 90mph plus. I try to stay 78-80mph because I feel like it minimizes my risk (or certainly the severity) of a ticket and it has me moving with the flow of everyone else (so I don't feel I'm in danger or endangering anyone else).

On the highway, I actually don't really look at my speedometer much anymore- I am familiar enough with my cars that I know within 2-4mph of how fast I'm going anyway and I'm typically just moving around the same pace as everyone else. I'll only look down if I notice I'm seemingly an outlier in my speed.

 

Like the studies say, theres about 10% of people that just always go the speed limit. Thats whats dangerous when the 85Th percentile speed is so much higher than the speed limit...

But, remember what the studies show. Changing the speed limit has little effect on the average speed of a roadway. The idea that people "drive 10MPH over the limit" really isn't accurate, if they raised the limit to the 85th percentile speed those people would drive largely the same speed.

And at least with a 70 MPH limit you can do the flow of traffic without being 10+ over the limit...

 

i never said anything about going 25 mph over the speed limit... my point was that faster, more expensive cars generally are built to higher standards and have more equipment to help prevent a crash

 

Legality does not equal inherent morality.

It was once illegal to marry a person of another race.

Or to be of Japanese descent and outside of a relocation camp.

Some states ban private poker games in your own home.

Others allow children to be married.

So I refuse to accept that something is inherently wrong just because it's illegal, or OK just because it isn't illegal.



Yes. I agree with this. I want more people to move over to the right lane. I'd advertise the hell out of the right lane. People who aren't going faster than the traffic to the right of them should not be in the left lane, period.

 

True, and I believe you're touching more on ethics. Ethics deal with what society says to be right or wrong. But we are in a bunch here. Society here would be the government which is made up of the people who came up with these laws. Society here is also made up of the people who drives on the road everyday and they are saying that one should travel with the flow. So, the real question here is what society or what group of people do you choose to take advice from?

1. Youre not in the far right lane.
2. If anything happens, you have less reaction time and the kinetic energy carried by your car is a lot higher than what it wouldve been at 55.

I think thats due to a lack of understanding, the marketing of autonomous, and the tech is still in its infancy. Semi autonomous technology helps GOOD drivers, not the bad ones. There are a lot of nuisances with driving. For example, just holding the steering wheel for a long time can cause aching. Breaking and overtaking can be annoying because you have to do a lot of unconscious calculations. You have to physically and mentally adjust to obstacles on the road. After a while this can take a toll on you. Semi autonomous tech can help with all of that. I highly suggest trying out Mercedes or cadillacs semi autonomous tech. Theres a reason why only high end cars have this technology.

 

On a recent trip to California, I drove across the desert in very light traffic with my cruise control set on 75 mph. The limit was 70, but I didn't pass anyone, so I felt safe in the right lane. As I approached the Palm Springs area, I disconnected the cruise control and adjusted my speed to keep up with the slower traffic. I realized that I was going 80 in a 65 zone, but I also felt like a rolling roadblock as nearly everyone was passing me and there was some obvious road rage at my slow speed. In this case, driving the 65 limit would have been unsafe. At one point, I was passed by a Highway Patrol car! There are certainly cases where strictly driving the speed limit is not the safest approach.

 

This is EXACTLY what I've been stating over and over again in this thread. There are roads in Cali that feel completely unsafe driving at the speed limit. People will literally rage at you because you are the ONLY one doing the speed limit. Haha. The vast majority of CHP go faster than the speed limit too. Most hang around at 75 mph.

 

Sorry, I'm in lane 2 of a 6 lane road

Yet at 55 I'm moving 10-15 MPH below the flow of traffic on the roadway, which has been proven to reduce safety, and I am relying on the reaction times of others as they react to coming up upon me instead of relying on my own reaction times. Sorry, but I trust my own abilities over others.

If you think there is anything unsafe about the way I am driving in that video posted above, you really shouldn't be driving a car on a public road.

Again, your viewpoint isn't shared by traffic engineers, and my confidence is in the traffic engineers.

 

Personally, I try to strike a reasonable balance between the general need to keep up with traffic flow (or stay to the right) and the realities of the law of Kinetic Energy, which ties increasing speeds to greater possible impact-force and damage in an accident. Although posters here, on both sides, have argued it back and forth, in most cases I don't find it difficult at all, and I routinely avoid speed-related accidents, middle-fingers, and road-rage.

 

In all honestly, you posted a 14 second video of yourself driving. It was nice that you posted it but a much longer video really needs to be posted. Driving the speed limit is not unsafe as you claim it to be.

Here is a video on You Tube. The guy is having a huge overreaction. There is nothing unsafe about his drive in the video as he follows the speed limit. So what, 70 cars pass him on the left side.