Foo - You want to save a ton of gas? Slow down

Little experiment with our two cars over this weekend. Pure hwy driving.

2004 Acura TL: cruise control set on 75mph: 29mpg over a relatively flat 30 mile stretch of hwy.
cruise control set on 59mph: 34 mpg, same stretch.
2007 Acura RDX: cruise control set on 75mph: 21 mpg as above
cruise control set on 59mph: 24.5 mpg, same stretch.

Here in NY, @ about 60mph you sit in the right lane and the only vehicles that don't pass you are old pickups driving big horse trailers. But I'm often in no hurry. 34mpg from an Acura TL, a relatively heavy and powerful luxury mid-size car, doesn't suck. Ditto for 24 mpg from a small AWD SUV with a roof bicycle rack like the RDX. Those figures come down quickly once you get off the highway, but a ton of our driving is hwy up here, so we can really skew it upwards by leaving ten mins earlier and driving easy. I've been doing a lot of that. It's rather relaxing. When I'm late I can still hammer down the freeway @ 80-90, but I try to leave myself the time to avoid that.

You want to save a ton of gas, don't drive, by doing that, you most likely will save more than a ton.

Slowing down to save gas is like telling people they're saving money because it's "50% off". You're still spending money to buy it, you're not saving shiet.

From my small understanding on thermodynamics, most automobiles are most efficient at 35 mph and at 65 mph, windows closed and no air conditioning. On the highway, I usually concentrate on keeping the motor working at less than 2500 rpm constantly on the highway, which is about 65 mph on my Legend. On the downhills, it can get up to 85 or 90, but it usually slows down to about 50 - 55 mph on the uphills. Lots of people get upset behind me though :)

Another way you can conserve gas is by not idling the motor when not in use (for a minute or so). I'm unsure about how much gas you spend when starting the engine, but it's all too common to see people leave their motor running for 10 minutes or so when waiting for people to come by.

Another way is by controlling acceleration/deceleration better. Accelerating smoothly instead of jackrabbiting is a gas saver too, and smoother braking helps decrease brake wear.

There are other small things that can be done, like using economy mode for a/c (letting the fans do all of the cooling --- no compressor used) or using the emergency brake when parking, but that's excessive and the gains are minimal (except the economy mode).

You want to save a ton of gas, don't drive, by doing that, you most likely will save more than a ton.

Slowing down to save gas is like telling people they're saving money because it's "50% off". You're still spending money to buy it, you're not saving shiet.

I would agree with you, but pcad lives in Chester, i.e. public transportation not's too good of an option to get anywhere.

However, owning a car for usage in NYC is pointless (and is much more hassle than it's worth, at least in my case when I did own one)

I would agree with you, but pcad lives in Chester, i.e. public transportation not's too good of an option to get anywhere.

That's too bad, I'm not sympathetic. Possible suggestion: MOVE, or don't drive.

I have less than 1/8 mile to the highway where I take a left turn and accellerate to 65MPH to match traffic.

Not much option there to vary my speed within 6 miles, and I've tried. My mileage doesn't vary measurably.

55 mph, anyone?

Saves gas, saves lives.

55 mph, anyone?

Saves gas, saves lives.

Didn't we go through this once before? As I recall...it didn't work out...sort of like prohibition.

The only thing I saw the 55 mph limit did was fatten the pockets of local towns with speed traps.

You want to save a ton of gas, don't drive, by doing that, you most likely will save more than a ton.

Slowing down to save gas is like telling people they're saving money because it's "50% off". You're still spending money to buy it, you're not saving shiet.

Assuming someone has already made a decision to drive, that's a silly argument. :rolleyes:

That's too bad, I'm not sympathetic. Possible suggestion: MOVE, or don't drive.

We're not moving anywhere. Don't worry we can afford the gas. We are about to go to a geothermal heating system however. That will reduce our usage of home heating oil from 1500 gallons annually to zero point zero zero. What are you doing to reduce your carbon footprint? You might consider emitting less hot air with your silly BF utterings.

If it makes your Eco Nazi heart feel any warmer, I do have a motorcycle that gets more like 40mpg that I use about 8 months a year whenever possible. In the meantime try not to be a complete idiot, I'm sure that's far more damaging to the world than our driving.

the suburbs are dead once gas tops $5 a gallon

the suburbs are dead once gas tops $5 a gallon

They're not dead all over Europe and gas is $8+ a gallon.

Get serious. There will be 60-100 mpg plug-in hybrids in half the driveways in America within ten years, maybe less. At $10/gallon I could still afford the gas even with conventional cars. So could my neighbors.

I do find it fascinating that gas has been nose bleed expensive in Europe for 10+ years and cars haven't changed much. Gas hits $3/gallon here, and the move to innovative high mpg hybrids takes on a new screaming global urgency that will bring them to market within 5 years. At some point the world will need to start developing its own innovative venture capital Silicon Valley culture, America can't help the friggin world invent its way out of everything. We've been doing it for 100+ years, mostly by ourselves.

Another way is by controlling acceleration/deceleration better. Accelerating smoothly instead of jackrabbiting is a gas saver too, and smoother braking helps decrease brake wear.

You should consider touring Tennessee on a "Gas saving" seminar. This rather obvious observation appears to be a complete mystery to most people in this state, and I'd imagine you could make some money on such a tour! :lol:

Little experiment with our two cars over this weekend. Pure hwy driving.

2004 Acura TL: cruise control set on 75mph: 29mpg over a relatively flat 30 mile stretch of hwy.
cruise control set on 59mph: 34 mpg, same stretch.
2007 Acura RDX: cruise control set on 75mph: 21 mpg as above
cruise control set on 59mph: 24.5 mpg, same stretch.

Here in NY, @ about 60mph you sit in the right lane and the only vehicles that don't pass you are old pickups driving big horse trailers. But I'm often in no hurry. 34mpg from an Acura TL, a relatively heavy and powerful luxury mid-size car, doesn't suck. Ditto for 24 mpg from a small AWD SUV with a roof bicycle rack like the RDX. Those figures come down quickly once you get off the highway, but a ton of our driving is hwy up here, so we can really skew it upwards by leaving ten mins earlier and driving easy. I've been doing a lot of that. It's rather relaxing. When I'm late I can still hammer down the freeway @ 80-90, but I try to leave myself the time to avoid that.


This is a VERY noticable condition with my Diesel truck... its a huge difference between 65 and 75mph... most of the speed limits are 65 here in upstate... and you almost get creamed for doing it... I am seeing 23-29highway mpg when I keep it down around 65 area... but much much much less if I try and stay with traffic...:p

I'm certainly no proponent of lowering the speed limits to save energy. Nobody will adhere to a 55mph limit on roads that are really designed for 80-100mph cruising. 65mph seems like a reasonable compromise, and even that limit is often ignored. If I want to save gas I don't mind driving 60mph in the right lane while the other traffic passes me. You do get used to it. But the fuel savings is not insignificant. And if I have to drive (and we do) I'd like to use less fuel. There will be a gas-sipping hybrid or econo car in our driveway within 2 years, but right now we're not doing too badly with two vehicles that get 20-30mpg+ on the hwy + a 40mpg motorcycle. We drive the SUV (an Acura RDX crossover SUV) half as much as the TL sedan.

Remember that many people chose their current lifestyles when gas was $1.00/gallon. We did. When we moved here it cost $1300 each winter to heat the house. Now annual fuel costs for that are $7K+. But that's the silver lining to $140bbl oil. I wouldn't invest the $50K we're about to in a geothermal HVAC system to get ecologically green. I'm doing it because it makes sense financially. And what else will spur the Big Three to pull the plug on pickup trucks and make hybrids and more efficient cars? $4/gallon gas, that's what. Nothing else ever worked, did it? It's economics that will really get companies and individuals to put their money where their mouth is. That investment in that new heating system for my home is a lotta dough fellas. I'm sure my pal Al Gore will be pleased.

These idiots who think we should all Save the Friggin Planet are dreaming. That's people acting for the collective. That's a communist theory that failed miserably on the global scene. People do what works for THEM. And now that cheap energy is a thing of the past... don't worry, everybody's about to get much, much greener. Whether they like it or not of course.

What kind of geothermal HVAC system are you getting? horizontal/vertical closed loop, open loop or a slinky setup you drop in the lake?

I have two Climatemaster Tranquility 27 units 3tons each with a vertical closed loop setup to heat 5500 sqft. So far it has run over 3 years without any problems.

Vertical closed loop Scummer. Still gathering the info. Hope to have it operational for the next heating season. As you can imagine all these contractors are overwhelmed. There aren't too many geothermal guys out there. How much did your electric bill ramp up after you put in those heat pumps?

65mph in the right lane of a 65mph speed limit highway would be much easier if so many people were not doing 50-55.

Didn't we go through this once before? As I recall...it didn't work out...sort of like prohibition.
There was a prohibition effect, and that's what made movies like Smoky and the Bandit popular. People drove closer to 65 than 55. However, when the speed limit went up, they started speeding even more.

Gas is finally getting expensive enough to encourage people to think about mileage. I think for people to really change much, it still has to go higher. Now everyone whines, but they haven't really changed their behavior. Lots of people pretend the fiddling with a few cents gas tax makes a difference in how they live when they clearly didn't even flinch when the price doubled overnight.

A Portland TV station contacted the BTA which in turn contacted local bike clubs. The TV station wanted to do a piece on a professional who started riding to work because of high gas prices. They wanted someone who needed to shower and wear a tie. I'm guessing that they'll have a hard time finding such a person because well over 99% of the people with that kind of job won't change their behavior over recent gas price hikes.

The reality is that depreciation is typically a far greater expense than gas, but people don't sweat that. Nor do they consider heft insurance charges which also costs more than gas for many drivers.

If the price gets to $7 or $8, you will start seeing real options

65mph in the right lane of a 65mph speed limit highway would be much easier if so many people were not doing 50-55.

Down here the right lane is doing 75.

Little experiment with our two cars over this weekend. Pure hwy driving.

Good test, good suggestion. I also drive slow when possible. Another thing many of us learn from riding a bike so much is that a lot of energy is also used when accelerating. I accelerate slowly if the traffic allows, which it often does in the suburbs. This has allowed me to get 30 mpg around town out of an old Corolla with automatic.

Slowing down is somethig we all can do without any investment at all. The savings are worth it.

Just not running the air conditioner is worth it too. I did about a 60 mile drive with the air conditioning on a few days ago. The exta gas used was easy to notice. I wish I kept records. I didn't.

Most energy saving ideas start with buying some kind of technology, then you need to recover the initial investment. That can take years. It costs nothing to slow down today.

I believe that Plug in hybrids, similar to the Plug in kits installed on some Prius hybrids will be common soon. I would love to get one too.

I had to laugh when my friend told me he got better mileage with his new Honda Insight than I did with my BMW motorcycle. :D

Vertical closed loop Scummer. Still gathering the info. Hope to have it operational for the next heating season. As you can imagine all these contractors are overwhelmed. There aren't too many geothermal guys out there. How much did your electric bill ramp up after you put in those heat pumps?

During the coldest winter days (-10F - 0F) my bill was around 170$/month for heating. During the hot& humid time (hotter than 80F with 100% humidity or 85F with 60% humidity) it adds maybe 50$ for cooling.

I called Climatemaster to find a contractor. He was located about 50 miles away and the drilling rig came from Ohio (300 miles distance), while the pipe installers came from Indianapolis (160 miles away)

The problem with heat pumps are the upfront costs and a lot of people like cheap and they don't understand what it means to plan for the future, that's why you won't find a lot of contractors which can do the job.

I did all the electrical installation for the heat pump myself as I'm an Electrician by trade.

Oh, important, make sure your house (if approx 5000sqft in size) can take another 100A load as the resistance heating coils for really cold weather (below 0F) require a big amount of wattage and you don't want to find out during the coldest winter that your feed can't supply the amount of amps you need.

Thomas

Fuel efficiency has nothing to do with speed.

It all has to do with the most efficient engine output. If you drive with your tachometer
at 2000 rather than 3000, you will save gas. My sister has a 6-speed Corvette that can
barely idle at 900rpm while going about 60 in 6th gear.

Fuel efficiency has nothing to do with speed.

It all has to do with the most efficient engine output. If you drive with your tachometer
at 2000 rather than 3000, you will save gas. My sister has a 6-speed Corvette that can
barely idle at 900rpm while going about 60 in 6th gear.

Didn't pay attention in physics class, eh? Wind resistance is a MAJOR factor when it comes to fuel efficiency. You slow down, your mpg goes up. It's a fact, like a*0=0

Didn't pay attention in physics class, eh? Wind resistance is a MAJOR factor when it comes to fuel efficiency. You slow down, your mpg goes up. It's a fact, like a*0=0

Sorry- i typed without thinking that all the way through.
I meant that fuel efficiency has no magic correlation to the speed of 55mph

Little experiment with our two cars over this weekend. Pure hwy driving.

2004 Acura TL: cruise control set on 75mph: 29mpg over a relatively flat 30 mile stretch of hwy.
cruise control set on 59mph: 34 mpg, same stretch.
2007 Acura RDX: cruise control set on 75mph: 21 mpg as above
cruise control set on 59mph: 24.5 mpg, same stretch.

Here in NY, @ about 60mph you sit in the right lane and the only vehicles that don't pass you are old pickups driving big horse trailers. But I'm often in no hurry. 34mpg from an Acura TL, a relatively heavy and powerful luxury mid-size car, doesn't suck. Ditto for 24 mpg from a small AWD SUV with a roof bicycle rack like the RDX. Those figures come down quickly once you get off the highway, but a ton of our driving is hwy up here, so we can really skew it upwards by leaving ten mins earlier and driving easy. I've been doing a lot of that. It's rather relaxing. When I'm late I can still hammer down the freeway @ 80-90, but I try to leave myself the time to avoid that.

Amen, brother! Been doing that myself on my visits to my PT for the last couple weeks. Set the cruise on 60, and watch the angry people fly past. It really is relaxing, I second that.

65mph in the right lane of a 65mph speed limit highway would be much easier if so many people were not doing 50-55.

That's the UPPER LIMIT genius. The lower limit on most interstates is much lower than 55mph, I think it's 40-50mph. So 55mph is completely within the bounds of the law. Hence the multiple lanes, although I'm sure in your chocolate chip cookie dough haze you think that right lane is for passing.

clean/replace your air filter, maybe spark plugs, and check your tire pressures as well.

This is a very intuitive concept for cyclists. Compare averaging 22 mph vs. 20 mph -- those 2 mph add a lot of energy expenditure, much more than 20 mph vs. 18 mph.

They're not dead all over Europe and gas is $8+ a gallon.

Get serious. There will be 60-100 mpg plug-in hybrids in half the driveways in America within ten years, maybe less. At $10/gallon I could still afford the gas even with conventional cars. So could my neighbors.

I do find it fascinating that gas has been nose bleed expensive in Europe for 10+ years and cars haven't changed much. Gas hits $3/gallon here, and the move to innovative high mpg hybrids takes on a new screaming global urgency that will bring them to market within 5 years. At some point the world will need to start developing its own innovative venture capital Silicon Valley culture, America can't help the friggin world invent its way out of everything. We've been doing it for 100+ years, mostly by ourselves.

Cars have changed in europe. Most of them in cities are tiny. Aka, smartcar like. The average fuel efficiency of a european car is much better than an american car, and germany has done an incredible amount to regulate gas mileage and such. America, now held by religion instead of science, is suffering. My professors have felt it under this administration as grants related to research including that involving cancer is getting less and less funding.

The fact of the matter is that we let the market play too huge of a role, I'm all for free markets, but governments sometimes have to pass laws that force the constant improvement of technology. We haven't done anything about fuel efficiency in years. As a side note, from what I've read oil companies have only drilled in about 10% of the offshore sites they own, citing high costs while they were the ones to purchase the properties in the first place. I just don't see how it all makes sense even by the free market argument where supply is supposed to increase when demand rises, such is the problem with oligopolies.

I don't really care who is right or wrong regarding increasing gas milage. Slower motor vehicles are a major plus for me, so please keep on preaching the Gospel of Slow Down. :)

I do find it fascinating that gas has been nose bleed expensive in Europe for 10+ years and cars haven't changed much. Gas hits $3/gallon here, and the move to innovative high mpg hybrids takes on a new screaming global urgency that will bring them to market within 5 years. At some point the world will need to start developing its own innovative venture capital Silicon Valley culture, America can't help the friggin world invent its way out of everything. We've been doing it for 100+ years, mostly by ourselves.

It's been less of an issue in Europe as people drive less. Partially because it didn't get ingrained as heavily in a post-war culture that was focused on re-building shattered nations as opposed to finding new markets for vastly expanded industry that resulted in the US from the war. Partially because things are more compact in Europe, which improves the viability of trains and busses (and walking).

But for those who do drive, efficient, compact cars are pretty popular. For example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_A2

Didn't we go through this once before? As I recall...it didn't work out...sort of like prohibition.

Only because the govt told us we had to do it.


But, no, it saved gas and saved lives. People just don't want to admit that the govt got it right.

That's the UPPER LIMIT genius. The lower limit on most interstates is much lower than 55mph, I think it's 40-50mph. So 55mph is completely within the bounds of the law. Hence the multiple lanes, although I'm sure in your chocolate chip cookie dough haze you think that right lane is for passing.

No ***** Jersey boy. You missed the point. The speed limit is 65, and the minimum usually 45. If people actually cared to stay within the upper limit, there would not be as many problems because the speed differential between the right and left lanes wouldn't be as great. But in reality, if you are impertinent enough to actually stay within the speed limit, you are relegated to the right lane because the left lanes are moving at 75-80. But 65 is actually too fast for the right lane, because there are other people moving even slower at 45-60ish. So you have a choice...move as slow as the other traffic in the right lane, which is fine with me, but most people ain't got no patience, so they will need to merge back to the left lanes and pass. But of course you can't do this at 65, nooo, in order not to piss off all the Marios in the left lanes, you gotta jump up to 75-80 until such time as you can again merge right...of course only to repeat the entire process again in another minute or so.

So in reality, doing the 65mph speed limit puts you in no-man's land...too fast for the right lane, too slow for the left lanes.

Cars have changed in europe. Most of them in cities are tiny. Aka, smartcar like. The average fuel efficiency of a european car is much better than an american car, and germany has done an incredible amount to regulate gas mileage and such. America, now held by religion instead of science, is suffering. My professors have felt it under this administration as grants related to research including that involving cancer is getting less and less funding.


Cars have not changed at all in Europe in the last 30 years of my life as I remember as they were always small. Hell, my first car was a 1.3L VW Jetta 17 years ago with 60 horsepower. It was fast enough to travel safely on the Autobahn and get around town if I couldn't run my errands by bicycle. But my bicycle was my main transportation unit.

Here in the US it's all about topping the Jones's with an even bigger house/boat/SUV. The funny part is, there is always someone in this world who was a bigger schwang than you who doesn't have the need to show off, but only a very few select realize this.

This society needs to change and be more aware of it's surroundings and environment and slowly move away from the ego-trips so many display here.

These idiots who think we should all Save the Friggin Planet are dreaming. That's people acting for the collective. That's a communist theory that failed miserably on the global scene. People do what works for THEM. And now that cheap energy is a thing of the past... don't worry, everybody's about to get much, much greener. Whether they like it or not of course.

you really don't have a clue, do you? there is no true free market when it comes to transportation. The government builds the roads for you to drive on, subsidizes the oil companies in a variety of ways to so fuel in the US has remained relatively inexpensive compared to the rest of the world, and has subsidized the purchase of bigger more wasteful vehicles ever since the Reagan years.

No ***** Jersey boy.

Thank you for the compliment fatso.

you really don't have a clue, do you? there is no true free market when it comes to transportation. The government builds the roads for you to drive on, subsidizes the oil companies in a variety of ways to so fuel in the US has remained relatively inexpensive compared to the rest of the world, and has subsidized the purchase of bigger more wasteful vehicles ever since the Reagan years.

You are obviously a Russian spy. I will inform my CIA Puppetmasters.

No ***** Jersey boy. You missed the point. The speed limit is 65, and the minimum usually 45. If people actually cared to stay within the upper limit, there would not be as many problems because the speed differential between the right and left lanes wouldn't be as great. But in reality, if you are impertinent enough to actually stay within the speed limit, you are relegated to the right lane because the left lanes are moving at 75-80. But 65 is actually too fast for the right lane, because there are other people moving even slower at 45-60ish. So you have a choice...move as slow as the other traffic in the right lane, which is fine with me, but most people ain't got no patience, so they will need to merge back to the left lanes and pass. But of course you can't do this at 65, nooo, in order not to piss off all the Marios in the left lanes, you gotta jump up to 75-80 until such time as you can again merge right...of course only to repeat the entire process again in another minute or so.

So in reality, doing the 65mph speed limit puts you in no-man's land...too fast for the right lane, too slow for the left lanes.

Thank god for highways with more than two lanes ;)

Listen, I'm all for saving the environment. But currently, people seem to be looking at things a little wrong.

I'm for solar power, wind power, nuclear power, hydrogen power,yada yada yada. But lets break it down shall we?

Solar power uses rare earth metals if I'm not mistaken, aka the costs are going to be up and mining for the metals is going to be not so environmentally friendly, granted the long run looks good for this and wind power.

Hydrogen power: Requires pressurized gas. Clean burning=sweet! What do they use to pressurize the gas? Fossil fuels. Also to 'make' hydrogen, you use fossil fuels. In the end, for the time being, it probably has a higher carbon emission per mile than gasoline does if you take into account the costs of producing it (which are more streamlined for gasoline). In time it will become a better option, but it has to start now for there to be a 'time'.

Like I said, gas companies are sitting on a lot of off shore sites that they own and refusing to dig because of high cost, all the while blaming environmentalists for refusing to let them dig in protected areas with tons of endangered species. All while taking in record prices. I think Americans need to change their gas habits and public transportation needs to become more prominent in this country. It's incredibly stupid that when gas prices go up, public transportation funding gets cut at times. I don't know how that makes sense to anybody...

Thank god for highways with more than two lanes ;)

If you build it, they will come.....

Thank you for the compliment fatso.

anytime, guido

Thank god for highways with more than two lanes ;)

Note that I used the plural, left 'lanes'. God I hate it when the slow pokes, usually Texans or nearsighted old farts like Pcad, drift out of their right lane slow dance and into the other lanes, gumming up the works, forcing the impatient Mario Andretti's to the extreme left lane, where I am driving safely at exactly the speed limit, no more, no less, usually with a long line of pissed off California rejects behind me laying on the horn. I'm usually wearing headphones though, so I don't hear them, until finally I cut off some doofus in the lane next to me who just happens to be driving a mini van (I hate mini vans), so the speed demons can pass me, after which I cut off one of their stragglers and proceed to tailgate them mercilessly.

I think we need a "We're gonna yell at you" thread for freeway driving.
We'll call it, "We're gonna flip you off and tell you to go back to Joisey" :D

In my state, when the federal government mandated 55, we thumbed our nose at em and said, OK, we'll fine anyone that exceeds the speed limit $5, no points against the record either. Of course prior to the mandate, we had no speed limit. :D

Cars have not changed at all in Europe in the last 30 years of my life as I remember as they were always small. Hell, my first car was a 1.3L VW Jetta 17 years ago with 60 horsepower. It was fast enough to travel safely on the Autobahn and get around town if I couldn't run my errands by bicycle. But my bicycle was my main transportation unit.

Here in the US it's all about topping the Jones's with an even bigger house/boat/SUV. The funny part is, there is always someone in this world who was a bigger schwang than you who doesn't have the need to show off, but only a very few select realize this.

This society needs to change and be more aware of it's surroundings and environment and slowly move away from the ego-trips so many display here.


Why do you hate freedom? ;)

>>Here in the US it's all about topping the Jones's with an even bigger house/boat/SUV<<

My neighbor has this enormous black Hummer, the huge model they discontinued, the size of one you would see in Iraq. His other car is a Prius.

It's changing up here in gas guzzler land. Rapidly. My other two neighbors replaced a large SUV and a Ford F250 pickup truck with Honda CRVs that get 22-28mpg instead of 12-17mpg. I like it.

Why do you hate freedom? ;)

Nice :roflmao2:

Vertical closed loop Scummer. Still gathering the info. Hope to have it operational for the next heating season. As you can imagine all these contractors are overwhelmed. There aren't too many geothermal guys out there. How much did your electric bill ramp up after you put in those heat pumps?

Interesting. My parents are planning on going geothermal this year as well; open loop vertical. What made you go with closed loop? Also, do you have an estimation for total cost?

55 mph, anyone?

Saves gas, saves lives.

The problem with 55 is it's deceptive; people think it's slow so they consider it safe but it's more than fast enough to be dangerous. Driving skill and common sense, both of which seem to be largely absent in the world today, save lives, not a speed limit that no one obeys anyway.

And it's much safer to keep up with the flow of traffic than stay at the speed limit. It's silly and dangerous to do 55mph on the highway if everyone else is doing 70+.