Posted on 05/15/2007 12:01:24 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
LEFT LANE DRIVERS of AMERICA
“If you’re not a Left Lane Driver then get out of the Left Lane!”
Traffic has become increasingly congested and tempers flare as slower drivers occupy what has been historically referred to as the “fast lane”. It’s time to get that Left Lane back! It is our considered opinion that not only will traffic move more smoothly and more quickly once the Left Lane is used in the way it has been designed but also headaches, frustration, bad tempers and road rage will all be greatly reduced when this pressure valve is released. It’s time to reduce this unnecessary stress. It’s time that… LEFT LANE DRIVERS UNITE!
We invite you to join Left Lane Drivers of America, a growing, grassroots effort to reclaim the Left Lanes on our freeways and multiple lane highways. To do this, those of us who are genuine “Left Lane drivers” are politely but firmly reminding others what the Left Lane is for.
(Excerpt) Read more at leftlanedrivers.org ...
You're amazing. You may be one of the most obtuse people I have ever encountered on FR.
Go look at your post #98 in this thread and then tell me you never made the claim.
There is something you obviously don't understand about posting comments online, Twinkletoes. The rest of us are completely unable to guess what you had in mind or what you were thinking (or not thinking) when you posted. We have to go on what you actually wrote. Holding us responsible for understanding what you meant to post is monumentally arrogant, not to mention stupid.
Could you point me to the source on that? I'm curious, because total travel doesn't necessarily equal commute x 2.
My original assertion still stands, though, that for short trips (such as most people's daily commute to work), 70mph vs. 55mph doesn't really 'save' you all that much time.
Sweetness! Man I would love to put my foot on the floor of that beauty. You might even pass me and I drive fast, but I have a far less visible machine. I prefer the “invisible” rocket cars - aka a dark VW Jetta. She cruises at 125 like a dream.
I have yet to determine the optimum speed for mine I've had it for 7 months, and the average speed for that time as determined by the onboard computer is 29.4 mph (Atlanta traffic) I get about 16 mpg at that average speed. I didn't buy it for fuel economy. I bought it to blow the doors off vipers - which it does. 
That being said , I would not put a cop magnet decal in my front window. Now if it were a led display that could be turned off...
You aren't going to make me feel guilty.
You also reveal your disdain and aggression towards other drivers who have just as much right to the roads.The junkyards are full of managled steel and graveyards also contain many who thought in their arrogance that speed limits are only for other people.
I’m with you on this.
It certainly appeared that I made that claim; however, if you will actually look at all the rest of my posts, you would find that I HAVE acknowledged that I misspoke. Most of those recants were directed to you. I have explained my position numerous times, each time qualifying my observations for special case machines that nobody regards as "ordinary". I have also stated that even the special case machines are subject to air drag limitations because drag is still the limiting factor for the top end speed. I have, numerous times, stated that my general statement STILL holds true for the general case of the car.
Either you are not reading my posts, or have some preconceived notion regarding this discourse.
All cars must overcome air friction in order to move. The faster they move, the more friction encountered. The horsepower required to move is directly proportional to the square of the velocity. The proportional figure includes drag coefficients that account for the shape and size of the individual vehicle. Different engine designs get more or less power out of a given quantity of gasoline. Exceptional engines, like in a Jag, squeeze a lot of power out of its fuel when compared to "ordinary" engines. They are more efficient. A Jag also has an low drag coefficient because of a body style designed to reduce drag. It is certainly true that not all cars are made as finely as the Jag.
Now the part with which you are having trouble: All cars achieve maximum speed when the maximum horsepower of the engine matches balances friction and air drag. Air drag is the limiting factor because air drag increases with the square of velocity. The engine must produce four times the horsepower in order to double the speed. It must produce 16 times the horsepower in order to go four times faster. Up until 70 mph, the effects of drag are nearly linear and almost negligible. Above that speed, drag increases very quickly. Fuel consumption must go up in order to produce more horsepower. Even a Jag will be consuming more and more fuel as it goes faster.
Now, I got into this discussion because there are those who think that increased speed does not cause increased fuel consumption. It does. A jag operates inefficiently at low speeds, so poor mileage in that case is due to the "setup" of the engine rather than drag. As the Jag goes faster its engine becomes more efficient and produces the horsepower needed to overcome the drag more economically that other engines. As speed is increased, the Jag will also be limited by drag and will indeed experience reduced mileage.
I am merely trying to be informative. You seem to be taking a stance that ignores the facts of life. A Jag is not magic, it is well designed and built.
Now, merely answer the following question: What do you think limits the top end speed of your incredible car?
Perhaps you are merely being argumentative.
Your failing to read my replies where I corrected myself, then refusing to discuss the amended comments based upon merit of fact seems to be problematic on your part. Consider the following posts, most of them to you:
110: OHHHH! We aren't talking 1972 GTO, are we? ;-D
324: For most people's cars, this would be the case. I wasn't thinking in terms of THAT type of car.
325: Sure, some cars do better than others. Sure, some cars are optimized for for higher speeds.
357: Your car has high performance because the engineers who designed it know physics well. For 95% of the cars on the road, my statement is dead on. For the high performance cars, such is not the case.
359: I have already admitted that my opening statement was not well crafted.
364: The point is that you seem to be dismissing facts in a discourse you chose to enter merely because I misspoke my opening lines.
400: As you have repeatedly ignored or chosen to overlook, I have admitted that I did not make the proper exception for the class of car you drive.
407: ..you would find that I HAVE acknowledged that I misspoke.
What do you want me to do? Are you implying that the first line in a conversation must be made without error and in consideration of all mitigating facts? This hasn't been the rules in discourse until you came along.
as well as bigazz trucks whose drivers feel entitled to the
entire road all at once..
Many people make a distinction between offenses that are "Malum in se" (wrong in themselves) versus Malum prohibitum(wrong because the law prohibits). Murder, rape, robbery are examples of the first category. Being told to drive 55 on highways that were originally designed to be safely driven at 70 is an example of the 2nd
Meinst du das, oder sagst du das nur?
It is the PASSING lane.
It's really very simple. You made a flat statement in error. I called you on it. Admit it and move on. It goes something like this:
"I'm sorry, what I said was wrong. It is not physically impossible for a car to get better gas mileage at 70 than at 55."
Your posts did everything but that and they went off on tangents to boot. Apparently you have some personality defect that prevents you from making that simple, straightforward admission.
As well, stop trying to assign motives and arguments to me that I didn't make. I have made no other claim than that my car gets better mileage at 70 than it does at 55. Everything else is a product of your rather vivid imagination and an unbelievably obtuse desire to avoid culpability for what you posted.
See post 408, and those it references. As for an appology, Bite me.
In Germany, you get ticketed for driving slow in the passing lane... if only they would do that here.
That’s been rehashed in court countless timea. Precdent is firm: Slower traffic must keep right UNLESS IT IS ALREADY MOVING AT THE MAXIMUM LEGAL SPEED , in which case (in Texas at least) it has no obligation to move and cannot be cited.
Physically impossible. Even an engine tuned and geared to run at peak efficiency at 70mph will expend more fuel at 70 than at 55. 95% of a vehicles energy is expended on drag, not gravity, not inertia, and NOT internal friction. Wind resistence is exponential and 50% greater at 70mph than at 55mph, and almost 250% greater at 100mph than at 55mph.
Couldn't disagree more. I see nothing sensible about flying along at 80mph at all. I recognize that mine is a minority opinion, but I was a absolutely fine with the 55mph speed limit. I certainly enjoyed road trips more when it was in place than I do now.
Nope. There is one post with an oblique reference to "misspeaking," but nowhere is there a forthright admission that you were wrong. All the rest of that is whining about things I never said or even implied and pedantic puffery in an attempt to disguise the fact that you were wrong.
Go ahead and say it to yourself a few times. That might make it easier for you to do it in public.
As for an appology, Bite me.
And apparently you still have reading comprehension problems. No apology was requested or demanded.
You really do just run around in your own little world, don't you? It's not important what anyone actually says to you, only what you think is being said or what you want to hear. I'll bet you wonder why people think you are such a pain in the ass.
Absolutely correct. Until you put it on the road and make it fight drag. Drag is an exponential force, and once you cross a certain threshold (around 25mph) differences in engine efficiency become less important than the drag coeffecient. At speeds over 50mph, there is just no comparison. Drag is a full on force draining 95% of your fuel. At speeds over 100mph, the tiny amount of fuel that's expended on inertia, internal and external friction combined is 2 or more decimal places to the right. It's completely inconsequential.
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