[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Very well said. On the highways, it is only a matter of fraction of second to decide whether you are destined to live or the dog is destined to live.

I am no dog expert (I dont even have a pet) , but that is my observation from many yrs of highway driving - there could be exceptions of course, but that is the general rule of thumb I follow. Btw, let me clarify, the objective of the post was to help decide which direction to swerve to (behind the dog or ahead of the dog), not whether to slow down or not. Of course we need to slow down, but the distance would not be large enough to come to a halt. Even if you have ABS, sudden braking is very dangerous in terms of fishtailing and also, chances of being rear-ended is very high. Hence, this thumb rule would help us choose where to 'dodge' into, in case there is a canine intervention

[Philistine]

To reply to the OP - I've been on various road trips across the south and west of the country doing more than 1000 kms a day. I've got only two simple rules - to take care of the car and to take care of the folks in the car. I rarely exceed 100 (my Punto has the speed buzzer set at 100 kmph). I feel best to keep the car between 80-90 and this does two things for me - 1. Gives me an amazing mileage of close to 23 kmpl on such trips and 2. enables me to judge traffic / people / other distractions on the highway & adjust speed / lanes accordingly. I've realized that I'm more in control of the car, brake less and usually as fast from A to B as any another speed obsessed driver doing 140-150 (because this guy keeps braking and accelerating through out the way).

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by Philistine

I've realized that I'm more in control of the car, brake less and usually as fast from A to B as any another speed obsessed driver doing 140-150 (because this guy keeps braking and accelerating through out the way).

Absolutely. Driving at 80-100 kmph in the highways also gives you the pleasure of talking to your fellow travel mates whilst enjoying the drive.
And I absolutely agree, specially for Indian highways(barring a few), that maintaining speeds at 130-140 kmph potentially would bring more hazards and will be tiresome, with little help done to the overall timings, if at all.

[mayankk]

http://amasci.com/amateur/traffic/trafexp.html

I read this a long time ago, and although the applicability is much less on our roads, I have found that it sort of works with the GGN-expressway

[gearhead_mait]

Originally Posted by mayankk

http://amasci.com/amateur/traffic/trafexp.html

I read this a long time ago, and although the applicability is much less on our roads, I have found that it sort of works with the GGN-expressway

I read this article. But it seldom is of help to me as

1) While driving in my city Kolkata, it is impossible to create that gap as the speed achieved by releasing the clutch in 1st gear is also faster than the average traffic speed. And even if you manage to create that gap, there is always an auto rickshaw bending in from left/right to force you push the brake.

2) In the highways that I have driven, there was never a situation like that. Irony!

[xander]

Based on statistical data from the posts on this thread, the answer to OP would be "When you are under 40"

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Indeed, over these last three years, despite owning a wonderful car which I may add, I bought, specifically because I loved road trips - I have almost stopped these driving holidays on our highways - my trips to places like Coorg or Ooty on these long weekends, have pretty much come to a complete standstill.

The main reason is the absolute chaos on the highways every time there is a long weekend, with plenty of first time drivers taking to the wheel and performing odd antics on the road as well as the terrible traffic that one encounters on the routes. Couple this with a distinct desire to avoid any kind of stress and there you have it!

This is surprising . Wanderlust doesn't beckon any more?

To the original poster: you HAVE to slow down when going through towns and villages. It is fine driving fast through empty stretches, when you have enough visibility (ahead, both sides of the road) to anticipate. But why on earth would you drive at 80kmph through towns?

There is no hard and fast rule. Depends on the road and situation. And on your capabilities, the vehicle etc.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by gearhead_mait

Absolutely. Driving at 80-100 kmph in the highways also gives you the pleasure of talking to your fellow travel mates whilst enjoying the drive.
And I absolutely agree, specially for Indian highways(barring a few), that maintaining speeds at 130-140 kmph potentially would bring more hazards and will be tiresome, with little help done to the overall timings, if at all.

Greater the speed, more the mental fatigue and the reaction time in case of emergency is less. Stick to 85-95 kmph barrier for an enjoyable drive

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

This is surprising . Wanderlust doesn't beckon any more?

To the original poster: you HAVE to slow down when going through towns and villages. etc.

Certainly wanderlust beckons, but I indulge it by buying a ticket out of the country, since my wife is away now. Else, I just lurk at home with my beloved dogs and we all laze about together.

The second part of your post suddenly caused me to laugh out loud thinking about Tintin, The Calculus Affair, where the 'stereotypically aggro' Italian Driver Arturo Benedetto Giovanni Guiseppe.....drives his Lancia Aurelia like a complete lunatic at very high speed, swerving through a little town's weekend farmer's market and then gets pulled up by a gendarme who asks his name to book his offence and which poor gendarme is then rendered gobsmacked and speechless by the resultant flow of names....

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Certainly wanderlust beckons, but I indulge it by buying a ticket out of the country, since my wife is away now. Else, I just lurk at home with my beloved dogs and we all laze about together.

It's amazing how road conditions matter while driving. I hit the autobahn for the first time yesterday. Speed limits are set dynamically based on traffic conditions. If there is repair work on, limits kick in at 120 about 5 km away, and drop gradually to 60 by the time you hit the repair spot. You have no passing by heavy vehicles signs as well, and strictly no overtaking from the right. Net result - a 420 km journey was completely fatigue and stress free - and driving at 175 kmph feels perfectly safe and controlled. I have driven extensively in the UK and US as well - and there is no road system like this.

BTW, the Volvo V70 D4 I am driving also played some role in the great driving experience - will post a travelogue once back.

[VSRK]

Originally Posted by Philistine

To reply to the OP - I feel best to keep the car between 80-90 and this does two things for me - 1. Gives me an amazing mileage of close to 23 kmpl on such trips and 2. enables me to judge traffic / people / other distractions on the highway & adjust speed / lanes accordingly. .

+1. I drive frequently from Bangalore to Vellore covering 220Kms via GQ. After so many trips, my lessons learnt is to maintain the speed within 90-100 Km/hr, 2500rpm at 5th gear. Advantages are 1) entire journey of 3 hrs is non-stressful. I always feel little bit nervous with high adrenalin flow when speed is above 130 Km/hr due to few people who cross the road with eyes closed or turning head other side 2) Car is totally under your control and can tackle sudden interventions of cattle, human, tractors, high speed cars etc effectively. 3) Better mileage of 19-20 Kms/litre. 4) Switching AC on 100% which provides better dynamic (as windows are closed). This will reduce the mileage by 2Kms/ltr, however it is compensated by mileage gain by maintaining speed of 100Km/hr) . 5) Somewhere read in forum that depreciation of car's internal parts are more when speed exceeds 100Km/hr. 6) Sudden braking can be reduced to some extent due to anticipative driving.

[for_cars1]

Driving through the last two decades has only reduced the peak and overall speed with the awareness gained over the years.
Driving above 100 is generally not safe in India.

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

... There was a very meaningful message which I read on a signboard on that road - "Leave early, Live longer". ...

There are pros of leaving early like reaching destination earlier but over the years, I've realized that in some situations leaving very early (before 5:30 AM) may not be a good idea.

1. Driver fatigue and drowsiness is the highest during the early morning hours especially if they have been driving all night.
so the risk increases drastically of encountering vehicles with drivers who have been at the wheel the whole night and half aleep. So best not to leave at 3AM or 4AM

2. Lot of night service Buses have a mad scramble to reach the destination before 6AM and you'll find hoardes of them barelling towards you or whizzing past in the early hours.
Leaving at around 5:30 AM seems to work better.

Originally Posted by Wanderers

.....
It important to maintain decent speed, keep it constant & steady. At the end you will note that guys doing high speed did not gain any major distance. They may be sooner by 5-10 mins or so per 100 KM.

+1, the key is to maintain a higher average speed and not focus on the peak speed.
Here having a more stable and powerful (higher BHP and Torque) car helps a lot to maintain higher averages easily even though you may not exceed 100kmph peak speed. Higher power helps you quickly reach the peak speed after every time you have to slow down resulting in better averages.

Originally Posted by isiv

.....

Driving slow is NOT necessarily safe. In general it's safer if you can maintain the same speed as traffic around you. ....
....
5. Leave your ego home before getting into the car.
....

Originally Posted by nakul0888

....
But I would also like to add that the type of car one is driving is also a determining factor for the "optimum speed".

An example:

I mean 100 kph in a Brio and 100 kph in a BMW will not be the same experience.
.....
So you see 100 kph is a much relaxed experience in one car while in the other its a roller coaster ride. So its much safer to drive the smaller car at much slower speeds.

Originally Posted by MRAMAB

Maintaining a healthy speed of 80 to 100 constant gave me a up to 4-5 km pl higher FE.
Expect the unexpected, always be ready to handle any situation.
Make sure the passengers are comfortable with high speeds.
.....
Never Never shift to Neutral at high speeds cos its a slope, can lose control very quickly.
.........

Accelerating or braking too hard, reach your max cruising speed (80 KM/hr or upto 100 KM/hr on closed expressways) gradually so that your co-passengers don't feel insecure.

Originally Posted by carmayogi

...... This obviously does not apply in wet weather conditions when speeds should be reduced.
...Drive safe

It baffles me when I see cars whizzing past during rains at high speeds. I hope they realize what a dangerous situation they are in unless the speed is reduced to less than 60 KM/hr on rainy and wet roads. Serious danger of aqua-planning and sliding like a carrom striker unless speeds are drastically reduced. Better not learn this the hard way.

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

.... Car drivers graduating into SUV's need to be extra cautious.
.... Underinflated tyres become prone to tyre bursts at higher speeds.

I would never advocate speeds in excess of 100 kmph at least on Indian roads.

Tyre bursts are the biggest danger due to sustaining higher speeds over long duration especially with under inflated tyres. Any speed above 100 on a sustained basis and the risk of a Tyre Burst increases. It is absolutely necessary to check the tyre pressure one day before the journey and never to check the tyre pressure in between the journey when the tyres are hotter.

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

I would like to add that

Please!! Please buy safety equipped cars with ABS, EBD, Airbags (minimum 2). Try to go for a lower segment or pre-owned car if you have a tight budget but do not go for a higher segment car with lower safety equipments.

I have personally bought a used car so that I can get maximum safety features.

+1. It is important to note that AirBags have an explosive chemical charge in them and hence typically has a shelf life of about 5 years. So if you buy older cars (> 5 years) equipped with Airbags, you can't expect the Airbags to deploy when they need to as the chemical charge in them would have expired.
Also I'm skeptical of the performance of all the electronic gizmos like EBD in the long run as the car ages.

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Its always better, to stick to legal speed limit irrespective of the vehicle you drive.

+1

Originally Posted by tpsantu

...
Although it is best to remain at controllable speeds – I would suggest if there are no vehicles around, stick to the middle of the road so that you can quickly duck any hazard coming from either side of the roads
...

Whatever be the speed, to avoid being a traffic hazard, it would be better to stick to one lane and not drive in between both the lanes. There are always vehicles doing higher average speeds who will catch up, appear suddenly and not get the place to overtake and try to squeeze in the gaps without warning.

...

Originally Posted by Auswechseln

+1 to this statement.

My two cents:

Speed is directly proportional to the concentration required, stress which in turn makes you lose your cool on the road.

However prudent you maybe there's always an element of uncertainty in Indian roads which means you need to anticipate everything.

......[*]Never drive on the right most lane (Avoid it if you can).
[*]Always expect people to change lanes randomly (especially two-wheelers).

....
So IMHO it is better to drive sedately so that you can keep stock of the situation and respond to it accordingly.

On highways with divider, its quite risky to drive on the right most lane continuously.
1. There have been many instances of vehicles flipping over the divider. All it would take is a small nudge of the steering at 80 - 100 KM/hr being so near the divider and get the right wheel crash into the divider and sending the car up in the air or jump across the divider. So right most lane should be strictly for overtaking only and back to the left lane to continue cruising.

2. Its appaling when the Government plants bushes and trees on the divider, it impairs visibility of the vehicles on the other side, people/two wheelers suddenly tend to jump out of the bushes right in front of the vehicle being driven on the extreme right. Also the plants on the divider attract cows, buffalos, sheep etc and they can jump on to the road.

Hope they realize that the divider should be absolutely devoid of any vegetation and should provide clear visibility to the opposite lane on the other side.

Originally Posted by VSRK

+1. I drive frequently from Bangalore to Vellore covering 220Kms via GQ. After so many trips, my lessons learnt is to maintain the speed within 90-100 Km/hr, 2500rpm at 5th gear. Advantages are 1) entire journey of 3 hrs is non-stressful. ....Better mileage

+1

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

2. Its appaling when the Government plants bushes and trees on the divider, it impairs visibility of the vehicles on the other side, people/two wheelers suddenly tend to jump out of the bushes right in front of the vehicle being driven on the extreme right. Also the plants on the divider attract cows, buffalos, sheep etc and they can jump on to the road.

Hope they realize that the divider should be absolutely devoid of any vegetation and should provide clear visibility to the opposite lane on the other side.

Sorry mate, I have to disagree with you here. On 4L highways without plants growing on them, the high beams from the opposite traffic can be extremely distracting and disorienting, particularly so if there are many curved sections. It is not the plants that must be uprooted; but preventing the jaywalkers, cyclists, bikers who jump out from the bushes. In fact, I have encountered fewer instances of cows/dogs trying to jump onto the highway when they have seen an oncoming vehicle, but humans, rather, on 3-passenger bikes and cyclists who underestimate how far and how fast the oncoming vehicle is coming at them.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

...AirBags have an explosive chemical charge in them and hence typically has a shelf life of about 5 years. So if you buy older cars (> 5 years) equipped with Airbags, you can't expect the Airbags to deploy when they need to as the chemical charge in them would have expired.
Also I'm skeptical of the performance of all the electronic gizmos like EBD in the long run as the car ages.

This is a completely wrong notion. Airbags, unless deployed or tampered with, will be effective as long as the car is operational. Other electronics like ABS, EBD, ASC etc. also continue to perform perfectly fine unless tampered with.

2. Its appaling when the Government plants bushes and trees on the divider, it impairs visibility of the vehicles on the other side, people/two wheelers suddenly tend to jump out of the bushes right in front of the vehicle being driven on the extreme right. Also the plants on the divider attract cows, buffalos, sheep etc and they can jump on to the road.

Originally Posted by venkyhere

Sorry mate, I have to disagree with you here. On 4L highways without plants growing on them, the high beams from the opposite traffic can be extremely distracting and disorienting, particularly so if there are many curved sections.

The bushes are called view-cutters, and they are effective in preventing one from being blinded by oncoming high beams. Though it is advisable (but technically not illegal in India) to avoid using high beams within 300 m of an approaching vehicle, who listens (even, who knows about it)? In a way, the NHAI actually did something good towards improving road safety by thinking up about planting these bushes.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

.... the high beams from the opposite traffic can be extremely distracting and disorienting, particularly so if there are many curved sections....

Well they can put in steel railings with steel sheets on the expressway dividers to take care of the oncoming glare like they do in the UK.

Planting trees and bushes on dividers and allowing them to grow without pruning them is certainly a hazard, feels very unsafe driving on the right most lane and not knowing who is lurking behind the bushes.