Motorway speed limits.

Jesus.

CiniO wrote: »

In my opinion, if you can do it with particular car/engine, then this car/engine is appropriate.
What's the difference if it's 1.4 golf or 2.0 diesel golf, if you can tow at the same speed in both cases. Only difference that diesel will run at relatively low revs, while 1.4 petrol will have to be nearly redlines to achieve the same performance. But effect is the same - you towed at the same speed.

I suppose if you don't mind drawing attention to yourself. Imagine taking off on a decent incline in a busy village in your 1.4 Golf with your horse in tow? There wouldn't be a head not turned with your racket

CiniO wrote: »

Of course you can't, but what I meant that in any car really you can't distinguish engine noise at those speeds as just tyres and wind make much more noise. No matter if it's Cinquecento or V6 A6, at 160km/h you won't be able to say by ear, if it's at low revs or high revs without looking at rev counter on the dash.

What Chemical Byrne said

CiniO wrote: »

I hardly get what's so exhausting about it.

I think you'd be in a minority who wouldn't know what I'm getting at mate.

Only difference might be noise - maybe you just don't like the sound of engine at high revs

But you said there'd be no difference in noise?

Vic_08

CiniO wrote: »

Lorries restricted to 90km/h on motorways.
Buses to 100km/h.

Same as in most places in EU including Germany, where people have no problem with overtaking 90km/h lorries at 250km/h.

Correction:

Lorries 90kph
Coaches 100kph
Buses 65kph.

GM228

Vic_08 wrote: »

Correction:

Lorries 90kph
Coaches 100kph
Buses 65kph.

"Buses" can do 100kph on a motorway if not designed for standing passengers, the 65kph limit is for a bus (or a coach) designed to carry standing passengers and applies to all road types.

CiniO

GM228 wrote: »

"Buses" can do 100kph on a motorway if not designed for standing passengers, the 65kph limit is for a bus designed to carry standing passengers and applies to all road types.

Exactly.
Bus not designed to carry standing passengers can do 100km/h while coach designed to carry standing passengers can only do 65km/h

ianobrien

I was going to vote for either the 140 or 160 option, but only after a massive punishment campaign for those overtaking lane hoggers. Our national inability to drive a motorway means higher limits are too dangerous in my opinion. I find driving on the A10 and A12 autostrada much easier than the M7, even though the A12 is narrower, still only 2 lanes and has a higher average speed when compared to the M7.

Jesus.

CiniO wrote: »

No matter if it's Cinquecento or V6 A6, at 160km/h you won't be able to say by ear, if it's at low revs or high revs without looking at rev counter on the dash.

Yet in the same post:

CiniO wrote: »

I hardly get what's so exhausting about it.
Engine working at high revs - in the end of the day it's not you turning it that quick.Only difference might be noise - maybe you just don't like the sound of engine at high revs.
I do.

Cinio be honest, you were trolling me weren't you ye feckin' rascal?!!

CiniO

Jesus. wrote: »

Yet in the same post:



Cinio be honest, you were trolling me weren't you ye feckin' rascal?!!

No, I wasn't.
At 200km/h you won't notice the difference.

At 40km/h in 1.4 golf when towing horsebox on an incline, you will hear the difference.

Jesus.

CiniO wrote: »

No, I wasn't. At 200km/h you won't notice the difference.

Nobody said anything about 124mph. Where did you suddenly produce that figure from? We were talking about 87mph and speeds of that nature, for the Irish Motorway system. Your whole point was that someone couldn't hear the engine over the wind noise etc but then in the same post said the only difference with a high revving small engine would be the engine noise!!!!

CiniO wrote: »

At 40km/h in 1.4 golf when towing horsebox on an incline, you will hear the difference.

I think you are trolling now mate. As per the posts above your response was to me saying I'd be worn out after a 3 hour Motorway drive to Cork at those speeds (87mph) in a small car/engine; not towing the horsebox. You responded by saying the only difference would be the engine noise and you like the sound.

You've been caught with your pants down lad!!


(Not that I thought you really believed what you were saying in the first place )

CiniO

Jesus. wrote: »

Nobody said anything about 124mph. Where did you suddenly produce that figure from? We were talking about 87mph and speeds of that nature, for the Irish Motorway system. Your whole point was that someone couldn't hear the engine over the wind noise etc but then in the same post said the only difference with a high revving small engine would be the engine noise!!!!



I think you are trolling now mate. As per the posts above your response was to me saying I'd be worn out after a 3 hour Motorway drive to Cork at those speeds (87mph) in a small car/engine; not towing the horsebox. You responded by saying the only difference would be the engine noise and you like the sound.

You've been caught with your pants down lad!!


(Not that I thought you really believed what you were saying in the first place )

Jesus, I think you are putting too much thought around that.
I don't really analyze each post so throughly at all times.
I could have posted something which contradicts each other, but I think I'm keeping my point clear.

My point is that if vehicle can travel at certain speed (whatever that speed can be), then it's not crazy to assume that you actually can use that speed.
Meaning if some car can do 170km/h max according to manufacturer, then there's nothing wrong in driving it for prelonged period of time at this 170km/h.

You are saying, that to travel at 170km/h, you'd need something which had a max speed of 250km/h, as otherwise you'd be tired of driving while using full capabilities of a car.

We just don't agree with other, and that's all.
No one is going to change their mind.

Jesus.

You are a knowledgeable guy Cinio and I respect your opinion. The only thing I might add would be this caveat:

CiniO wrote: »

In my opinion, if you can do it with particular car/engine, then this car/engine is appropriate.

If you're towing a horsebox with a 1.4 Golf regularly or doing constant fast Motorway driving in a Fiat C (can't be bothered checking the spelling again), you're driving both at max capability all the time. Do you think the components in the engine/gearbox would stand up to that kind of pressure over a long period of time versus a car more appropriate for the job like say a 3.0l diesel A6?

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Leonard Hofstadter

Jesus. wrote: »

If you're towing a horsebox with a 1.4 Golf regularly or doing constant fast Motorway driving in a Fiat C (can't be bothered checking the spelling again), you're driving both at max capability all the time.

There is nothing wrong with running a well maintained engine that's in good working order at high revs for a sustained period of time. Obviously, the engine should be fully warmed up before doing this. I would also give the engine a couple of minutes to cool down afterwards (as you would with a diesel so as to look after the turbo), just by leaving it idle for 1-2 minutes.

The only real disadvantage of running an engine at high revs is the fuel consumption, more revs means more fuel and then there is all the extra drag at higher engine speeds to boot.

Cini is right, when you go well above 130-140 km/h, you won't really hear the engine, depending on the type of surface used on the motorway, it's mostly tyre noise you'll be hearing at that speed, and in an unrefined car it will deafen you! Even big expensive cars, like premium German cars, get a lot noisier when you go past 140. I've been in an E39 5 series on a German autobahn, and what is a very quiet and refined car at Irish motorway speeds turns out to be quite a noisy one when you push beyond 150-160 km/h.

That's actually the hardest thing about high speed driving, the level of concentration required is so much more, and if in the morning Irish motorways were to become like German autobahns with no speed limit, what would most likely happen is that all the petrol heads and young fellas would go nuts for a few weeks celebrating this new found freedom, and then once people started to realise the impact on their wallets and how much more tiring it is, the vast majority of drivers wouldn't go a whole pile faster than they do now.

Jesus.

captainspeed wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with running a well maintained engine that's in good working at high revs for a sustained period of time. Obviously, the engine should be fully warmed up before doing this. I would also give the engine a couple of minutes to cool down afterwards (as you would with a diesel so as to look after the turbo), just by leaving it idle for 1-2 minutes.The only real disadvantage of running an engine at high revs is the fuel consumption, more revs means more fuel and then there is all the extra drag at higher engine speeds to boot.

All well and good in theory but in reality do you believe a 1.4 Golf as a horsebox tower or a 900cc Fiat as a Motorway mile muncher would mechanically remain sound compared to a more suitable engine (ie larger) with more power/torque for towing/daily sustained high speeds?

captainspeed wrote: »

Cini is right, when you go well above 130-140 km/h, you won't really hear the engine, depending on the type of surface used on the motorway, it's mostly tyre noise you'll be hearing at that speed, and in an unrefined car it will deafen you! Even big expensive cars, like premium German cars, get a lot noisier when you go past 140. I've been in an E39 5 series on a German autobahn, and what is a very quiet and refined car at Irish motorway speeds turns out to be quite a noisy one when you push beyond 150-160 km/h.

That's actually the hardest thing about high speed driving, the level of concentration required is so much more, and if in the morning Irish motorways were to become like German autobahns with no speed limit, what would most likely happen is that all the petrol heads and young fellas would go nuts for a few weeks celebrating this new found freedom, and then once people started to realise the impact on their wallets and how much more tiring it is, the vast majority of drivers wouldn't go a whole pile faster than they do now.

All fair enough, Captain, but I'm sure you'd agree that there's a heck of a difference driving a wee car at red line from Dublin to Cork and back compared to a decent sized engine/car?

Leonard Hofstadter

Jesus. wrote: »

All well and good in theory but in reality do you believe a 1.4 Golf as a horsebox tower or a 900cc Fiat as a Motorway mile muncher would mechanically remain sound compared to a more suitable engine (ie larger) with more power/torque for towing/daily sustained high speeds?



All fair enough, Captain, but I'm sure you'd agree that there's a heck of a difference driving a wee car at red line from Dublin to Cork and back compared to a decent sized engine/car?

Well I don't know about the Fiat, but as the Golf 1.4 engine is about as reliable as a square wheel, I don't think the engine speeds will really matter! Look at it this way, the Japs used to make high revving screamers and they will clock up 250,000 miles in their sleep. I'm sure we've all seen how people with their souped up Japanese hatchbacks rev the nuts off them and yet the cars still keep going. I think you've got a phobia about high revving engines, granted the noise isn't always the most pleasant (especially in a four cylinder engine, the drone above 4000 rpm does get annoying after a while), but the engine will be fine.

In relation to your second point, absolutely, of course a bigger car is a much nicer place to do a long distance journey. I'm just backing up what Cini was saying about engine noise - in most cars it just disappears from the equation once you start going well above the maximum limit on an Irish road. Only in the most refined of cars will you hear the engine at high road speeds, in less refined cars (such as small and/or Japanese cars) the noise of the engine is completely drowned out by tyre roar and wind noise. So you won't even hear the engine running at the high speeds to begin with.

As I've already mentioned, this also depends on the type of surface they use on a motorway, if it's like what they used to use in the UK then you're guaranteed to get a racket from the tyres, but if they use what we use in Ireland, then you are more likely to hear something from the engine, but only up to a point.

Jesus.

captainspeed wrote: »

I think you've got a phobia about high revving engines

Perhaps I have. I think I've just been spoiled by diesel engines in the last few years. I love them on long trips.

Since listening to you and Cinio I'm beginning to look at things in a different light, Captain