Are Slow Cars Faster than Fast Cars?
With the coming of $4.00 per gallon gasoline, I seem to have been noticing a rather strange contradiction on our highways. The Slow cars are travelling faster that the Fast cars. Has anyone else noticed?
It’s kind of interesting. The average highway non-commercial motor basically breaks down into three categories.
First there is the big guy. Let’s call him 300 Horsepower plus. Whether in a Sedan, Sports Ute or a big ole’ Pickup truck, this engine is strong. Usually consisting of eight or more very puffy cylinders, this baby will move you out. Zero to Sixty in lets say five seconds or less and a top speed of, well? Almost unlimited for highway purposes. It’ll chew up mountain roads or steep inclines as if they don’t even exist. It’s simply “dog-gone” fast and comfy powerful. It’s a real buzz.
Next there’s what we’ll call the mid-sized motor. Usually of the six cylinder variety, this puppy will punch out adequate horsepower for most highway or local driving. It’s not the Zero to Sixty screamer that the big guy is, but it’ll get the job done and will even tow a not too heavy boat or trailer if need be. It’ll also deliver five to seven kids to Soccer Practice with all their paraphernalia and never really complain. We’ll find this motor in most of our family type buggies.
Then of course, there’s the little guy. Let’s suggest that this little popper will offer between a hundred to maybe a maximum of two hundred, hard found horsepower. It will usually come complete with a small car wrapped around it, useful primarily only to get two to four people from here to there – on pavement, and in reasonably decent weather. This little Econo-box is not generally perceived as very fast and it’s Zero to Sixty times are, well let’s just say “far less than sparkling”.
This has been all very well and nice up until now. Drivers would generally select the vehicle best suited for their needs and desires. Generally, those who selected the larger or even some medium power engines, were not necessarily of the “slow driver’ persuasion. Once they turned their engines out on the highway they would boogie right along.
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But now we have gasoline hovering around $4.00 a gallon. There’s a teensy little wallet problem. It’s called Miles per Gallon.
While the larger motors can go faster, they definitely gobble up more petro in the process. The faster they go, the more gas they gobble. Their little brothers, on the other hand, can be quite stingy with the liquid gold stuff, thus the nickname “Econo-box”. They might not get to seventy or eighty quite as quickly or smoothly as their hungry brothers and sisters, but once they get there, they can stay there.
The difference between averaging fifty five and seventy five for the big boys could be maybe five or more Miles per Gallon. For the little buggy, already running at thirty to thirty five Miles per Gallon, a difference of maybe two or three per, just doesn’t seem quite as significant, does it? So the fast cars are slowing down while the slow cars just keep buzzing along!
Then of course, there’s what I like to call the “idle factor”. Doesn’t really have much to do with faster driving, but if you’re a driver who tends to get caught up in a lot of traffic jams during your commute or whatever, the little guy doesn’t sip as much while standing still either. The big guy? Just keeps on gulping gallons. Hmm.
This conundrum of course, doesn’t take into account a basic factor. Many of us need the bigger buggies to haul all the kids around, tow a toy, or perhaps load up the pickup bed more than just occasionally. The little guy just can’t get the job done. We’re faced with the difficult decision of either sticking with our big boy, giving it up for the little guy that really doesn’t fill our requirements, or buying an extra little buggy for use when we don’t need all that “pull power.”
If we go the extra car route, then we have to lay out for the purchase and also the insurance. Where’s the break even?
The insurance companies are getting a free ride here too. My liability insurance covers me if I drive your car, but if I buy another one of my own, I’m hit with an extra liability premium! Let the liability insurance attach to the driver. I can’t drive two cars at once. Help us be Green here, you politician type people!
Could it be that we’re suddenly facing a paradigm shift? The Slow cars may be getting there faster than the Fast cars!
Want to get there faster? Consider buying a slower car!
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I would have disagreed with you until today. It used to be the pickups and the SUV's hauling butt down the highway. Now, they are driving slower. I have not really changed my habits at all, driving a Saturn L100. If I need to, I will kick it up to 110 or just cruise at 70-85 mph. I usually get about 28-30 on long trips, so it doesn't matter to me. My average speeds haven't changed partly because the roads are noticeably less crowded.
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Thanks man this was the great reminder to me.
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very informative and amazing...
Thanks for posting....
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Actually slow cars can cause trouble for fast cars..because if slow cars got into the lane of fast cars then it may be a problem for fast car drivers.
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thanks for giving awareness.
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Wow this is interesting. I will do test on this.
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I admit, I have not been on this webpage in a long time... however it was another joy to see It is such an important topic and ignored by so many, even
professionals. I thank you to help making people more aware of possible issues.
Great stuff as usual....
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cool
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You certainly made your point, and you are also right, still, if you don't drive two cars at the same time, why would you want the second car?
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One guzzler to haul the toys and the trailers or perhaps for the pickup bed, and a little mizer for when you don't need to do that.
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Why do most cars have speedometers that go up to at least 150 when you legally can't go that fast on any road?
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Interesting question.
It’s psychological, I guess. But years ago we used to soup up cars that had slower speedometers. When you “buried the needle”, you couldn’t tell how fast you were actually going – and sometimes the speedo would break. Then you could never tell your speed.
Today, if we have a fast car, we like as much evidence that it’s fast as we can get, even if we never actually go that fast.
There are, of course, those who in a (hopefully) safe place, will actually take their cars to the limit, to see what they can do. These are people I usually feel comfortable being on the road with. If they can handle the car at 150, they are probably pretty skilled drivers at 50.
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Hi,
What is the difference between the two cars- ambassador classic and ambassador grand?
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Wasn’t really sure on this one but a quick Google search suggests that the Hindustan Motors launched Ambassador inIndia
Perhaps someone can help us out here with more detail.
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ambassador grand is a spruced up model of the ordinary ambassador classic. grand is a higher end model of the ambassador and it features body coloured wrap around bumpers, beige interiors, music system, chrome plated door handles etc. the ambassador classic has got the classic chrome plated bumpers. engines aresame in both classic and grand
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That is an interesting observation. You know, it is really so. If to give it a thought I also agree with it. But you know vehicles stopped being a means of transport long ago. I like to read about famous people (find a lot of their autobiographies at the files search engine http://rapid4me.com ) and almost everybody agrees that they buy very expensive cars either because it has been their dream or because of their social position but not because the like high speed.
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well,I admire what you have done here. I like the part where you say you are doing this to give back but I would assume by all the comments that this is working for you as well.
regards,
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Thank you for your kind words.
You can subscribe to Driverthink posts by going to "subscribe to Emailed articles" on the sidebar.
My book containing the first 54 articles is also available by clicking under the "book cover" at the end of the article.
Thanks again for your thoughts. Please help spread the word to "Driverthink"!
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you couldn’t tell how fast you were actually going – and sometimes the speedo would break. Then you could never tell your speed.Today, if we have a fast car, we like as much evidence that it’s fast as we can get, even if we never actually go that fast.There are, of course.Thanks for shareing the posts.
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I have a car and my friend said, the more I drive fast the less gasoline the car consumed and when I drive slow, more gasoline will consumed.
And here its the other way around.I don't get it.
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Hi,
How to use car battery or any other battery to lighten the tubelight?
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Best Digital Camera - Not sure what you mean here? If you're thinking of lighting a tube light (florescent?) with any battery, you would probably require an inverter to convert from Direct Current (DC) to Alternating Current (AC). Not a bad device to keep in the car anyway, as it can also power other AC devices.
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