[Kobus]

At least on the I-15.
Speed limit is 80 Mph for large stretches, but most drive 90+. And the majority uses the left lane only to pass and then switch back to the right lane. The small percentage that dawdles in the left lane either (a) drives some make of Toyota or (b) have California license plates
Also have decided that the E-class is really wasted in city driving. It's in it's element on the open road at speeds of 100+ Mph. No white-knuckle driving at that speed.
And fixing the breather cover seal seems to halve solved the oil consumption problem on overrun/compression braking. Oil level still perfect after 750+ miles at high speed from L.A. to SLC.

 

[KarlBenzSF]

Kobus.... are you talking to me? I think I will go to SLC today... But I don't know if I-80 will be the same...

Do you mean that I-15 has no police car patroling around so even if there's any speedlimit, no one obey them?

 

[renault12ts]

In Europe and UK the lane closest to the centre of the road is only for overtaking. Once the move is made you must move over to the next lane which is clear.

In France, for example it is quite possible to sustain very high speeds ( in excess of 90mph ) for sometimes 100 miles or more on the Autoroutes...now that's motoring. You will lose face if you hold a faster driver up. Even if you are driving fast with another car behind you, the thing is to pull in to the next gap, just in case the car behind wants to go faster...

In the UK the same rules apply, but the ethos is different...there is a fear of losing face by being overtaken, so you will find cars in the overtaking lane holding up faster drivers because they can see a car a mile ahead they want to overtake...the consequence is a slower more frustrating drive.

Do I understand that in the US you can drive in any lane, whether or not you are overtaking ??

 

[alexnatt]

Beware the PO PO on I-15. If you want a sweet ride with no cops check out the route from cedar city to milford and delta west of and parallel to 15.

 

[alexnatt]

Do I understand that in the US you can drive in any lane, whether or not you are overtaking ??[/QUOTE]

In the US, our far left lane is considered the "passing lane" but apparently not many citizens know that. I don't believe it is illegal to stay camped out in that lane, but it should be.

 

[renault12ts]

On this side of the pond it is illegal to stay in the passing/overtaking lane unless you are making the move. I did wonder about it anytime I've been over there.

 

[Kajtek1]

That's I-80 between SLC and NV state line.
You have to trust me on this one

 

[Kajtek1]

On this side of the pond it is illegal to stay in the passing/overtaking lane unless you are making the move. I did wonder about it anytime I've been over there.

Theoretically it is the law here as well, but that only proves that we have no working law enforcement.

 

[Kobus]

Kobus.... are you talking to me? I think I will go to SLC today... But I don't know if I-80 will be the same...

Do you mean that I-15 has no police car patrolling around so even if there's any speedlimit, no one obey them?

No, there is quite a lot of cops on the road, but they are driving with their radar on, not sitting stationary with pop-radar. I haven't figured out if they are measuring on-coming or same-direction. But the Valentine is a nice little box and gave me warnings long before the time.
But Alexnatt's route sounds interesting, maybe I'll try that on Sunday.

Katjek, you are making me envious. Mine is governed at 125, apparently due to tire worries originally in the U.S. At least my SLK can go 25 MPH more if the urge strikes.

 

[benzw210]

stay out of oregon, Oregon trooper reels in line of Ferraris, Lamborghini - CNN.com


So said Oregon State Senior Trooper David Petersen after he was able to catch up with six exotic sports cars on a stretch of Highway 18 near Grand Ronde on Thursday, according to a news release.

 

[aardvark]

Utah also has a initiative going on for CNG (natural gas) powered cars.
Get this, motorheads. CNG.'s octane is 130 !! Thus you can run higher compression, (at around 13 to1) YES!!!
Also the cost of CNG (in Utah) compared to Gas is about $1.20 (or less) a gge (or equivalent gallon) and at the increased compression, mileage could increase.
Utah has it going on in more that one regard.

I have been in contact with a conversion company out of Utah, but currently (due to EPA and NFPA) the conversion is too costly, and here in Chi-town, it would have to be filled at home, off of the house feed. The refueling equipment (known as Phill) is also about $4k. Then I would need to run dual fuel (2 tanks) . Local running on CNG, and long distance on gasoline.
Get the government off of our backs as far as regulations are concerned, and the conversion and refill equipment would drop by 75%. Iran converts the cars for about $125,oo's .

Think forward, friends.

Aardvark.

 

[Kajtek1]

stay out of oregon, Oregon trooper reels in line of Ferraris, Lamborghini - CNN.com


So said Oregon State Senior Trooper David Petersen after he was able to catch up with six exotic sports cars on a stretch of Highway 18 near Grand Ronde on Thursday, according to a news release.

Ah, annual "Cannon ball" race. Those guys collect speeding tickets as a trophy. No way Crow Victoria would catch up with Ferrari blasting by over 100 mph. This continent is too short for it
Supposeable only Nevada is not giving those guys paper confirmations for their efforts.

 

[tirona]

best road to drive fast in my experience is I-80 through nebraska. used to drive denver-chicago pretty often, and I-80 through nebraska was most of the time with only a few cars and big trucks and very few state troopers, perfect for driving 100mph+. wisely i had invested $700 in radar detector system, never got a ticket. also the passing lane was empty usually. the worst part was driving through iowa, somehow people there don't understand the difference between passing lane and driving lane, so most of them drive under speed limit on passing lane. i didn't understand why, but when a friend of mine explained to me that iowa stands for idiots outside wondering around, i understood why (just joking, no offense to anyone)
some countries in europe actually give you a fine based on your income, so if your speeding ticket is $100 for going 20mph over when your yearly income is x, for another guy whose yearly income is 10x, his fine would be $1000 for the same speed violation.

 

[Kajtek1]

Basically I-80 is cops-free from Lincoln, NE to Reno, NV.
I never had a problem to make 1200-1300 miles from stop in NE to Bay Area in one day.
Getting 2 extra hours on time change helps.

 

[KarlBenzSF]

Anyway.... no matter where you drive in the U.S., we always have the possibility to be thrown into jail for 100mph... the best way to solve this problem is make everyone stands out and talk to the government. I guess we can organize an appeal to request highway patrol to remove their speed limite, I mean let them give us some roads without speed limits.

 

[alexnatt]

Bad news on the CNG front. Utah is stupidly looking to tax it to a point where it is closer in price to gasoline. Folks who bought cars and paid thousands for CNG conversions are pissed...

 

[aardvark]

Fight back.
It is the way of the future in fuels. Hydrogen is still close to 20 years out.
CNG is 40% cleaner than gasoline and in reserves it looks like some 75 years of estimated supply (gasoline hit it's peak oil in the 70's in the USA and is expected to hit the peak of the worldwide Hubberts bell curve in 2010), and with new arctic permafrost supplies being discovered, they really don't know how big the reserves will be. They just suspect BIG.
Utah is the test bed for this country, and it needs to survive on the CNG front.

Fight back, dudes! We're counting on you!

Aardvark

 

[Kajtek1]

I am afraid that old fart blocking the traffic sunk into this culture so much, that it would take at a generation to change if... somebody would like to change.
IMHO proposed changes would hurt too much "Big business" and they are those who pay big donations to government candidates.
It is the same same issue with fast trains.
If I could drive the car from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 2.5 hr -nobody would fly and that route is not only big profit for airlines, but for Highway Patrol as well. Think LA to LV in 2 hr?
Would we have trains making NY to SF in 24 hr, while giving passengers comfortable beds, or recliners and real restaurant, not only airlines would suffer, but trucking companies as well. Think about all that not sold diesel lowering profits for the biggest "donations" maker in the country.

 

[Yote]

"iowa stands for idiots outside wondering around, i understood why (just joking, no offense to anyone)"

As an Iowa resident I not only do not take offense, I have to agree. Having lived here over 2 years, I still haven't figured out the camping in the left lane at/under the speed limit thing yet. I'm hoping it's a native-only disease, but even the 18 wheelers get into the act, which makes it even more fun when they are 10-20 MPH under limit uphill.

 

[Check Codes]

On this side of the pond it is illegal to stay in the passing/overtaking lane unless you are making the move. I did wonder about it anytime I've been over there.

In every state I've checked, there is a law on the books to the effect of "slower traffic keep right" or "keep right except to pass". In both cases that law is interpreted to be irrelevant to the speed limit, you can still be cited for impeding traffic flow by parking in the left lane. However, it is a rarely-enforced provision. I'd love it if they would do more on that front, but it's a lost cause because most of the people out there are too brain dead to figure out what lane they're in anyway.

Worst recent example I was on I-10 westbound and east of LA after Thanksgiving last year, I think it's five lanes wide at that point, the far left lane had some people going 60 (zoned 55) and there were people trying to do 80 threading through the other four lanes whose speeds varied from 65-75. (No, I was not one of the morons.)

Anyway.... no matter where you drive in the U.S., we always have the possibility to be thrown into jail for 100mph... the best way to solve this problem is make everyone stands out and talk to the government. I guess we can organize an appeal to request highway patrol to remove their speed limite, I mean let them give us some roads without speed limits.

It will never happen. You should have lived here when the safety nazis really had control and 55 was it no matter where you went. Part of the reason is that our licensing requirements are so low; if you can manage to sign the form without drooling on it so much that the ink runs, you can have a license. Plus I work near a DMV and watching thos morons on their test drives...8/10 should be stopped and removed from the car, not just sent home. If we'd up those requirements then we could think about higher speed roadways, but as it is, 65-70 in rural areas plus the cushion the PD usually allows means that most of the cell-talkin'-cigarette-smokin'-conversational-gabbin-makeup-applyin-newspaper-readin-cd-changin-drinkin'-and-druggin' crowd are already unsafe.

No, there is quite a lot of cops on the road, but they are driving with their radar on, not sitting stationary with pop-radar. I haven't figured out if they are measuring on-coming or same-direction. But the Valentine is a nice little box and gave me warnings long before the time.

At least in CA the CHP can pop you from either direction whether they are moving or stationary, ahead or behind you, and that's without the use of their aircraft.


Take care and enjoy the ride,
Greg

(Sheesh, answering three posts with one is not going to improve my post count!!)