[QuentinTino]

Hey everyone,

I think there’s one thing which needs to be said but hasn’t been said till now.
I think we all feel it but aren’t saying it yet….

In the city everyone is slow due to poor infrastructure (especially here in Dehradun).
But out on the highways I have been noticing that the new cars are waaay slower than the old ones now!
This is like because the majority of new cars on the road- the new MS like Balenos, Swifts and even the Hyundais have nearly the same “pick up” and hence move in a “convoy like clusters” of 7-8 cars.

This I have attributed to the following reasons-
1) The new BS6 cars are tuned in a way that the in gear acceleration is slower, likely due to the emission norms and to preserve efficiency
2) CNG replacing Diesel as the go-to fuel for small cars with high highway runs especially in Taxis (Dzire, Ertiga).



I feel it’s more like an EPIDEMIC since the same cars now are slower than they used to be especially in the sub 10 lakh bracket.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this!

[subraiyr]

I am not too sure if this is true. Most of the new vehicles are quite powerful. Even the i10s and the Wagon Rs of the world are now pushing past their initial limits. With the plethora of new cars with better-tuned engines and gearboxes coming through, they seem to hold on to their speed. Of course, AT does have challenges of pickup esp if the gearboxes are not tuned properly. With fuel becoming dearer, we Indians still go with the question of "Kitna Deti Hai" and the manufacturers are forced to detune engines + gearboxes to afford better fuel economy

The other interesting thing I noticed is that post covid, the driving styles of people, in general, have changed. Folks are driving a little slower, laid back within the city. Especially in Bangalore, I see the need for speed within the city has reduced. Also, driving slowly in the middle of the road, erratic turns have crept up. Earlier, one could guess what the person up front is going to do and you would invariably be correct 80% of the time. Post covid, this has dropped to about 50% i would think.

The observation above is not based on hard statistics but is based on sharper on-road observations. Either others have changed or I have

[Gansan]

Are they going at are above the highway speed limit? Then they are not going slow. Those who complain may be driving too fast.

I have driven the Baleno and did not feel it lacked power.

[cryptarchy]

I feel personally attacked

Kidding aside, this is mainly due to one person driving while using their phone and rest have to slow down if there is no space to overtake. Experienced this personally yesterday on a national highway, when the person in front of me was driving slowly despite the clear road ahead and I had to follow him because rest of the lanes were not empty. After overtaking saw that the driver was busy on their phone.

[antz.bin]

The most annoying thing that slows down progress on the highway is people slowing down to a crawl on speed bumps. I mean, from cruising along at 100ish, slowing down to speeds below 10 in the middle lane of a 4/6 lane road due to speed bumps that could have been crossed at 25-40 with some planning.

As I often say when I see such people, the country will start to make progress if people learn how to cross speed breakers properly.

For the benefit of the readers who are part of this problem, watch this short video to know how to do it better and still preserve your suspension, rims and comfort.

https://youtu.be/4Ck0bLzbuOE

[anoopvk268]

Not sure if this is true. Power was never an issue in going fast in the highways. It's only the quick overtakes that is dependent on the power.
I have seen many Alto K10 going at 120Km/hr in the highways.

It's just that the increase in the number of cars on the road is not matching with the road conditions and the number of lanes. Plus the ripple effect of slow moving trucks going across all available lanes.

[fhdowntheline]

Rather my observation is that those who drive larger (4m plus CSUV and upward) cars generally stay within limits while those driving the sub 4 m compact hatches tend to push the cars harder.

[Bhargav7]

At least on the highways I have been in the south of India, we don't see the problem of slow vehicles.

We have the other epidemic here - overspeeding cars with dumbnuts behind the steering wheel.

[avira_tk]

This is the case with the new petrol models, no initial grunt or in great shove. It's really irritating with the na engines, miss a light every day because of these lethargic tin cans. I thought the swift was a peppy car once upon a time, the diesels were.

[Shreyans_Jain]

This is a real problem here in north India. I see three reasons for it

1. The death of diesels, and them being replaced by CNG.

Make no mistake, while modern turbo petrols have democratised power, bulk of car sales is made of weedy 1.0 and 1.2 NA petrols. These engines, in fully loaded cars, often running on gas, struggle to accelerate quickly. Drivers refusing to downshift and lugging from 50kmph onwards in 5th gear only compounds the issue. Basically, the delta between these cars and more powerful modern machinery has increased to the point where these cars become a nuisance. Especially when they hog the fast/overtaking lanes.

Contrast this to 7-10 years back when diesel cars like Swift, Dzire, Punto, Verna, Duster and Cruze were highway kings.

2. Proliferation of speed cameras.

As soon as people see a speed camera sign, they just drop speed. It is usually down to 50-60kmph, and not to the actual prescribed limit. Seems to be instinctive, and it is extremely irritating. You have modern, access controlled 6 and 8 lanes expressways with 100 and 120kmph limits, and after every few kilometers, idiots are braking and slowing down to city speeds. They disturb the entire flow of traffic, and then struggle to get back up to speed (refer point 1)

3. Higher speeds on modern roads.

Most new highway/expressway here up north have a speed limit of 120, or 100 minimum. We have a plethora of cars nowadays which actually cruise at 3 digit speeds all day on these roads. However, the budget cars, the likes of Eeco, Alto, SPresso, Tiago, Bolero etc, they are not conducive to this kind of driving on these kind of roads. Be it because of weak engine, short gearing, poor high speed dynamics or any combination of them, especially when loaded. Add to this zero lane discipline and a pathological resistance to downshifting to get a move on, and you have a recipe for disaster.

[deep_bang]

IF the issue is due to the disappearing diesels (and people being more careful with petrol due to the cost), that will surely change with EVs having crazy acceleration in the coming years. And probably the small EVs will come first...

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by deep_bang

IF the issue is due to the disappearing diesels (and people being more careful with petrol due to the cost), that will surely change with EVs having crazy acceleration in the coming years. And probably the small EVs will come first...

On the contrary.

EVs are a part of this slow car menace on highways here in north India. They are usually driven at 50-60kmph in interests of acceptable range, and absolutely struggle above 80. Cars like Tiago EV and Nexon EV are great city cars, but they have no place on modern Indian expressways.

EVs will always have limitations on highways, by nature.

[deep_bang]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

They are usually driven at 50-60kmph in interests of acceptable range, and absolutely struggle above 80.

Aah. I missed that aspect of an EV where one has to conserve charge highways are likely to be where they suffer the most. I stand corrected. Thanks.

[IshaanIan]

I think it is simply the post covid effect; average pace as well as awareness in the city has dropped to an all time low after covid.

The number of people buying new cars is also a factor. There are automatic variants of every car out there and that has simply made it easy for a wider audience to pick up driving and in a world where vehicle density has doubled in the last 10 years along with the fact that driver training quality hasn’t really improved, this is a recipe for disaster.

Last but not the least everyone and their moms are on the phone these days. Cabbies are glued to their xiaomis trying to figure out the best route and others are simply scrolling through content or texting people. It has almost become expected of people to be looking at their phone screens these days. It is no longer surprising to see even educated moms and dads well into their 50s also staring at their phone while driving these days.

[true_sedan]

Driving has become worse post-Covid. The primary reason being people in their 30s, 40s have realised the importance of owning a car during pandemic like situation. They are slow to learn all the ways of our road and hence feel comfort in going in convoys of 4-5 cars mixed with autos, buses and lorries. I’m not blaming them because our licensing tests are a joke and driving training is non-existent. Most of these people just know enough to pass the test and nothing more. Signalling well before overtakes, using the side mirrors, driving within a lane and not between and keeping left if you’re slow are a few rules everyone in India must follow for a smooth driving experience.