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.
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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.
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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.
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+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.
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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. ....
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5. Leave your ego home before getting into the car.
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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.
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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. |
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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.
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Never Never shift to Neutral at high speeds cos its a slope, can lose control very quickly.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Originally Posted by akshay4587
Its always better, to stick to legal speed limit irrespective of the vehicle you drive. |
+1
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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
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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