60MPH

[Marm Toastsmith]

Today I drove 100 miles on the M1 at a steady 60mph. I was in the CR-V.

 

It's roughly how I used to drive when I first started driving, then as I gradually got better cars and better at driving I started overtaking more and going faster. When I was a boy my dad used to always do 60ish and mostly stay in the slow lane.

 

I had a lovely drive today, and I used less petrol than I would have trying to drive fast. It was actually a relaxing experience.

 

And I probably wore my car out less, and reduced the chance of killing my family.

 

I must be getting old.

 

But, you know what, the time I "wasted" on the road by going slow would only have been wasted on something else when I got home.

 

Some cars don't want you to do 60. They want you to go faster.

 

The CR-V is pretty happy at 60MPH. But it's actually a little bit noisy. And it could be comfier. The speedo goes up to 140, which is ridiculous. I'm not even using half of the car at 60... 

 

So what's the perfect cheap car for a steady 60MPH?

 

Somewhere really nice to just sit while the world goes by.

 

Ideally not a gas guzzler.

 

And which never goes wrong.

 

With a big boot.

 

Please, don't say it's time for a Volvo.

[Ghosty]

R8 2/416 auto.

[vaughant]

Something Toyota or Lexus.

[vaughant]

Realistically ANYTHING doing a constant 60mph should never really go wrong, must be the ideal speed for a car overall.

Why not just keep the CR-V? As boring as they are they're a good motor.

[Schaefft]

70mph isnt fast.

 

Also anything kei car. Made for low speeds, efficient and can be surprisingly roomy.

[Jim Bell]

This is generally how I drive anyway for the most part on a long trip, no matter what I'm driving.  On a long straight road I reckon its much less stressful to slow it down a bit and enjoy the scenery.

 

Any old auto Merc is prime potter-fodder.

[Peter C]

My W124 200E feels great at sixty, nice relaxing speed.

[John F]

Hah, good post... it's true, some cars want to do different speeds. My Calibra always felt happiest at 80 mph when it was my daily driver.

 

I'd recommend something from the 70s to the early 90s, more modern cars tend to isolate the driver from feedback.

[HMC]

Something dayglow so other car drivers think twice rather than plough into the back going 80 (mind you no other car drivers ever seem to keep left)

[red5]

Frontera. Always.

[Broadsword]

I definitely feel more tired after driving a true 70 mph all the way on say a three hour journey compared to 60 mph. One problem I encounter though when sticking to a slightly lower speed is that when I try to keep a nice safe gap to the vehicle ahead, I just get people insisting in filling in the safe gap, which messes up the pace.

[bramz7]

Xantia 1.9D. It takes ages but I always felt like it didn't really want to go above 60, and the XUD got proper noisy if above that speed.

 

Actually the Buick also seems more 'chilled' at 60.

[Peter C]

Frontera. Always.

Years ago I had a 2.8 diesel Frontera. It was happy at 60 and 80 but it wouldn’t cruise at 70 without hesitating. TADTS, apparently.

[sutty2006]

Both my carlton diesel and discovery 3 are happy at 60mph. I get around 32 mpgs from the disco at that sort of speed

[cms206]

I drive coaches for a living, even when I'm not paying attention in the car I always end up at 62mph.

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[DoctorRetro]

My Corolla is happiest at an indicated 70-75. I've tried doing a steady 55-60 and the pressure of keeping the speed down made me tired. Not sure if that says more about the car or me though...

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I started doing constant 60 after getting the Borat TDi and realising how much momentum it could generate. 60mph = about 2000 revs in top. Never stressed.

 

Best overall indicated fuel consumption squeezed out for a mostly motorway trip was 86mpg.

[Bazfr69]

Our RAV4 is at its happiest at 60 but has a tiny boot and dreadful fuel economy.

 

No help at all sorry.

[red5]

Years ago I had a 2.8 diesel Frontera. It was happy at 60 and 80 but it wouldn’t cruise at 70 without hesitating. TADTS, apparently.

 

Wear in the pump  - relatively easily sorted.

 

or turn the pressure up and move the hunting 

[barefoot]

My T2 is happiest at around an indicated 58. I generally fall in behind a lorry doing the same speed and follow it for miles.

[Bazfr69]

Everything modern feels slow at 60. Our Smart, which you’d think would be happiest pootling along sedately given it’s city car credentials feels practically stationary on the motorway at that speed.

[Marm Toastsmith]

Why not just keep the CR-V? As boring as they are they're a good motor.

 

Yeah. I actually don't even find it a boring car to drive, or even to look at. It's certainly not exciting, but I've driven plently less engaging, more bland cars. As you say it's probably not far off ideal.

 

But it's fun to dream... besides, I have sat in comfier cars, and the CR-V is also surprisingly noisy at 60 I found today. Mostly tyre noise it seemed. At a mere 60 surely "near silence" ought to be possible?

 

 

70mph isnt fast.

 

No, but driving at a constant 70 is almost impossible (and massively frustrating). It's far easier to hog the fast lane at MAX or aim for 80 ish and get involved with lots of overtaking. Either of which are still pretty tiring and far more heavy on fuel.

 

 

My T2 is happiest at around an indicated 58. I generally fall in behind a lorry doing the same speed and follow it for miles.

 

I've had a couple of T2s and yeah they're good at 60. But they aren't very comfy, they're noisy (and smelly), and on both of mine the heaters were useless. You get good at doing that speed in them though. My T25 was good at 60 (1.7 n/a diesel) until it saw hills. And it was pretty noisy. A nice wasserboxer T25 would be good I reckon. Caravelle or Multivan.

[scdan4]

At 60 you can click on the cruise control and roll. You’re a bit faster than the heavy trucks, so pass them at a reasonable rate, minimising contact time with the middle lane.

 

My diesel v70 is perfect for such behaviour. 2000 rpm is a vibration sweet spot, 70 feels far more frantic than just another 10mph. Engine is barely working, so returns 60mpg.

 

The mondeo is frustrating to drive below about 100, as it just wants to go faster. And my self control is pretty much nonexistent.

[martc]

[sierraman]

60mph is just nice, that sweet spot between making progress and economy.

[TheClutchBasketPodcast]

My little 6n2 1.0 has an official top speed of 94 MPH so 70 is getting up there. It will do it all day without complaint but 60 is a much more pleasant driving experience. I always feel like I am peer pressuring it into doing something it doesn't want to do, hassling it along at 70.

[leafsprung]

I do a lot of driving for work. Any road out of the fair county of Norfolk,  A11, A47, A14 is long, straight and frustrating .The cruise control is always set at 60. Music on and the hyper-mileing commences. I'm in work time, my mileage is paid for. Every empeegee achieved is money in my pocket.

[Marm Toastsmith]

I've never had a car with cruise control... I bet it's nice.

[bramz7]

Cruise is great until people who don't have it fail to maintain any sort of constant speed in front of you every 4.9 miles.

[Skizzer]

So what's the perfect cheap car for a steady 60MPH?

 

Somewhere really nice to just sit while the world goes by.

 

Ideally not a gas guzzler.

 

And which never goes wrong.

 

With a big boot.

 

Please, don't say it's time for a Volvo.

This - your CRV’s great great great uncle (or something).