Driving on motorway

I would stay well below 80mph in such a small car, anything faster and quite frankly you will not be able to stop with the poxy brakes found on most low powered cars. They will quickly overheat and you could pile into the car in front when the motorway slows down and it can slow down very quickly to a stop.

You have to drive at a speed which you are comfortable at and in addition, a speed which you car is safe driving at. Most bigger engined cars will stop much quicker from 80mph than your 1ltr, so if I were you, I would keep well below doing silly speeds, particularly as you have just passed your test!

Motorways are the safest roads in the UK, but if you get it wrong, things happen much quicker!

Just be careful and you will be fine.

80mph is fine in an 04 micra, providing you have some anticipation ability and don't brown nose the car in front. Your right they you will be limited somewhat in comparison to other cars but I don't think it will be quite as severe as your making it out to be.

Just don't go too fast until your comfortable with how the car handles at speed like that, knowing if it will squirrel under braking as well as knowing your personal stopping distance. As you drive a long just think to yourself "That's an expensive looking bmw (etc) so he can stop faster than me, I'll leave a bigger gap". Different people learn at different speeds, don't be afraid to ask your Dad or someone else who is experienced and good at driving (I know plenty of old drivers who are tools or people that are just **** at driving) for advice.

Thanks for all the advise i really appreciated it...

I would better stick with driving on left lane at 70mph, if i want to overtake i ll probably stick with 70mph unless the middle lane are clear... Just another advise do you think it is wise to drive 60-65mph on left lane rather than doing a little over 70mph? i am just pretty caution with my 2 years probation period- if you know what i am on about?

You are right and spot on. The problem is, I see on a daily basis small cars, driven by new drivers who are very young about 2 inches off my bumper at 80mph whilst the motorway is very very busy leaving me nowhere to pull in, and if I did have to brake hard they would be straight up my rear and having a impact in a small car where you are 2 feet from the front bumper is never going to end well at motorway speeds.

But yeh, if it is a quiet stretch then that is different, it is just going crazy during busy times and being very close to the car in front is very silly in any car, but particularly in a car which has inferior brakes to most other cars on the road.

70 is fine, just be weary of lorries that are limited to 60mph, you want to avoid braking on the motorway, it's all about anticipation.

Of course, don't hesitate to brake, but if you can plan ahead in order to not have to all the better.

For example when I cruise up and down the M1 and M6 I'm looking ahead to see brake lights, because chances are if I see them they will ripple down to me, so I can just ease of the accelerator to lower my speed a bit and lengthen the gap between me and the car in front.

It was more about braking distances, Rep Mobiles have disc brakes all round so will stop much quicker than your car which has drums on the back. Basically, you have inferior brakes to a bigger car because your car is a city car not necessarily designed for motorway driving, where as a Mondeo, 3 series, Audi, etc are designed for Autobahn crunching so they have much better braking capabilities.

It is not necessarily bad for the engine to do that speed, it is more about braking and wiping off the speed in an emergency stop. Do 80 or less and leave a good gap and you will be fine. The problem is I see lots of people doing more than 80 in small cars and following a bigger car way too close. It is only going to end up one way when the car in front brakes hard!

Just be sensible and know the limits of your car and you.

Does anybody here actually know what the stopping distance is at 80 mph or 90 mph? No? (And before anyone asks, yes I do know!)

The national speed limit on motorways in the UK is 70 mph and that should be your maximum speed. Most posts in this thread are talking about speeds well in excess of that and the issues with driving over the limit. The 70 mph limit may well be wrong and probably needs to be reviewed but we don't teach you to drive so you can break the b&**%y law!

Emma

I'm having a bad hair day - sorry -

The actual stopping distance or what the highway code would have you believe?

2 cars, both cars have same brakes and same tyres but have different weight one is 900kg and the other is 1500kg, what is the stopping distance for each car doing 80mph or 90mph?

The theory waffle that is churned out when learning is only a small handful of variables, there are a wide variety of variables that have to be considered for overall stopping distance.




You don’t even need to consider two cars, a car will react (acceleration/braking/handling in corners/bends) totally differently from "just" having the driver in the car to + 3 passengers in the car!

When you see 17-18 year olds who have just passed their test and involved in an accident, ever noticed there are always 2-3 passengers in the car. Mean yes the driver is inexperience, naïve and probably showing off but what do you expect when a car will handle differently due to the additional weight and they have had no teaching of this or experience!