If there was no speed limit on the motorway, what speed would you do?
After a discussion in the office, most people wouldn’t drive any differently if there was no speed limit on the motorway. Probably 70-80MPH. I think it depends as much on the car as the person. I'd be happy driving at 120(dependant on conditions of course) but my car would probably be struggling if that speed was sustained for too long. At 100mph you have to have your wits about you, things happen a lot quicker. 80mph would be nice but then everyone would just do 80-90mph I saw a video of someone doing 300 kph on the autobahn, very scary tbh! It depends on many factors;The capabilities of the driver,
What speed the car is comfortable at (before accelerated wear sets in),
The schedule (aka. when can you set off, and when do you intend to arrive?),
The traffic conditions,
The economics (is it worth burning twice as much fuel to shorten the journey time by maybe 10%?)
In my car, capable of sustained 100mph(I'm lead to believe!), I'd normally choose to keep speed below 65mph just for economy; of course that is subject to no time pressures which would change my outlook to 95mphif legal, necessary and appropriate. I drive at 140mph on the motorway for work and to be honest, the amount of concentration you need is immense, so it wouldn't be sustainable for any long period of time and you'd be knackered after 20 to 30 minutes.Our motorway also really isn't up to a decent standard for high speeds, too many bumps in the road, dodgey camber angles and morons who can't use the nearside lanes and will just get in your way.
I commented yesterday to my other half, that I've noticed the speed on the motorway recently has decreased. Yesterday I was doing between 65 and 70 and I was casually passing people and there wasn't anyone behind me waiting to pass. Remember it still takes the same time to react, lift your foot off the accelerator and move it to the brake.
Plus your braking distance changes exponentially with speed - 70mph to 100mph doubles your braking distance. Yup, i drove Austria to Luxembourg via the Autobahn and did 130-150mph most of the way except for the roadworks and you do need to be completely switched on.
I still wasn’t the fastest car out there. The poll is flawed and missing the most important option; depends on the circumstances. And depending on the circumstances there is no limit either way.