I'm not suggesting anything of course, but like most of my Fiat based fodder before it, my LE brake switch clicks quite loud, it also lights the brake lights before it engages the brakes, you can therefore brake without braking!

However, I generally deal with tail gating by slowing down, they'll either overtake and bugger off or just get more annoyed, both a result in my eyes.

G

Don't let this thread degenerate into a vs post, or it *will* be nuked...

A question: if you are in a position to pull over a lane so someone can pass, why aren't you already pulled over? And pulling over, allowing him to come alongside, and then accelerating to illegal speeds? Are you so fond of your license that you don't want it any more?

Although driving in the left is not required in law it *is* advised in the highway code:


However:





From the same act:


And last but not least:


F927UBS and AndyEssex, please draw your own conclusions about the behaviour you are advocating.

Hang loose, guys. The fact that you have a fast car does not mean that you have to prove this on every occasion and is no excuse for inconsiderate or careless driving. Further; another road user's illegal behaviour is no excuse or reason for you also to behave illegally.

Ive just read this thread properly & honestly think like a lot of things in life at the moment , its a post code lottery. I have no problems whats so ever up here, but like ioksosot I do get the invisible car syndrome, its as if some guys don't want to show their true feelings towards the lovely coop.... ..

As a last note I think Ive mentioned before,when I'm filling up with petrol & there is a boy racer type doing the same near me,its like I don't exist, he cant give me eye contact. I, on the other hand am grinning like an idiot watching his every move. .... I know, I'm such a child at times.

Read my post carefully, moved over yep.. No harm in acclerating to a speed and then backing off.. Let the knob in the new car do the 100+... It's not worth your licence or the hassle. I will agree that the worst thing you can do is start driving stupidly on the road. There are other people out there who maybe not as in control as yourself.

Of course there are some people out there who do feel they have a point to prove, and drive like jerks. But I'd suggest that 90%+ of the bad driving you come across is just people making mistakes, failing to read the road, or not really paying attention. Its not personal. I've never noticed a significant pattern of the cars involved either. People always single out modern 'prestige' cars, but I really can't understand why.

Also, many, probably most, motorists drive because they have to, and have no passion for it. They are not jealous of your car, whatever it is, because they are not interested.

point taken on board Barnacle.

Dont want to end up selling the coupe for some
very daft reason.

I must be the lucky one, I dont have people tailgating me or being big willy's near me.

About the only thing I dislike is people who have right have lane syndrome on the motorway (or an extreme aversion to driving on the left). This is particulary bad on the M11, sometimes the left hand is empty but drivers just dont want to travel in them.

I even saw a driving instructor last week who was stuck at 65 ish in the right hand land and refused to allow any of the four cars behind to overtake. Despite the middle and inside lanes being free

Luckily I am sensible driver so I didn't move to the inside lane and undertake.

personly i think that most motorway users have no CLUE of the speed limit on a motorway. for example the speed limit as everyone knows here is 70mph. now when your doing 70mph i wouldnt even dare venture into the right hand lane of fear of being tailgated,flash and being shown hand signals (giving the bird)
I also think too that the traffic police are abit lenient towards speeders on the motorway, i mean how many times have you been doing 65 - 70mph with a police car a couple of cars ahead of you in the same lane on the motorway. And being overtaken on the right with cars doing well over 70mph. its happen to me a few times now. i cant be the only one.

grrrrrr

anyway rant over

steve

EFA

This really hacks me off - if you are not overtaking then move over. UK drivers are the worst at this...they only seem to get the message when you put your lights on full beam or go past on the inside on full boost.

was at a set of traffic lights today, when a guy from behind, comes into the lane to the right of me, with his car stationary a foot in front of mine. it seemed to me that he would turn right when the lights turned green. instead he goes right in front of me and accelerates off into the distance.

i gain comfort from the fact that i have a decent looking car that people feel they must be in front of as having its pretty ass in their face must really annoy them.

I honestly have never had this happen to me in 2 years of Coupe ownership and I spend a lot of time on the motorways. However when I owned my old S14a it was a completely different story. I think your cars image is everything...

They aren't lenient, these other cars simply aren't speeding. While you're merrily trotting along with your speedo on 65-70mph in the inside lane, those in the outside lane are having to stay out there because you're doing an actual 62-68mph. If you're in the second lane and doing less than an indicated 80mph, then get the hell over, you're a hazard.

Police will generally only nick you when you really taking the piss on a motorway. I'd say 85mph+ as a rule as long as you're not driving dangerously. That means 92mph+ on your speedo. The sooner people realize this, the sooner motorways will start to function properly.

80-90mph + a proper 2 second gap (read 70-80 metres) is perfectly safe.

If you're in the second lane and there's space in the inside lane to stay there more than fifteen or twenty seconds, then get the hell over, you're a hazard.

If you want to travel at high speed in the same lane and following the same car with your brain turned off, get on the train.

trappy i never said i was in the middle lane. unless im overtaking lorries or coaches that are limited, you're see me using the outside lanes to overtake. Which can be easily done at 65mph maybe 70mph if needed. in which im using, as you should the two outside lanes to overtake. i really dont see how you can call me a hazard when im sticking to the..... oh wait.... what do you call it...... oh yes, the law!!

steve

i think trappy is pointing out the vagaries of speedos - they routinely read 5 - 10% more than the speed you're actually doing, so when you think your doing 70mph you may well only be doing 63mph....

Ikon and Trappy, you are both wrong.

The Law clearly states that Coupe owners can do whatever the hell they want...it's in section whatchamacallit paragraph doodah!


True story...

really? i never knew speedos can be out.... which is a little worrying

Yes but if you're being followed by one of Stan's mates, they'll go by the speed on their speedo. And if that speed happens to be reading 80mph then I'd guess you'll be seeing blue flashy things in your rear view mirror

Interesting point about the speedos generally though. In my Coupé I noticed that the speed reported on my sat nav was always lower than the speed on the dial in front of me. Always. In the Monaro my sat nav (the same sat nav system) shows EXACTLY what's on the speedo at all times.

Curious.

i guess that's why on a motorway if you're driving in a safe manner you are unlikely to be pulled at anything under 77mph....it could also be that stan will come along and refute this...

Speedos must not under-read but can over-read by something like up to 10%. Most speedos will over-read. Sat nav is a better guide, but be wary - on gradients a sat nav will under-read.

I've seen this quoted various places, but have never found out the reasoning behind it. Any one know?

GPS relies on knowing location in three dimensions (from satellite ephemeris data) and velocity is simply change in location over change in time. Maybe sat navs only use 2 out of the 3 coordinates to calculate velocity? I've never seen anything confirming this though (and I also don't know *anything* about sat nav software!).

And *if* sat navs only do work in 2D, the impact of gradient should be pretty small ...



I'd think that the sampling delay in working out speed would probably lead to bigger inaccuracies?

Speedos may be miscalibrated +15%/-0% so most manufacturers will aim for +7.5%. I find the coupe's speedo to be quite accurate; within 2 or 3mph at seventy, but as expected it reads faster than the satnav.

Satnavs calculate speed by measuring distance over a fixed time. The distance is line of sight, not road distance, so on wiggly roads or steep inclines it can read a little low.

2D navigation is inherently less accurate than 3D - it requires only three visible satellites so the calculated circle of confusion is larger.

Either way I still think it's risky to do 77mph in a 70mph road and assume you'll be okay because your speedo might be 10% over. Yes, you probably will get away with it..but is it worth the risk?

As you are given a 10% leniency on the speed limit anyway, 77 is a perfectly safe speed to drive



Oh on a motorway of course



Through the school car park is not advised

Now this I can get my brain around However rather than a "steep incline", wouldn't the problem be a changing incline (much the same as its a "wiggly" road)? (In that the line of sight difference between the two sampled 3D positions is shorter than the distance travelled.) And in these cases the underread should be quite small (unless there are very sudden changes in direction)?


Agreed But three is the minimum number needed ... and most the time you'll see/ lock on to more than this. So is it that sat navs only use data from three satellites? (As I mentioned above, I know nothing about sat nav software )

Guessing here: there's a limited amount of time to process the position, so you'd *probably* write the software to just use four, or at a pinch, three satellites. However you'd want to use satellites as far apart as possible for improved precision. The inbuilt ephemeris will tell you what should be visible; I'd *suggest* that it would select the four most widely-separated satellites it can see, and go for more only if it gets signal loss from one or more - urban canyon thingy.

But I'm guessing from a reasonable knowledge of how the system works but no detailed knowledge of the actual software.

I would suggest the the software will look for combination of the most widely spaced satellites and those providing a strong signal. Also consider that atmospheric conditions and reflected signals can also impact accuracy.

At least the selective availability has been turned off which should help.