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Economic driving

In which case, he'd probably attempt to ascertain which particular speed is likely to produce the best mpg - but like many things, life, she is a compromise.

As an example, this week - as well as being aware that there may be petrol shortages, I've tried to get the best fuel economy I can _within reason_ I still want to make reasonable progress, and I still want a pleasant environment in the car.

And if somebody wants to be cooled in the car, at motorway speeds, _if_ the options are opening the window, or using aircon, then for that scenario, aircon is probably the better one.

If somebody simply wants the best fuel economy from their car, over a given distance, they'd drive at the most fuel efficient speed, as much as possible, and only have the bare essentials of electrical equipment on (ie wipers, if need be, headlights where required, fans and heated screens merely to maintain clear windows).

Fine. Feel free not to use it, or buy a car with it. I personally wouldn't be without it, these days - nor would my wife ;-)

I suspect I'm not alone in that.

Kudos. Your self-esteem must be off the scale.

Reply to
Douglas Hall
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I thought I'd keep quiet about it acksherly.

Of course, it would be folly to think the entire motoring public has quite the same priorities as either you, or I.

Reply to
Douglas Hall

You've hit the nail on the head there. While I wouldn't expect many people to put up with the lack of creature comforts I enjoy (Hell, one of my cars doesn't even have any venting from the outside apart from the windows), I do despair at what's seen as essential by so many these days. If this fuel scare encourages people to reassess their priorities even a little, then it may be no bad thing.

Grumpy old man, me? Never!

Reply to
Willy Eckerslyke

Well each to their own. Personally, I spend 2-3 hours a day in my car on a weekday. So having some creature comforts and a pleasant environment is important to me.

Well it has for me, in the past week - in that I do a fair number of miles, and the prospect that there may be issues filling-up, plus the cost of this motoring has made me consider what's within my control in keeping the cost of fuel usage down. However, I wouldn't give up air-con if I felt I wanted it on. In the same way, I see a balance between making reasonable progress, and keeping the speed within bounds that are reasonable in terms of consumption.

;-)

Reply to
Douglas Hall

Consider this. The air conditioning compressor cycles in and out. Opening a window keeps it open.

For our Ka on the motorway, the additional loading caused by the compressor is around 10%. Using the window is around 6%. The compressor is typically engaged around 50% of the time when ambient air temperature is between 25 and 27 degrees and the speedometer is between 55 and 70.

Advantage: air conditioning.

Then there's noise and temperature.

Double advantage air conditioning.

Reply to
DervMan

I'll wager that the M5 is more efficient at 90 compared to 50.

Reply to
DervMan

Is that with the window wide open or just open the inch or two that's sufficient to cool most cars at speed?

I'm not really trying to keep this discussion going, but those figures do need explanation.

Reply to
Willy Eckerslyke

Sufficient to cool most cars? When the temperature is between 25 and 27 degrees the coolest the air getting into the cabin is 25 to 27 degrees, which I certainly don't consider cooler.

Open all of the way, which still doesn't cool me down, just annoys me with constant noise.

Reply to
DervMan

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