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[Mavster Mechanic]

Tom, I drive my motorhome 65 everywhere at about 7.5, sometimes 8 MPG. (diesel 40 footer). I tried 80 mph for fun a few years back. Got 5-6 MPG! No thanks. Be careful in Denver area. Passed a new law a few years back. If you drive the speed limit and most of the other traffic is running 5-10 MPH over the limit, YOU are the one who gets the ticket! Yeah it's crazy over there. Too fast-get ticket. Too slow-get ticket. Drive speed limit-get ticket??

I think you'd need to be going SIGNIFICANTLY lower than the speed limit. And they mostly mean cars, not RV's and trucks.

While it would be 0.0001% chance anyone would stop you in an RV, just say "I felt wind gusts making it unsafe to go any faster". No cop is going to bother you unless you are going something ridiculous like 25 mph on an interstate. No way 10 below gets you a ticket. No way.

P.S. I lived there for 25 years and there's ALWAYS wind of sorts. The mountains and elevation changes tend to encourage that.

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[First Sergeant]

I think you'd need to be going SIGNIFICANTLY lower than the speed limit. And they mostly mean cars, not RV's and trucks.

While it would be 0.0001% chance anyone would stop you in an RV, just say "I felt wind gusts making it unsafe to go any faster". No cop is going to bother you unless you are going something ridiculous like 25 mph on an interstate. No way 10 below gets you a ticket. No way.

P.S. I lived there for 25 years and there's ALWAYS wind of sorts. The mountains and elevation changes tend to encourage that.

You are correct about getting pulled over in RV, rarely see that. Most large motorhomes I notice are doing about 65, same as me for MPG issues. I have been passed once by a caravan of three "entertainer" buses doing about 85 plus. Easy to spot those, mostly black, no markings and have about 6 air conditioners on the roof and normally pulling very big trailers! We are natives from Arvada area. Left in 1973 when I joined the Army and they were doing construction on I-25 and I-70. Moved to Grand Junction after military service in 1993 and over there in Denver they are still doing work on those roads today! Still have family all over that area. They are still working on the highways there and most likely in perpetuality. I would say if you are impeding traffic by about 10 mph you may get a citation. I get this from one of my best friends who is a trooper there. He can be a beast and has written those. Almost impossible not to speed as the "chain" of cars about 6 feet apart are ALL speeding most of the time and no trooper is going to defy that most of the time, unless there is a reckless or dangerous buffoon out there . Those guys do NOT want to get out of the patrol car. They tend to get run over more frequently than most people know. My trooper friend tells me in those large highway pileups, they issue many citations. Can tell a lot from skid marks and damage and witnesses. The guy who never gets a ticket? The last guy in the chain who stopped in time to avoid the crash. A side note, as an ex-Fire Chief/EMT on a busy volunteer Department, can not believe there are so many who STILL don't wear the seatbelt.

 

[gzebrick]

Was recently on a road trip with the mav. Blustery day. I decided to adaptive #2 cruise behind a semi doing 70 in a 70. Mpg went from low 30ish to mid 30s. Good wind blocker!

 

[tomnewc]

... and stay out of the left lane.

Right! The left lane is for law breakers!

 

[Steve Urquell]

Was recently on a road trip with the mav. Blustery day. I decided to adaptive #2 cruise behind a semi doing 70 in a 70. Mpg went from low 30ish to mid 30s. Good wind blocker!

PSA on driving near semis:
Don't.

I was a diesel mechanic and semi-trailer wreck rebuild mechanic for 20 years. Below is a small chunk of the center of a 4ft long trailer mono-leaf spring. We'd cut a piece out and use it to buck(flatten) rivets.

I have replaced dozens of these that had broken and ejected out the back of the trailer. The spring weighs 60ish lbs. I have seen them lying on the side of the road many times. I have also seen big chunks of the 80lb brake drums on the side of the road. When they come out at highway speeds the duals can eject them like a rocket.

Also the tires explode like a bomb when they get low on air, overheat and blow out. Very dangerous.

 

[gzebrick]

PSA on driving near semis:
Don't.

I was a diesel mechanic and semi-trailer wreck rebuild mechanic for 20 years. Below is a small chunk of the center of a 4ft long trailer mono-leaf spring. We'd cut a piece out and use it to buck(flatten) rivets.

I have replaced dozens of these that had broken and ejected out the back of the trailer. The spring weighs 60ish lbs. I have seen them lying on the side of the road many times. I have also seen big chunks of the 80lb brake drums on the side of the road. When they come out at highway speeds the duals can eject them like a rocket.

Also the tires explode like a bomb when they get low on air, overheat and blow out. Very dangerous.

Thanks but adaptive cruise #2 at 70 has a decent gap - wasn’t like tailgating. Keeps at a comfortable distance but not too far away.

More worried about random debris getting kicked up by any car in front of me. Happens with cars, trucks and semis, but can’t predict it.

 

[Timothyd]

Was recently on a road trip with the mav. Blustery day. I decided to adaptive #2 cruise behind a semi doing 70 in a 70. Mpg went from low 30ish to mid 30s. Good wind blocker!

I had a friend's Dad that would do that. Yeah, makes sense but spending a nice ride looking at the back of a semi........

 

[26mavxlt]

Right! The left lane is for law breakers!

Law breakers and those that know their vehicle and how to handle it and like me pay 100% attention to what is going on so as not to look like one without a clue

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

Thanks but adaptive cruise #2 at 70 has a decent gap - wasn’t like tailgating. Keeps at a comfortable distance but not too far away.

More worried about random debris getting kicked up by any car in front of me. Happens with cars, trucks and semis, but can’t predict it.

I used to drive a lot.
35,000 to 40,000 miles a year.

To keep my mind alert I would get 3 or 4 seconds behind a semi. And then keep it there MANUALLY. Mentally counting the seconds passing a pole; tree; bridge; etc. The "self driving" features are putting people to sleep on long drives, letting minds relax.

Three, four, even five seconds behind a truck will help MPG.

Drafting close in is best but also most dangerous. But turbulent air 5 seconds back has less resistance than still air.

 

[tomnewc]

Law breakers and those that know their vehicle and how to handle it and like me pay 100% attention to what is going on so as not to look like one without a clue

Does that mean driving above the speed limit?

 

[Meeka]

I used to drive a lot.
35,000 to 40,000 miles a year.

To keep my mind alert I would get 3 or 4 seconds behind a semi. And then keep it there MANUALLY. Mentally counting the seconds passing a pole; tree; bridge; etc. The "self driving" features are putting people to sleep on long drives, letting minds relax.

Three, four, even five seconds behind a truck will help MPG.

Drafting close in is best but also most dangerous. But turbulent air 5 seconds back has less resistance than still air.

How do you know if and when the Semi driver slams on his brakes because he sees something ahead and you don’t? Just curious, not starting a flame war here!

 

[MikeS1942]

What I hate are the hypermilers who coast up to a red light a 1/2 mile in advance, when there's a left turn lane with an arrow that turns green before the straight ahead light turns green. And I'm stuck behind a hypermiler who wants to Coast to a green light. And doesn't care that other people are trying to get on with their lives and get somewhere.

Aaaaaaah

 

[babytruk]

How do you know if and when the Semi driver slams on his brakes because he sees something ahead and you don’t? Just curious, not starting a flame war here!

I hope most of our cars can stop quicker than a semi. Big rigs only stop shorter in those deadly mega chain reactions. You don’t have to be the cause of an accident to be in the accident.

 

[Meeka]

I hope most of our cars can stop quicker than a semi. Big rigs only stop shorter in those deadly mega chain reactions. You don’t have to be the cause of an accident to be in the accident.

But you have to be “Paying attention to the road”, and, as we all know, there are boneheads out there!

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