I have noticed over the last week that my car seems to natually settle into a speed – on the highway its 80-90MPH, in the city its about 45-55. Without fail if I glance down while I am driving along, I’ll be withing one of those two ranges.
How fast does it go when you turn it on?
In some but not all seriousness, why do you think it’s something to do with your car rather than you?
I think, as does panamajack, that it’s you and not the car. Possible reason is that you find the frequency and volume of the road and tire noises to sound “right” at those speeds. You may mentally blank out the sound to a degree and if it varies from that it will sound too slow or too fast.
I’m not too sure if its my car or if it is me, but I have noticed that my old car’s “natural” speed (1989 nissan pickup) is about 15 MPH slower than my new car’s “natural” speed (1991 Toyota MR2)
My old Datsun 260Z, liked 80 mph the best. As we approached 80, all of the little rattles and hums would somehow cancel out and there would be nothing but wind noise.
Maybe that particular rpm with that right amount of wind resistance was at the zenith of the power curve or something.
**Originally posted by kinoons **: *"I have noticed over the last week that my car seems to natually settle into a speed – on the highway its 80-90MPH, in the city its about 45-55. Without fail if I glance down while I am driving along, I’ll be withing one of those two ranges. " *
Uh… ya sure it’s your CAR and not your FOOT that naturally settles into certain positions on your GAS PEDAL???
— Baglady, who has a car which naturally settles into a speed of 0mph on its own.
Thunderbird Turbo Coupe - It’s natural element is the highway at 80 miles an hour. There’s minimal wind noise and the ride smooths out considerably. Downshift into fourth and punch it and you can pass people like they’re parked.
Our van’s natural speed is only 65 miles an hour.
Guess what I drive most?
It’s the way the engine’s machined, so I’ve been told, that causes this phenomenon. The crank and the cam/cams don’t quite always line up right. This causes the engine to run better at certain rpm’s than others. This is also why people shouldn’t buy an engine made on monday or friday.
my car, a '97 Dodge Avenger, tends towards the 80’s too.
I was driving a Blazer for a few weeks and noticed this tended toward 65 or so. I do think it is a harmonics thing.
'Course, I do love just cruising by people on the highway. And for those law-abiding folks, FYI I’ve been to a NASCAR driving school, and know how to handle a vehicle at speeds up to 160 mph. So there.
Woo hoo I’m not going nuts!
My first car was a Subaru that settled in at 47 mph. Then the motor blew up.
My current car is a Chevy Cavalier that seems to like doing 70.
My car just naturally speeds too. I have six beautiful pics of my car racing along past the photo radar 