Fernando Alonso lashes out at new Spanish speed limit

[CNR]

http://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sp...-1226013907775

Fernando Alonso warned Monday that it will be "difficult to stay awake" when driving on the country's highways under the new speed limit of 110 kilometres (68 miles) an hour.

"I don't support this measure. To reduce fuel consumption there are other measures that are much more effective than this one. At 110 kilometres an hour, it is even difficult to stay awake," Alonso told reporters when asked what he thought of the measure.

[CNR]

so it is no joke that he has been caught sleeping behind the safety car

At 110 kilometres an hour, it is even difficult to stay awake

[Francis44]

Well it's no big difference.

[Mark]

Well Spain is a big country with big distances between places. Their previous limit of 120km/h felt slow enough when I was keeping to it (74mph). 110km/h is pretty silly.

France already has a 130km/h limit and the government in the UK is talking about raising the speed limit to 80mph!

[DexDexter]

That's quite a comment. Spanish road safety one of the worst in Europe, I'm surprised they didn't have a speed limit before.

[Mark]

That's quite a comment. Spanish road safety one of the worst in Europe, I'm surprised they didn't have a speed limit before.

Erm, they did, 120km/h!

They claim that the new limit is a temporary measure to ease the problems in fuel supply due to the unrest in the middle east.

[Big Ben]

I'm sorry for the Spanish people. It's a shame they have to live these tough years with 'el bobo solemne' as PM. I've just read that they cut speed limits in cities to 40 km/h apparently for the same purpose. It's quite logical actually. If a car consumes the least by standing still than the slower it goes the less it consumes, right? I've read that the new speed limit on normal roads is cut to 80 km/h which in case of my car would fall under the optimal speed/fuel efficiency combo, so I wonder how efficient this measure is overall. And then there is the limit on highways? 110? That's really low. I've just done the other day 1150 km, thankfully some of them in Germany, and driving most of the time over 130 km/h I still needed 11 hours to get to my destination.... 2 or 3 hours more is a big difference. I think Alonso is right and too polite in this case.

[Mark]

It's quite logical actually. If a car consumes the least by standing still than the slower it goes the less it consumes, right?

Of course not, it's nowhere near that simple! Of course a car consumes nothing when it's parked. But after that you need to look at fuel consumed per unit distance. Or MPG as we say around here . A car standing still with it's engine running has the worst MPG of all! Zero!

After that it depends on the road conditions, driving style, gearing of the car, size of the engine etc. Certainly with the unscientific tests I've done my car gives the best MPG at around 50mph (70MPG or higher) whereas at my more normal 80mph it returns around 45MPG. The clincher here is that at 70mph there isn't much difference in the fuel consumption!

[Big Ben]

Of course not, it's nowhere near that simple! Of course a car consumes nothing when it's parked. But after that you need to look at fuel consumed per unit distance. Or MPG as we say around here . A car standing still with it's engine running has the worst MPG of all! Zero!

: That was my point too. I forgot to add the appropiate emoticon which would be




Some of the highways in Spain are toll highways so with this new speed limit I wonder what exactly are you paying for now?

[SGWilko]

Caution - sad git admission alert.......

Listening to BBC Radio 2 yesterday - there, I said it! On the Jeremy Vine show they were discussing this, and what do we Brits think....

Given that most official MPG figures show best economy at around 56 mph, then 60mph limit makes sense as a temporary measure.

However, some idiot came on the phone to air his views, suggesting speed limits are too slow, and that accidents are caused not by excessive speed, but by idiots stepping in the road. With morons like that in society, you know there is no hope.

My car, I have an MPV as I have kids and we take several UK based holidays a year so like the freedom a 7 seater gives for luggage etc.

Anything over 60mph and the mpg goes down rapidly......