As a hot-rodder would it really bother you if "they" brought back the double nickel?

I ran at 55 one time following some guys who wouldn't drive faster. I got 19.5 mpg, at 70-75 I get 18-19. On a trip I'm not about to spend the extra time it takes at 55 mph for that difference. That's the reason I have a 700R behind the 454. Look at it this way. Driving for 10 hrs would you like 550 mi or would you rather be 700 mi or more down the road. For those who don't drive that long fine, but I do. The longest drive I've done in the cpe in one day was just under 1200 mi. Can you imagine how long that would take at 55 vs 70-75?

 

As I get older I find myself going slower-I swore I would never do that! I think in my rods I drive 55-60 now and enjoy it. In my o/t cars I seem to be in the 70-80 range...guess I dont value my time in them too much.

 

Yeah, really enjoyed those trips across South Dakota as a kid to visit family at 55 and 7.5 hours vs 6 hours today. FUCK THAT! Many studies have been done that show the 55 fed limit was BS anyway. It was government thinking they Knew best what we needed.

I vote for schools bringing back FULL DRIVERS ED PROGRAMS AND showing the goriest shit they can! We need better drivers NOT lower speed limits.

And Decker, you seem to be overly concerned with economy and speed limits (FWIW I do not speed) maybe you ask too many questions or don't get it? I mean that in a sincere way. Hot rods are not for everyone, I hear Camrys drive nicely?

 

Hey G, you try a blast down the freeway at 4000K yet? Not as fast as it feels but what a rush!

 

I agree. Plus I'd have to change the gear ratio in my daily,it would lug the shit out of it at 55>>>>.
.

 

Too many of you are either too young, and don't remember how miserable the double nickel really was, or too old old to care about getting places. Unreasonably low speed limits do nothing but make counties, municipalities, and insurance companies rich while turning lots of ordinary citizens into scofflaws, all while wasting the single non-renewable resource...... time. Would I mind? Did I mind last time? Goddamn right.

 

I usually drive the F-1 at about 65, but that's because I haven't gotten around to lengthening the driveshaft to get rid of a slight vibration above that. But NO to the 55mph limit!
Get ready for electrics. Torque is good.

 

Are you my stalker?

Don't fret friend... I'm trouble in the eyes of the masses... trouble with a capital "R" I remember driving on many trips in the back seat of the old mans station wagon from Wisconsin to Florida and back during those years... hours seemed like days and days seemed like weeks. I've also owned a few cars that had 55 in large bold type on the speedo over the years.

the 55 issue get's brought up by the old timer at work and all his buddies in the antique car club all the time... I thought it might make for an interesting conversation here as well. He has a 34 Olds and a 55 Olds... I always tell him those are the cars top speeds... not the model years. He tells me I'm wet behind the ears and a punk kid.

Anyhow... he's made some fairly big claims of how many millions of gallons of gasoline would be saved annually alone by limiting the highway speeds back to double nickel times.

So... can anyone put a number on how much gas was actually saved during the dreaded years of 55mph?

A friend of mine likes the idea... but he also thinks that you should be able to purchase "speeding insurance" (don't ask )

 

probably wouldn't make much difference around major cities that are overly congested to start with but i would hate to be restricted to 55 out in the country/open road.

around here i pretty much just keep up with traffic which can be anywhere from 0-75 or so depending on the time of day, but heading north on 5 past the grapevine, east on 8/10/15 once i'm out in the open i tend to hang around 80.

i don't get the point of having a car that struggles just to keep up with traffic

 

Reading these posts reminded me of when "they" sent letters to my business back in the 70s telling me where to set my thermostat,to freeze my ass off in the winter,and burn up in the summer..Now THAT was some funny shit..This is a timely thread,though...Has any government entity brought this up lately? Please don't tell me this is being talked about by politicians again..."They" can shove 55 mph up their collective asses,and chase it with those wonderful red light cameras we're getting here soon...

 

No offense to any Truck drivers on here as there are many good ones..but down here running the 70 mph speed limit you still have to watch out and not get run down by by all the 18 wheelers going at least 90....come right up on your ass..hate to be going 55..get plum run over!!!!

 

To answer your question, the "HellRaiser" sings me a lullaby at 70. That seems to be the sweet spot. 3100 on the tac. Sure going down the big slab, they go past me, and every once in a while, I do get behind someone who is going slower.

That 55 crap was about oil embargo's. We don't have that problem now. The oil is there, the gas is there. Now it's just more of a supply and demand, and which of the Wall Street speculators can screw us the most.

As far as going back to 55. I don't think it will happen, no more than once big Uncle raises the taxes, when have they ever lowered them back to what they used to be?

If we were running our rides everyday, and only getting less than 10 mpg, then I supposed we'd do something about it. But since this is our hobby. Considering on how much gas I burn in the "HellRaiser" vs what I drive in a total year in my other stuff, the "HellRaiser" ain't a spit in the bucket.

Shoot. in this 52 Olds I just got, with a 4 bbl and I drove it back from N.H. (1700+ to Podunk, Nebr) I was getting close to 20 mpg, and that was running 65 and sometimes 70 with it. The states that had a 65 mph speed limit, I had no problem, and even there, I was usually just 5 under the speed limit, and suffered no lasting effects.

I guess if a person wants to build their next ride and put a 3 cylinder Suzuki in it and drive 55, Well...That just ain't going to be traditional hot rodding.

Just my 2 cents...


HellRaiser

 

In the three years I've had my beater Suburban, which has a 350, a 700R4, and a 2.73:1 rearend, the best milage I got out of it was about 17. I did that on a 4-hour interstate trip going to a car show, loaded for bear with the ass-end sagging on the springs, trying to average 75 MPH the whole way, which meant in places doing 80 or so.

I did take the bug deflector off to see if I could gain the 2-3 MPG back that I'd lost when I stuck it on (because my windshield and bug's asses seem to be magnetically attracted to each other in a way I've never seen on another car before).

I always thought 55 was a gimmic, a band-aid that didn't really solve the problem, but they foisted on us anyways. Here in NY, they just banned trucks from being able to use the shortest route to get where they're going, so it would be a bit hypocritical of them to then go back to the 55 limit. Not that that would stop them, the last governor spent as much time with hookers as he did busting them when he was Attorney General, so...

 

I'm generally cooperative with the 55mph speed limit when pulling a trailer in California and I can't even begin to describe the elation I feel when I cross the state line into Nevada or Arizona and can kick it up to 70-75. 55 sucks. It sucked in the 70s and it sucks now. Nancy Reagan said it, "Just say no."

Gas was $2.55 in Bakersfield at the end of last August (cheapest place in the country) when I made my last (nearly) coast to coast trip (all the way to NY's border with PA). About 500 gallons to do it. When gas hits $4.00 that would mean an extra $700 over last year for the same mileage. Avoiding the agony of crossing Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Nebraska at 55 would be worth it. And you can't always maintain 70-75 anyway, so it would be a little less than $700.

Are you kidding? Except for maybe Obama and Hillary, the "government" is being absolutely mum on the gas price situation. The payola checks are in the mail...

If you watched the gas prices during the election 2 years ago they were lower than the cost of oil would have indicated and they stayed that way until the very day after the election. The prices were being controlled to support the status quo. I would not be a bit surprised to see prices drop as we close in on November.

I'd much rather build my hot rods to get better mileage than be forced to drive 55 all of the time. The 500 Caddie only comes out on special occasions anyway.

Freedom to choose.

gary

 

55 MPH is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Time means far more to me than anything and you waste a lot of it at 55. I say build an Autobahn in the U.S. and make everybody learn to drive properly.

 

I was a traveling salesman during the 55mph days. Drove me frickin crazy. Had a 98 Olds with a warning beeper you set at the speed you wanted it to warn you at. Ripped that out after one trip from Tulsa to Little Rock. HP and local cops love writing tickets. Local fuzz would even go out on the interstate from one end of their town to the other. Back then everyone was running cb's. Helped a lot. Would hate to see 55 again. The deuce loves 70-75 on the open road.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Like I told the kid,"Your music not too loud, it just sucks!"

 

Again, this is something many of you youngsters wouldn't remember, but when they did have the 55 speed limit, do your remember why? If there was such an oil shortage, then WHY was there rail car after rail car sitting on the sidings full of oil, and many of the gas stations were buying up old abandoned gas stations, just so they could have a place to store the extra. The photos of the oil tankers anchored off shore because there was no place they could unload.

If you believe there is a shortage, then I've got some ocean view property in AZ I'd like to sell you.

Some of the ones, that all of this high price hurts the most, is us that live out in the middle of no where, and have to drive over 25 miles just to go to the store. If I only had to drive a mile or two to go to the store, then I could give a good rats ass about $4 a gallon of gas, Hell, I'd drive 70 to get there. (Stop light to stop light)

Or those in business that have to drive. Shoot even the lawn care people are hurting.

HellRaiser

 

On the open highway I like to go the speed limit plus 5MPH and stay in the right lane . The problem is that most others go slow or 20 MPH over and its hard to maintain that speed. I have been ticket free for a long time so it works for me.

 

For those who like to slow down a bit & save gas, you can do that now - just stay in the right lane. No need to slow everyone down.

And AnimalAin hit the nail on the head - time. Time is my most precious commodity!

 

The first politician to suggest a return to a national 55 mile an hour speed limit should have their balls or boobs cut off and burned in front of them. If you want to do 55 on the interstate, you can (but keep your ass in the right lane!). All the national 55 speed limit did was to make every driver a criminal and many a courthouse and insurance company rich.

 

Who ever suggested there is any shortage?

I don't feel one bit sorry for anyone who chooses to live 25 miles or even further from town or their jobs. Around here at least that means you are usually paying less in property taxes so it sorta' washes out when you add in the newer high cost of fuel. I do feel the urban sprawl lifestyle we've become accustomed to is part of the problem of our massive consumption though. I do understand in some areas of the country people just plain can't afford to live in or close to the big cities... so it's a double edge sword. (Frankly what you folks out in Cali pay for homes is flippin' insane) I only live a 1/2 mile from my workplace in a new home we built in 2005... and most days I long for that long ride home at the end of the day to unwind... me and the daily driver that is... the "new home" is also the reason it'll be a few years before the hot-rod budget get's restocked.

 

I would fuckin' hate it

 

Quote decker"I don't feel one bit sorry for anyone who chooses to live 25 miles or even further from town or their jobs"



You ever been west of the Missouri River? There are places where the next exit is 70 miles away. If no one lived out here where do you think your next hamburger would come from? We should all move in closer, right next door to you.

Decker,I get the feeling that you are "they."

 

I don't feel one bit sorry for anyone who chooses to live 25 miles or even further from town or their jobs. Around here at least that means you are usually paying less in property taxes so it sorta' washes out when you add in the newer high cost of fuel. [/quote]


HMMMM. As soon as they move the corn and bean fields or the hog farms into town, I guess I won't have to worry about living in the country and driving into town now will I? Low property taxes? This place is the 8th highest in the country for taxes. Try again...

The reason they lowered the speed limit to 55 was to conserve oil, less oil used meant lower prices, DUH

This thread asked if it would bother a hot rodder if they lowered the speed to 55? I doubt it, cause the cops can't be everywhere. Speed limits never stopped us before. Hell, even the states are parking cop cars because of the price of gas. Parked cops=less chance to get caught. If that's what you want to do.


HellRaiser

 

I remember cross country (coast to coast) during '55 saves lives'. I would rather have the time instead of the money. Best line I ever heard about it was in 'Gumball Rally' and went something like 'just slow enough to feel safe, just fast enough to kill you'.

It didn't save gas (it's one of the reasons it went away). It wasn't safer, because most people did speed, some more than others, so when you came up on someone that was doing 55 (in the left lane too usually) you had to stand on the brakes and hope the guy behind you didn't run you over. That was one of the other justifications given to ditching it.


So yes, I would 'mind' (PISS ME OFF).

 

If "they" are going to roll back the speed limit to conserve oil-gas, then I am against it. I cruise at 55 or 60mph, but I don't want to be told by George Dub ya and his in bed with the Saudi oil companies, that I have to go 55. "They" , including Congress, won't put a windfall Profits Tax on the oil companies, but Bush wants to cancel subsidies for farmers and cut Medicaid for the poor folk. Hell, $127/barrel for oil and climbing, there haven't been any hurricanes yet or refineries doing their spring cleaning to drive up prices. We all need to raise hell or we'll be going 45!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

..........................................................................................hotrod
....55

 

I just wish folks would slow down and run the posted limit. Who knows how much oil that would save. Myself, I drive at least 5 over the posted limit, just to keep from being run over. Street rods on the interstate doing 5 or 10 under the limit in a long convoy are the WORST... as anoying and unsafe as a bunch of old women. Take to the two laners ifn you just wanna bar hop, get a tan, or profile around in your Hawaiian shirt. Gary

 

Generally, in good weather conditions, the maximum speed that feels safe for the great majority of drivers ought to be the speed limit. If the speed limit on a given road is arbitrarily set too low by nanny state social engineers, you end up with vehicles driving amongst each other at a greater range of speeds. The greater the range of speeds driven by vehicles on a given road, the more dangerous that driving experience will be. While some bemoan the geographical distribution of housing and businesses across the countryside as 'urban sprawl', others see it as people exersizing their freedom to live and work away from urban congestion, pollution, noise, expense, and crime.

So, I'll defend the notion of driving at a reasonable, safe speed. That speed is rarely 55. But for those who want to drive 55, or live in noisy, congested, crime-ridden areas, go with God. Just don't force those prejudices on others.

 

I ride my bike to work every morning, on the interstate, doing usually about 80. I get lapped by at least one Prius every morning on that same interstate. Where's the gas savings you say........up their ass with their head.