Wales 20mph limit starts Sept 17th - a heads-up

We are in and out of North Wales almost weekly
I noticed a few days ago some random 20mph signs had appeared.

I am a stickler for obeying speed limits I use a GPS app on a redundant iPhone because the Speedo in the van is so inaccurate and for me also hard to read.

I am proud to be doing my bit to reduce the risk of injury to pedestrians by generating inevitable queues of tailgating wannabe speeders behind me.

Sadly the total lack of effective policing does mean it requires sensible individuals to exercise self discipline which fortunately then naturally cascades down to the tailgating spoon fed morons behind

I simply set the van or cars cruise control accordingly at let the auto box use whatever gear is appropriate.
 
colinm said:
Around here many areas have had 20mph limits for years, so why would it make any differance? At least knowing that all towns/villages are 20mph will banish any confusion.
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I don't live in Wales so I don't know which is why I wondered if it would.

We have visited Wales many times, and not really noticed any 20mph limits, I assume you must mean in estates which is a good idea, but not on A or B roads.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
I don't live in Wales so I don't know which is why I wondered if it would.

We have visited Wales many times, and not really noticed any 20mph limits, I assume you must mean in estates which is a good idea, but not on A or B roads.
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No I'm talking about England, and roads which run through towns and villages, the three nearest towns to us the main roads in centre of town have 20 mph limits, also roads running past schools.
 
Can't see that we have it around here, there will be some but not a blanket one.

Where are you?
 
This is in Bedfordshire, the first 20 limit around here I became aware of would have been around 2005, they are now on many through routes in town centres, I don't know of any on estates, but then I don't drive in any local estates.
 
Estates generally don't have a 20mph limit signs but have a 20mph zone sign covering the whole area until you see a 30/40 or whatever sign as you leave that zone, not sure when the 20mph thing started though.

One thing that irks me is our car a 66 Fiesta 1500 diesel, won't even think about 4th gear until 40mph plus so around town, we're in 2nd/3rd mostly, it's just about okay in third for 30 mph limits, I guess 20mph limits will be second gear, this has to be bad for MPG and not good for the environment.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Estates generally don't have a 20mph limit signs but have a 20mph zone sign covering the whole area until you see a 30/40 or whatever sign as you leave that zone, not sure when the 20mph thing started though.

One thing that irks me is our car a 66 Fiesta 1500 diesel, won't even think about 4th gear until 40mph plus so around town, we're in 2nd/3rd mostly, it's just about okay in third for 30 mph limits, I guess 20mph limits will be second gear, this has to be bad for MPG and not good for the environment.
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I was reading a study which showed that 20mph limit increased MPG on some diesels to 90MPG, there is a misconception that the higher gear you are in the more MPG you will get. I know in the van I get much higher MPG in 4th at low speed than getting up to a speed at which it can use 6th.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Not exactly scientific.

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I should have explained further, many people believe because you are driving at a slower speed and having to use a lower gear you will use more fuel, this is not necessarily true, the faster you go the more energy needed, it may be the case that certain revs are not very efficient and couple this with badly spaced gears you might need more fuel, but in general slower speed less fuel burn. I only watched part of vid, and skipped through descriptions on rest, but I saw nothing that compared fuel burn at lower speed with fuel burn at higher speed.
 
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Pudsey Bear said:
Estates generally don't have a 20mph limit signs but have a 20mph zone sign covering the whole area until you see a 30/40 or whatever sign as you leave that zone, not sure when the 20mph thing started though.

One thing that irks me is our car a 66 Fiesta 1500 diesel, won't even think about 4th gear until 40mph plus so around town, we're in 2nd/3rd mostly, it's just about okay in third for 30 mph limits, I guess 20mph limits will be second gear, this has to be bad for MPG and not good for the environment.
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That's possible, but it's also possible it will be more economical. Some vehicles will be happy (and more economical) in third at 20 MPH, others won't. So many variables.

My van is, but its got a shed load of power for a light commercial, low gearing, and it's a long way off it's GVW.
 
colinm said:
I should have explained further, many people believe because you are driving at a slower speed and having to use a lower gear you will use more fuel, this is not necessarily true, the faster you go the more energy needed, it may be the case that certain revs are not very efficient and couple this with badly spaced gears you might need more fuel, but in general slower speed less fuel burn. I only watched part of vid, and skipped through descriptions on rest, but I saw nothing that compared fuel burn at lower speed with fuel burn at higher speed.
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No, it was a 30mph test in each gear only Colin, he may have other videos for higher speeds.
 
The break pedal wastes a great deal of fuel. Halting the momentum that you have just built up means that a lot of the fuel used to build up that momentum is wasted. Driving slower and in particular resisting the temptation to "drive to the limit" could conceivably, and I believe it does, use less fuel in urban driving.

OK on the few occasions that you can drive more than a couple of hundred yards without either accelerating or braking you might use less fuel at 30 than 20 given gear ratios etc. But how often does that happen in urban driving?
 
Get a smart alternator fitted, hone your coasting skills and keep batteries topped up. :)
 
Our fiesta has a smart alternator, CRAP, in bad weather or hot weather with stop-start it can't keep up, so having AC is a bit of a waste of time in traffic when you need it most.
 
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