9th and 10th gear

I'm a retired highway engineer. FHWA would hold back funding (they fund interstates at over 90%) if the average traffic speed exceeded the limit (or maybe a variable around that, I'm retired and don't remember exactly now) but so much of California traffic is stop and go that there's no way they would exceed the limit on an average basis!

 

If you’re going 75-80 on the I-15 between Vegas and LA you may as well be parked. I am usually going in the fast lane here in CO, but the 2 times I have driven that I was actually a bit concerned. Plenty of people going triple digits.

 

this...i hate taking company cars up to Barstow because I cant speed (GPS tracker) and will get passed by big rigs all the way there. Rather take my truck and keep up with traffic...way safer.

edit: same deal on the 10-E going to Palm Springs...people are doing 90+ through the desert

 

That traffic to and from Vegas... it's almost like they're gambling!

 

I think Mike was referring to what is commonly delineated as the "Southern California" statistical area, essentially west of the Peninsular Ranges and south of the Transverse ranges, aka "Urban" interstates. True, lots of 70mph limits in California, just not in the (typically) urban areas of southern CA. Not that those limits are typically obeyed if traffic is moving free flow!

 

Yes. From Santa Barbara all the way down to San Diego and East to San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

 

Exactly! Starting early. Rarely ever drive there but when I have, almost always a major horrific accident somewhere.

 

The traffic ceases after commute times and then its hammer down for most.

 

Actually, wind resistance increases exponentially with speed (not linearly). An interesting fact about boats is that unless they can plane like a speed boat (raise up out of the water) the max speed is fixed and related to the length of the hull. No matter how much HP you put behind them they wont go any faster.

 

I hate to get technical, but wind resistance is a power function, not an exponential function. It's a popular misconception. At the speeds we're talking about it's a squared function, meaning wind resistance is proportional to the square of the velocity.

Getting even more technical, when you get up to about the speed of sound wind resistance approaches a cubic function, but then shape factors etc. come into play. But not even the cyberbeast goes that fast
/soapbox