Edinburgh 20 MPH

[RickH]

...I find that most cars quite happily roll along at 20mph in 4th anyway.

I don't know if our car is particularly unusual - (evil) diesel powered Suzuki SX4 with 6 speed gear box - but that didn't quite ring true to me. 20mph in 3rd is about 1100 rpm, I reckon 4th would be below idle speed - decelerating, I gave up trying to stay in 4th well above 20 as the revs dropped below 1000, 30 mph was only around 1200 in 4th.

Our previous Fiat was towards the bottom of rev range in 3rd (of 5) at 20 too.

Rick.

[mjr]

Our previous Fiat was towards the bottom of rev range in 3rd (of 5) at 20 too.

Recent Fiats and associated brands seem happier to cruise at 20mph. I think as 30km/h limits have become more widespread across Europe, manufacturers have adapted their transmissions to cope with it. If anything, new cars now seem better to me at 20mph than they are at 30, which is just slightly too low to match the widespread 50km/h limit.