04-05-2020, 06:58 PM | #1 |
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A Little Fun Driving Today With "New Rules" In Effect
I took the M850i out for a spin including picking up a few essentials at Costco so if stopped I could claim I was on my way home.
Here in the Phoenix metropolitan area there is a freeway loop (the 101) that the N/S stretch is on my way back from Costco. So I took total advantage of that for about a 30 mile round trip run after picking up the supplies. Apparently there is a "new rule" ala Bill Maher as normally very few speed over 75 MPH against the 65 MPH PSL. Today though 85 MPH was the norm and I tracked along with several drivers at 90 MPH plus. The difference is with my Valentine 1 Gen2 detector and the JBV1 app on my Pixel 3XL I'm in the "know" vs many of those other drivers. I still have to keep my eye out for the unmarked Dodge Chargers that the DPS (aka Highway Patrol) uses here so rule of thumb is if there is no Dodge Charger to be seen I speed like a banshee. Case-in-point I hit 120 for a few sprints on the drive and learned a few things. #1 can't do that in Comfort Mode (which I had set as normal for freeway cruising) as on some of the turns the steering got a bit wonky vs in Sport (or Sport Plus). #2 is even in Comfort mode the transmission will kick down and open up that endless power (thanks to the wide band of RPM torque from the twin turbos) making a 80 MPH to 120 MPH acceleration sprint happen before you can realize just how fast your going. In fact if I didn't have my speed warning set at 110 MPH I likely would not have realized it. All-in-all loving the M850i for all the reasons why I bought it even though I had somehow forgotten over the past 3 weeks of barely driving it. Also digging the "new rule" which I guess is one upside to the COVID-19 lock down. Looking forward to my next essentials supply run. |
04-05-2020, 07:55 PM | #2 |
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Would love to that here in Sydney, but the only option is to hire a race track. Most of the freeways in and out of the Sydney are limited to 100 kmh.
If I was doing 90 mph (=145 kmh) then I would be 45kmh over the limit and if I caught I would lose my licence for 3-6 months and my car would be impounded for 3 months. |
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04-06-2020, 09:09 AM | #3 | |
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However, we are fortunate to have 2 major public racetracks within an hour of my house. Although they too are closed for this Coronavirus. |
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04-06-2020, 11:11 AM | #4 | |
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The PSL on the 101 being a metropolitan freeway is 65 MPH so up to 84 MPH will not trigger criminal speeding. Hence, my normal practice is that or lower. In fact I adjusted my speed limit warning to 84 MPH when returning home yesterday as I definitely do not want to get caught regardless of my defenses in play. I just got giddy yesterday being the first real drive behind the wheel in weeks and let the "new rule" get the better of me. |
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04-06-2020, 05:12 PM | #5 |
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Jail.....not likely here...but definitely a court case....being told off by a judge...if you are a public figure...then plenty of media humiliation.
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04-06-2020, 05:38 PM | #6 |
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Understood on the "jail" comment, Ozzie--I get it's not necessary, you're already in a ~3 million sq. mile jail... // once a limey, always a lim... dick!
Last edited by limeypride; 04-06-2020 at 05:48 PM.. |
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04-07-2020, 12:20 PM | #7 |
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One item to keep in mind during Covid-19 restrictions and lock downs in the US: the state tax revenue decreased substantially: gasoline taxes, sales taxes, and payroll taxes.
Speed enforcement will be even more vigilant. Use your horsepower with great care. |
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04-07-2020, 01:04 PM | #8 |
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I too took my m850i for a "spirted" drive, although I never got above 80 mph. We sure did pickup a lot of bugs and crude.
now when I'm ready to wash it, it's raining outside. so I'm stuck with the choice of letting the bugs glue to the carbon fiber and paint inside the garage ; or letting it get rain water for the first time in a year. life choices. |
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04-08-2020, 08:11 PM | #9 |
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Good point. Although overall gas tax is down the state got their normal share from my fill up at Costco as part of my excursion. However, I forgot to add that I could not believe the $2.09 per gallon for Premium. Best I can recall 3 or 4 years back it dipped into the mid $2 range. Just another upside to the unfortuanate pandamic that is making Opec and everyone else in the petroleum game take it in the shorts.
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04-08-2020, 08:14 PM | #10 | |
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04-08-2020, 08:39 PM | #11 | ||
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04-08-2020, 08:51 PM | #12 |
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My plan is to have the car in the driveway and hand the keys to the detailer when they show up at the door. Then I'm going to let the car bake in the AZ sun all day to kill off any COVID-19 before I gingerly (with gloves on and a face mask) pull it into the garage. Times we're living in.
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04-08-2020, 09:31 PM | #13 |
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04-09-2020, 10:44 AM | #14 | |
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04-10-2020, 06:51 PM | #16 |
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Mike Valentine (whom left Escort a couple of decades ago) does not believe in GPS based lockouts for radar signals detected as he feels the driver should be notified at all times given a police officer could be stationed near those false signals, e.g., radar based speed warning signs and catch you with your pants down. However, he does believe in a fully open API and publishes the specs on Github for 3rd party developers to utilize.
JBV1 is an Android based app that connects to a Valentine 1 via Bluetooth. In the Gen1 that was done via a separate Bluetooth module Valentine sold due to the Escort Patent for built-in Bluetooth. For the Gen2 given that patent has expired it is done via built-in Bluetooth in the detector itself. The app is amazing and with it you get an additional set of eyes given it pulls in crowd sourcing events via the Waze API so you get alerted of law enforcement sightings, traffic jams, accidents, etc. without the need to run Waze. It will also auto-learn static radar signals from speed warning signs, radar pollution from shopping centers automatic doors, etc. Drive 3 times by any radar signal that is static and it will be automatically muted from that point on. The app also utilizes a crowd sourced database for the nationwide deployment of red light and combo cameras (red light and speed detection) so the app will notify you of their existence a mile away from approach as it also runs a full Google maps based location service. Given that it knows the published speed limit for the road you are on you can leverage that in your "silent drive" settings, i.e., for me I have that for +8 MPH over the PSL. In other words law enforcement in my area will not stop you for that amount of excess speed so regardless of the radar signals detected the V1 will alert on them but JBV1 auto mutes the detector within a second. You can also set custom "marks" for potholes which I use for my commute to work so in case I'm not paying attention the app will alert me they are coming up. The last thing I want is tire or wheel damage from some of the ridiculous potholes plaguing various surface streets in my area (I drive through Scottsdale and Phoenix with the latter way behind in street maintenance) so this helps tremendously in that goal. There are many features I've never even used, i.e., a weather radar map you can overlay to help you navigate around heavy rainstorms on a cross country road trip. The power users whom drive through several states or counties have profiles set for each one according to the radar usage. Basically if you set the V1 to only detect valid radar frequencies vs the broad spectrum it extends the range of detection given it can "sweep" those defined ranges faster than having to go through all frequencies. The app will auto push those profiles to the detector as you cross geographical boundaries given the Google maps location. For those with iOS apparently the V1 Driver app covers most of the features but JBV1 is the most feature rich application for Valentine detectors. Escort and Radenso have some of the same features built into their detectors. Escort will do the GPS based auto lockouts via learning as well, alert for red light and combo cameras, etc. but you have to pay for a monthly subscription to those services and ultimately their detectors do not have the extended range of detection in comparison to a Valentine. |
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04-11-2020, 08:22 AM | #17 | |
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2019 BMW X5 50i Mineral White/Tartufo all options including M Sport
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04-11-2020, 12:07 PM | #18 |
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True encounter just yesterday.
Me: "If I had known how little I'd be driving it these days, I might not have traded for the 850 convertible. Or the 850 coupe before it. Or even the 440i before that one." She: [Gives me The Look] She: [Silence] She: "Gimme a break."
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- 2024 iX M60, Blue Ridge Mountain/Oyster, DAPP, Luxury Package. - Retired: Six previous BMWs. - Retired: Three Lexuses. Last edited by redhot47fla; 04-11-2020 at 12:20 PM.. |
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04-11-2020, 12:27 PM | #19 | |
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she: laughed and said: "you're never selling that car, you love it more than you love me" .... she's not right, but she's also not wrong, either. .... |
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04-12-2020, 09:23 PM | #20 |
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This morning I set off on my new planned 52 mile race course loop for the M850i on a daily basis until the stay-at-home orders lift and I'm back to my daily commute. The course includes a freeway shot, many stretches of 45 to 55 MPH PSL and the holy grail of about an 18 mile stretch on a 2-way county road with a 55 MPH PSL.
To my chagrin the county road section had more traffic on it than expected given it is a Sunday and there were plenty of others out going to the biking and hiking trail destinations you get to from it. However, outside of a rare county sheriff patrolling (given the remoteness of the stretch a one in a thousand chance) I still let it rip. Some of that fun was to pass slow movers and the M850i did so with an absolute ease and before I knew it the 84 MPH speed alert lit up every time in seemingly a blink of the eye. Looking forward to tomorrow's run mid day in which I expect to encounter way less traffic on the county road stretch. Just need to figure out how to take more coffee with me as my 16oz mug was depleted less than half-way through the route. My wife has a couple of Hydro Flasks but neither will fit in the M850i cup holders. First world problems. AlexFL took the pic of the watch for the day before heading out. An absolute classic with the backstory being I am not a Rolex fan whatsoever. However, no matter how hard I tried to find an equivalent blue dial watch with anywhere near the sheer beauty of the Submariner it was a failure. After succumbing to that fact I just enjoy the beauty every time I wear it. |
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04-13-2020, 08:55 AM | #21 | |
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something like this (although I haven't used any of these): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0752DZ1SB..._05gLEbCCC508T I used to have something similar that I bought at Walmart about 20 years ago, but I threw it away like a decade ago when we got the big SUVs with big cup holders. |
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04-13-2020, 02:12 PM | #22 |
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There are free highways these days, so by entering them I enjoy at least for few kilometers full power up to speed limit (at 260 km/h).
And yes, I got speed limit penalty in February, they measured me 183 km/h at 130km/h limit. :-) (first penalty after maybe past 5 years...) |
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