Every road that I travel on a daily basis around NYC and into CT has a 50 or a 55 mph limit. Doesn't seem to phase anybody.............the slowest vehicles drive 60 mph...........the fastest drive close to 80. The enforcement is so lax that nobody gets a ticket unless they're above 70.

on my texas trip I was able to get 33mpg in the 81 300sd. 55 is the way to go if you don't need to get somewhere fast.

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1981 300SD 512k OM603

My 300SD can see around 30-31mpg if I granny drive and go only about 50-55mph......also, if when I am driving around the city I shift as soon as possible (so I am essentially always plundering along at 1000-1200rpm in 4th) I have seen as high as 27.8mpg with it being ALL city driving! It takes patience and relaxation, but its possible to get some excellent MPG's out of these cars. Today I filled up with about 20% of my miles being granny driving in the city and the rest was at about 75mph freeway.....I got 24.6, not too bad....diesel was also only $4.35, lowest I've paid in ages!

As for the bit about "what your time is worth vs the cost of fuel/driving faster"

Are you saying that your time is worth more than extra damage to the environment and wasted fuel/energy?

If everyone drove super conservative we would have:

1. Backed up freeways
2. Far lower fuel consumption
3. Cleaner air and less pollution

I'm not saying I always go slow, but I do go within 5mph of the speed limit 97% of the time.....what annoys me are the escalades that go by at 90mph on the freeway....insanity. They are literally shoveling money into the tank.

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-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

"fuel is still too cheap"? C'mon, it's too much..wait 'till this winter, when you get your heating bill. Anyone have a coal-burning furnace, circa 1910, for sale?

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'01 Escape 2.0 5 speed- 101k
'96 Cherokee 5 speed- 120k
'92 Mercedes 2.5l turbo diesel- 212k
'90 Aerostar ext Cargo 4.0- 29k
'02 ZX2- 93k
'98 F250 CNG- 54k

is that with the 3.07 rear gear? mine has the curse of the 3.47ish rear gear and going 60mph on long highway runs gives me about 25-27mpg. And yes slow is the way to go!!
CURSE the exponential increase in wind resistance with regards to speed.

F= (1/2)*ρ*v^2*A*C
F=force of wind resistance against the forward momentum
ρ=density of fluid (air is a fluid)
v=velocity
A=Frontal area
C=Drag coefficient

so yes slow is the way to go

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'81 300D - swapped to a 617.951 turbo motor with a 150 amp alt.

it is very possible to get 30+ MPG in these cars, it just depends on how much of a hurry you are in.

if you notice there are lots of people with the hypermiler.com tags in their sigs. that website has a lot of good advice for getting better gas millage, it also has some super crazy over the top ways also.

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'81 300D - swapped to a 617.951 turbo motor with a 150 amp alt.