Observations from Driving in the UK - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

stephenson · #1 08-01-2004, 09:35 AM

- Wide variety of manufacturers
- Bigger cars only in London (can't fit through roads elsewhere)
- Very large percentage of diesels in every size, manufacturer, and shape; perhaps as high as 50% ... Saabs, VWs, Renaults, Citroens, Seats, Fiats, Audis, etc
- We are missing the boat on MB diesels here ...
- V220 CDIs are everywhere - van that is a bit larger than US sized minivans, a bit more boxy and space efficient, they were cruising 90 MPH on M roads (with 2.2L turbo diesel engines!)
- S270 CDIs, E220 CDIs, ML270 CDIs, BMW 730 CDIs ... not a whiff of smoke, fast accel, fast on open road ... incredible number of options
(Note: while I appreciate MB sending the 320 CDI to us in E class, I think we have missed the historical boat of having large car with small engine that gets incredible mileage ... why don't we have either the 2.2 or the 2.7L in CDI?)
- average speeds on rural 4 and 6 lane split roads is about 90 MPH with up to about 30% traveling at 95 MPH plus
- and, then you roll into towns that are 1000 years old with streets 10% wider than a midsize car requiring you to pull onto sidewalks to allow the other car to go by ... AND, no one is yelling, gesturing with fingers, or honking horns ... in fact, I heard a horn only once after leaving London in a week of driving

BTW, I had rented a 2005 VW Golf ... tried to get it with diesel, but wasn't able to ... shifting 6 speed on left side while driving 100 MPH down to 20 MPH in a round-a-bout while looking for signs (in a country where N-S-E-W has little meaning) was demanding on day 1 and way cool by day 5 ... another BTW, using round-a-about vice stop lights saved an incredible amount of time ... only occasionally was I required to actually stop the car ... you could drive for 6 hours through 30 towns without ever stopping ...

Great trip ... we did south of England starting in London, then directly to Canterbury, clockwise to Lands End ... I would skip most of the tourist areas on coast if I did again ... other than saying you have been to Brighton or Penzance, or Lands End, it looks touristy!

elusive 190E · #2 08-01-2004, 09:49 AM

Thanks for the information...

Seems highly interesting...

Years ago I got to go to France, Corsica, Italy, Spain, and Scicily[sp?] the big island with the active volcano named mount Etna above Catania

Loved it...

chazola · #3 08-01-2004, 11:45 AM

have to add my comments (sorry!):

Quote:

- Bigger cars only in London (can't fit through roads elsewhere)

Having a bigger car is actually more of a hinderance in London, (though good for making Smart cars get out of your way, bad for parking)but most of the money is there- hence the big cars.

Quote:

Very large percentage of diesels in every size

when you see the price of gas, you realise why...

Quote:

other than saying you have been to Brighton or Penzance, or Lands End, it looks touristy!

well, you go to toursity areas, gonna be full of tourists... I hope you got to see some of the countryside and have some real fish & chips though

chazola · #4 08-01-2004, 05:07 PM

Driving on the left is done purely to confuse american tourists

Actually, since most people are right-handed, RHD gives you better control of the vehicle.

#5 08-02-2004, 04:14 AM

You should have come up north a bit

There's lanes around here were the hedges catch both sides of my series III Land Rover, if a car comes the other way you have to reverse. And that's only 58 inches wide (just under 1.5 metres)

elusive 190E · #6 08-02-2004, 04:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by chazola
Driving on the left is done purely to confuse american tourists

Actually, since most people are right-handed, RHD gives you better control of the vehicle.

Is the gas pedal manipulated by the left or right foot on right side drive?

Also the clutch pedal?

What about the ignition lock?

Can you provide a [good] photo of the right side drive controls?

Thanks highly interested!

KenSilver · #7 08-02-2004, 07:25 AM

I drive a couple of weeks each year in UK for over a thousand miles and more a time, and love it. Even though my country shares the same side of the road and all of the road rules bar a couple, the difference between our nations couldn't be more different.

Here, drivers cut corners. In Britain, I have yet to see anyone cross the center line - it just doesn't happen.

Drivers wait for long breaks in traffic to pull out of side roads... none of the tire-spinning, almost-scraping-the-side behaviour that desperate drivers exhibit in other countries.

And as someone else pointed out in another post elsewhere, the choregraphy in their motorway passing is amazing... seamless merging, and slower cars always pull over to let the faster cars through.

But it isn't always a bed of roses. I've seen several incidences of road rage, and they were more advanced than anything I've seen here... real menacing driving, bumper to bumper at 80mph, and drivers getting out at stops with murderous intent on their faces. Scary.

But the overall impression is fast, safe driving at quite an advanced level. Most pleasant, and altogether very well mannered.

Ken Silver
--------------
1999 Mercedes SLK, 1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara, 1993 Mercedes SL500, 1991 Daimler (Vanden Plas). Finish detailing, then start all over again...

beevly · #8 08-02-2004, 10:17 AM

I lived in SE Kent for 6 months and did quite a bit of driving over there. I found that on the whole, British drivers are much, much better drivers than their American counterparts. I reckon it's mainly for two reasons: to get a license, one must pass a real driving test that actually requires skill , knowledge, and good sense to pass, and the second reason is a culture that is generally more patient and tolerant.

On I-95 each day, I see cars pushing and shoving their way through traffic like poorly behaved children in need of good spanking. I saw very little of that in England, in fact I found that most people were quite happy to yield when the situation called for it. A little wave of thanks, and both would be on their way. Sure, they have their share of nuts, but it's loads better than here. I could feel my blood pressure start to rise the first day I was back driving in the US.

Best thing about driving in the UK? You really don't have to! There are footpaths and sidewalks everywhere, and you can actually walk to work or the grocery without risk of being mowed down by a fat idiot in a 5000 lb SUV yakking on a cell phone, or have some toothless territorial yahoo shoot at you for cutting across his field.

Ah, and the ale...

yal · #9 08-02-2004, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by elusive 190E
Is the gas pedal manipulated by the left or right foot on right side drive?

Also the clutch pedal?

What about the ignition lock?

Can you provide a [good] photo of the right side drive controls?

Thanks highly interested!

Everything is in the same place in the cockpit. The pedals, gears and ignition are in the same place relative to the driver. Its just that the whole cockpit is over on the right.

The toughest thing is realising that the mirror on your right is really close now! And the mirror on your left is in another town because you find yourself doing too much or too little of a head movement at the wrong time

If we had round abouts here it would be hell. Round a bout traffic in London in rush hour is pure poetry, in the US it would be chaos. I don't think we realise how many bad drivers we have here. The crazy thing is they tend to be the most aggressive and arrogant too!

chazola · #10 08-02-2004, 11:21 AM

I'd look forward to driving on the motorway at speed in the UK, I can feel my blood pressure rise everytime I approach I-95 or the turnpike 'cause I know it's gonna be full of idiots. I just hope when I go home this winter I can remember how to negotiate a roundabout...

I think if the test was stricter here it would produce a better standard of driving, in the UK you really have to earn the privaledge to drive, so once you get the licence you do your best to make sure you keep it!

for the poster that was interested here's a pic from my old Peugeot, you can see clutch, brake (accelerator pedal is hidden behind seat) gear stick and handbrake are all in their 'normal' places.

#11 08-02-2004, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by yal
If we had round abouts here it would be hell. Round a bout traffic in London in rush hour is pure poetry, in the US it would be chaos. I don't think we realise how many bad drivers we have here. The crazy thing is they tend to be the most aggressive and arrogant too!

Roundabouts are my pet hate at the moment.
There seems to be a growing trend of sticking Traffic lights on Roundabouts. The Roundabout was intended to help the flow of traffic. Stopping half way round because of a red light feels alien to me. My opinion is at busy junctions there should be either a Roundabout or a set of lights, Not both!

chazola · #12 08-02-2004, 05:16 PM

trust me mate, after driving with the amount of lights here on the east coast US (mostly unsyncronised and with no road sensors to make them change when there's no other traffic) I'm dying for a roundabout- even the odd one with traffic lights on it!
Have they started putting lights on smaller one's? When I left the UK they were only usually seen on huge roundabouts in city areas.

yal · #13 08-02-2004, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by heckflosse
Roundabouts are my pet hate at the moment.
There seems to be a growing trend of sticking Traffic lights on Roundabouts. ....

Oh yeah I forgot about those. Those are insane. Here you are negotiating a round about feeling quite chuffed with yourself and then bam there is a red light right smack in the middle of a 5 lane round about and just to make things even more confusing the people on the outside are allowed to exit if they are going left