Average speed over the total long drive???

[marius97]

For all you that have done the long drive and taken meticulous notes, what was your average speed? We've done the MI to FL drive twice, but didn't take any notes. We leave in 39 days and I am trying to plan drive time (plus a drive to a wedding in PA a few weeks earlier.) We generally drive just a few MPH above the speed limit and take quick breaks. In looking at some of the map programs, it shows or average driving speed to be under 60 mph. I don't know which to believe.

 

[sam_gordon]

Whenever I'm travelling, I "plan" on averaging 60mph. That shouldn't be hard to keep, since Ky & Tn at least (I think Ga & Fl too) the speed limit is 70.

The 60mph makes it easy to do math... 1mile = 1 minute.

 

[stargazertechie]

We averaged 68 MPH on the way down in January.

I drove 75 MPH, we only stopped when the gas light came on, and stops were less than 5 minutes total- we alternated who got to use the bathroom every other stop

This was from Michigan to Orlando via 65, with a detour through my parents hometown to drop our animals off

 

[MandaJo111]

I use Google maps and go by their drive time. I technically go a bit faster than the time they allot, but by the time we stop for gas, food, restroom and allow time for traffic and road construction, we wind up fairly close to the time they estimated.

 

[vicki_c]

I use Google maps and go by their drive time. I technically go a bit faster than the time they allot, but by the time we stop for gas, food, restroom and allow time for traffic and road construction, we wind up fairly close to the time they estimated.

This works for us as well. We usually end up +/- 1 hour from their estimated time given both the faster speed we drive and the usual stops we make.

 

[wdw&sonny]

I have done this for many trips from Cleveland, OH to Hilton Head, SC (about 750 mi), and am always surprised at how hard it is to average 60mph.

I drive about 5-10 above the limit. We take 1 short lunch break (20 min), stop for gas and bathroom simultaneously. But still, due to some minor traffic congestion and some brief "city" driving, always are in the range of 58-62mph on total average.

 

[minnie mum]

I use Google maps and go by their drive time. I technically go a bit faster than the time they allot, but by the time we stop for gas, food, restroom and allow time for traffic and road construction, we wind up fairly close to the time they estimated.

Us too. We drive from Ontario and still manage to arrive within an hour or so of Google's drive time. That's with driving slightly over the posted limit (ahem), but stopping for gas, meals and potty breaks.

 

[lynz421]

For all you that have done the long drive and taken meticulous notes, what was your average speed? We've done the MI to FL drive twice, but didn't take any notes. We leave in 39 days and I am trying to plan drive time (plus a drive to a wedding in PA a few weeks earlier.) We generally drive just a few MPH above the speed limit and take quick breaks. In looking at some of the map programs, it shows or average driving speed to be under 60 mph. I don't know which to believe.

We make the 1,130 mile trip from NE Pa in 17 hours (66mph) we stop every 200-250 miles or 3 hours for a SFP stretch fuel pee. We probably grab food twice which adds a few minutes to those stops but we have it down to a timed science. Everyone is doing something during the stop.