lottiefox Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Yesterday I experienced the novel sensation of flying over speed humps at a somewhat, shall we say, brisk speed - now, my view has always been to crawl over speed humps slower than a sleepy snail, carefully distributing the car's weight etc and making sure the zorst has clearance. But, skimming over them actually seemed more comfortable and didn't make the car shake around at all! (Obviously this does not quite fit in with the aim of the humps being to slow the traffic down....whoops... ) And dabbling around the net I find this: Speed humpy linky Whats the approach of other TSNers? Creepy crawl like me or a steady approach?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenocidalDuck Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 What car did you do it in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collease Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 I creepy crawly over some but others that i know well i can take at the speed limit. There are however some that i will drive out of my way to avoid because they are so dangerous. There are a set in the local sainsburys carpark that if you take slowly you bottom out if you take them to quick you will take the wheels off the car they are that violent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 It depends on the type of hump. On the ones that are in the middle of the lane can damage your sump. It also depends on your car but there is generally a good speed to cross them at...which is often faster than the limit. I generally crawl though as if I fly over them and it's steeper/bigger/etc than I think then [1] I could shake/harm the kiddy [2] I could damage the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenocidalDuck Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Lottie. i noticed that my TT hurled over bumps better than the RS4. However with your Blueflame i would be abit careful. But like the post above says it does depend on the hump. With the RS4 its wide enough to miss most of those silly island ones. Hence i travel at speed over them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lottiefox Posted July 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Lottie. i noticed that my TT hurled over bumps better than the RS4. [/ QUOTE ] Poor TT!! Family saloon drivers.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterb Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 The cushion ones which are most common round here seem to be best taken at around 30-40 (RS6, MR2 or A2). I hate getting stuck behind someone who insists on crawling over each bump at around 10-15 and then accelerating hard up to the next one, before slamming on their brakes once more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 I'm developing a habit of approaching them at about 25-30 in second gear and giving the accelerator a quick prod as I approach them. That way, the weight shifts to the rear of the car as the front wheels hit the bump. Then, as you cross the bump, lift suddenly and the weight goes to the front just as the rears hit the bump. Care is needed, though. There are quite a few bumps in near me in High Wycombe which are too high, and where the tarmac around them is deteriorating therefore making them even higher. Generally, they need either a 1mph crawl or a 3 mile diversion via an alternative route. If I have to slow to a crawl, I always boot it afterwards. Just to make a racket, hopefully in the earshot of whichever local resident asked for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccombie_5 Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 My driving instructor has me crawl over them at a snail's pace, if I don't slow down enough she shouts at me and slows the car down. There are some near to my dads house that the tarmac has deteriorated around and even the exhaust on the Vectra catches at low speeds. There was also a set in Whitley Bay (I forget the street name) that were at onne point lethal, they've been toned down a bit as far as I know. The set on this estate were lowered three weeks after installation because a funeral limousine grounded out on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whimsical_chris Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Seem to remember someone here bending their rims by hitting the humps in the middle of the road :-( I lean on the side of caution... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garcon magnifique Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 I used to take them at at leasty sixty in my Impreza. Good job I didn't do that near MrMe - he'd have reported me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOSE Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Its the cobbled ones that get to me. Surely these things can't be good for suspension?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TriGGa Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 [ QUOTE ] I used to take them at at leasty sixty in my Impreza. Good job I didn't do that near MrMe - he'd have reported me! [/ QUOTE ] he's gonna come and hunt you down now! MrMe is on a mission! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lottiefox Posted July 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Its the cobbled ones that get to me. Surely these things can't be good for suspension?? [/ QUOTE ] There is one of these on the road to my gym - its hideous and means I never take the TT to the gym - always the MX-5. Just tested the speed humps at speed theory in the Mazda - most exciting fun - especially for those following me!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilB Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 The Alfa has to have speed bumps at a snails pace otherwise I'll take the sump off, and that's a £200 repair job. It pains me to hear the undertray scrape when going slowly over high bumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riz Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 My astra seems to tackle the bumps quite easily.... must be all these posh cars eh? Riz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 The best car I've had for speed bumps was a ford mondeo... I didn't even notice the bumps were there. The suspension may be spongey as hell, but it didn't shake my arse to death over speed bumps - unlike the audi! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5to1 Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 [ QUOTE ] The best car I've had for speed bumps was a ford mondeo... I didn't even notice the bumps were there. The suspension may be spongey as hell, but it didn't shake my arse to death over speed bumps - unlike the audi! [/ QUOTE ] Had quite a few cars that have been good for flying over speed bumps. From Budget, Avis, .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 [ QUOTE ] If I have to slow to a crawl, I always boot it afterwards. Just to make a racket, hopefully in the earshot of whichever local resident asked for them. [/ QUOTE ] Good advice. Damn residents objecting to people blasting through residential areas at lethal speeds, don't they know we're in a hurry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 [ QUOTE ] Good advice. Damn residents objecting to people blasting through residential areas at lethal speeds, don't they know we're in a hurry? [/ QUOTE ] Quite happy to drive at 30 along those roads. Always used to; that is the max safe speed in many of them. Only objecting to the humps.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 Yes but one assumes that they put the humps in due to a problem involving people speeding too fast, rather than just because they were bored. Where I live is on a steep hill and at the top it turns sharp right into a housing estate. The local chavs love to drive up the road, then floor it on the sharp turn right and blast into the housing estate "burning rubber" at mad speed. Inevitably there are kids playing on bikes and stuff and one day one will be killed. I've actually written to the council asking for speed humps to be put in for that reason, to slow the feckers down (so I'm one of your whinging residents you want to upset, clearly ) but council policy is that we have to have a child or two sacrificed by being ploughed into before they'll do anything. So presumably if that is general policy then where there are humps now, there's been a problem. Personally, situated sensibly, (and I know they aren't always), I'm actually all for speed humps. Many people have no concept of the dangers of driving through a residential area at 40 or 50 mph and simply have to be forced to slow down. Sad but true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 I'm sympathetic to your worries, Ari, but I have real problems with the way that humps have been put in by the council local to us. Humps can be done well - look at Islip village in Oxfordshire. There, they have managed to design and install humps that can be taken at a safe and legal speed of 30mph but which would be (I suspect) uncomfortable much above that. Also, they do not present an asymmetric load on the suspension, nor do they force people out into the middle of the road to try and take the bump square on. So why is Wycombe incapable of this? Why do they install cushion bumps that: - are so high that they take people's sumps off, after which the Council sues to get the money to rebuild them to their original (evidently!) excessive height? - force people out to the middle of the road at (ex hypothesi) dangerous locations in order to present a balanced impact to the suspension? - are installed so incompetently that the tarmac around them disintegrates and collapses thereby making the hump even higher? - are clearly intended to slow people well below the limit, thereby inviting a stop/go/stop/go style of driving that pushes fuel consumption down, CO2 emissions up, and pollution up? - are fitted on important trunk routes, but are refused on local residential-only streets where speeds of 56mph have been measured? I wouldn't object to proper Islip-style bumps. I wouldn't object to a camera, if actually placed in a genuinely dangerous spot where people tended to drive at excessive speeds and where a local speed reduction would help. But given the known habits of Wycombe council, yes I do wish to annoy anyone who asks for them. Your council may be different. [ QUOTE ] council policy is that we have to have a child or two sacrificed by being ploughed into before they'll do anything. [/ QUOTE ] Which is clearly wrong ... do the local councillors have a policy of leaving their car unlocked with the keys in the igniotion provided they have not yet had one stolen? I used to live in St Albans; that policy was applied there, too. Except on the street where the leader of the local council lived. Hmmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 All very fair and good points. Like the "keys in the ignition" analogy, wish I'd thought of that at the time. Thing is it's the niusance factor as well, people wheelspinnig their chav racers is not what you want to be listening to in the garden of a summers afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccombie_5 Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 There is a set round here that full width ones that go all the way accross the road to the height of the curb - these work. They are positioned on three junctions and one just covers the road, however on this road there are two at each end, in between they have the cushion type ones. Useless, but, the bus drivers were complaining that thir backs were becoming sore and damaged from driving over them on bus routes, so the cushion ones are set so the bus wheels can fit in the gaps and not even touch the hump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patently Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 [ QUOTE ] the bus drivers were complaining that thir backs were becoming sore and damaged from driving over them on bus routes, so the cushion ones are set so the bus wheels can fit in the gaps and not even touch the hump. [/ QUOTE ] Wouldn't mind if cars could do the same without taking the sump off. That way, you would have to drive carefully so as to place the wheels correctly. As it is, take a cushion hump that is too high with crumbling tarmac either side, and if you fit around it then you lose chunks of car as you pass, while if you don't fit then you hit the suspension with a large sideways force for which it is not designed. And possibly also take chunks out of the car Or you can put just one wheel in the hump, choosing between nearly kerbing the nearside wheel or dodging the oncoming traffic doing the same But of course, bus drivers have more important backs than we do.... I've just had a nice idea. Why don't I invite the council official responsible for them for a drive round the locality ... at the speed limit where safe to do so, taking every hump under the nearside wheel.....see how his back feels by the end of the day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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