The G-spot

[GoCougs]

driving 50 mph in the passing lane when the posted speed limit is 55 makes them by definition a    motoring idiot. 

not looking in the rear view mirror and side view mirrors as well as monitoring blind spots when changing lanes to look out for faster moving traffic makes them by definition a motoring idiot. 

not using turn signals when there is traffic makes them by definition a motoring idiot. 

swerving in and out of their lanes due to texting makes them by definition a motoring idiot.

driving 80 mph with both hands on the wheel and paying attention to the road and surrounding environment with no fiddling of cell phones or food/liquid beverages and minimal fiddling of the radio in a car with good tires on a highway is safe and should be the modus operandi.

That is not the post I responded to. This is what I responded to:

the problem with high speed is that its only good if everyone driving around you is competent.  even if there were no speed limits, if i find i'm passing up people at 30 miles faster than they're driving, i'm asking for trouble.  it's not enough time to react to someone's idiocy.  then it really becomes, am i the idiot for taking those sort of chances.

People aren't idiots and aren't incompetent for not anticipating excessive speed; in your example 80 to 85 mph.

[Soup DeVille]

80 to 85 is within the realm I would normally expect to anticipate on a freeway that's not overly congested, and entirely within most people's ability to react to. 120 or over is not.

[veeman]

yeah but there is underlying anxiety in me whenever i approach a pass at more than 10 mph faster than the other car.  it's not a good idea to do that i think. 

[Cookie Monster]

yeah but there is underlying anxiety in me whenever i approach a pass at more than 10 mph faster than the other car.  it's not a good idea to do that i think. 

Then slow down.

I don't understand this argument.

[MX793]

yeah but there is underlying anxiety in me whenever i approach a pass at more than 10 mph faster than the other car.  it's not a good idea to do that i think. 

You are a scourge to the highway.  I hate people who slow down when overtaking.  It's especially annoying when I'm coming up on a slower car ahead of me and I see a car closing on me in the passing lane.  Seems I often will wait for the car closing from behind me to pass before moving left, so that they don't have to slow on account of me impeding them, only to find that as they get close to overtaking me, they slow down so they are only going slightly faster than me and I'm forced to hit my brakes to keep from running into the back of the car in front of me.  That or I'll be following a car that's going slightly faster than me and when we both come on a semi that's going ~8 mph slower than me (and maybe 10 slower than the car ahead of me), they'll slow down so they're only going 1-2 mph faster than the semi and I'll have to slow down as well.  While I don't recommend blitzing past at 20+ mph faster, the last thing you want to do is dawdle alongside a semi.  The longer you're in their (very large) blindspot, the greater the chances of them changing lanes into you.

[GoCougs]

80 to 85 is within the realm I would normally expect to anticipate on a freeway that's not overly congested, and entirely within most people's ability to react to. 120 or over is not.

If you're doing 50 or 55 mph, it is too fast for most US drivers. Our roads + driving culture just isn't built for that kind of speed disparity.

[Raza]

Yeah, but there's only ever one person doing 55 while everyone is flying past at 70-85. 

[Morris Minor]

Infiniti's going to put in a new transmission

[SVT666]

So this wasn't something that every single automatic car Raza has ever driven does?

[Raza]

Okay, so I was wrong.  It happens once a year. 

[Cookie Monster]

Infiniti's going to put in a new transmission

Well that's disconcerting that you need a new transmission in a 3 year old car.

[MX793]

Well that's disconcerting that you need a new transmission in a 3 year old car.

Material defects happen.

[SVT666]

Material defects happen.

No.  It should have been 100% reliable.

[MrH]

No.  It should have been 100% reliable.

I hope this sticks around.

[hotrodalex]

Do they know what the problem is?

[Cookie Monster]

Material defects happen.

Yeah, I know, and it's good to hear they're replacing it, but it's still disconcerting.

[Madman]

No.  It should have been 100% reliable.

Damn right! 

[Morris Minor]

Well that's disconcerting that you need a new transmission in a 3 year old car.

Yes it is. I'm not too thrilled, but I suppose I'm glad the service adviser took me seriously.  He called me the day before yesterday saying the transmission fluid was a little low & they'd fixed that. But he was unconvinced & wanted to keep it for another night & drive it cold again in the morning. I did not hear from him yesterday until the late afternoon, by which time he'd found it still to be driving weirdly & had arranged for a new transmission to shipped in.

[12,000 RPM]

Nissan transmissions are a little delicate. I had to replace a transmission on my blue Maxima. Wouldn't shift into first or second

[veeman]

You are a scourge to the highway.  I hate people who slow down when overtaking.  It's especially annoying when I'm coming up on a slower car ahead of me and I see a car closing on me in the passing lane.  Seems I often will wait for the car closing from behind me to pass before moving left, so that they don't have to slow on account of me impeding them, only to find that as they get close to overtaking me, they slow down so they are only going slightly faster than me and I'm forced to hit my brakes to keep from running into the back of the car in front of me.  That or I'll be following a car that's going slightly faster than me and when we both come on a semi that's going ~8 mph slower than me (and maybe 10 slower than the car ahead of me), they'll slow down so they're only going 1-2 mph faster than the semi and I'll have to slow down as well.  While I don't recommend blitzing past at 20+ mph faster, the last thing you want to do is dawdle alongside a semi.  The longer you're in their (very large) blindspot, the greater the chances of them changing lanes into you.

Who said anything about slowing down to pass.  I said it gives me anxiety to pass someone up at a speed much higher than them.  This sometimes wisely causes me to slow down in general not because i feel i can't drive safe at the higher speed, but because lots of folk are not cognizant of other vehicles when they drive.  I don't slow down just at the point of passing.  Thats totally disruptive to traffic and stupid especially when passing a truck.

[veeman]

Then slow down.

I don't understand this argument.

What do you not understand?  I am bitching about not being able to drive as fast as the highway safely allows because of the poor driving habits of my fellow road mates.

[Soup DeVille]

If you're doing 50 or 55 mph, it is too fast for most US drivers. Our roads + driving culture just isn't built for that kind of speed disparity.

Where do you drive?

That level of disparity seems very common to me.

[12,000 RPM]

What are we talking about here

Generally I am in highway equilibrium when I can maintain a 10-20 MPH difference with regular traffic. When I'm "static" with other cars I feel like I'm not getting anywhere.

[93JC]

Generally I am in highway equilibrium when I can maintain a 10-20 MPH difference with regular traffic. When I'm "static" with other cars I feel like I'm not getting anywhere.

That's a very bad habit. (I don't mean to pick on you, I have the same problem.)

[Morris Minor]

What are we talking about here

Generally I am in highway equilibrium when I can maintain a 10-20 MPH difference with regular traffic. When I'm "static" with other cars I feel like I'm not getting anywhere.

My preferred margin of illegality is 9-14 over limit. If prevailing traffic is doing that, I'll run with the pack.

[12,000 RPM]

My preferred margin of illegality is 9-14 over limit. If prevailing traffic is doing that, I'll run with the pack.

Yea I generally cap speed to 80 in the car and 90 on the bike.

[Raza]

Yea I generally cap speed to 80 in the car and 90 on the bike.

Usually 80-85 for me.  Although I have found myself getting up into triple digits a lot more lately.  Just going for a pass or getting overzealous on a merge, stuff like that.  I haven't been over 120 in weeks though. 

[veeman]

i average 75-80 on a highway if there is light traffic.  rarely ever exceed 85.  going over 100 takes balls man, at least where I live.  they could haul you off to jail for that (criminal speeding). 

one thing good about owning a mainstreamer, is that even with an uplevel engine, you would be cognizant of going > 90 mph.  it's not like that speed could sneak up on you, unlike a luxury car or sports car.  when i drove my uncle's lexus LS once, i couldn't tell the difference between 85 and 55 mph without looking out the window.

[Madman]

when i drove my uncle's lexus LS once, i couldn't tell the difference between 85 and 55 mph without looking out the window.

Well, I certainly hope you are looking out the window while you're driving! 

[Morris Minor]

Update:
After a week with the dealer, my G is sporting a new transmission and is back in my hands. So far, so good. It's actually pleasant to drive.