dennis@home wrote:

You get better MPG in higher gears which gives less acceleration.

True

You also get better mpg by using just enough gas to give the
acceleration needed, not the maximum acceleration you can get.
You need to be able to drive to know what acceleration is needed rather
than just putting your foot down and this is where most come unstuck.

Bol... err.. that turns out not to be the case. Keep the revs near the
torque peak, and the throttle butterfly wide open so it isn't b***ing up
the airflow and wasting lots of power. Remember of course that a lot of
engines will enrich the mixture at full throttle to get max. power, and
so you want to avoid actually flooring it. Diesels BTW with no
butterfly are far happier at lower "throttle" openings.

I seldom need more than a quarter throttle to match motorway speeds on
any of the slip roads I use. I have had to use the hard shoulder when
some prat has decided to stop because he can't get into a gap. Using the
hard shoulder is the correct way of doing it of course.

Usually you can spot the prat, and stay well clear. I've never actually
had to resort to the hard shoulder.

Andy