Under normal driving condition, would a car last long if driven locally or freeway miles ?

Question

I always think that driving surface street would make the car last longer than a car driven highway miles. This is because driving highway miles puts wear and tear to the engine when driven 60+ miles. And driving in surface street you don't drive it higher than 40 miles.

Am I wrong or right ?

Answer 1

Your wrong highway driving will always be easier on the engine, transmission, tires, brakes, gas.  I'd rather drive 65 mph on the freeway for a half hour and take it easier on the engine and the rest of my car, then driving the main road doing 30 mph with stop and go traffic and it takes me an hour to get to my destination.  Good Luck

Answer 2

Sorry iris00, the freeway is easier on a car. The engine maintains a more steady and even pull on the drive line. Around town it is constantly shifting up and down and the motor is in different stages of strain. And low speeds and idling puts a lot more strain on a motor than higher rpm, up to a point, than higher rpm does. And the car does better also because you are maintaining a more straight line with less steering and less breaking.

Answer 3

Yeah your first answer is correct

Answer 4

Highway miles better.

Answer 5

Aloha from Down Unda!

The design of cars are for repetitive use on roads designed for cars. The ruffer the road, naturally the more wear & tear but the number of starts & stops factor heavy wear.  Driving a Lincoln Town Car Taxicab is better at 55MPH for an hour straight than 30MPH for  an hour stopping at traffic lites every 10 minutes!  Face it, 16 years of driving tawt me that any traffic light generates zero miles per gallon & it's ruff on brakes, accelerates friction inside internal combustion engines & fails to provide efficiency!

Go public transportation & leave the driving to a professional

Answer 6

It is clear that highway miles are good miles.

First of all, driving on a highway means that you are gaining miles quickly while the engine runs for a shorter period of time. City driving will result in many times the number of hours of engine operation for the mileage.

Secondly, the engine's PCV valve (positive crankcase ventilation) doesn't work very well in city driving because when the intake vacuum goes up during idle and slow driving, sealing it shut. On the highway, it stays open allowing the crankcase to vent fuel vapor and water vapor.

Since there are less engine startups per mileage for vehicles which spend much of their time on the highways, there is less engine wear. Cold starts amount to 90% of engine damage for  normal drivers in terms of aggresiveness. As a side note, drivers who frequently operate their cars to the redline, drive overly fast, and otherwise drive aggresively will cause a lot of damage to the engines in doing so. A lot of engines on the road are not designed for racing applications and will not last long if driven hard.

Highway miles become bad miles if driving consistantly at 80+ MPH. At this point the revs get too high for the engine and transmission on a continuous basis unless specifically designed, polished, balanced and fortified for racing applications.

Answer 7

My last car (1998 Nissan Altima) lasted 214,000 miles in mostly city driving, much of it in New York City which is probably the worst environment anywhere in the country for a car.  I had to replace the brake pads and rotors many times, and the fan motor, motor mount and wheel bearings wore out after about 150-200K but the car survived with proper maintenance.