The M6 toll road is a godsend. Heading up from the M42 to the M6 it means you don't have to traverse the M6 flyover which is slow at the best of times and crawls like a snail the rest of the time, plus you skip the M5/M6 junction and the tailbacks there if you were minded to go that way. I use every time I head down south or back north and never regret it. You can zoom down it!

The only downside is you don't get to see the mighty towers of the second city (my home town) and pass the Villa.