Speeding 192 mph

[uberguy]

Must be a magic number because I hit the same speed on a 1200cc Bandit and ran out of huevos. It was screaming at 140 and felt like it was on rails because of the gyroscopic forces. When you get off the throttle at that speed, it is like full braking from the drag. As I got down to 110, it seemed slow and I popped my helmet up over the faring, and just about ripped my head off.

1200cc? One of my favorite old days bike stories.

45 years ago, I had just finished rebuilding a Yamaha RD 350cc 2 cycle, punched out the engine with performance pistons and pipes, carb race tuned bla bla - after 50-100 mi. break-in ran it up it up to 130 mph on a barren stretch of I5 - all of a sudden was losing control of the front end (steering on a motorcycle), quick as lightening I downshifted and cut back on the throttle, then applied front and rear brakes and came to a safe stop.

Front tire was +/- 1/2 out of air. Managed to go slowly to an exit gas station for fresh air.

Ran perfectly for the 20 mile ride home at normal speeds. Turns out after all the time and effort hopping up the engine, I had neglected to put the crappy little plastic valve cap on the front tire.

At top speed, the Bernoulli's principle from fluid dynamics kicked in, creating angular pressure forcing the valve stem down, releasing half the tire air pressure - lucky to have lived through it for the price of a two bit valve cap. Lesson learned, pay attention to the little things.

 

[ajgunner]

I was turning in a rental bright yellow convertible Mustang at Boise one day, and they have some retired gents that drive the cars to the car wash and for fuel that were sitting around in lawn chairs. I asked if they were going to draw straws on who would get to take the Mustang. They told me that they had both "had our fun" in it just last week. They told me that someone had driven it to Twin Falls then south heading towards Reno and got pulled over somewhere between Jackpot and Winnamucca for doing 145. The driver had gotten an expensive ride to jail and the rental Mustang was impounded. These guys got the job of driving down there and retrieving it from impound.

 

[Gbirk]

For you guys who rent cars for work.... 2016 Ford Shelby GT-H | Adrenaline Collection | Hertz

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Cool. So tired of the 155 speed limiters on so many cars nowadays. Gotta do it when it's safe though not around lots of traffic or cars pulling in and out of roads etc.

 

[Nate88]

09 G8 GT - 155

01 Honda CBR 929r - 167

Still occasionally will hit 150 if it is the right road with no people!

 

[The Heretic]

That's what the blower is for

Many cars don't have a turbo. My 2004 325ci with a 2.5 liter six didn't - those were before BMW started putting turbos on everything, they were still hanging onto the NA philosophy.

Ten years later, my 2014 X1 2 liter 4 cylinder has a twin turbo (twin scroll) and makes about 100 HP more than the 325ci did. Just the same, I do miss the smooth power of the six - the 28i engine in the X1 still has some turbo lag at low RPMs. I have learned how to anticipate that and it has paddle shifters and a sport mode for the trans - I really like the transmission, it seems to be very smart - not as good as the VW dual clutch, but for an automatic it is really nice.

It sounds nice when I stomp on it and the RPMs build up - otherwise it just sounds like any other car. It has the same system on the exhaust where it has an actuated butterfly valve at the outlet to open up when needed so there is less backpressure.

 

[Knobgoblin]

Did anyone else already post on this? If so, I haven't seen it. Sunday, I think it was. On Highway 2 in Snohomish County, Wash. The Patrol clocked him at 192 mph in an 08 Corvette. We've seen a lot of speeders on the highways since the virus thing but this must be a record or if not, pretty close. 192 is more than three times the posted speed limit on Hwy. 2. Do I need to say if they get you for 192, you don't just get a ticket. He was taken to jail for reckless driving and DUI.

192 is pretty fast. Years ago, I had a 1957 Lincoln, once I had it up to 100 mph going downhill on I-15 and the windows were really wobbling. I had an 85 Ford Wash. State Patrol car with an injected engine, I got it up to around 100 on I-5 once. The speedo on that went up to 140 but I don't know that it would do it. I think I read someplace in tests they were really only good for 123 mph. My present Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis have speedos up to 120, they'd probably do it. They are very smooth and silent up to at least 90.

Before the virus thing I was going into town about once a week. Occasionally, I'd see some exotic car like a Lamborghini making noise and going pretty fast. You could actually hear those before you saw them; the loud exhaust noise feature is a "look at me, see what I've got" device.

 

[RicInOR]

The VERY fastest I have EVER been in my life was not in a car, but in a F16. Upside-down, at 540 mph. And that is about all I'm going to say about it.

Have any tastes change around celery?

Hammond's Vampire Dragster Crash

On the 20th of September 2006, Richard Hammond was seriously injured in a car crash while filming for Top Gear at the former RAF Elvington airfield near York. He was driving a jet-powered car, the Vampire dragster, which was theoretically capable of travelling at speeds of up to 370mph (595.5...

topgear.fandom.com

" on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in which he said that since the crash he has gained a better memory, particularly with regard to telephone numbers, and a new found liking for celery. "

 

[Knobgoblin]

I've had 2 older police chargers , 06 and 08 both very comfortable at 130+ .
Got the 06 up to 146 on a nice patch of 101 that I know by heart. Good cheap fun for around $3000

 

[WWShooter]

As long as we're all bragging, I drove this:

coast-to-coast this past summer, sticking mainly to two lane roads - US2 and the Trans-Canada Highway. Got a big grin on my face when we came up on traffic. Starting at 70 and downshifting to 4th (if needed), it would hit about 100 passing a single semi, 110 passing a semi and a car, and a bunch more passing a line of traffic.

Slightly tuned LS3 (440 to the wheels), six speed manual transmission, after-market front subframe with C5 running gear, C5 brakes, 3 link rear suspension, coil-overs all around, 3.70 Ford rear - car weighs about 3,200 lbs. And all speeds are based on a GPS speedometer.

At 74 now, I keep hoping I'll mature some day.

 

[Hueco]

Many cars don't have a turbo. My 2004 325ci with a 2.5 liter six didn't - those were before BMW started putting turbos on everything, they were still hanging onto the NA philosophy.

Ten years later, my 2014 X1 2 liter 4 cylinder has a twin turbo (twin scroll) and makes about 100 HP more than the 325ci did. Just the same, I do miss the smooth power of the six - the 28i engine in the X1 still has some turbo lag at low RPMs. I have learned how to anticipate that and it has paddle shifters and a sport mode for the trans - I really like the transmission, it seems to be very smart - not as good as the VW dual clutch, but for an automatic it is really nice.

It sounds nice when I stomp on it and the RPMs build up - otherwise it just sounds like any other car. It has the same system on the exhaust where it has an actuated butterfly valve at the outlet to open up when needed so there is less backpressure.

Most of the car makers have shifted to using turbos to make up for the lack of power in their smaller, more efficient engine designs. This way they can boast fuel efficiency while also saying "fun to drive."

It's the guys putting them on big engines that are making big power - you don't see this much.

I put an Eaten TVS onto the the Saturn - supercharger made for a much more linear response curve. The big problem was heat generation, increased temps, and knock. When flooring that car I essentially had my eyes glued to the knock sensors. Thought I'd blow it up eventually but never did.

 

[ajgunner]

The key is finding the right places to do these high speeds for more that just hitting it and backing off. I am talking about sticking the cruise control at 90, 110, or even 125. There are a few places in eastern OR and WA but the really choice places are in ID, NV, MT, WY, UT, NB, KS. Those guys that travel will know exactly what I am talking about. One of the best joys in life is finding a piece of 4 lane with fresh blacktop, little or no traffic, straight, and either flat or a slight hill so you can see for miles. Even little things like a 100lb antelope could really ruin your day. Oh ya, it never hurts to have some Sammy cranked up on the stereo either---I can't drive 55.

 

[Hueco]

The key is finding the right places to do these high speeds for more that just hitting it and backing off. I am talking about sticking the cruise control at 90, 110, or even 125. There are a few places in eastern OR and WA but the really choice places are in ID, NV, MT, WY, UT, NB, KS. Those guys that travel will know exactly what I am talking about. One of the best joys in life is finding a piece of 4 lane with fresh blacktop, little or no traffic, straight, and either flat or a slight hill so you can see for miles. Even little things like a 100lb antelope could really ruin your day. Oh ya, it never hurts to have some Sammy cranked up on the stereo either---I can't drive 55.

Used to be that the stretch of I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson was good and a long stretch of I-10 from Phoenix to Cali as well. Not so much anymore.

 

[ajgunner]

Salt Lake to Winnamucca to Burns is one of my favorites. Really the best when you leave SLC about midnight. Most of the trucks will be holding at 80-85 which is a bunch less scary when you come up on them with the cruise at 100.

 

[Bing]

I have a 2007 Suzuki Burgman scooter that I have had over 100 on I 5. I also had a 2007 Yamaha FZ 1 that I put a GPS on and took a picture of it (stopped) showing 149 mph.

 

[JohnFay]

Remember guys, for a LONG time now, your indicated speed is going to be 5-10% below your actual speed. I have yet to drive a car that is 1970 or newer where the speed on the speedometer was the actual speed when compared to a GPS. Always 5-10% slower than actual speed.

At 140 MPH indicated, that means you are actually going 126 to 134 MPH, not 140 MPH.

Find a straight stretch of clear highway, turn your cruise control on set to 70-75 MPH and have the GPS on a phone turned on an google maps turned the directions enabled for some distant point. It will show you your actual speed if you let it run for several miles. My X1 indicates 70 MPH but it is actually going 64-65 MPH. At 80 MPH indicated, it is actually doing about 74 MPH.

Sorry but that is just not true for all cars. In fact when using Google Maps or WAZE it shows me within 1 MPH of what my speedometer is registering. But then again my car costs a good bit more than your average vehicle so that may play some role in it. But when I am going 150+ WAZE shows me going the same speed as does Google maps. Just saying. So perhaps you should look at getting an Audi as well!

 

[JohnFay]

That's what the blower is for

My Audi S8 does 100 MPH at 2,500 RPM in 8th gear. She redlines at 7,000!

 

[po18guy]

Not so crazy about the DUI part, but I would have the ticket made into a bumper sticker.

Talk about street cred.

 

[CLT65]

This is the same mentality that the Libs use in their argument about banning magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. I know how they think, I unfortunately lived in Kommiefornia for over 55 years.

That's precisely the point I was making.

 

[The Heretic]

Sorry but that is just not true for all cars. In fact when using Google Maps or WAZE it shows me within 1 MPH of what my speedometer is registering. But then again my car costs a good bit more than your average vehicle so that may play some role in it. But when I am going 150+ WAZE shows me going the same speed as does Google maps. Just saying. So perhaps you should look at getting an Audi as well!

I doubt Audi in general is any more accurate. Maybe the higher end Audi's. I will have to test my daughter's Q5 but it costs less than my X1. My X1 M-Sport is not average. My Ducati was not average by any means.

It is not about quality, it is about liability; some decades ago Chrysler got sued because someone got in an accident and their speedo was just a bit pessimistic. Since then, most cars and motorcycles sold in the USA have had their speedos set to be 5-10% optimistic - so when someone says they did X MPH, I factor that in.