About 150 mph in a (rev-limited) Busch Grand National Stock car at Texas Motor Speedway. I even got to pass three cars on the track!

The instructor asks if I've ever "driven" before. I say, "a little autocrossing, SCCA, stuff like that..." silence from his side of the car. The ROAR when I hit the start button and 750 horesepower came to life in front of me was pretty awe inspiring! Clay (sitting in the stands) says I was hitting the rev limiter on the 2nd or 3rd lap (I don't remember, I was busy ). Silly instructor kept motioning for me to slow down in the turns... the nerve of him!

This instructor was the one "stuck" with the car that had the driver's seat adjusted pretty far forward (for shorter drivers... meaning the chicks). On the final slow down lap he asked me what I normally drove, I told him "a little mid-engined sports car".. he muttered something like "oh... that explains that...".

After doing just 10 laps on a big speedway, I can see the G forces being substantial at real racing speed, the angle of the banking means you come up on things with a very small piece of the windshield to see through... much less have enough time to react to them. I can't even begin to imagine doing it with traffic bumping and grinding on all sides of you.

I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance!

oops
Posted as my kid!
Again

jt

i dunno how fast i was going in the 914 this past sunday on the drive to the R&G SwapMeet, but i traveled 55 miles from Downtown Los Angeles to Riverside in 25 mins. Does anyone know how to convert this into MPH?

that's good, cause I was expecting Dylan to get grounded for posting that

btw.....that is just plain insane...anything over 30mph on water is too fast for me....(insert scaredy cat)

130+ (according to the CHP in the next lane) in my 65 Olds 442. The CHP asked me how fast it would go, and I told him I didn't know. That's when he said "Let's find out". My speedo topped at 120mph, his at 130. Mine had been topped out for a while. We went until he decided we were going fast enough. The joys of small town life.

Fastest indicated:

-184 mph in a 996 Turbo Cabriolet on Autobahn (yes, the top was up)

-170~ in a 1988 Ruf CTR on a two-lane (in an undisclosed location )

-180~ in a modified 964 C4

Fastest verified:

177.865 mph (USAC timing and scoring) in a 996 Turbo on dirt at the Black Rock Desert. Problem was that the surface was like concrete during the test runs a few weeks before I got there. When I ran, there was a layer of silt that made the car oversteer slightly once you exceeded 145 mph, with its tail wagging gently back and fourth for the next four miles... You didn't correct as much as you THOUGHT about correcting, that was enough.

Fastest ride-along:

209 mph (according to Motec data logger) in a Carrera GT on a former Mig fighter base outside Berlin with Walter driving. Piece of cake, and the only time I ever got to look around and "enjoy" the speed.

All that said, I don't think big speed is all it's cracked up to be. You don't really get to enjoy it while you're doing it -- and riding along with almost anyone else is borderline

I guess that makes me

pete

145 in my '87 944S, from B'ham to Tuscaloosa--pesky little rice-burner wanted to play God do I miss that car.
Just over 5600 in my 914. My speedo cable is broken so I don't really know how fast but I believe that it'll pull 6000 in 5th!

150 mph in my convertible C5 Vette heading across the Mojave desert between LA and Vegas - windows pulling out away from the roof was fun...on my way with son to the Bondurant driving school. Good times.
Greg

In my Purple '71 Charger r/t 440 Mag I had the speedo bouncing off the peg indicating 150 (valves were floating so it wasn't going any faster). I agree the front end started getting light over 130. I thought I was only steering because the front tires acted like a rudder to the wind that was going UNDER them...

135+ (legally) in a C-200 Merc in Germany. Had my wife and daughter with me but my wife wouldn't look at the speedo. My daughter loved it (she lives over there).

werd

In the 935 on the banking you are looking up, not ahead. In some cars they actually put a small window in the roof to allo the driver to see the track.

You did that in a fuel injected 2.0???

To figure out the average mph you just divide the distance traveled by the time.

55 miles divided by 25 minutes = 2.2 miles per minute.

Multiply by 60 to get M.P.H.

60 x 2.2 = 132 M.P.H. average speed.

That's a mighy high average. For every minute you dawdled at 120, you would have had to do a minute at 140+ to make up for it!

I didn't realize that Riverside was located at the bottom of a cliff under LA!

90 or 95 in my 1.7 Going downhill though

what size tires?

thats whereyour estimate is skewed

I did almost 60 mph with my trek 5500

I did 150 in a Camaro with a 427 and was passed by a Lotus on the freeway.
That was weird
Now I just go the speed limit

Ya Mikey I agree.
That was my last pass in a open boat and I got out of the driver seat soon after as I could see myself in little small pieces if something went wrong
My brothers team set low ET and won the IHBA meet in Phoenix this last weekend with Dale Ishamura driving.
A gentleman with much larger balls than I.
The great thing is they are a privateer team and won the meat with cobled together pieces and parts for the final and still BLEW the big boys away
By the way the team holds the world record for ET .
Do you think the hull has something to do with the record?

I want a nother hydro

JT

- 70mph in a stock Fiat 500 on the german autobahn
- 75mph in a stock Citroen 2 CV on the german autobahn
- 105mph in a stock (50 hp, 1600cc) '72 1302 beetle on the german autobahn
- 110mph in my 914 (with the now defunct 2.0L) on a CA freeway
- 127mph in a stock Renault Twingo on the german autobahn
- ~140mph in a highly modified Open Manta GTE on the german autobahn
- ~170mph in a 92(?) 911 Turbo 3.3 (S?) on the german autobahn


Andy

104 in a 03 Mitsubishi Galant, while passing semi's on the way to las vegas on US 95

50 on my Orbea, going down my local hills

7000rpm in 5th gear in my 914. I think that works out to 127. I could redline 5th without any trouble.

6200rpm in my Civic which works out to something like 130. I figure It can go a little faster before boost. Not bad for a 150HP 1.6 litre engine and I clocked off 34mpg in town last fill up.

Don't know how fast, but Dan Gurney's Lotus 19B Daytona Car down the back straight at Riverside Raceway. It was fast enough......

McLaren MK8E down the back straight at Riverside too....it was a little faster.............

130 - Downhill in the stock 914-6 on I-40 going to the Steamboat parade (boiled the fuel shortly thereafter)
130 - 89 SHO - Indiana SP Verified ($50 fine, Plea in Abayance, $450 lawyer)
145 - 89 SHO - Burried the needle
250k - Mercedes New Turbo E-Sedan outside of Frankfurt

Damn it Ron,
I hate when you make us all look like the posers we are !

JT

125 indicated in a 1967 Autin Healey 3000 MK III, rolled over
wreck I "rebuilt"/

125 indicated in a 1972 Porche 914 1.7. In 1972. It was down
a LONG hill!

Jeff

82 924 = 120 Honestly
89 Nissan Maxima SE = 125
83 Yamaha Seca xj750 = hit 83 and backed off, no helmet, no liscense, no inspection sticker, no 5th gear, no brains
Unknown year Vespa = hit 50 before the street ended, that was probably the most fun one too! Pretty close to being topped out too.

140 Kawasaki 900 [ remember those],never did it again on the street. 130 old 1966 CT police cruiser my buddy owned, used to embarrass all the corvettes

Both at Willow Springs....

135 in the "Rocket"....it was scremaing with a stock 914/4 box
147 in my current assdragger with the 3.6.

How high does an 87 Carrera speedo read? 165 or so. I seem to remember that there was a big error on that speedo though, so it might have been 150.
Early morning leaving Delta Utah headed for Nevada. Funny thing is, I got the speeding ticket in Nevada. Had the cruise on 125, radar detector exploded, hit the brakes, saw the cop, watched the side view mirror to be sure he actually turned around, and when he did, pulled over.

he said he clocked me at 85, (Huh!) but was giving me a ticket for 70. Amazing, cost me $50.

147mph 1996 mustang gt 4.6
139 mph (according to Texas DPS) 1984 porsche 944
132 mph ( again thanks to DPS) 1974 jeep cj5 325hp at the wheels from a 258 cid inline 6
130 mph chevy s-10 SS 1996 (not stock)
140 mph 2001 1000cc kawasaki concours with zx10 cams and rejetted mikunis ( my wife can tell you all about it , she was on the back of the bike when I did it. and none too happy about it.)

130 mph 2001 celica gt (my latest ride)

According to the tach, a little north of 150 heading into turn 8 at willow in a GT-3 944 turbo. The speed isn't much of a rush, but taking turn 8 flat at that speed is AWSOME!

Had a better pic somewhere, but this'll do...

135+ in my 04 C4s one year ago a month after I bought it . She felt SOLID AS A ROCK AND WANTED MORE . This was a run through Death Valley April 05. Many butterflies were sacrificed that day. My wife was with me and we are still married . But she has actually hit 150+ in a 911 with Hurley Heywood at the wheel during PDS at Barber. I am not as handsome as Hurley .

It's only proper if you are going to drive a car, that you understand it's limits. Otherwise, how can you fully enjoy it?

Driving :

2000 BMW Z3 2.5L = 125+ mph
2002 Lexus GS430 = 140+ mph
1976 914 2.0 = 120 +/- mph
2005 Mercedes E3xx = 220 kph
2005 BMW 5xx = 240 kph

As a passenger :

1999 Citroen ??? = 260+ kph (and crapping in my pants!)

Fortunately, I'm in Atlanta and we have what are called "Lawless Highways" where the average speed is easily 80 mph. To get a car up to 140 mph heading north on GA400 (past the toll and before I-285, is NOT hard at all). In fact, to go any faster and you'd better be on your A-Game (and be driving at 5:00 AM!).

My other experiences have been in Germany on business trips. Mostly on the Autobahn between Munich and Augsburgh, hence soem of the kph speeds above.

90mph....in my first car ('66 VW Bug) on the way to the River when I was 19!

I know, not that fast, but for a 19 year old girl in her first car it was

Lisa

How about this for scary...
140 in a 90 F250 Ext Cab Long Box (460 5 Spd)
102 in a 97 Ram Reg Cab Dually through turns (Cummins 5 Spd)
95 in a 71 SuperBeetle (Stock 1600 95%Gas 5%Diesel)

150+ in a D Jaguar, my buddys dad's car, my buddy did 160+ indicated on the hwy between Vegas and Reno...his dad bought it and couldn't get away to pick it up so Dennis sold him on us doing it....unbelieveable, what a car, I'd have tried to go faster but I was scared shitless that something would break and if I lived his dad would have cheerfully killed me....I looked pretty damned good in that car though...BR Green, just lovely..... boy did that thing use oil...

Passenger: 150+, not sure how much faster, just remember watching the needle drop below 150 in a Shelby AC Roadster, 289 Ford with 8 one barrel Webers.

Driver: 120 in a AMC Javelin back in the late 60s.

Recently: 110 in a 968

I hit 170 tonight racing a Honda 929cc sportbike. I pulled on him pretty well leaving a dumb look on his face.

How did the back end feel at 170?

I assume this is the 914 were talking about.

150 in a buddys Ranchero with a 429 Cobra Jet when I was in college. (not safe)
140 in my '93 Dodge Stealth. Closed road before the Silver State Classic Challenge.
180 in a Champ Car as a driving Instructor for Cart 101 at the Las Vegas Speedway.
130 in Elvira a couple of times for short bursts. I don't know what the top end really is.

Umm...195/60/15's all around..close to the stock height. DANG!!! 132 is that possible in a stock FI 2L?

I took the two seater ride at INDY last Saturday with Stephane Gregoire driving we went 180. Now that doesn't seem that fast at INDY, but the straight speed was fun and the TURNS at 180 was a BLAST!!!!!!!!!!
indydad

175 in a 911R on the Gandy Bridge heading east. The tops of the window frames were flapping and the car was lifting....circa 1984

160 in a 928GTS on 275 South as I was going over Busch Blvd....circa 1989

Lately 115 in my Civic yesterday (come on pedal faster)

135 in my S-2000 between Sebring and Tampa a couple of weeks ago

125+/- in my 914-6 on the backstraight at Sebring

T.C.

bwtm... you guys that went 135+ in 944s, wasn't that cool that above 115 it came climbing and climbing. The 1st time I couldn't believe that it would go that fast. My 84 944 was the best feeling car I've driven above 120

I bought my '96 Mustang GT new using my cousin who was a Ford Salesman. He wasn't at all happy that I didn't pick the 3.55 optional rear ratio.. but I knew I'd be commuting ALOT so stuck with the ridiculously tall 2.73 ratio.


3 months later I'm drying through Mount Shasta on Hiway 5 on the way to Canada and I'm doing 120MPH on a long sweeper. Can't get any more speed 'cause I'm geared too high and I'm low on the torque curve.... then that damn over-stiffly-sprung stick axle hit an expansion joint... and the Mustang rear end did the legendary sideways bunny-hop......


Messy Messy pants.......

Also.. with every sail in the locker flying, and the little diesel pushing flat out.. I got my sail boat up to 7.3 KPH according to the GPS (not Tide aided).... for a 7 ton boat with 5 feet draft and a 25' waterline, I had to set up the re-entry heatshields on the bow!!!!

Ummm...?

No.

JT

135 (max speedo) in my modified riced out honda civic (sold) on a bridge

155 in a RS America race car - undisclosed road in California

105 in my current 993 - weak huh? ( chicken)

80 in my 80cc shifter kart as noted by my Mychron

168MPH (calculated from tach @7800) in my old 67' Mustang. Did this coming home from work on a Saturday afternoon on Hwy 85 south starting at El Camino. I lifted before before the engine was all the way done (it would turn 8000) when I had thoughts of being hamburger in a tin can if anything went wrong.
Very, very dumb.

[/quote]


Umm...195/60/15's all around..close to the stock height. DANG!!! 132 is that possible in a stock FI 2L?
[/quote]

LOL. You can't really think that your 2.0 *averaged* 132 mph on LA freeways on a 55 mile trip from downtown to Riverside! (Can you?!?)

122 mph on a flat stretch of the Pa. Turnpike in the 914 Turbo, had a little more pedal but saw a Trooper going the other way and backed it down.

142 MPH @ 10.28 elapsed time through the 1/4 mile in "B" Gas dragster in the year 1955. K-88 chassis research frame w/pontiac motor. Not fast, but a thrill on a cheap build with my buddy's.

Tom

About 125 in my aunt's 944, on a back road in Alabama when I was 15. That was one of the first times I ever drove anything, I couldn't believe she handed me the keys and she just kept saying "go faster! hit the gas!" -- obviously, she was the "coolest" one in the family. In retrospect it appears she was insane.

Greatest feat of speed, however, was making it from Thousand Oaks to Gardena (which is all the way across LA County) on a Friday afternoon, left at 4:10 and arrived at 5:05 to get my girlfriend's car out of hock. In my '86 Volvo wagon. I passed a CHP on the opposite shoulder of the freeway at about 75, I don't even know if he saw me go by. What a rush. God I can't wait to get my 914 back on the road.

197 (GPS Verified) - Techart 993 (700hp) would have gone faster but aerodynamics compressed suspension and was sitting on bump stops causing irratic handling

175 - 911 Turbo race car

140 - Modified 924 Turbo (250hp)

65 - Cannondale Road Bike (stupidity)

0.0001 - 914 on shop jack.

Buried the 150 speedo in my 914 v8 last year, tall gears and such, seemed OK at that speed, a little loud.

Buried the speedo AND tach on my 79 capri when I was a kid

Mark