Fastest you’ve gone
gSteph
The view from the other side of the room
A post about cars a few weeks ago had me remembering an epic ride in a ’68 Corvette. When I was still in my teens and living at home I lived across the street from a hot shot mechanic/street (and track) racer with a big block equipped ’59 Vette. One day, invited on a test drive we headed north of Eugene where the freeway has a 30 some mile straight stretch. Just as we get to open country we spot a state police car entering an on ramp, and “Carl” hits the brakes. Once side by side with patrol car, Carl, a bold fellow, waves to the cop, rolls down his window and yells “My speedometer isn’t working (true), how fast is this?” Officer yells back “right on 70”. The Corvette is registering 2,700 RPM.
The cop takes the next exit on cop business, and Carl presses accelerator to the floor. No downshift, just a loud big block pulling and pulling until “that’s all she’s got”. 6,300 RPM. My math says something like 163 MPH. Remember when the freeways could be empty enough for shit like this?
But “Rick’s” Vette was another level. Rick loved to do massive burnouts, clouds of billowing smoke, he’d roll out of the car laughing his ass off. (Yeah, he bought of lot of tires.) A ’68 L88 Corvette, modified for even more power. He’d broken a few transmissions, but he found someone who built a 3-speed automatic that could take it.
One day we’re at the stoplight. Ahead is 4 lanes, empty of traffic, about ¾ mile long, then a curve (marked 45mph) to right. (Carl’s shop driveway is in the curve.) Rick stomps accelerator, tires fry, speedo goes to 70. Car hooks up, he slides shifter to 2nd. It really felt and looked like the jump to warp speed, the Vette shifts into 3rd at 140+. I see speedo swing way past 160. I’m freaking out that we won’t make the turn in the road when Rick stomps the brakes.
And as amazing as the acceleration was, the deceleration seemed incomprehensible. 180 or so to -0- in a couple of blocks. We didn’t go around the curve, we pulled into Carl’s driveway. Rick rolls out of the car laughing his ass off.
So – fastest I’ve gone in a car – maybe 185.
Fastest I’ve driven a car – 120 in a rented Dodge Charger.
Fastest I’ve gone on a (speedometer equipped) bicycle – 58mph. This was scary, the wheel’s gyroscopic effect made leaning into the curve at bottom of hill difficult.
Fastest I’ve gone on a (speedometer equipped) mountain bike on a single track trail – 32mph.
Fastest I’ve gone in the air – standard airliner with tailwind speed – 550?
Whatda you got?
The cop takes the next exit on cop business, and Carl presses accelerator to the floor. No downshift, just a loud big block pulling and pulling until “that’s all she’s got”. 6,300 RPM. My math says something like 163 MPH. Remember when the freeways could be empty enough for shit like this?
But “Rick’s” Vette was another level. Rick loved to do massive burnouts, clouds of billowing smoke, he’d roll out of the car laughing his ass off. (Yeah, he bought of lot of tires.) A ’68 L88 Corvette, modified for even more power. He’d broken a few transmissions, but he found someone who built a 3-speed automatic that could take it.
One day we’re at the stoplight. Ahead is 4 lanes, empty of traffic, about ¾ mile long, then a curve (marked 45mph) to right. (Carl’s shop driveway is in the curve.) Rick stomps accelerator, tires fry, speedo goes to 70. Car hooks up, he slides shifter to 2nd. It really felt and looked like the jump to warp speed, the Vette shifts into 3rd at 140+. I see speedo swing way past 160. I’m freaking out that we won’t make the turn in the road when Rick stomps the brakes.
And as amazing as the acceleration was, the deceleration seemed incomprehensible. 180 or so to -0- in a couple of blocks. We didn’t go around the curve, we pulled into Carl’s driveway. Rick rolls out of the car laughing his ass off.
So – fastest I’ve gone in a car – maybe 185.
Fastest I’ve driven a car – 120 in a rented Dodge Charger.
Fastest I’ve gone on a (speedometer equipped) bicycle – 58mph. This was scary, the wheel’s gyroscopic effect made leaning into the curve at bottom of hill difficult.
Fastest I’ve gone on a (speedometer equipped) mountain bike on a single track trail – 32mph.
Fastest I’ve gone in the air – standard airliner with tailwind speed – 550?
Whatda you got?
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25 comments
So...went across town to get to the exit as quickly as possible. 😅
Probably the most fun I ever had was in my Horizon a couple months after I had purchased it with the full handling package, manual transmission and standard steering
One of my co-workers had been giving me a ration of shit about how it was a "bad handling car (based on a Consumer Reports Test in which a power steering equipped Horizon at speed was cranked hard over an the steering wheel was released to test the ability of the wheel to recenter).
One day, he needed a ride to the dealership, and we drove to the ferry. As luck would have, I was the first car off. About one half mile down the road was a curve posted for 15mph. I took him through it a 45 without a squeal. When the color came back in his face, I asked him if he still thought it was a bad handling car. He choked out a "No" and I never heard another word, lol.
Twice had the local police enter the highway behind me. Both times, the spun the lights once or twice and turned off. Not sure whether they didn’t want to kill me or if it was because they knew they had zero chance of catching me.
https://tuscl.net/discussion.php?id=1911…
I will add that while not the fastest it was the scariest. I tried car pooling it with a co worker on CA I-405 in a Lotus. That fact that the tires on the 18 wheelers were taller than us was enough to make me back out.
I’ve pushed it over 100 mph a couple of times in extenuating circumstances to put distance between me and a dangerous driver.
The first time I was behind the wheel of a Jaguar (a rental car) I was so amazed at how smoothly it rode and how well it handled that I was surprised when I checked the speedometer and saw that I was going 95 mph.
Fortunately it was after midnight and the freeway was empty.
I cut my speed immediately and paid more attention after that.
A NY state trooper spotted him - and it took a second for him to believe an Escort just flew past him at close to 100 mph. The ticket was only $35. Luckily my buddy kept it slow on the ride after that encounter.
Driving about 135 in my 1984 Mustang SVO... rock solid, no issues.
130 on my old Yamaha R6
110 on my '17 Fat Boy
Agree with twentyfive, going over 100 on a Harley can be a bit nerve-racking. The rice burners are built for racing speeds - you barely notice how fast you're going and still feel totally in control even at 130. A Harley rumbles and shakes a lot when you hit 100+. At this stage of my life, I enjoy the ride a lot more when I keep it under 80.
I remember getting a little V-6 Ranger up to 90 on the I-10 twin spans. It started to shake and shimmy so badly, I had to decelerate before it fell apart.
I had a Jeep wrangler up to 110 or 115 during an early morning confrontation with a road rager. The fucking speed limiter kicked in and violently decelerated me down to 80 or so.
I've had my Raptor up to 100 or 105, but only rarely and very briefly. I've heard that most are speed limited to 100.
120 on my old Honda CBR600 F4
Both well over a decade ago. I don't think I've gone over 100 in the last 10 years
For your entertainment, suggest typing in "L A Center Speed Check" on YT search where SR71 crew one ups everyone on center frequency. When told by controller that they were doing 1992 knots, the navigator replied, "we show us closer to 2000."
Now does a B747 cockpit count because then I've done faster closer to 200 mph on the ground (runway).
A year or so later, on a visit back to Eugene, I heard “Rick” tell of his day in traffic court. As he told it, the guy 2 cases before him got ticketed doing 120 something in a Pontiac GTO. The guy just before him 144mph in a Porsche 911 Carrera. Rick gets called up. Judge looks at him. Looks down at the papers. “Says here you were observed – on CHP radar – doing 184 mph in a Chevrolet Corvette.” According to “Rick”, everyone but the judge and lawyers stood up and applauded.
Addendum 2: slightly surprised no ‘rick’ personas here have commented on driving technique.