Well let’s see now.
Fastest with a company car on public hiway. The new car features info for my '94 850 turbo Volvo said that the car was road speed limited at 152 MPH. So on the way to Phoenix, I found out that they were right. About the time we hit 147 my wife looks over and says, “don’t you think you are going a little fast?”
Fastest test drive. An employee of a dealership took me out in a turbo RX-7. Told me to floor it and just keep shifting. Topped out at about 150. Very quick car, and easy to drive fast.
Fastest trip as a passenger. Preped a car to run the Nevada Open Road race. Rode as passenger/ navigator. 90 miles of Nevada hiway flat out. Crossed the finish line at 163 (according to the NHP radar unit) Averaged 149.57 MPH for 90 miles.
Fastest was about 105mph in a '71 Dodge Dart. It had pedal left, but not enough straight road in NE PA.
Stupidest was 95+ in my '86 Chevette in the Lehigh Tunnel. Going fast in tunnels is too much fun.
Sadly, I have access to much faster cars now, but I’m too calm to really drive them that way. I’ve had my Subaru Outback (moi’s actually) for a coupla years and haven’t done much above 80.
On the other hand, once my roommate gets done with the mods on RX-7, I may not be able to resist.
IThinkNot: Don’t be a statistic. Drive safe and slow. Then go to school and drive fast where it’s legal (on a track)
everybody else: Keep in mind that most US vehicles are calibrated so that 60mph is 60mph. Above and below that there are typically linear errors in speed indication. In the speeds you’re talking about (north of 120) those errors can be significant.
That said, it doesn’t matter much, it’s all pretty fast.
110mph in a 1989 Mustang GT (no traffic, straight line road, never again)
97mph in a 1996 Chevy Blazer (governor limited)
80mph in a 2000 Oldsmobile Bravada (new car, don’t wanna kill it yet)
85mph in a 1994 Chevy S10 SS (Didn’t wanna kill mom’s new truck, with mom in it)
90mph in a 1994 Geo Tracker 2dr 4x4 with a softtop.
The tracker was going 90mph downhill. 84 is its top speed without hills.
110 in my dad’s 1970 Pontiac Catalina. I was 16 at the time. He would have killed me if he had found out. I later got his 1974 Volkswagan Fastback up to about 90; rather amazing considering what a crappy little motor it had. It was, however, surprisingly roomy for encounters with my girlfriend. The seats went just about anyway you wanted. So did my girlfriend come to think of it.
Back in the early 70’s, when stationed in New Mexico, I buried both the 120 MPH speedo and the 7K tach with a 425 CID Oldsmobile Starfire. God I loved that car!
I had my 73 Corvette up to 135, and it was willing to go faster. I wasn’t willing. The fastest I ever went was in my friend’s Porsche. He took it to 130 and started slowing down. The dumbest thing I ever did was to tell him that I had gone 135. He started going faster, and faster…and faster. It was a very foggy night outside Houston TX, and we were doing this down a feeder road. We could only see 2 white lines ahead of us. I thought I was going to die. Finally he hit 160 and slowed down. That really pissed me off.
Back in the 60’s, I got up to 115 [out of a possible 125] on the freeway between S.F. and Livermore in my Sunbeam Tiger. Everything was ok until I noticed that ‘way up ahead’, the road took a very slight turn. I said to myself, “I’d better get ready to make a small steering adjustment.” And as soon as that thought had finished, I WAS ALREADY IN THE TURN. I got through it, slowed back down to a normal freeway speed, and never tried it again. Whew. Never go faster than you can think, or you’ll have to drive instinctively.
Somewhere above 130 mph in a beautifully rebuilt late 50s Jaguar. Real early, but still full daylight, making the drive from Ithaca to Watkins Glen, we came over the crest of a hill–the little two lane road ahead was completely clear, you could see for about a mile-and-a-half before the road turned; nothing else out there and no cross-roads. It felt wonderful!!!
On this Jag, the tachometer is in front of the driver; the speedometer’s over in front of the passenger.
The owner later got pulled over by a NYS trooper on a back road elsewhere doing about 120. The tropper talked engines with him for twenty minutes, then warned him not to do it again.
This falls under the category of: sometimes it’s better to break the rule so hard it shatters!
Well, my highest speed so far is about 90, and I really don’t feel like taking it faster until I know that I can do so safely, with both the training and the right car. But this vehicle, to my shock, felt like it could easily break 100. Surprising, considering that this is an Isuzu Oasis - a minivan with a four-cylinder engine. Actually, it was surprisingly smooth at 90, just some vibration in the wheel. I felt safe enough there, but not so safe I was willing to go faster. And this van, though it feels fine in low or no wind, suddenly becomes MUCH scarier with any amount of crosswind across the highway. I wouldn’t dream of taking it to 90 in any amount of wind, it becomes scary at 80 in those conditions. However,t aking a minivan to 90 is none to bright anyway, and I strongly recommend against it.
I am somewhat embarassed to admit it, but my fastest is 160MPH in my Porsche 911 C4S. For what it is worth, I verified the speed against the RPMs as well. I had gone over 140 many times before, but on one early morning run, I had a chance to go full-steam. The car redlines in 5th at around 152-155 and I was able to take it up to that point and still had some time to push it once I was in 6th. I do not think I will have the nerves to take that risk again on the highway. At least I had a chance to use the 6th gear for a change.
My fastest on a cycle is a little over 130 on an FZR600R. At that point my complete attention was focused on staying on the bike, so I cannot be completely sure about the exact speed.
