# What's the fastest you've ever driven on public roads? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 3, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822 "2009-12-03T06:04:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/61 "2009-12-04T04:26:00Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > Barely topped 120 for a few seconds in a Chevette heading down the Mass Turnpike towards Springfield. > > My father, sitting in the passenger seat, was somewhat less than pleased - even though his driving was medically proven to take years off the lives of anyone who rode with him. Did you mean to type Corvette? 120 in a Chevette… DAAAMN Dude. I would have backed off at about 80 when the doors blew off. A friend of mine’s sister had one and it wasn’t exactly considered fast. (I’m sure there were sportier versions, but this definitely wasn’t one of them). Or maybe you were being literal that you were going DOWN the Mass Turnpike. That must be one hell of a hill. Really I’m just trying to have fun with you and, I’m not doubting you it is just the only Chevette I spent any time in was lucky to get up to 70. Obviously this is one of those YMPHMV situations. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/62 "2009-12-04T04:44:11Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > OK, then 152 MPH on Interstate 10 in Arizona. > Just me and the wife cruising along. > So leave my vote in, both were above 140. > 😃 > [@Spud](#): > > There must be something about cruising with the wife. We were going to a farmer’s market and there was a little bit of traffic (think two other cars at a stop light) so I decided to put a little space between us. We had the top down and finally she asked how fast we were going. I asked her how fast she thought and she said it has to be over 80. I told her I could live with that. She looked again and said “don’t tell me we’re over 100” so I told her ok, I wouldn’t. OK, I guess I have to tell the tale. It was January 1994 I was headed to Phoenix International Raceway for the first SCCA race of the year. I was driving my demo, a 1994 850 Volvo turbo wagon. Wife was along to go to the race with me. Anyway I had been teaching new car features for several months on this car where one of the bullet points was the ECU was electronically limited to 152 MPH. Anyway in the months I had been driving the car, I had not had a chance to get it above about 65 as I had only had it in town. So here I am headed across the desert toward Phoenix. I’m at about 75 and this car feels as stable as your sofa. So I kick it to 85. If anything it feels even more stable. 95, then 105. Stable as a rock. I am impressed. So I decide to go for the gusto. 125. Still like a rock. The line from the training manual creeps through my head: **electronically limited to 152** OK WTF, hit the gas to the floor. 130, 135 (now things are starting to happen a bit quickly, but it still feels stable) 140, 145 now it is accelerating sloooowly, but still accelerating. 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151 At this point my wife looks over and says “Don’t you think you are going a little bit fast?” “yeah” I replied, “but I have to see something.” “If you get a ticket I am not bailing your ass out of jail.” 152 and engine stops pulling Off the gas and back down to 85 Very stable car. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/63 "2009-12-04T05:46:08Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > So I kick it to 85. If anything it feels even more stable. 95, then 105. Stable as a rock. That’s a problem I’m learning to deal with. My car feels more stable cruising at 85 than 65. Somehow it just settles down and grips. I’ve even watched the gas mileage on the computer and it doesn’t really drop any at the higher speed. I don’t think a cop will take that excuse though. And Rick… someday I hope to grow up and be like you and get paid to teach people how to drive fast. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/64 "2009-12-04T08:37:58Z")
150+ a few times in the 80’s and 90’s, in a couple of different Corvettes owned by friends of the family who collect and don’t mind lending out for special occasions. Really nice people. 100-120 pretty regularly (for short spurts) when I had my Mustang from late 90’s to early 2000’s. Haven’t had a car since I moved permanently to the city, though. Now it’s just iGO hybrids at the speed limit. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/65 "2009-12-04T08:51:01Z")
My friends and I were racing down a mountain in our four cylinder cars. Normally, my car could barely go up to 70-75, but the hill made the spedometer top out. At the bottom of the hill, we all slowed down to get back on the freeway, and suddenly like 6 police cars zoomed past us. Gee, I hope they caught those nogoodniks! ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/66 "2009-12-04T10:53:20Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > Did you mean to type Corvette? 120 in a Chevette… DAAAMN Dude. I would have backed off at about 80 when the doors blew off. A friend of mine’s sister had one and it wasn’t exactly considered fast. (I’m sure there were sportier versions, but this definitely wasn’t one of them). Nope, it was definitely a Chevette and a clunker to boot. I had to really lean on the gas pedal to get it up that far but it did, and even at that young age I knew the sound of a motor pleading “No more, for the love of God!” so I eased up real fast. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/67 "2009-12-04T11:26:13Z")
95 mph on rare occasions while driving busy parts of I-10 from Baton Rouge to New Orleans… Because I was being tailgated!!! Stuck in the left lane until I could find a spot in the right lane to escape. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/68 "2009-12-04T22:45:45Z")
I got my old Mitsubish compact pickup truck up to 104 mph once on a lonely stretch of I-95 a few miles south of Houlton, Maine. With every little bump I felt like I was about to lose control, so I backed off to 95 for most of the next 50 miles or so. I found out later that going more than 30 over the limit is considered “criminal speeding” in Maine. If the police catch you going that fast, they’re supposed to arrest you and book you. The maximum theoretical penalty is 6 months in jail but a $1000 fine plus 30 license suspension is more likely. I haven’t gone over 95 since I learned that. I tend not to drive as fast as I used to, mostly because I fear getting a ticket. I doubt I’ve gone over 80 mph in the last two or three years. If it were legal I wouldn’t hesitate to drive 90 or 95 on some lonely stretches of road in good weather during the day. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/69 "2009-12-05T01:09:18Z")
Well, I voted before reading the whole post. I’ve gone 120+ on a motorcycle. A red (duh) Laverda, and I’ll never do it again. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/70 "2009-12-05T01:28:53Z")
I pushed an old Ford POS up to 100 mph (per the speedometer, which I have always assumed read somewhat high once, when I was 17. Never done it again. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/71 "2009-12-05T01:34:09Z")
I hit 132 on the way from Gainesville to Orlando once, but only for about 10 seconds. I put 110-120 as my answer. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/72 "2009-12-05T02:49:25Z")
There’s a highway that runs from Memphis TN down to Oxford MS (Ole Miss), don’t recall what interstate or hwy number it is. I was 18. [I was driving this](http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/pontiac/65bonne.html), circa 1977. There was no tach in the 12-year-old bomber, so I had the speedometer sitting right on the 120 mark but not flattened out past it. I am in motion and the other cars on the highway are virtually parked. Until, no kidding, a bald 90 year black man and his wife, riding in [this](http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/cadillac/60s_cad/bilder/1.jpg) or something very much akin to it, sailed gently and elegantly past me, eased back all comfy in the partially reclined 3-way tilt bench seat. Curious, I punched it and the big Indian went after its kindred Detroit iron up ahead. After a bit, I gained and passed. Speedometer was vibrating an invisible 2 and a half extra unprinted bars and looking for a way to dive below the bottom edge of the gauge. I’m guessing 135. Close enough to red line even with that 3.08 rear end for me to back it off to 120 — it was one sweet set of wheels and I didn’t want to take it higher than it oughta go. Moments later, that big Caddy with the foldaround-the-side windshield glass oozes past me again. I ceded the highway to the couple and willingly ate their dust and rode onwards to Oxford at a sedate 115 mph. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/73 "2009-12-05T04:21:02Z")
You may want to discard my 100-110 vote, as I didn’t see the prohibition against sportbikes before I posted, my bad ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/74 "2009-12-05T04:39:28Z")
If you raised the offered poll numbers by 40 or 50 points you’d have about the same answers (and a decent number of lies) that Dopers would offer in an IQ poll. Me? 225, 193, 13.5 Come and get it, girls. (The third number is my response to a poll I haven’t seen here yet, but I haven’t looked for it either.) ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/75 "2009-12-05T10:12:38Z")
**Hunter** , that was a great anecdote. I can practically hear “Eat my dust, Junior” followed by a gravelly chuckle after that one. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/76 "2009-12-05T20:51:48Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > If you raised the offered poll numbers by 40 or 50 points you’d have about the same answers (and a decent number of lies) that Dopers would offer in an IQ poll. > > Me? 225, 193, 13.5 Wow… that’s really fast! Wow… that’s a high IQ! Wow… that’s one big shoe! ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/77 "2009-12-06T15:47:47Z")
It was about 15 years ago and I was on California’s 118 Freeway. I was just keeping up with traffic (at an already illegal 85,) when my friend in the passenger seat asked how fast I could get my 1975 Maverick. 15mph later, I had hit the magic triple digits of 100mph. The rebuilt 235 inline six felt like it had more, but the rest of the car was still a 20 year old Ford Maverick. Just recently,I was cruising to a job site in a 2006 Ford E-250 cargo van. I was on Georgia’s I-75 in the middle of nowhere. I’m in the middle of a group of cars in the fast lane when I notice the speedo is hitting 95. I immediately get into the slow lane and slow it down to 80. Who would’ve guessed that a cargo van with about 1300 pounds of cargo could hit 95? The worst part? It still felt better then my Mav. ---
**Author:** ![old\_joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/58956e/32.png) [@old\_joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/old_joe)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/78 "2009-12-06T18:45:31Z")
> [@thirdname](#): > > I’d like to know the fastest that you have ever driven on public roads in the United States, in indicated miles per hour. You can respond if you want to and you live in a country with similar driving laws and enforcement as the US, 260 kmh for the wife and 280 for me. (so that over 160mph) Nice Jag sovereign 4 door with the v12. both of us were old enough to know better. this was going across Saskatchewan in farm country, kinda reminds me of Arizona cept with wheat crops. Lots of nothin.. did that speed for hours, lots of fun. Dont tell my kids. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/79 "2009-12-06T20:43:29Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > …Wow… that’s one big shoe! Come now. Of course he was talking about his hat size. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822/80 "2009-12-06T20:52:59Z")
Around 110 MPH in an '02 Chevy Prizm on I-81 in Virginia in 2006. I averaged that for about two hours befpre coming up on a cop in Botetourt County, and wound up being their guest for a week for it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-fastest-youve-ever-driven-on-public-roads/519822.md?page=5)