# Where can I drive fast? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2000, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172 "2000-12-05T19:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172/21 "2000-12-06T21:00:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElvisL1ves \* > \*\*Could that be the Black Rock Desert in Nevada? That’s where the recent land speed record trials were run, not Bonneville, which apparently has a decaying surface. \*\* **Elvis** , they raced there this August and September, and they’re going to race there next year. [Here’s the link](http://www.scta-bni.org/Bonneville/Event_Records_rev4.htm) for the August racing. The racers also contribute to [saving the salt.](http://www.ut.blm.gov/wh3bsfsalt.html) Apparently, the surface layer is only a couple of inches thick. ---
**Author:** ![thinksnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thinksnow/32/2849_2.png) [@thinksnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thinksnow)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172/22 "2000-12-06T22:19:36Z")
I’ve only been able to go 161.38 mph, but that was on a closed track…in a 600hp stock car, so… (take the Richard Petty Challenge- Driving School). As for actual areas for your car: I’ve _heard_ there is a stretch of I-75, just north of Dayton, Ohio, where it goes to 3 lanes with a concrete divider and no side/breakdown lane (ie: nowhere for the cops to hide). I’ve also heard stories of someone going around about 120+ for about 8 miles of this stretch of road, before it gets to I-70. Make sure you’ve: -got the tires for it; -said tires are properly inflated; -got the vehicle for it; -got an open road; -conditions are good and clear; -you have a shitload of cash on hand, in case you do get caught. Oh, and that you dan’t mind losing your car for a while…or going to jail for a night or two. ---
**Author:** ![Glenoled](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Glenoled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glenoled)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172/23 "2000-12-07T00:14:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by flodnak \* > **…and we had no problems maintaining 120-130km/h, as fast as our trusty Toyota could take us…** You guys were driving a Toyota, and all you guys could do was 120-130km/h?? I’ve taken my 90 Honda Civic to 160km/h (100mph), a couple times, and I know Toyota’s are at least as fast as my Civic, if not faster. Mind you, I wasn’t doing so legally, but I was lucky enough not to get caught. 120-130km/h is an easily maintained speed, for me, on a regular basis… (the limit for divided highways here is 110km/h, and you usually won’t be bothered unless you take it over 120km/h. I’m thinking, if the Toyota was topping out at 130km/h, either there was something wrong with the car, or the driver was lying, because he was intimidated by the speeds of the cars around you, and was being cautious. Gaston ---
**Author:** ![Adolph\_Peewee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Adolph\_Peewee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adolph_Peewee)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172/24 "2000-12-07T05:19:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chas.E \* > \*\*Go to France and take the Lamborghini driver’s courses. They did a story about this on CBS’ 60 Minutes. If you take special training, apparently you are entitled to drive up to about 170MPH. France doesn’t have speed limits in rural areas, but you’ll still get arrested for reckless driving without proof of special training. \*\* reckless driving training??? WHERE WHERE WHERE…I wanna learn!! ACTUALLY, on a serious note, The Northern Territory in Australia doesnt have a speed limit but you have to watch out for buffalo, kangaroos and people walking home from the local watering hole. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172/25 "2000-12-07T06:22:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Glenoled \* > **You guys were driving a Toyota, and all you guys could do was 120-130km/h??** Well, gee, **Glenoled** , maybe next time we go to Germany we’ll let you drive :rolleyes: Yes, we were driving a Toyota. To be specific, we were driving a 1985 Toyota Carina II sedan. At 130km/h, it started to shake. At higher speeds, the shaking was uncomfortable, particularly to the pregnant passenger, namely me. So we considered 130 to be “as fast as our trusty Toyota could take us” even though the engine had more to give - we were not trying to break any speed records, but we _were_ trying to keep me from puking on the floor mats. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172/26 "2000-12-07T07:50:40Z")
Ah, I can see from messages like flodnak’s, thinksnow’s and even my own that just about any car can drive faster than YOU can. Most people don’t have the guts to push their speed to the max. It takes training and experience. In my own high-speed drive, I had michelin ZX radials but I could feel the tires start to shake at about 145 so I backed off. I figured the car had another 15 mph in it, but I didn’t have the guts to try it. I’ll regret that for the rest of my life. But then, I remember once going off the road in a 90mph triple-360 spinout that ended with my car door 1 foot from a telephone pole, and I don’t regret it so much. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172/27 "2000-12-07T07:59:16Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Glenoled \* > \*\* > You guys were driving a Toyota, and all you guys could do was 120-130km/h?? > I’ve taken my 90 Honda Civic to 160km/h (100mph), a couple times, and I know Toyota’s are at least as fast as my Civic, if not faster._\* Jeez, I drive my '96 Camry at speeds well over 90mph almost every time I get on the freeway. I figure it could easily do 120mph but I don’t have any nearby place to try it. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172/28 "2000-12-07T15:25:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chas.E \* > \*\*Go to France and take the Lamborghini driver’s courses. They did a story about this on CBS’ 60 Minutes. If you take special training, apparently you are entitled to drive up to about 170MPH. France doesn’t have speed limits in rural areas, but you’ll still get arrested for reckless driving without proof of special training. \*\* Nonsense. The French speed limit on highways is 130 km/h, and on rural roads (_Routes Nationales_) it is 80 km/h or 100 km/h, depending on the situation. Moreover, these are **not** the sort of roads I would drive 170 MPH on, not even in a Lambo. They’re two lane (one way each) roads with no safety shoulder, often winding through hard to judge landscapes. ---
**Author:** ![Darqangelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@Darqangelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darqangelle)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172/29 "2000-12-07T15:44:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Glenoled \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by flodnak \* > > **…and we had no problems maintaining 120-130km/h, as fast as our trusty Toyota could take us…** > > You guys were driving a Toyota, and all you guys could do was 120-130km/h??\*\* My friends always wondered why I showed up late someties to parties or get-togethers, knowing how fast I drove. I had to remind them that just because my car can go over 130 kmph doesn’t mean traffic will let me. ---
**Author:** ![Darqangelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecccb3/32.png) [@Darqangelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darqangelle)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172/30 "2000-12-07T15:55:52Z")
Regarding most of the European highways… France and Italy will post 130, but I remember driving the Autostrada in an Opel Vectra (economy cars built in Europe may not be gutsy, but they sure can handle the speed when they get there) doing about 140, when a cop in an Alfa blew by me without a look. I mean BLEW… The thing is, it’s all in the training. In Germany and Sweden, at least, it takes over a year, and about a thousand bucks (US) to get your driver’s licence. But when you have it, you’ll be TRAINED. (We’re not just talking about “knowing how to steer” and “which pedal do I push” requirements that have become the joke of North American DMVs), so the cops there play a different role: They’re there to nab bad drivers. When I drover through Austria and Italy, I felt something different while I was driving. It was just “right”, people there have an appreciation for driving, and the stress level there is noticably less. This is just what I noticed personally. Hence why I moved here. Wnother stretch of highway I noticed few cops on was the main interstae in Texas from San Jose to San Antonio. (Damn that’s long!) I promised myself I would never do that stretch again without two things: 1. company 2. A FASTER CAR!!! (my rental had a rev limiter at 110mph) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172/31 "2000-12-07T18:11:49Z")
I’m not aware of any place where it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle while abstaining from eating. So, you should be able to “drivefast” just about anywhere you wish. I believe the practice is expressly prescribed in certain Moslem countries during Ramadan. ---
**Author:** ![Modian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Modian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Modian)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172/32 "2000-12-07T18:37:45Z")
> [@](#): > > In the DC area, the interstates are all 55, though most people go 65, traffic permitting. About one county away from DC, the limit goes up to 65, with people only going as fast as 70. Huh? Don’t know when you drive, but when I’m on the Beltway, if your going under 70, your a tourist. The average speed on Rte 28 is 65-70, and it’s not even an interstate. The rule of thumb around here seems to be drive at least 10 mph above the limit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-drive-fast/44172.md?page=1)