Well, many years ago my Uncle Lou . . .

Post #419,446 by Andrew Grygus 8/3/17 10:19:06 AM 8/3/17 10:19:06 AM Reply	Well, many years ago my Uncle Lou . . . . . was on a Southwest business trip and decided to see if his new XK150 Jaguar would really do 150 mph (241 kph). He failed to find out. The car was still accelerating, but he found that HE did 140 max.
Post #419,448 by drook 8/3/17 12:35:02 PM 8/3/17 12:39:25 PM Reply	way back in the late 80s ... My dad had one of these: I borrowed it one day to go to work. The route home included a stretch of brand-new freeway - four lanes, fresh concrete, well-lit, no traffic. It came on boost at 50 in 5th gear and started pulling like a freight train. When I finally looked down to see the speed I couldn't find the needle. It was buried all the way to the right. I suspect they marked the gauge lower than the top speed to avoid the hand-wringing from busybodies. [eta] And now that I've looked up the measured top speed, and pictures of the instrument cluster, I see that I'm mis-remembering just a bit. But that needle was further right than where I was looking. -- Drew Edited by drook Aug. 3, 2017, 12:39:25 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #419,463 by Ashton 8/4/17 6:24:49 PM 8/5/17 12:36:30 AM Reply	Heh.. Ticket (on Vincent) SF-Oakland Bay Bridge, way-back. Cop eyes the big (~7" dia.) speedo, sees "150" ... asks "is that in (KPH) ??" Moi tryin-fer-leniency: "Er no Sir, thats MPH." Don't recall his reply, but he wrote me up light.. He claimed to have been tryin to catch-up (on his antediluvian-Harley du jour) for some time; hell I was just idling along at ~65, no traffic-threading and like that. aka "No Sir, wasn't trying to elude; didn't see you at all.. " [Did not add any inner-juvenile] like, "If I'd meant to elude ... ... ['Course, re this thread: that '150' was Actual ~top-speed. But.. on the Black Lightning model.] == see Rollie Free's record which lasted decades. Still, most L.s likely came only with a tach + other customer specs. Guy I bought the Acura Plutocrat from had a new KZ-11? 13? whatever for 2004, in his garage. Scary is: the fact that NOW any 16 yo +/- could.. walk in and buy a factory-200 mph Beast; I no answers to that conundrum, aside from Parent-->child Prohibition-via-whatever ƒeare-generator works. V r o o o m . . . . Ed: oTpy Edited by Ashton Aug. 5, 2017, 12:36:30 AM EDT Expand All History
Post #419,464 by drook 8/4/17 6:41:29 PM 8/4/17 6:41:29 PM Reply	(Likely apocryphal) Story from the late 80s Distinguished grey-haired gentleman appears in traffic court for a triple-digit speeding ticket. The prosecutor presents as evidence a picture of the bike, which looks like a full-on race bike, before that was the style. Elderly gentleman says, "That's not proof of anything." Prosecutor: "Are you saying this machine can't go 110 mph?" EG: "It can do that with 2 gears to go. But if having the equipment is evidence of guilt you might as well charge me with rape." -- Drew
Post #419,467 by boxley 8/4/17 9:49:08 PM 8/4/17 9:49:08 PM Reply	my personal best was 175 but that on a closed course with no other vehicles "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #419,497 by CRConrad 8/7/17 2:53:43 AM 8/7/17 2:53:43 AM Reply	If we're branching out into personal reminisces of V(max) attained... ...back in 1984, when working for my Dad in Germany that summer and fall, I tried out the max of my 1953 Volvo PV 444 ES on a stretch of no-speed-limit Autobahn. (The car was -- is -- pretty heavily customised, among other things with VDO instruments, so I'm assuming it showed rather accurate numbers.) Got to 160 km/h (=100 mph), but only held it for a very brief moment: 1950's-era chassi technology and skinny old tyres made for horrendously scary side-wind sensitivity; I was juggling the steering wheel like crazy just to stay in my lane, but probably meandered around like the Neander river. Much later, in 2007, I rented a then-current Audi A6 in Sweden and indulged in a bit of speeding on the motorway. The car could probably have done a lot more, but I lifted off at 170; stable as a train. And then in 2012, on vacation in the south of France, quite unintentionally I noticed that I was doing 180 on the Autoroute... In a big top-heavy "compact crossover" (I think would be the American classification) Peugeot 5008. Cars have improved immensely in just six decades. -- Christian R. Conrad Same old username (as above), but now on iki.fi (Yeah, yeah, it redirects to the same old GMail... But just in case I ever want to change.)
Post #419,502 by pwhysall 8/7/17 4:31:15 AM 8/7/17 4:31:15 AM Reply	Indeed One of the reasons I got pulled over for 130MPH (209KM/H) in my 528i was that it felt like a much more sensible 80-90MPH.
Post #419,504 by drook 8/7/17 7:52:50 AM 8/7/17 7:52:50 AM Reply	That bike I was on felt like it was standing still Except for the fact that it was still accelerating, that is. -- Drew
Post #419,522 by boxley 8/7/17 6:56:37 PM 8/7/17 6:56:37 PM Reply	I would love to rent an audi A8 and take it on the autobahn see if it does top 200mph Montana is the only state you can do that in legally and legally often depends on the troopers state of mind and the weather. "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman
Post #419,528 by malraux 8/7/17 9:56:32 PM 8/7/17 9:56:32 PM Reply	I have one It's not hitting any MPH because one of the water pumps is dead. :-) I just need to get off my ass to sell it to someone as a fixer-upper. I suspect the U.S. versions have governors or something though. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #419,530 by pwhysall 8/7/17 11:35:00 PM 8/7/17 11:35:00 PM Reply	Nope Any car you rent in the EU will be electronically limited to 155MPH.
Post #419,551 by boxley 8/8/17 9:06:42 PM 8/8/17 9:06:42 PM Reply	:-( "Science is the belief in the ignorance of the experts" – Richard Feynman

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