WHAT'S YOUR TOP SPEED?

[55chevy]

I just got done reading the story on Tim G's Vette in the members rides section and the part about the original owner taking it to 140 mph got me thinking. I thought I'd try and get a little BSing story telling thread going here.

Whats the fastest speed you've gotten a car up to? What was it and what kind of pucker factor effect did it have on you?http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif We've all got stories. Lets share some. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif

[mrtimstik]

66 Nova,350 small block well built, 700R4 Trans, 3.90 Rear, 26 inch tires, no speedo, 5700 RPM in 4th gear overdrive=160+MPH. An online performance calculator got me to this number.

http://users.erols.com/srweiss/calcmph.htm

Absolutely the scariest 5 seconds in the car. Had to do it once.

[Supergas990]

Are you looking for real speeds or what the car could do?

I've never run the calculation on my cars, but I have a timeslip with 149 mph on it. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burnout.gif

It's kinda strange, everything seems to happen in slow motion during the pass even though it's all happening so fast. You really don't feel the speed, just the pure acceleration. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I think going 100 mph - 110 mph on the street would feel faster.

Blair

[SS427]

178 MPH (if I recall correctly) at Brainerd International Raceway in 1983 in the Pro Stock Camaro I was crewing on. This was a test and tune weekend.

Approximately 140+ MPH in my 1969 SS427 Impala Convertible with 2:73 rear on a dry lake bed in California sometime in the late '70's. Talk about no effort power steering at those speeds. Also not a good way to stretch the top........... http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

[427TJ]

My STi hits the factory limiter at 140, smooth as glass.

Fastest on a bike was 165 on my '93 CBR900RR. It was still pulling and I was running out of road. What a rush.

Fastest in the air was Mach 1.1 in a T-38 trainer. No real sensation of speed at 39,000 feet. 450 on the deck doing a buzz-job for a buddy was the biggest speed rush I've had.

[SamLBInj]

I had a vette that I got up to 152 across the pine barrons here, pretty scary with all the deer around.
Fastest reverse I know of was behind this guy with a 73 laguna going over 75 over a three bridge, 6 mile causeway. He blew the tranny and i was following him to the tranny shop, that was pretty nutty stuff there...

[Xplantdad]

I helped an older gentleman tow his ProGas Corvette back to the pits at OCIR on a Wednesday night test and tune...it seems that this guy was some really well known motorcycle racer in the 60's and 70's...held all sorts of records...(he showed me his scrap book with photos at Daytona. I wish that could remember his name!)

Anyways...he was so happy that I towed him back, that he offered me a ride in the car the next time he came out. Sure enough two weeks later, he was back. If I remember right we ran around 9.94 at 158mph. That ride scared me to death. It gave me a real appreciation for the top fuelers and funny car drivers and what they do in a quarter mile. When I got out of the car...my legs were shaking...and he was laughing! http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

Okay...so make fun of me now... http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Seattle Sam]

I was a passenger at 146 indicated in a 2001 Camaro convertible, top down, cruise control on...had to put down the magazine I was reading. Yes, his cruise was working at that speed.

Had the 97 Camaro Brickyard up over 125, wife sleeping, radio playing with the auto volume on. Radio got too loud over 120 and woke up the wife. She looked over and said "What the *&!% are you doing?" so I slowed down..also Montana. Never did find out the terminal speed on that car!

Also did 130 indicated in a stock 1990 Honda Accord with 100K miles on it(!) going across Montana with a friend.

When I was young (probably 1970 or 1971), did 120 driving a friend's Torino with a 429 in it, somewhere outside of Ottumwa, Iowa. That was a lot more exciting than any of the above..

[mr396]

140+ in my 1970 LT-1 corvette,and it had more.At that speed it started to float, and the little dips turned into bumps.It sure would be fun to build a car and take it to bonneville and try to join the 200 MPH club. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

[Tenney]

May've been a bit faster once or twice in various stuff, but the "degree of difficulty" running a buck-forty in a '67 Roadster on bias plys has to carry some weight. Had to have been at least a little entertaining.

[njsteve]

I recall about 145 in my SCCA A-Street Prepared, Viper back in 1994 at Sebring International Raceway. This was on the short straightaway which ends in a 20 mph hairpin turn. I say "about 145" because that was when I stopped looking at the speedometer and looked at the oil pressure gauge because I heard a loud "thunk" from under the car. It turned out that a bolt had backed out of the ring gear and was ejected straight through the side of the aluminum differential case. Luckily it flew out near the top and the rear end fluid stayed in the dif. You could smell the gearlube immediately. Got the car slowed down and drove it in to the pits, threw in another rear in an hour and back on the track. That's when I started thinking: "I'm getting too old for this..."

http://www.yenko.net/attachments/142290-vipersebring.JPG

[55chevy]

Back when I was fresh out of highschool I had a beater '75 Ventura Sprint. Typical PA car that seen every winter come and go, the bottoms of the front fenders and bottoms of both doors rusted off.. (once I locked my keys in it with it running and just pulled the door skin out at the bottom and reached my hand up in and unlocked it by the rod)..anyway it was rough.. but it was my beater fun car. I had a roll cage welded in it and a big push bar welded to the front bumper... sprayed it black with rattle cans.. it was a scary looking beast. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/haha.gif .. straight pipes to the back bumper with no mufflers...sounded like a chambered exhaust on crack http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif... I used to go offroading and everything in that car.. I don't know how many engines and trannys I swapped in and out of it but one time I dropped the beefed up 350 out of my wrecked 71 Chevelle in it and gave myself the scariest ride I've ever had. That thing had a 2.56 rear in it and on a nice straight stretch of the 220 bypass near Bedford, PA I let it all hang out and made my cousin who was riding with me nearly pee his pants. In about 1/8 mile I buried the speedo down past the idiot lights and the door skins and bottom of the fenders started flappin and slappin ... and this thing is just picking up speed like crazy.. cousin was pale white knuckled hanging on with an expression on his face unlike I'd ever seen .. I'm in the right lane and in a spit second this thing lifts up and moves into the left lane by itself http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif(didn't move the steering wheel). http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hmmm.gifso I figured I better shut it down right there.. scared the bejesus out of me http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/haha.gif had to been doing around 140 and that thing was still pulling like crazy.. I still get a rush thinking about that ride. ha ha



My fastest ride to date though was last summer. On my way to work one morning in the '04 GTO I wanted to see just what it could do. In about 1/4 mile I went from 70 to 152 http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif and in 5th with tach and another gear to go, I started running out of road. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif The new GTOs are an absolute dream at high speed. Not scary at all. The faster it went the better it seemed to stick to the road. I'd love to get my hands on an '05 http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif

[Kim_Howie]

Sam I live 20 miles from Ottumwa,Ia. Who's 429 ford did you ride in may know him. I had a 66 425hp Vette had a 3 barrell and diff cam. I went across the Blakesburg flats around 140 just outside Ottumwa. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif

[bad1racing]

73 AMC Gremlin 304 auto fresh off to showroom floor,105mph with a 69-70 Impala next to us just playing.My brothers new 92 Lumina Z-34 prep test drive,115mph before to computer shut the fuel down.Brothers 80 Z-28 speedo went to 85 with a peg.Had the needle pegged let off the gas 15 sec. later the needle started to move off of the peg, mph ??? 165 or so at Daytona on a ride along in a stock car.Sure didnt feel like that much.Gives a greater awareness to how talented those drivers are.
Kendall

[Pantera]

I think one of my more memorable times was at Texas World Speedway in my SCCA B/P '69 Vette, when I was overtaking a slower Vette, and we were passing the flagstand, when he suddenly blew a rearend and I had to pull out to the left to keep from hitting him in the rear and the draft felt like a freight train had hit me in the rear and my tack went from 5,900 to over 7,200 instantely. That should have been about 150. I know I almost didn't get slowed down in time to make the turn off the banking and into the infield turn 1 in time because I was going so fast.

Eariler in the practice sessions the conv decklid was sure wanting to lift off at that speed.


I also had the ole Pantera up to 145 indicated one night on the indian nation turnpike about 3 am. I had a oversized rear tire on it. The faster I went the more it hunkered down on the supension till it felt like the front tires would rub through the underside of the front fenders, so I backed it down. I was all alone that night and there was not anyone else on the road.

Pantera

[Lynn]

"You're all under arrest"

Sheriff Lucky

[Ozark]

74 Chevelle Malibu with a 400 small block, headers and straight Thrush mufflers. 3.08 peg leg rear. Had it up to 120 on the open highway and talk about float! Drifting bad at that speed. Young and dumb, go figure.

[Seattle Sam]

[ QUOTE ]
Sam I live 20 miles from Ottumwa,Ia. Who's 429 ford did you ride in may know him. I had a 66 425hp Vette had a 3 barrell and diff cam. I went across the Blakesburg flats around 140 just outside Ottumwa. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Kim,
30 plus years ago, my memory is a bit hazy.. I was attending Indian Hills Community College ("Iowa Tech") and studying computer repair. He was a tall slender dark-haired kid and I believe his name was Jim? We used to run down to the Eldon "Y" to buy gas, they would be a penny or two less a gallon there. I think gas was 18 cents a gallon there and 20 cents in town. We would also run down to Missouri on a Sunday to buy 3.2 beer (no beer sales in Iowa on Sunday). I sure remember flying down some two lane highway in that big ol Ford, though!

-Sam

[55chevy]

[ QUOTE ]
"You're all under arrest"

Sheriff Lucky

[/ QUOTE ]

prove it http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[kwhizz]

I was driving my C5 convert up to the Dells....as I was driving along , in my rear view mirror I saw a little Red car of some sort coming up from behind.....it was 5:30 in the morning with very light traffic.....as the little red car caught up to me he slowed down and just drove next to me........I couldn't recognize what he was driving but it was Red, Low,Top Down, driver in his mid 20's, hair blowing in the breeze......life is Good..........
As I sped up he stayed right on my fender, as I slowed down, same thing.......After all, I had my new C5 convert, this kid ain't gonna mess with me ....."Right"....so, I did the right thing and nailed it.....as I got up to 125 he was still on my fender and still never even looked over......130 same, 140 same thing, at 145, the Vette just about had it's tongue out.......he looks over at me and waves goodbye, at 145 he pulled away from me like I was standing still......so much for my testosterone high.........Oh .....bye the way......all I saw on that little thing was F355 on the tail panel.....Ferrari.......I think I made his day.......
Other than that my 66 Nova at the Drag Strip......350 Small block, 700R4,3.42, on 26" tall Drag Radials.....10.92 @ 126.....

Ken http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

[djunod]

For a long time, the fastest that I've ever been was 110. That was when I was 16 and my Dad let me drive his '68 Camaro from Greenville IL up to Ontario Canada for a youth church camp. It was on some interstate highway up at the top of Indiana, I was cruising along side of a Corvette. We did it for quite a few miles.

Then a couple of years back I took our '01 Corvette up to 145. Since I was on a interstate highway, I was scared to go any faster then that... you just never know when somebody will pull out in front of you. I only got up to that speed and then slowed back down to 80 pretty quickly.

[Mr70]

1980,US 30 Dragstrip in Indiana.
I went 100MPH in my 72 Chevelle,then later on 120MPH in my friends white 68 Camaro,that was "the Car' back then.We really had a lot of time in that Camaro.
Of course this all happened on a SUNDAY,SUNDAY,SUNDAY! http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[MikeA]

In the Grand National I am guessing (speedo goes to 85 mph)around 100-110 mph +/-. In a 1986 Caprice (old Audubon Twp police car) 120 mph +/-.

[SamLBInj]

We need a class trip to the Audobon http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

[Canucklehead]

150 on my yamaha v-max with a passenger (we were late for a wedding and we took the bike and we were in wedding gear), interesting i had a limo company many years ago and i got my 50" streatch up to 130, took awhile though becouse the guys in the back were a bunch of gamblers and wanted to bet on how fast it would go fully loaded.

[71-LS6]

99' SS Camaro 155mph+ and all alone on the Kansas Turnpike one time when new. Car & Driver had just tested one, and claimed 162mph?? The car handled worse (kind of floaty), than my Hemi Challenger at speed, so I backed off early. Numerous rice bikes much faster but always with eyes glued to the road.
This is the kicker, the wife who actually drove the SS Camaro everyday, maxed it out racing a car on a deserted stretch of I-55 between Memphis and Cape Girardeau. About a month later, she points out a car on the street, and says "that's the car that I couldn't outrun". The car was a 98'-99' Viper GTS.

[SamLBInj]

[ QUOTE ]
i had a limo company many years ago and i got my 50" streatch up to 130, took awhile though becouse the guys in the back were a bunch of gamblers and wanted to bet on how fast it would go fully loaded.

[/ QUOTE ]
The car or the driver? http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

[SS427]

Oh yeah, I forgot when I ran Annie's (aka Tabatha) '02 ZL-1 against her in Cumby's LS-6. I am sure we were well over the 130 mark on I-72 though the Chevelle was running out of poop by that point................ http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif

[camarojoe]

If you ever read any magazines that do top speed tests, they usaually point out that most car's speedometers are very inaccurate at the upper end of the spectrum, usually on the optimistic side... (speedo reads higher than the car's actual speed) Regardless, any time you get over about a buck twenty things start going by awefully fast... I remember riding in bkh's fathom green Yenko Camaro on the highway at SCR1 doing some sort of crazy speed with the factory tach burying itself repeatedly with each shift on its way to the top end... That L-88 would scream!
http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

[Supercar_Kid]

I'll never forget that ride. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif Makes me think twice when I see the term "adult driven." http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

[supercomp 8.90]

my fastest speed in a door car (67 mustang supergas car was 8.80 @155.00 mph, then may fastest mph in a dragster was one that i tested for a local chassis builder 7.48 @ 180.00 my dragster runs in the 172.00 mph range. http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

[musclcar]

let's see http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hmmm.gif i was a passenger in a modified 69 camaro at the silver state challenge open road race in nevada 5 years ago top speed was about 172mph.i've been clocked @ close to 118mph in a dirt track dwarf car running on a 1/2 mile clay oval.those cars are 1000lbs with a yamaha R1 for power http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

[Donutblue]

Clocked a motorcycle doing 160 MPH once while doing stationary radar, 3:am in the morning. Just reset the radar and went back to my donut and coffee.

[SamLBInj]

Just recently there was a guy on a bike clocked by helecopter at over 205MPH in Michigan http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif Could you imagine getting smacked with a giant june bug or some other flying critter at that speed? http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/no.gif

[kwhizz]

Oh Yeah!!!!! I almost forgot....... I followed Charley on the power tour.......we went XXX M.P.H.


Ken http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif

[SmallHurst]

[ QUOTE ]
99' SS Camaro 155mph+ and all alone on the Kansas Turnpike one time when new. Car & Driver had just tested one, and claimed 162mph?? The car handled worse (kind of floaty), than my Hemi Challenger at speed, so I backed off early. Numerous rice bikes much faster but always with eyes glued to the road.
This is the kicker, the wife who actually drove the SS Camaro everyday, maxed it out racing a car on a deserted stretch of I-55 between Memphis and Cape Girardeau. About a month later, she points out a car on the street, and says "that's the car that I couldn't outrun". The car was a 98'-99' Viper GTS.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Steve,

You always said that your wife was a fast one, but I thought you meant something else! http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

My personal experience: Shortly after I purchased the Hurst, a buddy (also known as my landlord) and I spent an afternoon tuning on it. After doing a wicked 200 ft burnout that was digging up asphalt http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hmmm.gif, he said,"Lets see what this car will really do!" As stated, speedos get real inaccurate at higher speeds, but the speedo was showing over 120 when I looked down after seeing a puff of dust come up off the road (thought it might have been oil smoke so I let out quick!) http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif I have to admit, it can get kind of scary when 4000 lbs is floating around the road!