During my wayward youth, 140-145 on a '84 900 Ninja (hard to tell exact mph with the vibration). Just off I-5 on the 405 heading towards the Bothell Everett Highway, back when there was no real traffic along that route (about 1991).
160 on an L.A. freeway in a Testarossa-no, I wasn't driving and yes, I was scared shitless. Took my 91 year old mother through the gears and up to a quick 110 in my CTS-V (hey, she wanted to ) then to 125 with my brother suffering with ALS-his last real ride. Had the car 8 months with no tickets-sold it, figuring my luck couldn't hold out much longer.
Raced my boss back when i was 19yrs old, he had a porsche and i had a 75 mustangII with a 302 he said he was at 140mph when i passed him.....Downtown two lane street! Some wont believe me but I was the one with my ass squeezing the seat to hold on. But young and dumb was fun while it lasted!
1962 leaving Ft.Polk, La. (Berlin-Cuba Crisses) I was driving a 1959 Jaguar S ( three carburators) Just masaged by two European Master Mechanics at Over Seas Mortors in Ft. Worth, Texas. I told them to make it run so that no Corvette would out run me. Well guess what showed up in my rear view mirror , yes a 1960 Corvette. I kicked it up to 100 and he started to pass and pulled up to about even and the Jaguar simply walked away from him. Futher down the road , we both stopped and I ask him how fast was he going. He stated he was going 140 on his speedometer as was I showing in the Jag. Needless to say the Jag was at least 15 MPH faster. This is my story and I am sticking to it.
120 in a V8 Falcon as a passenger, and 600 in an airplane on trips to Australia and back. I love how the screens in the back of the seat have a speed reading. I guess planes kinda dont count, but i thought it was pretty neat.
My 1965 Pontiac Bonneville four door (stock 389 except for the carb/TH400/2,56 rear) would run off the end of the speedo in less than a mile from a standing start. I had a tach on it for a while and the best I saw was 4300 rpm in top, which I reckoned was around 130mph. I had a modified 455 in it for a while which made it 1.6 seconds (14.1 vs 15.7) quicker over the 1/4 but never took the opportunity to try out the top end. Possibly any more than 130 it might have got a bit unstable. Whereas the 389 was all out at 5000, the 455 came alive at that level and went strongly on to 6,000 but with the stock rods I figured that was enough. With the stock 2.56 rear it would terminal the quarter mile at 6000 in second. About 35 years ago I had a drive of a 3.8 Jaguar Mk2 automatic. I was impressed that it did 110 mph quite easily, cross ply tyres and all! A friend owned a very tidy low mileage 1958 Jaguar 2.4 automatic at the time and we took it out to try it for top speed. After about 2 miles it finally just exceeded 100mph. I test drove a demonstrator H***a Accord V6 in about 2000 that an aquaintance was considering buying. I was impressed that the engine was silent up to 5700 rpm (max about 6200). I slipped it down to 3rd at 100kph (60mph) and nailed it and it just accelerated quickly with no drama to just over 6200rpm (200pkh on the speedo). I ran out of road so did not try top gear. I also tried a Ford Telstar TX5i auto (a M***a 626 hatchback clone). With its 2 1/2 litre V6 it would do 180kph at 6800 in 3rd but did not have enough torque when dropped into the long 4th to accelerate with any urgency. There is no doubt that most of the more mechanically sophisticated moderns are as quick or quicker than the old muscle cars, but there is nothing like brute force and ignorance and lots of cubic inches - and the sound of a big V8.
There was a good story in one of the English motoring mags in the 1980s where three writers drove three different new Lamborghinis from Italy back to England. There was one incident where they came up behind a Jaguar which accelerated to its maximum (maybe 145+?) whereupon the Lamborghinis then shifted into top gear and went past him. Maybe an Aussie reader can find their copy of the Wheels magazine from about 1971 where they road tested the Falcon GTHO. There is a great photo shot from the back seat of the HO's speedo showing about 140. I think there was something in the story about the testers finding themselves with 200 miles from where they had to return the car and 2 hours to get there. They did it. Whether it was true or not, it made a great story. Another good magazine story from about 1963 was a road test of a Maserati 5000GT which did about 170mph(?) on the autostrada in Italy.
140 MPH in a 1988 Mazda 626 between the mountian ranges in Alaska. I was heading down to Anchorage to pick-up my mother from the airport. WHAT A RUSH!!!
Certified @ 135.4 in my non HAMB friendly "SUV". I saw 141 on the GPS for max speed during race, rules said I couldn't go over 140mph. I had a lot of throttle left, not sure how much pucker factor was left though but I do know I was not out of it yet.
Go ahead and laugh, 45mph approx in Mothers Suzuki station wagon. Note that the car was going about that speed when she put into the back of a highway patrol car.
185 on my 07 GSXR 1000. The bike is so smooth its like it didnt even happen until you lift. Then you start to slow at an incredible rate. I love that machine.
67 Impala 283, one lonely night on the two-lane blacktop I took it to 100. She needed the whole road at that speed. I sure would like to go full throttle but I don't know where I'd find a road wide enough! When I was about 10 my Dad had a 69 Mach 1 clone with a 302, with me riding shotgun he raced a Nova. I know we hit 100. I had an 87 Dakota V6 and a guy at work had a 66 C-10 with a 6. One afternoon we ended up both going full throttle. Very well matched, neither of us could pull away from that rolling start. 85mph!
Fastest for me was at Daytona a few years ago. I got up to 147 mph after seven laps and then they waved me off because it was my first time trying it and they told me they did not want me to go over 150 mph. On the lap when they waved me off they told me I would have been in the mid to high 150 range. This was a great experience with the Richard Petty Experience program. Jimbo
i agree that the tire thing sounds far fetched and doing that speed on a public road is a little fishy . but 176mph in an srt8 jeep is do able. there some badass machines. there are 2 or 3 at my local drag strip that consistently walk around vettes and run mid to high 11s with not much modification. there nasty as shit, and real sleepers
Customer Satisfaction Campaign # 2006-28: Goodyear Eagle RSA EMT Tires Date: 10/25/2006 The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is announcing a Customer Satisfaction Campaign for Eagle RSA EMT tires fitted as Original Equipment on 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 models. Tires: Front Axle: 255/45R20 101W S2 Eagle RSA EMT VSB RPTL p/n 474-565-372 Rear Axle: 285/40R20 104W S2 Eagle RSA EMT VSB RPTL p/n 474-566-372 Potential number of vehicles affected: 3,257 and if your local track is cecil then it might be my jeep that youy see!
Maine Turnpike a few years back, A little over 180 in fourth, fifth gear still to go in my buddys Lambo Diablo and it did it without hesitation and wanted more. Im thinking it will do the 205 its rated for!
146 on 160 speedo 1970 Pontiac Grand Prix,400/400 Heading up to NE Dragway, got passed by a Vette like I was standing still
Was taking my brother in-laws car to the shop because "it wasn't running right". I was on the freeway doing 70-75, and I decided to give the pedal a little blip, next thing I knew I was over 130 in nothing flat...in this, powered by this, 625 HP in 2450 lbs.
145 on a Ninja, 160 in a Porsche, and first time in the triple digits was in a 66 mustang with a 200 I6 in it. That was by far the scariest of all...
Hmmm?? A 'buck thirty-plus' - several times - in the early '70's as a passenger in my high school buddy's over-cammed, over-carbed and under-muffled, '61 Pontiac 4-dr sedan. Other than the engine - that we had just built-, the rest of the car was a rusted, worn-out pile of junk and an absolute deathtrap - and it's a wonder the thing didn't kill us both. A buck thirty-plus - driving a 'rented from a used car rental place'eek '70 472-inch Cadillac Coupe de Ville while racing a guy in brand new '79 Corvette on 69 Highway in Northern Ontario at 3AM. We were side by side at about 130 , with cars both strung right out...until I reached over and shut the air conditioner off in the Caddy and slowly pulled past him! Exactly 102 mph - just to see if the truck would actually do it - at the bottom of "Cabbage" at Deadman's Pass on I-84 in Oregon. 102 mph wouldn't normally be considered 'fast' as far as topenders go .....except that I was driving an '87 Freightliner, pulling a 53 ft. long reefer and grossing 74,000 lbs at the time - and I was coming off of "Cabbage" - probably the longest, steepest and absolutely squireliest downgrade anywhere on the entire U.S Interstate highway system! Mart3406 =======================
The Jalopy Journal
