Irresponsible thread – how fast…….

Tom B – Member

I’ve done 90 once or twice when I was a teenager

Really?

For anyone that knows it – the A6 out of Bakewell towards Rowsley/Matlock, the first serious corner (left hander before Haddon Hall), I did 90mph round that corner in my Fiesta Supersport as a teenager. By god that car handled well!

On four wheels: 180mph+ (All in a days work, all risk-assessed etc, and get paid for it)

On Two: 150ish. I do it for free 🙂

Once worked a Farnborough and needed to hire an unmarked van. We got an Escort 1.6 van, speedo was showing 128 on the way home and lots of expensive cars were narked at us flashing them to get out of the way.

147mph in a Boxster S with the roof down between Bristol and Bath.
Not mine, but borrowed by one of the sales crew from Porsche Bristol for the weekend so I took it out to loon before cooking a BBQ on a cracking summer day. The thing that amazed me was quite how calm she was in the passenger seat while I drove the nuts off it. Turns out I was ‘quite slow’ on my test drive!

Over the cat and fiddle with a colleague who was an ex-rally driver in an Opel Manta.
I don’t think the speed was *that* high, but the speed around the corners was 😯 😯 😯

Buttertubs Pass, Yorkshire Dales.

Within the speed limit – but SO much fun!

Public road fastest was the only time I’ve ever doubled the speed limit, 200kph (125mph) in a Ford Falcon V6 4.0 rental in Australia on a single carriage way road, it was rather straight and empty. Couldn’t wind the Patrol we had in the outback up to the same speed.

Over all fastest 140ish on the Millbrook bowl in some Alfa saloon.

Scariest, around 100mph offorad on narrow tree lined rough tracks. Comp safari FTW 😀

Over the cat and fiddle with a colleague who was an ex-rally driver in an Opel Manta.

Proper road that. Lived around there for a number of years and drove it many times, great fun. Now spoilt by average speed camera 🙁

Yes really 🙂

I’ve owned 4 cars since I passed my test 9 years ago:

J Reg 998c Fiesta (most underpowered car ever!)
T Reg 1.3 Mitsubishi Space Star (still pretty slow)
54 Plate 1.6 Space Star (again not rapid)
59 Plate 1.5 dci Qashqai N-tec (like a small lorry-I chuffin love it!)

Never really had a car capable of regularly (if ever) topping a ton. As I said before, I don’t have any desire to now. As long as you guys are doing it on quiet roads with no-one around then it doesn’t bother me one way or another.

About 300km/h on a test track in a BMW M5, moved to the passenger seat and it then did over 320km/h.

Around 175mph on the Autobahn in a BMW Z3M Coupe I owned a few years ago, now got a Z4 Coupe and that will bounce off the speed limiter at an indicated 160mph, that’s as high as the speedo goes.

I do find that laps of the Nuerburgring is much more fun than flooring it down the Autobahn.

I’ve done 52mph along the Rochdale canal on a souped-up water ski boat. That was a bit silly – 13 times the limit beat that in your M5!

Had the needle swinging from 55-70mph in a Morris Minor running 145 x 14 on the M5!

Ha! My ’55 split-screen Moggy couldn’t go faster than 70, the gearing wouldn’t let it! Remember doing 70 on Pendine Sands once I got past the ranger trucks in the Mog, great fun. Had a 1300 A-series in it, with huge Riley drums on the front and a van rear axle after I popped the ends off of the half-shafts dropping the clutch a bit hard coming out of a pub car park. Had 185-70-13’s on 5½J 8-spoke alloys. Great little car, huge fun to drive, had Koni dampers fitted, handled pretty well around the lanes.

I used to work for the company that installed average speed cameras – heard the ones over the Cat & Fiddle are un-enforceable, due to the Cheshire turn off (and also the subsequent short-cuts) to Macc.

Car – speedo reading of 120. It doesn’t sound much but felt plenty in a TR7 especially airborne over a hump back bridge.

Motorbike – 157 was the most I got from a geared down rsv1000r.

Of course I’ve been faster in a jet while watching a film and eating dinner but it wasnt as much fun.

Had the motorbike at 130, felt like it was going to fire pistons out of the top of the engine, very nearly revved out in top. Didn’t quite have the power to limit out though.

(on my driveway, obviously)

Haven’t tried the new car, not sure I will, it’s good up to the speeds I usually go. In theory should be good for a little over 140mph, but meh.

It doesn’t sound much but felt plenty in a TR7 especially airborne over a hump back bridge.

That sounds pretty hair-raising to me! 55 in one felt plenty enough to me along the flat.
I did once have a weightless experience as a wee un when we drove over a hump back bridge in an unladen lorry. I went flying up to the top of the cab while my dad had the wheel to hang on to.

High speed in a straight line is pretty boring really, not much skill required at all.

I’ve done 200 in an R34 Skyline, on a dual carriageway. That in itself was quite impressive, but the really impressive thing was getting there, from standstill in 18 seconds! 6 seconds after that, was stationary again!

Back in the days of quieter roads and no speed cameras, I used to do some crazy stuff. I would regularly do snake pass, each way between the national speed limit signs early in a morning in around 8-9 mins in an old imprezza, regularly hit 160 in places, probably averaged 90 odd.

Had a white Astra van when I passed my test, would just about hit 70 in 2nd, not bad for a 1.3! Onceout at an indicated 140 down a very steep hill on the way to llandudno, 4 up! Loved that van.

180 with the roof down in my dad’s Bentley GTC was a good laugh too.

My granddad used to tell me a story regularly about 2 lads leathering a relient Robin up and down southport beach, hit one of the run off gullys at about 70, he reckons it rolled at least 25 times and only stopped about 300 yards further on. He thought they both survived!

a range of mildly quick mass market stuff (ST200, Vectra turbo, Passat V6, Leon Cupra etc) pinned flat out all completely legally courtesy of my employer.

All a bit meh compared to my R1.

indicated 120 in car
indicated 160 on bike
not indicated, but worked out from rev counter ‘close’ to 110in double decker bus, speedo only goes up to 80.
then i saw a camera van, i was clenched for a few days after that, i can tell you.
(down a massive hill, buses have speed limiters fitted which cut in at 62mph)

344kph, or 213.7mph.

I once owned a ‘very’ fast R33 GTR…

100+ in various rally cars on driving courses in my youth but by far the scariest was getting up to the national speed limit on the M58 very early one morning in my first car, one of the original 2CV6 Charleston special editions. 1980 vintage or thereabouts.

The time from 0-70 was measured in minutes and you knew you were getting close when not only did the canvas roof start to flap but the suction from the air passing the slab sided body started to pull and twist the upper section of the front doors away from the body allowing a fine and bracing breeze into the car and contributing a significant airbrake effect thus further prolonging the final push to 69.9mph. The time spent at anything over 60mph was limited by how long you thought the somewhat flimsy door catches were likely to stand the upper edge of the door being twisted 2-3cm away from the door frame.

Of course this degree of speed was only achievable with a clear run of more than 2 miles, a rolling start, a downhill slope and a favourable wind.

I used to work for the company that installed average speed cameras – heard the ones over the Cat & Fiddle are un-enforceable, due to the Cheshire turn off (and also the subsequent short-cuts) to Macc.

That was the case initially, but I believe the issues have been sorted now. Maybe the addition of more frequently placed cameras (there are certainly plenty of them) to capture speed along segments with no turn offs.

I touched 100mph in a 950cc Fiesta on the M40 going down that long hill eastbound somewhere in the midlands.

about 135. on the back of my mate’s motorbike in the south of france, wearing 2 prs of jeans and 3 coats as I didn’t own any leathers – and we were overtaken by a lad and his girlfriend 2 p on a bike doing about 150-160, both in shorts and vests

got my mini clubman up to indicated 100 once (long downhill on the M62, presumably following wind)

havent been over a hundred for many years now

I remember being very pleased to get my orrible 125 over the limit on the 60mph road on my commute. Course, it was probably overreading by about 10mph but still- flat on the tank, flat sticked, down a massive hill. Felt faster than going twice as quick on the 650

Okay, I’ll play.

I’d had my Golf 16v for three days at the age of twenty three when a copper jumped out of a hedge with a speed gun and pointed it at me. He didn’t look happy at all, for I was doing thirty on the nose. Getting points on my license would have made my pride and joy uninsurable, so forays beyond the speed limits were few and far between. I just chose my driving roads with great care.

However. A week later I decided to see how fast my Golf could go. The book top speed for a Mk2 16v was 121mph, but I’ve met owners who’ve claimed to have had 140mph from a well run in example. I doubted this, but one evening temptation got the better of me and I gave it some beans. Despite running on unleaded petrol (the 16v goes much better on four star), I had 132 on the speedo before I backed off. There was plenty more to come from it, but the point was made and I never ventured beyond the ton in it again.

The fastest I’ve ever been in a car was about 140 in the passenger seat of my brother’s 200SX, but I think I may have been faster when I let a mate play with my Alfa V6. He claims to have not exceeded 120, but I maintain he was going quicker – but you can’t see the speedo from the passenger seat.

Hit 100 in a 0.9ltr Fiat Chiquecento (inbetweeners car) with 3 of us once, was absolutely mental!
Been over a humpback bridge at 120mph before with my dad in a vauxhall vectra 2.0 turbo and it felt like we were flying for hours!
Fastest I’ve been in a car was in a Mitsubishi evo at 130mph 🙂

I was driven to Berlin last year by a friend of mine’s driver in a souped up Audi. The fastest I saw the clock was 260kmh. The other cars going the same way were literally a blur and if someone decided to pull out in front of us there is no way the driver could have reacted in time. I sat there gripping the roof handrail for dear life trying to exude nonchalance. Only good thing it took less than an hour to get to the airport rather than the 1hr 40 it usually takes.

Over the cat and fiddle with a colleague who was an ex-rally driver in an Opel Manta.

Proper road that. Lived around there for a number of years and drove it many times, great fun. Now spoilt by average speed camera

That would be the notorious accident blackspot where a cyclist was killed last year?

Silverstone would be spoiled by an average speed camera. I’m not sure a public road is.

^ that and air over a hump back bridge on a public road are you kidding me!

Track days are another matter 🙂 and I’ll take fun in the corners over peak speed alll day long thanks (or I would if I could still afford such an expensive hobby). Quite happy making legal smooth progres away from the track.

I once went 194mph in a Porsche GT2 on the 2 mile runway at Bruntingthorpe. It was so composed that I actually managed to take a picture of the speedo on my phone at the same time. Yes, really.

I ran out of runway before the car ran out of puff – it was still accelerating convincingly when I started braking. As it happens I stopped with loads of room left before the end of the runway, but it was a little tricky to judge the braking distance from that speed and I’m not sure the highway code gives a specific guideline on how many yards it takes to brake from north of 190!

All good fun, but I can’t imagine how outrageously over confident / incredibly dumb you’d have to be to go a similar speed on a public road… http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/7009923.stm – the statistics about how many car lengths you miss when blinking are pretty nuts too.

I once went 194mph in a Porsche GT2 on the 2 mile runway at Bruntingthorpe.

Sweet. What were the upgrades?

All good fun, but I can’t imagine how outrageously over confident / incredibly dumb you’d have to be to go a similar speed on a public road… http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/7009923.stm – the statistics about how many car lengths you miss when blinking are pretty nuts too.

The world does go by VERY quickly at 170mph+ on the roads… i used to do it often on bikes as a badge of honour when one of us got a new 1000cc sportsbike (or even a 1300cc)… However looking back now… it wasn’t my brightest ever move.

No upgrades – it was totally standard.

(by the way, it wasn’t a standing start on the runway – you can come on to the runway at about 80mph or so as there is a “loop”)

here is the picture by the way… here

You’ll have to forgive the slightly rubbish picture, but i didn’t have time to concentrate on it very hard. Or look at the screen. Or even know for sure if it was turned on… but you can just about make it out!

My boss isn’t a member here so I can admit to an indicated 120 in his ex SAS ‘team car’ Range Rover V8. Took a bit of getting there but the only thing that wasn’t stable about it at that speed was the fuel gauge.
My own civvy one with nominally the same engine topped out at just over an indicated 100.

No upgrades – it was totally standard.

*is suitably impressed*

Speeding has no bearing on ‘incidents’ — thats what all the apologists say!

Fine on a ‘racetrack’- i have no qualms about people risking their own, but involving unwitting folk should be a no no —

110 in my BMW 118D – quite fast enough for me…

I actually agree, although i’d temper this by saying that I’d consider mindless speeding to be more dangerous that considered, premeditated, how-fast-will-it-go, middle-of-the-night speeding.

By this I mean it winds me up when people drive fast down residential roads and through car parks in the middle of the day. Equally old people that drive at 50 mph everywhere winds me up too.

Now, on a motorbike i have regularly seen the naughty side of 150mph, rude not to when the bike gets there so easily and quickly

Indeed. That’s a good part of the reason why I don’t own a 180bhp sports bike. If you’ve got a gun, one day you’re gonna pull the trigger, so to speak……]