Going really really fast in shite

[Jack_Harpers_Teeth]

What's your experience and how fast have you dared to go?

 

Me? 1990 Ford Escort Bonus at 100 + MPH.

 

This is how it went...engine got louder, car gained momentum, speedo reached "OMG" and I ran out of gears (Bonus only had four forward gears).

 

At this point I realised we had indeed reached the magic ton, to which I discovered two things;

 

1) Top lip had become glued to teeth.

 

2) Steering wheel had ceased to be something to steer the car with - it had simply become a device to grip to and hang on.

 

It was pretty scary, I don't think Ford ever thought anyone would attempt to take this model past the 100 mph but I had, a claim to fame?

 

You? and in what?

 

* all on private roads of course.

[triumph1300]

Awesome! My mk4 escort estate made 100. Very loud though! I did have pepperpots on it with wider tyres so it wasn't as hair raising as your experience though

[Lankytim]

I once got an idicated 135 out of a Volvo 940 16v saloon one night on a private road called the M5. It was fine if a little noisy!

 

Again on the M5 I got a ton out of a 1.7 Ital estate. A speed which was only possible with the choke pulled fully out.

[stormee]

210km/h in my BMW with some air in the pedal left. GPS device claimed 203km/h. Not scary at all and totally legal. Gotta try out the 211km/h the car should reach.

[Bobthebeard]

Managed 60 mph in my 944 yesterday. Horrible steering wheel shakes. Guess the wheels need balancing!

[SambaS]

I got an indicated 161KMPH from the Polonez last year, bearing in mind it sounds like it doesn't want to go any faster at 100KMPH I think it did quite well. Also must have been an amusing sight for the cars I overtook.

 

The 1.0 Sambas often hit 100mph too, except for the Style, it tops out at 80mph for some reason.

 

And I got 111mph from the Cabriolet until my vivid imagination got the better of me, but I was trying (and succeeding) to keep up with my mates Audi A4 Quattro at the time

 

*Always, always on a private road of course

[Bobthebeard]

I got an indicated 161KMPH from the Polonez last year, bearing in mind it sounds like it doesn't want to go any faster at 100KMPH I think it did quite well. Also must have been an amusing sight for the cars I overtook.

 

Perhaps they thought the Polonez was possessed by the ghost of a runaway Laguna?

[M'coli]

The speedometer fitted to my 3-speed Raleigh Roadrunner went up to 50 and I got it off the clock once, feet up on the rear carrier and hands on the handlebars tucked under my chin - does this count? Also managed to get a Fiat 126 off the clock too.

[dollywobbler]

An indicated 90mph in a Citroen Dyane downhill on the M40. The car overtaking slowed down to the same speed and looked across in amazement! Dread to think what that did for engine longevity...

 

First time I ever drove at 100mph was in my dad's pre-bubble Rover 414SLi. Terrifying. The steering was lighter than a supermodel. First car of my own I took up to the magic ton was my first BX, an NA diesel. I checked the oil next day and it all seemed to have gone. I didn't try driving it that fast again. Both those naughty speeds were conducted on the A435 Hollywood Bypass in the late nineties.

[skattrd]

Not completely shite, but it was a 20yr old Italian motor at the time ...

I had an indicated 135mph in my old Lancia Thema turbo, the car was quite composed and the steering didn't feel any more vague than usual*

The car was still accelerating, but I bottled it as I had less than half a mile left to stop in. The brakes were very smelly and the discs warped by the time I stopped.

[Jack_Harpers_Teeth]

Enjoying this.

 

Keep 'em coming.

[eddyramrod]

When I was doing a regular 27 mile commute in my Volvo 740 estate, I often got it north of the ton on Private Roads nos 6 and 58 but didn't look at the speedo too closely after that point, as it seemed more important to be looking at the road ahead. But you know, you make your own priorities and sometimes they might not be the right ones...

Slightly short of that speed I would get wheel shake on my MG Maestro, so I never pressed it. But I was doing at least 75* when I killed the rabbit one morning!

 

*Km/h, officer, obviously...

[SambaS]

A lad from the town I live in built this in his spare time.. it's pretty impressive IMO

 

[Bobthebeard]

I once managed an indicated 120 mph in a hire car on the way back from Cornwall. Was overtaking a Range Rover which sped up, leaving me stranded in the outside lane with a car ten feet behind me willing* me to get out of the way. Never again. Was touching cloth until I managed to get back into the relative safety of the middle lane at 80 ish.

[Tonka]

Managed 120 in my '81 528i on a deserted dual carriageway at 3 am, me and a mate had been trying to beat each others 0-60 times and I just kept going....

 

Going through a contraflow carriageway change over point at 90 in a 735 had my arse going in the passenger seat but the best one is watching the speedo needle bouncing about in an MGB Roadster, we had been passed by an M3 and TVR on the M1 and somebody next to me thought he could keep up we were well passed 100 and still accelerating (Oselli engine?) everything was a blur, my eyes were stinging and I couldn't get my breath, what was worse I followed this wire wheeled creation a few weeks later in convoy I saw how much it moved about on it's suspension......

 

Trying to do 100 in my Cortina 1600E was fun but 2 weeks later it failed it's MOT, the front anti-roll bar mount had rotted off and the strut was moving about..............

 

Maybe I'm getting old but nowadays I am happy to plod about in cars that would only break the speed limit dangerously on the back of a fast recovery truck, having said that if I'm out in the Stagea and the lights are on red I always disengage overdrive, stick it in power mode and then launch.................

[Shep Shepherd]

I once did an indicated 130mph in TV2 on an unrestricted section of Autobahn near Suhl in eastern Germany while listening to "Autobahn" by Kraftwerk

[Danblez]

My first experience of speed was in a 1979 (hazy memory) in 2.0Gl Vauxhall Cavalier doing 100mph+. I was 5 and wanted to go faster, my sister who was 7 was balling her eyes out. I remember going so fast that both wing mirros folded in. It felt like we were doing 200mph+ and can still remember the excitement now.

[bub2006]

I regularly used to get between 85 and 95 on a private road if course officer in the little robin. Have seen the clock touch a ton on one occasion and I was scared stupid. Previous owner who did all the little tweaks to it has a photo of the sat nav showing 107. Don't know where or how but his bollocks must be like space hoppers. Had an indicated 120 out the vectra but felt too cosy and quiet in it. Never gave a sense of speed.

[quicksilver]

I've never got over the ton but used to get my 1.1 Fiesta Mk1 up to 80 on a local A-road. Any attempt to make it go faster than that just resulted in more noise and vibration and it was a bit scary given the old Fester's well-known crappy brakes. That wasn't however the scariest experience I had in that car - I had a real brown trouser moment at a legal speed on what IMHO was a stupidly dangerous road but is fortunately now remodelled. Came round a bend at about 50, there being no advance warning of anything out of the ordinary, but instead of the clear road I was expecting, there was a queue of stationary traffic waiting at the lights on a junction. Slammed the pedal to the floor, slid the back end sideways and managed to stop in time, and only then, on the straight bit where you could see exactly what was ahead, was a warning of possible queueing traffic

[Bobthebeard]

All becomes clear now!

Had often wondered where the bits of exhaust system/broken fan belts/ shredded tyres/random broken bolts/rainbow oil stains/lumps of aluminium etc on the side of the road came from.

It's you lot!

[jonny69]

..

[Spiny Norman]

Pretty much every car I ever had I 'max-ed' at some point, though not recently. (Too scared of speed cameras, and a couple of the cars I've had recently were 140+ jobs and I really don't fancy doing that speed anymore, but I've seen 130 once or twice in some newer stuff)

 

I had a Fiat 128 up to about 100 on the clock, screaming its head off in top gear, well over 100 in both Vauxhall Royales, 120 in an E28 5 series but best of all was running my mate's 2CV well off its 70mph speedo, slipstreaming a Volvo estate. He was following in his girlfriend's K11 Micra and I totally lost him for a few minutes!

 

The old Amazon I got up to an indicated 95 once but the din was horrific so I backed off, and the 2 litre 240 auto was I think the only time I ever had my foot clamped to the floor at 100, trying to get more speed out it to get past a truck. That old lady just wasn't for hurrying....

 

I've calmed down a lot now, particularly in towns but it's fair to say in my younger days I drove like my trousers were on fire quite a lot of the time.

[RobT]

In my younger days I did 140mph in a mk2 Golf GTi, t’was late at night on an empty downhill stretch of the M25 near Sevenoaks and I was the only one on the road. I plonked myself in the middle lane and the car felt reasonable stable. I think I backed off in the end as didn’t want to push my luck.

 

Shite-wise, I’ve done 82mph in my 998 miniMetro. Made me wince a bit and all the cheap BL plastics were rattling and making almost as much noise as the engine! 100mph comes all too easily in the 2 litre Monty, but I wouldn’t want to sustain that for too long as it sounds a bit strained. A mk4 1600 Escort was one of the best. The gearing was so tall you could do 100 in top gear and sit like that for ages. Again, this was my younger days. I tend to sit at 65-70 on the M-ways these days.

[TimothyClaypole]

145 in a Corrado VR6, used to consider it a bad commute not to hit 130 on the way to work.

[HMC]

Had an indicated 60mph out of a terminally rotten 425cc 2cv, whilst the 1098 cc minor i had could be made to read 'made in england' with a suitable gradient in its favour.

On the Autobahn (no, i really do mean it) got an indicated 130mph out of my smokey mafia spec w126 420se.....

[Micrashed]

Managed an indicated 120 in a Rover 216GSi once (on the Autobhan officer)

 

Managed an indicated 80 in a 1989 Fiesta 1.1 before there was a loud bang then several smaller bangs, followed by a sound not unlike a machine gun going off coupled with the M55 vanishing in a cloud of smoke as the contents of both water jacket and sump were dumped down the 'zorst.

 

As a rule though I dont like caning it in cars.

[rover420]

Saw an indicated 145mph in my mums 1980 XJS V12 on a private road between Ipswich & Colchester a few years ago. I swear I could see the fuel gauge going down.

 

Shes still got the XJS but its sat in a barn for the past 5 years

[autofive]

[dollywobbler]

Quite right A5. Have some entirely legal takes instead.

 

Once did 45mph in an Austin Seven. Now that really is terrifying! Especially as it didn't have coupled brakes. You had to use the handbrake to slow down as well. Apparently, that one would quite happily do 70! Not with me driving.

 

I still remember me and a friend having a drag race on the A38 in Derbyshire many moons ago. I was in my 2CV with three people, he was in a Metro 1.0HLE with four up. We were like artics overtaking on the A14. The people behind must have been livid. Eventually the extra torque of the Metro made the difference and he edged in front. He might have nudged 70 but I didn't quite get there. Not long after that, the 2CV blew its swan neck exhaust section and sounded like a Cessna.

 

Similarly, me and a friend ended up head to head at a Run What Ya Brung at Santa Pod in our 2CVs. He dropped some octane booster into his and beat me by 0.3secs. We had terminal speeds of 48mph. The headwind that day did us no favours. I later raced an Audi S3, which got to 100mph by the end. I gave up at that point. 2CVs are crap for drag racing!

[trigger]

I've done 60mph along the busy A12 once in a Honda Ballade with no windscreen, that was pretty terrifying having stones and flies smacking you in the face.