What is too fast then?

[garethj]

I had a 1973 MG Midget that would do about 90mph, it had the 1275cc twin carb engine and hardly any frontal area so it would fairly zip along.  Unfortunately the limit of human endurance was about 65mph; anything above that and it would rattle like a swine and make so much noise that even ambulance sirens were drowned out.  Perhaps it was too fast?

 

I've had some speedy bikes and found them to be very relaxing to ride, you can cruise at whatever speed you like and still accelerate away like a demon.  The downside is that you can always hear the voice of Alastair Stewart in your head "and watch as the biker does even more reckless speeds"

[wuvvum]

The only car I've ever owned that I was afraid to stamp on the throttle in was the 300ZX.  It was a n/a auto so not even stupidly fast objectively speaking, but when I bought it it had a bent upper wishbone on the back which meant the nearside rear wheel had about 15 degrees of negative camber.  This made its behaviour under hard acceleration interesting, to say the least...

 

Bikes are a different matter.  I'm a bit of a wuss on a bike, and even nailing something like a 600 Bandit in the lower gears is enough to make my sphincter clench.

[warren t claim]

A quick car will hit 60 in 7 seconds, about the same time it takes an average sports bike to pass 100.

[hauserplenty]

I owned an '85 Dodge Diplomat police special once. It had a 318 with a Rochester on it.

It took me a month to get it running right, and then a little while after that to get used to it. But I finally realized that a pursuit car is exactly that. I was following someone, who opened up quite a lead. So I tamped the loud pedal and...caught up right quick. At 65 I only had the pedal halfway down...Too fast for the kind of driving I do. I like the whole idea of arriving at my destination in one piece.

So when gas prices got past the absurd, bankruptcy-inducing OMGPARKITKAOS $3.00 a gallon, I sold it.

 

If a vehicle can travel faster than it was intended to, or is powered beyond its design limits, then I would say it's too fast. If the car is simply built to be driven on a racetrack, and its design limits aren't even approached during a daily commute, then I'd say it's too fast for the street. If I ever got the chance to drive a race car, I'd drive it like I stole it.** Top speed is a bit of a ridiculous stat on its own anyway. 90+ MPH here in the US is not very advisable. After all, racetracks are banked. Interstates are crowned.

There's also a long tradition of "overstuffing" V8 engines into Euro cars, which is likely another reason why people engage in this dubious pursuit:

 

http://www.fantasyjunction.com/cars/388-nash-healey-roadster-cadillac%20v8

 

..."Rocky had the fastest car in town."

 

**That is, after I drove it like I was driving Miss Daisy to the grocery store. 'Cos that's what I'm used to. Otherwise it'd be a case of too much car and not enough driver.  

[New POD]

Stuffing a V8 into a Miata,is just wrong. People try it though...I can't imagine why they think it's a good idea, unless top speed is their only consideration. Besides winning the Grand Prix d'Stopplyte or somat.

 

 

How fast is too fast? How powered is overpowered?

 

 

 

 

I frequent MX5nutz and have followed links to various V8 Miata blogs, and sometimes the engineering is pretty well thought out. But why put a heavier engine in a beautifully balanced car.

I have never (apart from my best man) heard of an MX5 with a broken standard engine, and I'm sure that the 1.6 was built ready for forced induction, such that 180 bhp is available with out difficulty. Most modifiers seem to wreck the balance of the car, by attempting to turn it into a go cart. Lower, wider and harder, might make it better on a track day, but it fecks up a nice Sunday blast on a b road, with a shit road surface.

 

I am more impressed by the Rotory engine conversions  as it's going to be lighter.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Have to agree about the balance of MX5's , putting a 'kin great lump of V8 in one must make it undrivable.. An MX5 with too much power but factory balance and handling on the other hand would be great fun.

I think I've had a taste of what that would be like, by using an MX5 and Eunos on standard tyres in the snow. Over a couple of winters, the Land Rover product and my winter tyred car are invariably snaffled by wife or daughters when the white stuff comes and I act like a child in a rusty Jap bathtub. They rarely get stuck and if they do you can push them easily,but they feel like they've got 300bhp when there's no grip.

[Fat_Pirate]

I am guilty of buggering up my MX5 with 'sports' suspension (and not cheap eBay stuff either, Koni).  While it does have more ultimate grip, driving anywhere near it's limit is foolish as it'll just instantly spin when it does let go.  It's getting new OEM kit next year and hopefully I'll be back to that happy position where you look where you want to go, while turning the steering wheel and modulating the throttle to persuade the vehicle to point in that general direction.  FWD vans are especially good for this, I find...

[Lacquer Peel]

Nissan Vanette 2.3 diesel is too fast for Britain.

[gm]

There was a supercharged mx5 in the ebay thread recently, it belonged to a mate of mine who let me have a go in it - It was bloody quick, that was for sure. I was so close to buying it but really wanted to hang on to my standard(ish) 5 to get involved in hillclimbs and sprints next year. The other issue was it needed a bit of money spending on bodywork which I wasn't keen on.

 

Although the car was basically the same with a quicker engine, it felt totally different - the fun of the mx5 is the chuckability, and if it goes wrong you aren't really going that fast to be in much danger. With the blower, I knew that I would end up in trouble eventually, in much the same way as I don't trust myself to get a motorbike.

 

It appears that the bloke who bought it is selling it on already, I'm still being tempted - if only I could have both

 

 

Still on gumtree

 

http://www.gumtree.com/p/mazda/mx5-mk1-supercharged/1088946758

[bub2006]

Cant say I have owned a quick car myself. Have been a pillion on a zx12 ninja which had been tweeked a bit and it was practically unridable in 30 limit areas. Easily got to double the speed limit two up. As for cars,I have been in a friend of a friends jaguar xjr supercharged. That was silly quick. The most fun I have had though was my reliant robin. About 59bhp which don't sound alot but in something with the weight of a fart it could shift off the Line. Had the speedo touching nearly 110 and that was very scary.

[Forty-two]

What is too fast? Standard Subaru impreza vs what turned out to be an unmarked police car.

 

It is a good story, I may tell it and many of my other being pulled over stories one day.

[Matt]

What is too fast? Standard Subaru impreza vs what turned out to be an unmarked police car.

 

It is a good story, I may tell it and many of my other being pulled over stories one day.

 

Right now sounds like a good idea for the Impreza Vs 5-0 story!

 

I can guarantee stuff like the Ariel Atom could relieve you of your license with absurd ease. I drove the least powerful N/A 125bhp one around Oulton Park in 5th gear only and it easily went from 40mph to ~100mph-120mph on the main straight which includes a pretty hefty hill to climb so what one would be like in the lower gears on public roads really isn't imaginable, what one of the 500bhp models would be like... Fuck knows but I'd love a go in one!

[fordperv]

I have heard mk5 golf's are too fast, they do 132mph under a bridge with an officer standing on top who has a speed gun, then again it may be codswallop

[mouseflakes]

My 1.5D Saxo can be too fast if you don't use the brakes when you should.

[Forty-two]

Right now sounds like a good idea for the Impreza Vs 5-0 story!

 

What is the 'vs' story ?

[Hendry]

I've driven plenty of fast cars but only driven one car which felt TOO fast, a 13 plate Merc CL63 AMG V8 Bi Turbo, at 30mph it felt like I wasn't moving so when I was doing what felt like 30 I was actually doing 50, on a motorway at 70 I had to have the limiter on because the car just felt like it was constantly begging to go faster and stretch its legs.

 

Also because its effectively an S Class Coupe its a big bargr designed for wafting and cruising not getting thrashed I'd imagine due to the power you'd eventually give in and nail it and as it feels like if you tried cornering at 90mph you'd carry straight on I'd imagine sooner rather than later you'd kill yourself.

[Pillock]

89.5mph in a 2002 Sprinter.

Because that's when the oil thins out too much after desperately trying to crack 90mph for most of the way between J30 and J36-ish of the M1 and the engine goes into biscuit-tin-masturbation mode. Which is scary in a hire vehicle. 

[ruffgeezer]

60mph is too fast for a 5 door Ax Gt on a tow rope with with no engine, gearbox or electrics.

 

[cms206]

87mph (indicated) in a P-reg Iveco Daily, 90mph (indicated) in an LDV Convoy, the P in MPH in a Volvo B10M coach... I am more or less fearless when it comes to such things.

[hauserplenty]

^ The P in MPH. Now that's shovelin' coal. Talk about bending needles!

[martybabes]

Not too many years ago, I was invited to accompany a friend who was brake-testing a Group N LHD Subaru Impreza. It wasn't the speed that I found difficult to cope with, it was the rate of acceleration and braking that caused me almost to lose consciousness! The experience was unforgettable, and makes you appreciate the incredible forces that properly tuned or specialist racing cars have (and drivers have to adjust to).

[gordonbennet]

Yes, my lad sold his RA Imprezza a couple of years back, tuned to buggery and running around 330 hp, he drove me in it once, the G forces and the sheer grip available are staggering.

 

By the way talking of speeds, i used to drive a MAN artic in the 80's that was capable of cruising at 95mph                                      so i'm told.

[barefoot]

The bloke on my back bumper is going too fast and the trundling idiot in front is going too slow.

 

I am always right.