What is it like to go 175mph plus?

I've gone 175 in my 911 TT and 180+ in my supercharged Viper and 150+ on multitudes of other cars but...... I will think twice after seeing these pics, enjoy......
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I still don't get it... is that some kind of bird or what ?

somewhere I have a pic of a bird smashed into a motorcycle's tiny windshield ..
rider said it felt like being shot

 

Here's how it happened.........
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On public roads ?!?...how about criminally stupid...

 

It used to be a pheasant.

 

Viper.

Yes, you should.

 

Yeah, bird strikes in a small plane are a problem also. Not common, but not unheard of. On the ground you're likely to hit smaller, low-flying birds (pheasants, etc). Up high, you get geese & ducks. Much heavier and sure to ruin your day.

Of course, most people don't hit birds in cars at freeway speeds. Probably due to 1) slower speeds (<70MPH) allows birds time to avoid, 2) heavy traffic flow scares birds out of the area, etc.

 

As long as your vehicle is engineered to do these speeds then it's pretty much like going 120 only faster. I've exceeded it on my bike, and have the following to say:

The compromises that you put up with at lower speeds suddenly all make sense. The suspension which seemed unecessarily hard at <90mph, feels supple and well controlled at twice that speed.
The acceleration tails off and the last 10 mph takes a long distance to get to.

Simply lifting off the throttle has the same effect as hitting the brakes at lower speeds, you loose speed very quickly but you are still covering an awful lot of ground doing it. In fact coming to think about it, I don't think I've every needed to use my brakes at more than 130?

Which brings me neatly onto anticipation...you need to look a lot further ahead obviously! If you're doing it properly, you generally will have time to avoid stationary hazards.

I tend not to maintain the really high speeds for long, because generally you will see something ahead that makes you want to back off just in case. It's only rarely that you get a completely free road and you can really max it out.

Finally, when I am maxed out, a sense of calmness descends. Your mind is completely focused on the here and now, so all the day to day things that you might normally worry about are forgotten. It's just you, the machine and the road.

 

190mph in a GTP twin turbo 12 Jaguar on the strait at Roebling. Tunnel vision is how I can best describe it. Plus I put a nice notch in back of my new Simpson helmet where it hit the roll bar just out of turn 8.

 

Sometimes I get the Batmobile going so fast that I have to call onstar to find out where I am.

 

No way! You're messin' with me! The 3rd gen' was totally stable! Take over those winter tires!

 

Now you know ninja.

 

martin brundle drove the xj220 to 217mph at nardo, and the bonnet hinges stretched!scary

 

LMAO, I didn't realize you were a Murcielago owner.

 

I have a built GT2 (592hp)that has seen 203mph with me at the wheel. This was done on a race track. I'm with you, my 91 TR turns a lot of heads, but I have not driven anything (including the 612)that even gets close to the performance and handeling of the GT.

 

I have my long course license (+175mph) at Bonneville, on a bike

Its really trippy. Over 150 you start to float a little. the bike doesnt lighten up, or start to "fly", but there is a loss of "feel" between you and the salt. You start "piloting" the bike moreso than riding it.

LITTLE things make a BIG difference at that speed.

arch yer back, gain or lose a few MPH. Tuck a knee in tighter and faster you go. Put yer head sideways on the tank (so you are looking 90 degrees to the path you are traveling) and you gain LOTS of speed (at least with the aero package I was running) but its scary as ****e to do.

Fun stuff, but definitely scary.

 

I went 150 mph for about 45 minutes driving in Germany from Hamburg to the East Sea at night in my friend's mercedes S class. Car drove like it was going 65 mph. The only difference is that the dotted lines on the road quickly become solid lines. And, oh yeah my wife sitting in the back seat got sick after we arrived at our destination!

A few months ago I was going 168mph in my friends SL55amg mercedes with the top down. We were "racing" a Viper at night over a bridge in Florida, car still had power left but we had to stop as the toll booth came closer and closer.. BTW we beat the viper hands down. he looked pretty stunned.
gordon

 

by the way, where do you guys drive this fast? Except for the track of course...
thanks
gordon

 

There is a road we go to about 50 miles north of LA (Camarillo). It's wide open through an onion field with no intersecting roads.

We call it the "Onion Road"

 

How long is it? I may have to take a detour that way next time I head into California.

 

5 miles...with two biiiiiiiiiig sweepers!

 

120 mph in an 88 300SEL, thats scary
140 mph in a 95 E320, scary, but mostly wind noise, and lots, and lots, of wheel movement
160 mph in a 94 E500, was, well, like going 90, couldnt tell except for the minor wind noise from the right side mirror, then "slowed" down to 140, or at least tried to, scary part like most say is the stopping distance... very scary....

 

That ain't nothin'.
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