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Re: Question for Speeders
In article <Pine.OSF.3.91.950528190335.28486D-100000@paul.spu.edu>, Dai F Toyama <borap@paul.spu.edu> writes:
>
>The part of the express way is designed for speeds up to 140-150 km/h
>under normal circumstances. The speed limit is 100 km/h. As it turned
>out, more than 90 % of the monitors didn't go beyond the average of 120
>km/h. It goes to show that people tend to consider their driving skills
>and/or the car's capability when driving.
>
>If I were to drive on Autobahn (no-speed-limit area) in my GS-R, I would
>probably stay within 180 km/h most of the time. I know my car is rather
>a sprinter than a marathon runner. I don't think I'm capable of handling
>180+ km/h for hours and hours either. :-(
I will have to slightly disagree. I recently returned from a European
vacation and put on over 2,500 kilometers on the autobahn in a week and a
half. Most of the driving was on unlimited roads and about 10% was in areas
with speed limits of 120 and even 100 in urban areas (for those of you who
don't do the math quickly: 160KPH=100MPH and 96KPH=60MPH).
My wonderful 4-cylinder, 5 speed Opal Cadet was just right for me. I started
the trip only doing 140 or so because I wanted to get comfortable driving
in a foreign area (signs, directions, reading maps, new car, etc.). When I
decided to step it up, driving 160 (100MPH) was very fun - especially because
I wasn't looking over towards my radar detector all the time. I'd never
driven over 80MPH before this BTW. I started to feel comfortable and tried
to speed up and could only do 180 without blowing a piston through the hood
of my car (got to 190KPH once for a VERY short period of time, but the car
was going to blow!). I felt cruising at 180 KPH (112 MPH) was more
than enough...
Soon after I returned, some freaking kid decided to take away my oldsmobile
from me by using my trunk to save on his brake pads! Ouch! I replaced
my Oldmosbile Cutlas Cierra which shaked and shimmied at 75 MPH with a
brand new Ford Probe. When I left the lot, without even knowing it, I was
driving 85 - not even close to driving fast in this car. Since then, I've
been at 110 with ease a couple of times with tons of RPM's to spare.
i can tell you that without a doubt - if they lifted the speed limits in the
states, I'd be dead within a week! i think some of the major interstates could
be retrofitted and have their limits raised to 100 MPH without a problem,
but I would be willing to bet that half the cars on the road couldn't go that
fast! it would be a very dangerous transition to even a 75 limit because
there would be so many people who would drive slow in the Rh lanes and then change to
the fast lane!
That was my biggest fear over there - what to do if someone changes lanes
right into your path at 115 MPH! My next trip in September will see me
renting a BMW, not an Opal, and with Gods grace I will retrun to this
newsgroup to tell you the results :)
Caleb
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