Participate in my poll........How fast have you ever DRIVEN a vehicle?

Darwin............ he wins about 80% of the time.

it's all the rest of us can really hope for................ well that and one of these yokels screaming "hey ya'll watch this" not taking us with them.............

Originally Posted by quackbury

The tires are almost never the issue.

Any moron can go a buck 25 on the Garden State Parkway. That takes zero skill. To me, it's infinitely more rewarding to get through Big Bend, the Keyhole, the 90, or the turn at Daytona that leads from the infield onto the banking, in a 4 wheel drift, feet dancing back and forth across the pedals, and hands working the wheel to keep the contact patches right on the edge.

Back in the day when we had the contract with Mercedes for their dealer ride and drive events, I was the guy who always took the 190E or 300D out for hot laps. Sure the S600's made gobs of torque and could pin you back inyour seat, but I found it much more fun to wring every last bit of performance out of the car with the skinny tires and the most anemic engine.

That, to me, is the most rewarding. It's all about the driver, not the size of the motor or the tune on the chip.

tell me more about Daytona. i'll be there at the end of the month. first time driving there.

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

Like I said, I don't really disagree with you.

I guess at the end of the day, what is the point of owning any high performance DD vehicle like our +400 hp rides??? If you're not ever going to push them, why own them, save for a few track days a year?

Hey, I never said anything about not pushing them. I certainly didn't get the M3 just because I wanted to work on my skin cancer! But I can have a lot of fun pushing my cars through off ramps without going over 100, or driving beyond 8/10ths.

My perspective is colored by experience. I started instructing for PCA (Porsche Club of America) in the mid 80's. I had the "pleasure" on several occasions of riding shotgun with orthodontists and chiropractors who had just gotten 911 Turbos as male menopause presents. Ever experienced TTO in a first generation 930 with a novice driver who is in WAAAAAAYYYY over his head? It is a life changing experience.

I am in the process of teaching my teenage daughter how to drive, and am reminded every day how steep the learning curve is, and how much car control you need to have before you are even close to reaching the plateau.

Beyond 100mph, shyte just happens too fast for most people to manage. And just because you CAN drive a hundred and twenty, doesn't mean you SHOULD.

Soap box retired now for the evening.

and just a side note here.

in the last ten days i have had two friends hospitalized for spinal surgery due to automobile accidents. one was due to hydroplaning and backing a late model mustang into a tree and the other was in a NASA race due to brake failure @ approxiametely 130 mph.

both of these guys are very lucky to have survived but both face many weeks if not months of PT and recovery. if you think you are safe blasting down the road at 130 with the likelihood of deer jumping in front of you i would suggest a full cage, a HANS device with race seat and harnesses. you might actually survive the crash / rollover / tree.....................

Originally Posted by soldmystang

tell me more about Daytona. i'll be there at the end of the month. first time driving there.

What are you running? The place is insanely fun.

I always found the hardest part was disciplining your eyes on the banking. The dashed white line curves up and disappears in the top left corner of your windshield. You see no horizon, just asphalt. It takes superhuman effort to force your eyes to keep focusing down the road, rather than getting transfixed by the white line zipping toward you at an insane speed. Ocular driving is always key, but my feeling is its more important at Daytona than at anywhere else I've driven.

The thing I enjoyed most was the exit from the infield onto the banking. It's a double radius. You can get a little crazy sliding through there, knowing that the car will build more adhesion and hook up as you slide up the banking. Lots of fun to experiment with different lines and braking points, since the banking gives you a bigger safety margin than your mind initially wants to believe.

Have a blast!

thanks. i have driven Rockingham & Charlotte so i understand the "wall of concrete" thing.

ChumpCar, Nissan 240SX. at least it is RWD.

I was younger and dumber but I had a couple of vettes that I would street race and I recall I topped out in my old '91 at 154 or somewhere about there. Again, it wasn't safe but it had the illusion of being safe. We ran on the Robert Moses Causeway, which had 2 lanes in either direction separated by a wide island & divider. It ran almost perfectly straight along a barrier island beach for 15-20 miles and was deserted during the winter months. That was as safe as you could get for a stupid teen running at 150+ on Long Island, NY. The good old days... glad I survived them.

I've ridden 120+ many times on my Motorcycle on a straight paved roads in the country, where I have a good line of sight, but never for more than about 30 seconds... you really feel the tar strips, as the suspension doesn't react fast enough at that speed. I can't imagine riding at that speed for any period of time.

I had my X5 up to about 105 on a Texas Interstate once, but really didn't see the point, as in an enclosed vehicle it's not nearly as fun as simply taking a 25 mph curve at 30 mph, or just driving through mountain twisties at a moderate rate of speed.

In the 1990's I rode in a Mercedes on the Autobahn while on business at 140-150 MPH, but that seemed more tedious than exciting as the biggest thing was just overtaking slower vehicles on the road. I guess I just don't get much out of going fast on a straight road.

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

I guess at the end of the day, what is the point of owning any high performance DD vehicle like our +400 hp rides???

You don't have to routinely cruise at 3 digit speeds to "use" all the HP. A lot of people like the HP as they get a thrill out of the acceleration, not cruising at some high speed. I get a kick out of my high HP to weight motorcycles, but I use the HP for acceleration, not top speed. It's way more exciting, to me, to power-out of a curve with a lot of HP on tap, than to just cruise at some 3 digit speed.

But to each his, or her, own...

Stupid BMW!!!!!! Why not limit our cars top speed to 85 mph NOT 130 - 155!!!! LOL!!!!

Originally Posted by Kzang

Stupid BMW!!!!!! Why not limit our cars top speed to 85 mph NOT 130 - 155!!!! LOL!!!!

why should BMW interfere with your right to thin the herd and increase the overall intelligence of the gene pool?

Originally Posted by soldmystang

why should BMW interfere with your right to thin the herd and increase the overall intelligence of the gene pool?

Because their research has shown that- based on the average age of BMW drivers- it would be too late.... the majority had ALREADY passed on their genetic contributions..

Originally Posted by ard

Because their research has shown that- based on the average age of BMW drivers- it would be too late.... the majority had ALREADY passed on their genetic contributions..

sad but true i am sure................

Originally Posted by quackbury

The tires are almost never the issue.

Any moron can go a buck 25 on the Garden State Parkway. That takes zero skill. To me, it's infinitely more rewarding to get through Big Bend, the Keyhole, the 90, or the turn at Daytona that leads from the infield onto the banking, in a 4 wheel drift, feet dancing back and forth across the pedals, and hands working the wheel to keep the contact patches right on the edge.

I remember after a weekend at with the BMW CCA at Laguna Seca in my E36 325i, a co-worker asked how fast I went. I think I hit 95 or so. He said, "that's all?" I replied that 95 on the highway is a little different than 95 on the track with a turn and a concrete wall coming up.

I think maybe I did 35 on the corkscrew. Or 45 or 55. I have no idea as I was a little too busy sh*tting bricks to be looking at the speedo

Originally Posted by quackbury

140 mph on the main straight of Watkins Glen before they put in the "Bus Stop".

Anyone who drives any vehicle with street tires over 100 mph on a public road is an idiot and deserves to be forcibly removed from the gene pool. If you really feel the need to explore the limits, please do it at a BMWCCA HPDE where the risks are mitigated, safety crews are in place, and no innocent bystanders are placed in jeopardy.

/Rant.

Or on the Autobahn during an ED

Does this count, 178-180 in a Richard Petty Nascar on the track in Fontana CA. 42 laps, best lap average 153. Estimated straight speed at 6,700 RPM 175 mph. Then I had to give it back. Really great ride at 150, an unrully animal at 100 or less.
How about 140 + in a 1971 Nova in 1974, new freeway opened, no traffic at all, 8 mile straight. 2.73 rear gears. 120 MPH speedo bottomed out, tach was at 4800 RPM, let off the gas several miles later with the tach topped out at 5,600, needed more power I think.

Does this count, 178-180 in a Richard Petty Nascar on the track in Fontana CA. 42 laps, best lap average 153. Estimated straight speed at 6,700 RPM 175 mph. Then I had to give it back. Really great ride at 150, an unrully animal at 100 or less.
How about 140 + in a 1971 Nova in 1974, new freeway opened, no traffic at all, 8 mile straight. 2.73 rear gears. 120 MPH speedo bottomed out, tach was at 4800 RPM, let off the gas several miles later with the tach topped out at 5,600, needed more power I think.

My Porsche 996 GT2. Phoenix International. 175 at the end of the front grandstand straight.

150 mph at Chicago land speedway in the nascar experience. I on rare occasions will take a vehicle to 100 or so, but not very often. I've pushed 120 before, but just for a brief moment. I with the others, it's just not worth my life or the life of others for a brief rush.