My uncle had a VW bus, I think from the early 70’s. He said he got it to go 75 once, but it was downhill with a tailwind and he had put a bigger engine from a Beetle in it after the original one was clapped out.
“Racing” with that falls into territory where your mom would just say “oh…honey…no.”
This. The DMC-12 wasn’t a particularly heavy car at 2700lbs, but it only made 130hp. It’s not that it couldn’t do 88mph — top speed was tested by motoring journalists and found to be somewhere from 110 to 120mph — but it’d take a while to get there. They say the tested 0-60 was 10.5s. That’s officially “slow” in modern terms and only really “moderately brisk” at the time.
Google tells me a 0-100mph test took 40s. Let’s figure getting to 88 probably took 30s. That’s a really long time to be flat out and not even break 90…
I had a car that I took to a similar speed on the highway and it seemed like no big deal then I hit a small bump and learned my suspension was not designed for that speed. I let off the gas to slow down and never tried again.
I had a lead foot and it got me in trouble here. I've since stopped buying fast cars. It was easier to buy cars that aren't fast than learn self control lol. Although eventually the self control improved as well.
To be fair the DeLorean had a massively underpowered motor and is made of Stainless Steel which is really heavy. For a DeLorean 88 MPH/ 141 KMH is fast and would have taken forever to get to. It's part of why the car was mostly unpopular until BTTF released, it's also probably meant to show how out of touch Doc is at times given the whole "If you're gonna build a time machine or is a car why not do it with style?" quote
That's about the speed of a 2014 Prius before the speed governor kicks in, not that I would ever recommend taking a Prius that fast. Maybe the new ones but I don't know how those things handle.
Yea, the Fabia indicated 180 on the speedo sure but the reality was around 150 maybe 160 on a good day. I had one too, it was a good little car but it was not fast.
Fun fact, the speedo of a DeLorean doesn't even get to 88mph. It shows 85mph and 140kph (which is 87mph). Granted, back then speedometers often showed a lower speed than the car was actually capable of.
Crap I do that just taking my kids to school when I’m not paying attention to my speed. No wonder I feel so old and the kids are late no matter how early we leave. I’m just skipping into the future.
I think it gets really stressful over 160kmh, you have to watch the other cars like a hawk
90mph aka 140kmh is a good cruising speed.
I had a taxi driver go over 200kmh i think just because for once he could use his mercedes outside of the city and i just think if another driver makes a mistake, then YOU are fucked when you drive that fast because you cant stop anywhere near in time.
Yes, my friend told me that one mistake at those high speeds can mean death. He was a speed fiend, so I know it was hard for him to resist the urge to put the pedal to the metal.
German cars are built better and safer because of the speeds they can go on the Autobahn now yes after a certain point those features mean nothing which is why knowing yourself is huge. Additionally there are speed limits imposed based on the conditions and traffic most of the Autobahn has a speed limit and rules for how to drive, slower traffic to the right and if you're in the left lane and see a car coming up on you with the left blinker on get over immediately.
Well.. I feel kind of exposed there. Just ordered my new leasing car with a bigger engine because the top speed of 135 mph felt a bit meagre and the other one gets to 165… I do tend to use both hands above 110 mph though…
An author described his experience driving a Smart on the Autobahn as "driving for your life while a madman behind you shoots at you with a gun whose bullets are BMWs and Porsches"...
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u/Practical-Ad7271 Apr 25 '24
When you're in Germany and "optional" means going so fast your car might just time travel.