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Just out of curiosity, am I the only one that's tried the top speed of every car I've owned? German cars have limiters at 130 or 155mph, and the first time I hi

Just out of curiosity, am I the only one that's tried the top speed of every car I've owned? German cars have limiters at 130 or 155mph, and the first time I hit the 130 limiter was a surprise (suddenly lost acceleration, thought I had an engine problem, then realized I just hit the limiter). Surely I'm not the only one? Intended out of real curiosity

spullara 8y ago
I hit the limiter on my X5 at 145mph. It was jarring as it was really smooth right up to that point.
mrguyorama 8y ago
Many places in the USA, passing a cop while hitting the limiter would result in at least a night in jail, instant driver's license loss, and lots and lots of money. The vast majority of Americans cannot afford even a basic speeding ticket, let alone that kind of expense. So no, you aren't the only one, but certainly experiencing that kind of risk is a massively luxurious thing that the vast majority of people cannot afford. Also not everyone has access to long stretches of highway with little traffic to do this in a way that doesn't endanger other people
- throwawayst808 8y ago
  Oh I feel so bad now. And I like the way you made it a class thing (used cars go just as fast as new cars by the way).
- derp_dee_derp 8y ago
  what does poor people not being able to afford to get speeding tickets have anything to do with this conversation? should the OP not drive his car in the way that he wants to because of the price of speeding tickets? should people in wyoming, with access to long stretches of highway with little traffic, not be able to drive their vehicles in the way they want to because manhattan doesn't have highways and has lots of traffic? seems to me like you're trying to shame OP and make him feel bad for some reason, but I can't figure out why. whats your point?
  - chris_mc 8y ago
    The only reason to go fast is for thrills. Going fast is dangerous to other people, hence: fuck you, go slower. I don't care what situation you pull from your ass to give a counterexample, 99.99% of people driving over the speed limit by more than 10-20 are driving dangerously.
    - tristor 8y ago
      In vein of your reply, I'll simply say "Stay out of the left lane." The VAST majority of collisions I've seen which involved a driver exceeding the speed limit were caused by people erratically impeding traffic by cutting them off in the left lane. When I say "I've seen", I mean "I've personally witnessed". It happens constantly in traffic here, and it's usually someone doing 50 in a 70 cutting into the left lane in front of someone doing 80, without bothering to look. You'd blame the "aggressive" driver doing 80, when it fact this is 99% the fault of the slower driver. I see slow drivers in the left lane CONSTANTLY, and it irritates me both as someone who drives faster, and someone who understands basic principles of driving and statistics. If you want to drive slow, fine, go for it, but do it in the right-hand lane. The amount of traffic collisions and fatalities from speed would be drastically reduced if people in the US just drove like decent people. We have a much higher rate of fatalities than even on the Autobahn, because of people impeding the flow of traffic and generally failing to signal intent before making erratic movements much too slow.
      - chris_mc 8y ago
        Your entire post here was blaming the drivers going the speed limit by using anecdotal evidence and claiming that speeders are not the dangerous ones. In other words: complete bullshit.
      - j79 8y ago
        About a year ago, I was driving in the far right lane going 80MPH at 2AM in the morning. Wife and baby child were sleeping in the car. In my rear view, I see a car flying up. He was in an express lane. No clue why, but as he catches up, he cuts over the solid white line separating the express lane, then the far left lane, and finally passes me in the middle lane. This idiot was going about 130-140MPH. I was absolutely livid and the only thing that stopped me from chasing him down was my wife and son. So stop with this b.s. I'd much rather drive on a road with someone drive slower than an asshole who thinks everyone is going to slow. People weaving through traffic, going 80, 90, 100MPH while everyone else is doing 65, are FAR more dangerous, than the elderly driver doing 60 in the far left.
- ivanhoe 8y ago
  Thing is that in Germany there are parts of highways without any speed limits, so OP probably wasn't breaking any laws nor it's "a massively luxurious thing" to speed test your car there (other than owning the car obviously).
- benj111 8y ago
  "experiencing that kind of risk is a massively luxurious thing that the vast majority of people cannot afford" That seems a strange way to characterise breaking the law.
  - mrguyorama 8y ago
    If you have enough money or resources there are plenty of laws you can afford to break.
    - benj111 8y ago
      You wouldn't say that Musk being fined $20 million by the SEC were luxurious though.
sokoloff 8y ago
I have not tested the top speed of my Nissan LEAF (little point) nor my 60s Mustangs (lap belts only and they get really "floaty" at high normal highway speeds), but let's just say that I have a really good idea of the top speed of the other cars I've owned.
PeanutNore 8y ago
I've found the top speed in every car I've owned. 145 in a 2.4L turbo Volvo 855 (limited), 130 in a 2.2L Toyota Camry (limited), and 105 in a 1.5L Mazda2 (wind resistance). At this rate my next car will max out around 90.
deepspace 8y ago
Same here. Hit the 210km/h limiter on my german car and was surprised at how abrupt it was.
djKianoosh 8y ago
I do on the race track. There are a lot of HPDE and other types of driving schools where you can safely test the limits of you and your car's abilities. They are not that expensive. At first, that is ;-)

spullara 8y ago

I hit the limiter on my X5 at 145mph. It was jarring as it was really smooth right up to that point.

mrguyorama 8y ago

Many places in the USA, passing a cop while hitting the limiter would result in at least a night in jail, instant driver's license loss, and lots and lots of money. The vast majority of Americans cannot afford even a basic speeding ticket, let alone that kind of expense. So no, you aren't the only one, but certainly experiencing that kind of risk is a massively luxurious thing that the vast majority of people cannot afford. Also not everyone has access to long stretches of highway with little traffic to do this in a way that doesn't endanger other people

throwawayst808 8y ago
Oh I feel so bad now. And I like the way you made it a class thing (used cars go just as fast as new cars by the way).
derp_dee_derp 8y ago
what does poor people not being able to afford to get speeding tickets have anything to do with this conversation? should the OP not drive his car in the way that he wants to because of the price of speeding tickets? should people in wyoming, with access to long stretches of highway with little traffic, not be able to drive their vehicles in the way they want to because manhattan doesn't have highways and has lots of traffic? seems to me like you're trying to shame OP and make him feel bad for some reason, but I can't figure out why. whats your point?
- chris_mc 8y ago
  The only reason to go fast is for thrills. Going fast is dangerous to other people, hence: fuck you, go slower. I don't care what situation you pull from your ass to give a counterexample, 99.99% of people driving over the speed limit by more than 10-20 are driving dangerously.
  - tristor 8y ago
    In vein of your reply, I'll simply say "Stay out of the left lane." The VAST majority of collisions I've seen which involved a driver exceeding the speed limit were caused by people erratically impeding traffic by cutting them off in the left lane. When I say "I've seen", I mean "I've personally witnessed". It happens constantly in traffic here, and it's usually someone doing 50 in a 70 cutting into the left lane in front of someone doing 80, without bothering to look. You'd blame the "aggressive" driver doing 80, when it fact this is 99% the fault of the slower driver. I see slow drivers in the left lane CONSTANTLY, and it irritates me both as someone who drives faster, and someone who understands basic principles of driving and statistics. If you want to drive slow, fine, go for it, but do it in the right-hand lane. The amount of traffic collisions and fatalities from speed would be drastically reduced if people in the US just drove like decent people. We have a much higher rate of fatalities than even on the Autobahn, because of people impeding the flow of traffic and generally failing to signal intent before making erratic movements much too slow.
    - chris_mc 8y ago
      Your entire post here was blaming the drivers going the speed limit by using anecdotal evidence and claiming that speeders are not the dangerous ones. In other words: complete bullshit.
    - j79 8y ago
      About a year ago, I was driving in the far right lane going 80MPH at 2AM in the morning. Wife and baby child were sleeping in the car. In my rear view, I see a car flying up. He was in an express lane. No clue why, but as he catches up, he cuts over the solid white line separating the express lane, then the far left lane, and finally passes me in the middle lane. This idiot was going about 130-140MPH. I was absolutely livid and the only thing that stopped me from chasing him down was my wife and son. So stop with this b.s. I'd much rather drive on a road with someone drive slower than an asshole who thinks everyone is going to slow. People weaving through traffic, going 80, 90, 100MPH while everyone else is doing 65, are FAR more dangerous, than the elderly driver doing 60 in the far left.
ivanhoe 8y ago
Thing is that in Germany there are parts of highways without any speed limits, so OP probably wasn't breaking any laws nor it's "a massively luxurious thing" to speed test your car there (other than owning the car obviously).
benj111 8y ago
"experiencing that kind of risk is a massively luxurious thing that the vast majority of people cannot afford" That seems a strange way to characterise breaking the law.
- mrguyorama 8y ago
  If you have enough money or resources there are plenty of laws you can afford to break.
  - benj111 8y ago
    You wouldn't say that Musk being fined $20 million by the SEC were luxurious though.

sokoloff 8y ago

I have not tested the top speed of my Nissan LEAF (little point) nor my 60s Mustangs (lap belts only and they get really "floaty" at high normal highway speeds), but let's just say that I have a really good idea of the top speed of the other cars I've owned.

PeanutNore 8y ago

I've found the top speed in every car I've owned. 145 in a 2.4L turbo Volvo 855 (limited), 130 in a 2.2L Toyota Camry (limited), and 105 in a 1.5L Mazda2 (wind resistance). At this rate my next car will max out around 90.

deepspace 8y ago

Same here. Hit the 210km/h limiter on my german car and was surprised at how abrupt it was.

djKianoosh 8y ago

I do on the race track. There are a lot of HPDE and other types of driving schools where you can safely test the limits of you and your car's abilities. They are not that expensive. At first, that is ;-)