Got the Mercedes to 135 today!

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Years ago my son had a 1992 Mustang GT 5.0.
I was with him and he got it up to 140 MPH and had to back off.
But it was still pulling.
And this was here in Colorado at 5000 feet.
I think the factory rated top speed was around 160 MPH.
 
Originally Posted by MCompact
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Anyone here remember when speedometers only went up to 85mph and 55mph had a square drawn around it
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The brainstorm of '70s NHTSA Nazi Joan Claybrook- a perfect example of a moronic Federal regulation that accomplished absolutely nothing. As I mentioned on another topic, I only owned one car cursed with that moronic instrument- my 1979 Arrow GT 2.6. When I drove from Louisville to Cincinnati to visit my girlfriend(and now wife) a first generation Escort and a CB allowed to drive most of I-71 with the speedometer needle pointing at six o'clock.


I love what Ford did on the SVO Mustangs. They had 150MPH speedometers...but the NUMBERS stopped at 85.
 
I had a 69 Beetle I could get up to 85. Took awhile to get there and wind had to be pushing me. Ah, the good old days.
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I had a 1970 Citroen 2CV, 2 cylinders, like 28 hp when new & a maximum speed (after like 2 minutes) of around 60 mph /
wasn't a bad car, except in the winter it would often run only on one cylinder for the first few minutes....
wink.gif
 
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I had a 69 Beetle I could get up to 85. Took awhile to get there and wind had to be pushing me.


Did that too! Went halfway around the DC Beltway in 1970 with my right foot planted! I don't think I passed too many cars, even back then!
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Originally Posted by JohnG
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I had a 69 Beetle I could get up to 85. Took awhile to get there and wind had to be pushing me.


Did that too! Went halfway around the DC Beltway in 1970 with my right foot planted! I don't think I passed too many cars, even back then!
lol.gif


That's funny because that is where I was. Back and forth between Lanham and Takoma Park.
 
Originally Posted by marine65
Years ago my son had a 1992 Mustang GT 5.0.
I was with him and he got it up to 140 MPH and had to back off.
But it was still pulling.
And this was here in Colorado at 5000 feet.
I think the factory rated top speed was around 160 MPH.


I had a 1990 Mustang GT. They were only good for 140-145 stock. No way would you see 160 in one. Mine was super light feeling at 140 on the speedo.
 
Originally Posted by JohnG
4 cyl turbo, I couldn't believe it. It was still pulling, but was getting to be a handful so I backed off.
Don't bother sending the ticket in the mail, it was on federal land!

Why you could not believe it? In 1990's any 2.0 16V non turbo European car could do 130-135mph. Opel Calibra in 1991 with 2.0 16V turbo engine had to be piggy backed to 155mph. 1998 Passat 1.8T could do easily 140, 2001 could hit 145mph. etc, etc.
Now? With 9G transmission in you vehicle, give a little bit of space and you could hit 145mph. Now, take into consideration that you vehicle might be limited around 130-135mph.
 
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Anyone here remember when speedometers only went up to 85mph and 55mph had a square drawn around it
laugh.gif



Road in a car like that once. Friend had it pegged and it went past 85 straight down and started to wrap around more closer back to 0. I think based on the RPMs we calculated that maybe were were doing 130, but probably not.
 
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Now, take into consideration that you vehicle might be limited around 130-135 mph.


I was expecting maybe 110 120 mph from the 4 cyl. I don't know why, maybe because this isn't any kind of AMG or anything like that. It's more of a luxury version AND 4Matic.

So, I dug the owners manual out yesterday to see what MB rated this car at, never really cared before. Sure enough, SPEED LIMITED TO 155! I'm not gonna try that!
 
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
Anyone here remember when speedometers only went up to 85mph and 55mph had a square drawn around it
laugh.gif



Yep
 
Performance wise, cars now can dish out a lot more than what a lot of people give them credit for. I've gotten my turbo 3-cyl focus up to it's air friction limited 125mph. You really only need a mile and some change for a aggressively tuned 4cyl turbo to get to 150+
 
Originally Posted by KrisZ
These turbo 4 cylinder engines sure make some impressive numbers. Still, IMO, anything with less than 6 cylinders should not be found in a supposedly luxury brand. Either that or fully electric.


415hp in some models of MB.
 
My wife's X1 posts identical acceleration numbers to my long departed(and sadly missed) 1988 M6.
 
Originally Posted by JohnG
Quote
Now, take into consideration that you vehicle might be limited around 130-135 mph.


I was expecting maybe 110 120 mph from the 4 cyl. I don't know why, maybe because this isn't any kind of AMG or anything like that. It's more of a luxury version AND 4Matic.

So, I dug the owners manual out yesterday to see what MB rated this car at, never really cared before. Sure enough, SPEED LIMITED TO 155! I'm not gonna try that!


Well you still have 241hp in the car. The older 2003-2005 E320 with the V6 had 221hp. My old Chrysler 2.2 turbo did 125mph with just 145hp, but that also didn't weigh more than 2700 pounds, I think the newer cars are pushing 3800 pounds.
 
Originally Posted by JohnG
Quote
Now, take into consideration that you vehicle might be limited around 130-135 mph.


I was expecting maybe 110 120 mph from the 4 cyl. I don't know why, maybe because this isn't any kind of AMG or anything like that. It's more of a luxury version AND 4Matic.

So, I dug the owners manual out yesterday to see what MB rated this car at, never really cared before. Sure enough, SPEED LIMITED TO 155! I'm not gonna try that!

There is really no big difference between 135mph and 155mph.
European manufacturers often limit their vehicles to 130mph for the US market due to all season tires. Then they have models that come with summer tires and packages. Yours obviously came with different package and tires.
 
I've had plenty of cars that went 0 - 90 in the same day !
I could be coaxed to some ripping starts off-the-line but top speeds always made me a bit giddy. Getting a ticket or that random "what IF" situation that can unfold before brain engages PDR perceive / decide / react.
What to do , How to do it and not over correct etc... Traveling 60 mph covers 88 feet per second and although reactions times vary, .75 to less than 2.0 seconds covers a range of averages by age, experience or other factors. Now, to the actual speed of travel, surface conditions, vehicle braking distance (actual with tires / tire condition) , it's a number of things that have to all go right in those few seconds.
shocked2.gif

Animals dart out instantly so the fact someone decided to swerve, rolled the car, hit a tree or had a fatal outcome doesn't mean they were overdriving their brakes or speeding.
My sport coupe was stated to be limited by factory tires at 153 or 155 mph. Those rules set the speed of the car within a safety factor of just a few mph of "the tire rating". I was west of town and felt the sightlines were good for short sprint to 110. The car was rock solid and inviting more but that road is straight-arrow for a long ways and too dang ideal for modern radar threats. I had 130 in mind but at 110, I started thinking POLICE.



Originally Posted by dwcopple
Originally Posted by sloinker
I had mine up to 140, once. Ran out of nerve. This was on a traffic free, wide open stretch of Wyoming countryside. I wouldn't recommend it anywhere else and I was only one Antelope away from death.

Gimme a break, you were in a car. I've done 155MPH on my CBR1000RR. THAT surely would've been death.


Motorcycle versus deer or antelope at speed at legal limits are ugly. You can be doing everything right and it's so fast with no cage of protection.
Many career m-cyclists that spent most of their time preaching and training safety and tactics and wearing al the right gear have met their end by way of deer.
I knew an ER Nurse that went through an Antelope at 90 mph. He was re-built but his bike was not.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by bachman
I've had plenty of cars that went 0 - 90 in the same day !
I could be coaxed to some ripping starts off-the-line but top speeds always made me a bit giddy. Getting a ticket or that random "what IF" situation that can unfold before brain engages PDR perceive / decide / react.
What to do , How to do it and not over correct etc... Traveling 60 mph covers 88 feet per second and although reactions times vary, .75 to less than 2.0 seconds covers a range of averages by age, experience or other factors. Now, to the actual speed of travel, surface conditions, vehicle braking distance (actual with tires / tire condition) , it's a number of things that have to all go right in those few seconds.
shocked2.gif

Animals dart out instantly so the fact someone decided to swerve, rolled the car, hit a tree or had a fatal outcome doesn't mean they were overdriving their brakes or speeding.
My sport coupe was stated to be limited by factory tires at 153 or 155 mph. Those rules set the speed of the car within a safety factor of just a few mph of "the tire rating". I was west of town and felt the sightlines were good for short sprint to 110. The car was rock solid and inviting more but that road is straight-arrow for a long ways and too dang ideal for modern radar threats. I had 130 in mind but at 110, I started thinking POLICE.



Originally Posted by dwcopple
Originally Posted by sloinker
I had mine up to 140, once. Ran out of nerve. This was on a traffic free, wide open stretch of Wyoming countryside. I wouldn't recommend it anywhere else and I was only one Antelope away from death.

Gimme a break, you were in a car. I've done 155MPH on my CBR1000RR. THAT surely would've been death.


Motorcycle versus deer or antelope at speed at legal limits are ugly. You can be doing everything right and it's so fast with no cage of protection.
Many career m-cyclists that spent most of their time preaching and training safety and tactics and wearing al the right gear have met their end by way of deer.
I knew an ER Nurse that went through an Antelope at 90 mph. He was re-built but his bike was not.


Encountering a wild turkey at 80MPH has no chance of improving your day. It won't do your Electraglide any good, either. You may need half a roll of duct tape to patch up your fairing in order to limp to a shop for repairs.
 
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