What's Your Personal Top Speed?

MWF

Now needs wood
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
28,275
Location
MWF HQ, Ukadia
Car(s)
MX-5 1.8i Indiana SE, update pending
Inspired by recent posts in the Bugatti Chiron thread...

What's the highest (actual or indicated) speed you have ever achieved while a driver/rider of or passenger in a vehicle?

This isn't just limited to road transport, but unless you've been in something other than a commercial airliner and can verify velocity let's not bother about planes.

And since most of us here are grown ups lets not bother with the "Billy Big-Bollocks" tall tales. This is a survey, not a willy-waving contest.

Having said that Mucho Green Blobs to anyone who can provide proof they've broken the sound barrier.

Since I realise detailed descriptions could potentially be incriminating, please only include as much detail as necessary.

Mine are as follows:

1. 143mph (indicated) My own Subaru Impreza Wagon, location unspecified, and still accelerating before I chickened out.
2. 240 km/h (indicated) A friend of my fiancee's 850 T5R wagon on an stretch of Autobahn near Frankfurt around 1997.
3. 135 mph (indicated) On the pillion of an old school mate's BMW something motorcycle on the M6 in Lancashire.
 

Shanghai maglev train to Pudong airport, 2007. Not sure if this counts, but it is at least visual proof of 431 km/h.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MWF
1. Flat out in a (rented) BMW 335i (E93) Cabrio which means a limited 250 km/h
2. Flat out in my own BMW 320i (E46) touring, indicated 235 km/h, according to the satnav more like 225 km/h

Both of course on unlimited stretches of Autobahn. :cool:
 
130i did 255kph (GPS, 265 indicated). On two wheels I've been around 210-220 with Nelli, based on other GPS estimates (240 or so indicated). It would've done more, but my gear didn't, almost ripped my riding jeans off me. :lol:
 
Driving: 112 mph (indicated) in a Nissan 240SX
Standing Quarter mile: 102 mph (trap speed) Mustang SVO
Standing Quarter mile (passenger): 115 mph (trap speed) Mustang Cobra (clone)
Tractor: 18 mph Kubota L3940 (Gets sort of floaty past 12)
 
My land-based top speed would be ICE trains, 280ish km/h. I don't think I've been on a 300km/h track without noticing yet :(
On water, around 45kt aboard HSC Fjord Cat.
 
Last edited:
So far as land-speed goes, I've had the Fairlane up to 142 mph , as verified by GPS. Actually, I've had it up to those kinds of speeds a few times now.

The 142 speed happened some time ago. Car was still pulling pretty good, but the rate of acceleration was clearly starting to drop off (understandable, I was starting to get reasonably close to 'redline' in top gear, which is theoretically good for ~155-160)

I had to back off since there were cattle in the road, about a mile and a half off. (I had at least 8 or 9 miles of dead straight out in the desert)

Car was very stable though.

It's got more power now, but I haven't had a good, safe opportunity to push. It's got just a little bit of wheel-shimmy now too. (tires could use a better balance job)
Besides, I proved my point. It didn't take long at all to go from 65 to 140+ ;)



For airspeed... I got to fly in a Gulfstream once, does that count? It's not commercial lol. I don't even remember what kind of Gulfstream, but it was damn fast. Pilot did a power take-off too, I've never gained altitude that fast before (or since) in my life.
(For the record, this happened when my Grandfather passed away circa 2003ish. My aunt on that side of the family was working as the secretary or something for some bigwig at Consol energy, maybe the CEO, :dunno:. Anyways, Mr bigwig was in Denver on a hunting trip when he heard the news, and offered to stop in SLC on his way back to Pittsburgh to pick me and my sister up, since my parents had already driven back east. SLC to Pittsburgh only took about 3 hours and change if I recall correctly)
 
  • Like
Reactions: MWF
Liking these accounts already. Keep 'em coming! :D
 
The fastest that I can actually say I went in a car was 125mph in the A4 on the Turnpike, this was like 10 years ago so way past statute of limitations.

I am fairly certain I had the Stang to higher speed than that but due to the roads here being terrible I can never really look at the speedo to see what speed I'm going.
 
About 120mph in my old Maxima and then again in my TL. Wasn't very exciting - I prefer the pull of G forces to high speed cruising, since 120mph doesn't feel very different from 80mph. Plenty of chances to go faster but I just never cared enough to do it.
 
224 km/h in the Passat, GPS verified. On an unrestricted part of Autobahn in Germany. The weather was not so good, quite a few rain showers, and the traffic was also too heavy to be able to reach closer too the top speed of the car. I also had the wife and kid in the car with me.
 
115mph indicated in the V8 Disco, on the German autobahn, last year. I didn't expect it to go that well, in 2015 I hadn't gone much above 80 because it felt a little unsettled but above 85 it stabilised and felt fine. Not bad considering it's a 2.5 ton brick on stilts and was loaded with stuff, I suspect the MPG figure could be counted on one hand though and the L/100km figure would require all fingers, toes, eyebrows, nipples, cheeks...

The train I travel to work on hits 125mph sometimes though (fuck yeah midland mainline) so it's all relative. :lol:

Also I rode with one of Thomas' friends on the 'ring in 2013 in a 135i, I suspect that was faster but I have no idea of the actual speed. Probably topped it riding a lap with Ice in the Saudi in 2016 too.
 
Last edited:
I reached 200km/h on the speedo on my current Volvo once, actual speed was probably less.

Top speed I had on my Mustang II was Unleaded fuel only. :p bottomed out the speedo on that one, I have no idea how fast it actually went.
1977_00029_09.jpg
 
Top speed - around 110ish in a rental Chevy Impala on a backroad in the middle of nowhere on the west coast of Florida..
 
MX-5 went 205 indicated on the 2015 roadtrip, which is probably plenty for it. I've also taken a number of cars to 180 indicated, but it's always best to do that in Germany.
 
Bicycle: 80.4 km/h (Road bike)
Motorcycle: 226 km/h (CBF)
Car: 232 km/h (MX-5)

All driven myself with my own vehicles. And the only one above the speed limit was with the bicycle. :D

Train: Something between 298 and 300 km/h in an ICE.

As passenger in a car? No clue. Probably not faster than with the MX-5, but I don't know how fast a Renault M?gane R26R goes on the Ring...
 
It was either 140, 141 or 144mph (225-231 km/h) in a rented Ford Hertz GT-H Mustang, on a long straight stretch of CA-1 just after a down hill section, just after dusk.

Drove this section of the road once just as a part of my drive, and took note of how great it would be to to a high-speed run here. So I turned around and took very close notice for driveways, cross streets, speed traps, and headlights from either direction. I found none. Got to the crest of the hill, turned around, and gave the loud pedal the boot. I chickened out at the indicated speed of 140, 141 or 144.

Previous was 103mph sround 1997 or 1998, in my '97 4cyl, 2WD Ford Ranger. Got pulled over, as it was a 45mph zone. Got a verbal warning. And that warning was, "Hey...[last name], huh? Are you [my father's first name]'s son?" After I confirmed, he said, "Shoot...me and him go way back...and I know that he likes to listen to the police scanner at home. I have no doubt that he's already heard your name over the radio when I called this in. I imagine he'll have something to discuss with you when you get home."

My dad was a fireman/EMT, and responded to all the local car accidents.

And the cop was right. :lol: All I could do was fall on my sword before he could say a word, and we both laughed about it and the conversation ended with, "So you know that was really stupid, right?" "Yep." "OK, then."

I wasn't quite as careful as that later time with the mustang. There were two 2-way-stop (not my way) intersections i was blasting through (however, it was rural Wisconsin, and in a very flat area, so there was no traffic, and you could see for a half mile in each direction of that intersection), and it was going between farming fields, so there was sometimes deer there...
 
Last edited:
Motorcycle: 215k /h indicated on my Suzuki GSX-F750
Car: Indicated 220km/h in brother's E46 328i
Passenger: 250km/h in a Mercedes S500 while in China as a translator. The driver was sent to pick us up at the hotel and as soon as he reached the highway he just floored it.
 
My friends old Mazda 3 MPS, 260kmh on GPS. We did this on a road that was also an emergency runway. I was curious, the owner didn't know. We found out. :D
 
Top