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What's the fastest you've ever driven on an open public road (US only)

SLUPSU

SLUPSU

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about how old were you, and what were you driving?

Edit: Road with a speed limit.

115 mph, 17 yo, 1968 Olds 98 with a 455 rocket V8.

It was like driving a large boat with a comfy couch, and getting to that speed was effortless and quick, I'm assuming that my numbers will be pretty tame compared to some of you.
 
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120 MPH in a 66 GTO on I-95 when it ran only from Bristol to Aramingo Avenue back in 1967. I still have a heavy foot but rarely over 80 mph on the turnpike. I was ticketed in Virginia last summer at 87 on I -81.
 
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124 mph south bound NJ Turnpike, between exits 8 and 6, at the age of....46 or 47.
2007 Corvette. Mid day on a sunny Sunday afternoon (with apologies to Ray Davies) in June/July.

The best feeling was at about 90 mph, you could feel the down force on the back of the car make it 'hunker down'.

Miss that car.
 
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Got to 120 on I - 380 south of Scranton in my mid 30's in a '96 Mustang GT convertible. The roof started to shake bad, so I backed off.

I did get to go 178 at Pocono Raceway in a NASCAR Experience car last summer. I HIGHLY recommend it if you're into that sort of thing.
 
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The odometer on my '71 Cutlass S maxed out at 120, but the needle was well beyond that. I am guessing around 130 mph. There were five of us in the car. I was 22 at the time. Also, at the time, I was not speeding. I was in Montana where there was no speed limit.
 
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126 mph in a first year Dodge Viper in 1997ish in Buffalo. My girlfriends uncle was a paraplegic and bought 3 of them as an investment and parked them only for close friends to get their kicks with. It was a six speed and I got to that speed in 4th gear then backed off. Early 20's.
 
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1978 - hit 114 in my 1977 280Z in a race against some AH in a 1976 Ford Capri on West Dodge Road in Omaha. The steering got squirrely so I backed off.
 
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psuro said:
124 mph south bound NJ Turnpike, between exits 8 and 6, at the age of....46 or 47.
2007 Corvette. Mid day on a sunny Sunday afternoon (with apologies to Ray Davies) in June/July.

The best feeling was at about 90 mph, you could feel the down force on the back of the car make it 'hunker down'.

Miss that car.
Click to expand...

 
105 mph in the 1963 Old Station wagon my Dad gave me. Heading down to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland with my GF, at the time. That wagon wouldn't go any faster. I was all of 21, on my Summer break from Penn State.
 
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SLUPSU said:
about how old were you, and what were you driving?

Edit: Road with a speed limit.

115 mph, 17 yo, 1968 Olds 98 with a 455 rocket V8.

It was like driving a large boat with a comfy couch, and getting to that speed was effortless and quick, I'm assuming that my numbers will be pretty tame compared to some of you.
Click to expand...
130 on the NJ Garden State Parkway in a 1968 427hp Corvette as a 24 year old coming back from Manasquan. I raced it at Raceway Park in Englishtown, so, I know the speed was accurate.
 
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My friend and I verified that his 1973 Pontiac Lemans 350 2bbl would indeed peg the 120mph speedometer on Route 22 heading west near Route 100 in Fogelsville. Car felt like it was hydroplaning and it was completely dry. 1983 or 84, we were 16/17. A similar experiment with my 1974 Pinto station wagon yielded only 87 mph...:confused:
 
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After seeing some of the first answers I feel better about myself. It was 130 in my Charger when I was 24? before you begin hitting the 7 mountains on the highway.
 
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131 on I-80 eastbound in Union Co., PA. It was a long straight stretch and was slightly down hill so gravity helped. No doubt many of you are familiar. At 3:00AM I was hoping there weren't any police around and fortunately there weren't. Slowing down to the speed limit felt like I was walking.
 
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GregInPitt said:
If you have ever done 100 mph or greater on a motorcycle you know that the feeling of danger is much greater than doing 120+ mph in a car. So for me that was the "fastest" I have gone and the fastest I want to go...............
Click to expand...
YES! Just got out of the Army in 1970 and my cousin had a big ass Honda and I sat behind him. Going downhill on South Mountain, rt. 309 in Allentown, PA, he hit 105 MPH. I had sun glasses on, turned my head slightly, and the wind blew them off.
 
I don’t know what the fastest I ever drove was because I never owned a car that was conceived to go fast…but my brother did. I was shotgun in his 1969 Roadrunner against a GTO on Long Run Road in McKeesport. I believe the speed limit was 45mph. There was a stretch that was just over a 1/4 mile that ended in a long curved section.
120 mph coming into that curve assured the V and my fingerprints were forever embedded in his dash.
 
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SLUPSU said:
about how old were you, and what were you driving?

Edit: Road with a speed limit.

115 mph, 17 yo, 1968 Olds 98 with a 455 rocket V8.

It was like driving a large boat with a comfy couch, and getting to that speed was effortless and quick, I'm assuming that my numbers will be pretty tame compared to some of you.
Click to expand...
Some time in the mid seventies, I was in my mid 20's and had a 1972 Datsun 260-Z. Was on the PA Turnpike racing what I recall was a Toyota Supra, but it probably was not since they did not come out until the later 1970's but maybe it was. I am pretty sure it was a Toyata. Hit 115 then backed off. Interestingly, I had no complaints from my lady.
 
I used to run my Kawasaki KZ-1000 LTD above 140 mph regularly back in 79-81. Rt 322 on the way to/from State College was always screaming to go faster and I loved the I-95 (now I-295) stretch from Langhorne to the Scudder Falls bridge north of Trenton. Got above 150 a few times. Glancing down at the speedometer was the scariest part. Could only go about 120 or so with the fairing on as it would begin to shake violently.
 
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I don't think that I have ever done 110, but I've done between 100-110 with a few different cars before
 
When I was young and foolish I raced a 1966 Jaguar XKE on the Bucksutem Road in New Jersey. I was driving a 1966 Corvette Stingray fastback with a 427/450. XKE was pulling away from me when I hit 140mph and the front end started to float. No idea how fast the XKE was going but I chickened out at 140. Took about 45 minutes before my right leg stopped violently shaking. Had I wrecked at that speed that fiberglass vett would have exploded like a bag of potato chips. Young and stupid is a bad combination.
 
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Age 53 (2 months ago) - About 120 in the US in southern North Dakota for about 5 minutes. Rental car of some sort. God, you can make time driving out there. Pretty much averaged 100 for an hour.

Age 34 or so - Also going between 115-130 in a French rental from the Dordogne to the South of France. Had it pegged there for about 90 minutes straight. I got out of the car and my body/mind were both tense and my hands were like claws. Talk about concentration
 
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