And do you for a second think your US tyres are designed to handle those speeds? Do you really think the road was designed for those speeds?
I have to agree it was a very foolish thing to do and you should be thankful you did not have any serious problems.
I doubt of an indicated 140 mph was really 140 mph as it was likely closer to 130 real mph. Most speedometers overestimate the actual speed by
2.5 - 10%
"Joseph Meehan" vrot news:0tOtf.15308$ snipped-for-privacy@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com...
About the tyres, here it´s illegal to use tyres that are not designed/authorized to the cars top speed. About the road, no not in the US.
Typically they register too fast, as well, as the car maker doesn't want to be responsible for causing a driver to speed.
On my '00 Jetta, my speedometer is about 3 mph fast at 30 mph (I check it for kicks whenever there's one of those signs with a radar gun that warn you how fast you're going).
dv
As a matter of fact, I think that's the reason for his question. In the US, VWs (as well as many other makes/models) are fitted with H-rated tires that are good for 130 mph. Thus, the top speed of many cars is electronically limited to 130 mph. I think the reason he saw 140 mph is that, here in the US, speedometers are typically calibrated to read a little bit high, for liability purposes.
-- Mike Smith
I don't buy that. Sure, there *are* roads in the US where it would be insane to try 130 mph, but that's true in any country. On the other hand - have you ever been to, say, Nevada, or Montana, or Iowa? There are parts of the United States that are almost perfectly flat for dozens and dozens of miles, and where the roads are flat, straight, and clear, with very little traffic. It's a *big*, wide open place, the US is. Only on the coasts and in the big cities do you have congestion and potholes and crappy roads. I'll bet there are more places in the US where 100 mph is a reasonable speed than there are in Europe.
-- Mike Smith
That's about what it is on my '03 Passat as well. (There happens to be one of those radar signs around the block from my house at the moment.)
-- Mike Smith
And you sure are holier-than-thou.
-- Mike Smith
Then you haven't been to Germany. I've seen it for myself. Not
*everyone* on the highway is doing 180 km/hr, mind you, but over there slower drivers know that they're supposed to keep to the right and let faster drivers pass on the left.-- Mike Smith
Yeah, James Dean had that opinion too. Look where it got him.
And you are very naive.
Oh, for Christ's sake.
-- Mike Smith
I refer you to my last comment.
-- Mike Smith
I was over in Germany in 1999 on vacation for two weeks. We were in a TDI Audi convertible and in the middle lane, when an E class MB 500 flew by making our 110 MPH speed shake the car side to side with the wind suction from the MB. You can smell the CAT and exhaust on the Autobahn. CATs fail earlier in Germany than they do here. It's the speed that wears them out.
That's an interesting theory. Are you sure? :) I doubt the E500 going >100mph would smell "more" than an average american truck at the 60mph. Doing this they will probably consume the same amount of fuel "per mile" thus producing the same amount of smell :)
That's an interesting theory. Are you sure? :) I doubt the E500 going >100mph would smell "more" than an average american truck at the 60mph. Doing this they will probably consume the same amount of fuel "per mile" thus producing the same amount of smell :)
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