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View Poll Results: How fast would you drive on the freeway if there were no speed limits?
I would drive 65 MPH or less 9 5.20%
I would drive 70 MPH 10 5.78%
I would drive 75 MPH 17 9.83%
I would drive 80 MPH 35 20.23%
I would drive 85 MPH 27 15.61%
I would drive 90 MPH 17 9.83%
I would drive 95 MPH 3 1.73%
I would drive 100 MPH or more 55 31.79%
Voters: 173. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 02-06-2015, 11:59 PM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Woof View Post
155? Are you perhaps thinking of kilometers per hour, rather than MPH?
Not, I'm pretty sure its mph as that is a common limit for German sedans. The most I've mustered is just under 150 (147 or so) which was scary enough.
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Old 02-07-2015, 12:53 AM
 
Location: Monnem Germany/ from San Diego
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Quote:
Originally Posted by iTsLiKeAnEgG View Post
Not, I'm pretty sure its mph as that is a common limit for German sedans. The most I've mustered is just under 150 (147 or so) which was scary enough.
This is correct. 250 km/h. In my old Renault I tend to not drive faster than 140 kmh but with the company car and fuel,normally a BMW or VW, I will cruise 220 km/h. Have been up to 250.
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Old 02-07-2015, 01:10 AM
 
Location: Louisville KY
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I'd go as fast as I could, as fast in the turns, as tires, and curve allows.
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Old 02-07-2015, 01:50 AM
 
Location: Chicago - Logan Square
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I've had 5 or 6 times where I've been on completely empty highways doing >100MPH and almost hit a deer or debris in the road, so I generally try to keep it at 85-90 tops. Random stuff comes up on you mighty quick when you're doing 120 or so.
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Old 02-07-2015, 03:00 AM
 
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I recently drove across Utah and Nevada where the speed limit was 80 in places. I wouldn't have felt comfortable going much faster than that in the car I was driving. Even 80 seemed a bit excessive.
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Old 02-07-2015, 10:33 AM
 
Location: Chicago area
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I regularly drive 80-90 on the high way here. Everybody does. I would love to see if my car can actually go 160 mph, but only on a deserted road in broad day light.
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Old 02-07-2015, 10:59 AM
 
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I usually drive 15-20 mph over the speed limit...so 85-90 on the highway.

With no limits? I would probably stay around 90 mph.
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Old 02-07-2015, 11:13 AM
 
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My focus would be on comfort and fuel economy so I'd stick between 65 to 70 MPH. Those who say they'd go 90 or faster should consider the condition of the road before doing so. Here in Louisiana there are many stretches of interstate highways in which the concrete slabs are slightly raised on one side. As you roll onto the slab, your tires drop down to meet the slab and rolls up slightly to the end of the slab before dropping off to the next slab. The difference in height between slab edges might be less than an inch to a few inches. At interstate speeds this causes a constant bumping. The faster you go the worse it gets. This constant bumping causes a reduction of tire contact with the road. This is not safe at high speeds even with a great handling high end touring sedan. There was a stretch of I-49 that temporarily had it's speed limit raised to 85 mph. I was heading to the VA hospital for an appointment and decided to try going 85 mph. Though my car had new struts and tires at all four corners, it still struggled to maintain control because of the bumps. I had the cruise control locked in a 85 mph for several miles when I no longer felt I had sufficient control so I lowered my speed through the cruise control until I felt I had enough control to continue safely. That was roughly in the 75 mph range. If the road was smooth it probably would not have been a problem maintaining 85 mph.
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Old 02-07-2015, 11:28 AM
 
Location: Kirkland, WA (Metro Seattle)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Volxen View Post
How fast would you drive on an open, multi-lane, and divided freeway under the following conditions?

1) There is no speed limit! You can drive as fast as you'd like without receiving a speeding ticket (of course, you would be still be penalized if you caused a wreck).

2) Traffic is fairly light, and it would be easy to maintain high speeds as long as you remained in the left lane.

3) It's a completely clear and sunny day.

4) Your car has good brakes and it can come to a full stop in a timely manner.

Accepting all of the above:

Let's be hypothetical for a moment, and more-specific, given that great American blessing: the open 2-lane highway. The stalwart of this great nation's road system for decades, pre-freeways. Many decades, c. 1930s to 1960s or even early 70s when I was a (very) young lad.

On an open 2-lane, very little traffic, let's consider a road in the American west. Those in the know from approximately St. Louis west to the coasts understand. I've driven many 2-lane roads with good to great sightlines in California, Washington, and Oregon. Also Nevada (lots), Idaho (less), and Montana (a few) From time to time, New Mexico (great example: US Route 64, a lesser-known but fascinating cousin to old Route 66). Let's not forget Arizona, though I was dismayed to have been pulled over heading from Grand Canyon to Flagstaff about five years ago for allegedly bending the speed limit a bit. Officer Friendly and I worked it out OK, though, and no hard feelings.

Now on such a road as the above, remembering the "little traffic" part and tossing in a bit of "not much menace or hazard to the driver/rider, either," hypothetically on a large-displacement sport or sport touring motorcycle a person could be very comfortable at 85-105mph. Sustained, that is, for several hours. One does tend to take more fuel and rest bikes when riding. Less may seem a bit slow; more, too much work and hazard than one might desire.

Driving a sports car, say for example a Porsche 911 Turbo or other supercar (modern Corvette, Nissan GT-R, M-BMW, the rowdier Mercedes, Lambo or Ferrari-anything, and more), keeping it above 100 mph is supposedly a dawdle. They'll hum along all day on an Autobahn, after all. GT style cars, this can be done with elan. Rowdier sports cars, like Ferraris and Lambos: with a bit of mechanical music. 90 mph is a bit tamer, they say, but eminently do-able too.

Now, the amusing point about supercars is that they'll really, truly, do 150 mph and more. One can sustain it for a bit, but on a closed course I'm here to mention that things tend to happen very quickly in terms of turns, dealing with obstacles, etc. Too, mechanical parts are being stressed that much harder and if anything major, like a tire or engine, cuts loose you've got really problems. Heaven knows what close to 200 mph is like; I wouldn't know at this point. Hypothetically, even in a supercar the above is only really for short bursts on roads. No speed limit or not, in the spirit of the thought-exercise.

Taking it down several notches to, say, a Toyota Tacoma pickup, one might suspect 75-85 mph for cruising is plenty. I've heard tell they start to get a bit light in the loafers ("float-y") above about 95 mph or so, thus what's the point of that?

The above is what I hear tell. Breaking speed limits is WRONG, however (cough).
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Old 02-07-2015, 11:35 AM
 
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Easily would do over 100. I've done it before, it's fairly easy to maintain in good conditions and light traffic.

On the other hand, I would be vary of roads with lots of curves, and some vehicles don't handle well over 100.
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