Have you ever done triple digits on Metro Detroit Freeways?

**Johnlodge** · December-01-10, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by GOAT

A 1998 XR4TI? I had thought they stopped making those ni about 1992? I had a 1985 that I loved. Those fuckers could move!

Must have bought it from the same guy who sold Gannon his 97 and 1/2 SVT Contour. :P

**Gannon** · December-01-10, 11:42 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_SVT_Contour

Job 1 was in March '97.

Far as I know, I bought the first red one to come off the truck. Wrote the check for the deposit on my way back from the road test. Didn't want anyone else to drive it the way I just had, up to I-94 and back.

It was the summer of '97, for sure. Don't give me any shit, JL!

**CountrySquire** · December-01-10, 11:52 AM

Last time I did it was Spring of 09 I think. A motorcycle in afternoon rush hour on I 96 had a nice stretch ahead of him so he opened it up and took off. I figured since he was taking all the risk of finding the speed traps I'd be safe in his wake. I pushed the Saturn Wagon up to 115 before I ran out of nerve and that Opel V6 was still ready to give me plenty more if I wanted it; even at 115 I was still no where near catching up to the motor cycle so he had to be doing at least 140.

**Ronjm23** · December-01-10, 12:13 PM

I was coming home to visit my parents. I lived in upstate NY and I drove to Windsor. It was during the riots. I had a 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone that had engine work. Had the "Cobra" kit cam & lifters. I cleared customs at the tunnel and the officers said, "Don't you know there's a curfew in effect?" Well yes, I did but I was concerned about my parents. I got on what I think was the Edsel Ford and got it up over triple digits just to get out of town. There were very few cars on the road then. I would never do that again. The phone poles went by like a picket fence.

**313WX** · December-01-10, 12:19 PM

Yes, on I-696 and I-75 headed downriver.

**Johnlodge** · December-01-10, 12:19 PM

Originally Posted by Gannon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_SVT_Contour

Job 1 was in March '97.

Far as I know, I bought the first red one to come off the truck. Wrote the check for the deposit on my way back from the road test. Didn't want anyone else to drive it the way I just had, up to I-94 and back.

I understand, you had a 98 model year SVT Contour, which came out in 97. Anyways, those were great cars, the uninitiated had no idea the innocent looking sedan next to them at the light was about to whup their ass.

Originally Posted by Gannon

Don't give me any shit, JL!

You know damn well that is an unreasonable request!

**Don K** · December-01-10, 12:31 PM

I'm pretty sure I've never done 100+ in the Metro area. The closest I came was in '87 on M-14 west of Sheldon. I had a Mustang for my management lease car at the time, and one night when it was in the shop I got a Mark VII LSC for the night. I decided to go past Sheldon [[my usual exit) to Gotfredson just to see what it felt like once past the congestion. I was used to the way the Mustang felt and sounded at different speeds, and let's just say the Mark wasn't giving the same feedback [[less noise, primarily). Before I was past Beck I looked down and saw I was going 90-something, so I backed off a bit out to Gotfredson and the return trip via North Territorial.

In '89 I saw 100+ in Kansas while driving on a lonely 2-lane in rolling country on my way to Colorado in a Taurus SHO. I had been a pretty good boy all day on the Interstates through Missouri and Kansas, so I figured I'd let it loose for a while and saw about 105. After a few miles, just as I crested a hill, I saw a car coming my way over the next hill, and let off the gas a bit. At the same time the county cop [[figures) hit the button on his instant-on radar and my radar detector gave the alarm. Those were the days when Michigan State Police left their radar on full-power constantly, and gave miles of warning if they were around. The cop wrote me up for 95, which was a mail-in ticket in Kansas. Luckily I had my checkbook with me, because the court date was before our scheduled return through the same county, so I mailed in the ticket and fine the next day, because I didn't want a failure-to-appear warrant against me on the return trip.

In '86, also driving through Kansas, this time in an XR4, a friend of mine was driving pretty late at night. He usually drove an Escort, and was happy doing 55. At one point we came on a group of Harleys going slower than we were, so my friend passed them. I guess this was a challenge, so two of them re-passed us and they paced us doing a two in front two behind game. Another friend who was going along asked, "Dave, do you think you can do about 100 for a while?" "Sure, why?" "Because they won't. After a couple of miles the vibration will be too much and they'll drop back." Dave took the speed up, passed the two in front, and sure enough we soon saw the headlights grow smaller. He kept it around 100 for maybe 20 miles, and we never saw the Harleys again.

**JJD** · December-01-10, 12:56 PM

I wanted to try out my Trailbalzer SS after the 500mile break-in. I got up to 110 before fear of a ticket made me take it back down to 5 over. Everything happens fast at that speed, felt extremely dangerous with other people on the road. I have hit 100mph at Milan dragstrip and it didn't seem dangerous at all.

**catch22** · December-01-10, 01:06 PM

Back in the mid-70's, the only part of I-275 that had been completed was between Ford Road and the [[future) I-96/M-14 interchange. I had a Honda CB750F motorcycle and one night I got on the freeway at Ford Road and ran it up through the gears. I got up to 125 for a couple of miles before I started thinking about all the things that could go really bad at that speed [[flat tire, drive chain failure, hitting a large bug, etc.) so I coasted back down to about 60, which seemed like walking speed. I never had it over 80 after that.

gdogslim · December-01-10, 01:09 PM

Of course.
The I94 Proving Grounds between I75 and Chalmers is a great place to test out your car.

**reddog289** · December-01-10, 01:23 PM

Not in my own car, But in the late 80's my buddys 73 Monte Carlo with a "3/4" race 350 did it a few times on 275. Closest I got was around 95 mph out on the US-12 entry to 94.

**gumby** · December-01-10, 01:29 PM

Had my mom's 1992 LeBaron going 110-115 on I-75 in the U.P. on the way up to the Sault back in '95. I think we made it up there in like a half an hour from the bridge. Very stupid and havn't done it since. My mom never found out about it either. lol.

**luckycar** · December-01-10, 04:14 PM

HA HA,just today!Yes that was me on I-275,bastard wouldn't let me merge,I won.Hit 100+/-.Speedo can't be all that accurate in the Buick I was trying not to die in.

**mikeg19** · December-01-10, 05:47 PM

My first car I actually bought was a 2000 Camaro Z28 when I was 21. I sunk about $4000 into it and wanted to see how fast it would go. Over 160 on M-59 was as fast as I've ever gone. Although it was fun, I'd never do it again. Just too many risks....

**Ltdave** · December-01-10, 06:28 PM

A 1998 XR4TI? I had thought they stopped making those ni about 1992?

they only made them from 1985-1989...

my boss had one in cali when i had an 88 mustang gt [[5sp with cali mods)...

we were neck and neck heading back to base from a Christmas party and we were both running right about 115-118. i backed off when i hit fog and couldnt see the road anymore...

my wife is from Copenhagen Denmark on Sjælland and when we visit we invariably head down to Berlin and back north through Hamburg enroute to other friends in Jylland [[the part of Denmark that juts north off Germany). ive driven her dads toyota up to about 210kph which translates to 130+. they regularly run fast on the Abahn and they have pretty strict vehicle inspections...

the only time ive run fast in detroit was on the lodge to keep from getting run over by a "white car" and a "blue car" that went past like they had afterburners running. had NO IDEA what kind of cars they were. probably made 105 or 110...

**Det_ard** · December-01-10, 06:53 PM

120 on I-696, 140+ on a freshly resurfaced M-14 in a Corvette. Not as dangerous as you'd think since the car could get up to speed and back down very quickly. All late night runs.

Boston to Hartford in 59:30, around 100 miles, back before the Turnpike folks would give you a hard time for speeding [[based on turnpike time vs. distance).

Westbound this summer on 696 in the left lane at 4:00 p.m., flow of traffic was 92 mph, the "slow lane" was about 80 mph. Criminals, all of us.

**Patrick** · December-01-10, 07:26 PM

Years ago I started a pretty good thread about a Corvette doing 160 on 696....lemme see if I can find it or not.

**Jimaz** · December-01-10, 10:12 PM

I've never done triple digits in Michigan and likely never will. I just don't see enough benefit to it to offset the risk. Interesting subject though.

I did however pull a stunt in my 1999 Mustang GT in Arizona. [[No, I wasn't chasing anyone, John.) This was on a stretch of I-17 north of Phoenix where you could see from a rise that there was zero traffic for many miles. There are no merge ramps along that stretch and no large game to wander onto the freeway. It's straight as an arrow, very safe. So if not now, when?

I'd read that Mustang GTs are speed-limited to 120 MPH unless they're ordered new with Z-rated racing tires. I didn't know whether that was the case with my car so I decided to test it.

I ended up pegging the speedometer at 150 MPH and beyond. [[I'd not yet learned of the unadvertised digital speedometer feature that's likely not limited to 150. Bummer.)

I was surprised that, at that speed, there was zero wind noise or road vibration. [[The suspension is tuned for those speeds.) Other than the speedometer, the only indication of the speed was the roadside scenery rushing aft, surrealistically, in an impossibly mad dash to get behind me. I've never seen such a thing even in a movie. It was very eerie. This is why I question the 160 MPH claim of the video that started the other thread. That video didn't even look close to what I saw on that freakish cruise.

Watch out for deer and don't try this without proper tires!

**Goose** · December-01-10, 10:16 PM

Originally Posted by GOAT

A 1998 XR4TI? I had thought they stopped making those ni about 1992? I had a 1985 that I loved. Those fuckers could move!

my bad

1988

**xphillipjrx** · December-02-10, 01:28 AM

Originally Posted by Jimaz

I was surprised that, at that speed, there was zero wind noise or road vibration.

This is why I question the 160 MPH claim of the video that started the other thread. That video didn't even look close to what I saw on that freakish cruise.

My first new car was a 1993 Mustang Cobra. I did 125 and I bet it could go faster, but I didn't feel comfortable going any faster. It wasn't a stability issue. The rushing wind was LOUD and the wipers were six inches up the windshield as if I was in the blower at Jax Car Wash. I have an Evo now and I've done 140 in that with no problem. The mustang punched through the air and the Evo slices.

I posted to FB and one of my friends said the Bull Run guys mentioned 230KPH in the video. That equals around 140. They may not have done 160MPH sustained, but a couple of times when they clear traffic I bet they reached 160 for a few secs.

**Thruster315** · December-02-10, 01:56 AM

Back when the Wings were Stanley Cup runs, I had great tickets to the classic Colorado rivalry. Unfortunately I fell asleep after pulling a long shift at work the night before. It wasn't until the buddy I was supposed to pick up before the game called me that I realized it was about half hour before the puck drop. I hauled ass out of the driveway, picked him up and made like a proverbial bat out of hell down to the Joe. We easily touched over 100 MPH a few times weaving through traffic and it wasn't until we got close to the Cobo Parking Deck did we slow it down to. Thank goodness it was my fresh new Mustang Cobra and it could handle that sort of mayhem.

**reddog289** · December-02-10, 02:24 AM

Ronjm23, I got a 65 Mercury Comet, It sounds like you had it built the right way. Mine pretty much topped out at 75 with the six. Good thing to know that when I get a V8 IN THAT CAR, I might be able to keep up with traffic and hit the Century mark.

**Django** · December-02-10, 04:44 AM

Originally Posted by gannon

sigh, i drive in the right-hand lane with the cruise set on exactly the speed limit most of the time.

rotflmao..

**Thruster315** · December-02-10, 04:54 AM

Growing up, we always had the running joke that the Detroit area interstate numbers were actually codespeak for how fast you could drive on them. One could always drive 75 MPH on I-75, 96 MPH on I-96, etc. And then when I-696 was put in and we actually drove on that freshly poured concrete... WOO WHEE!

**mkhopper** · December-02-10, 10:41 AM

I've been in a car doing over 100 twice, neither time driving however.
The first time was in the late 80s on I96 late at night going through Livonia in a buddy's Fiat. "Wanna see if this thing can get up to 100?" "Sure." [[Wasn't long after that that the car died. I think that night started the downfall.)

The other was in a Nissan 300ZX pool car in the early 90s. Another friend who worked for Nissan out in Plymouth at the time had signed the car out for the weekend. Middle of a Saturday afternoon, M-14 was oddly free of traffic, so we decided to see just how fast it would go. Pegged at 140 for a frightening few seconds before quickly slowing down.