150+mph?
04-30-04, 08:22 AM
#16
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Why don't you guys (who want to race and drive very fast) buy a track car (Lotus Elise, Scooby Impreza etc) and drive that like mad on a track day? Get your agression and testosterone out on the track rather than the public highway. That's the trend here in UK/Europe.
04-30-04, 12:32 PM
#17
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brit lex
You make allot of since. But honestly I don't like track cars or sports cars for "Daily Drivers" that is why I drive a LS400. Its just awesome that my daily driver car can go to 150mph in a quite comfortable no-nonsense way. It just blows my mind every time I hit the gas at 85mph and speed up to 125 plus. At the same time I have the AC set to 74 and the radio playing smooth Jazz. I have Zero wind noise, Zero vibration, and Zero pull to left or right, Just straight smooth acceleration.
Just yesterday I was driving on the Sawgrass Hwy here in South Florida. A new 350z was being a jerk and passing and weaving around cars. I had my cruise set to 82mph. He got stuck in a pack of cars. Some time later I was ahead of the pack and had a long empty stretch ahead of me. Here he come on my but waiting for me to move over and yet no one in front or behind for about a mile. I was a jerk and instead of moving over I floored it. He tried to over take me and not until we were doing 130phm did he pass me and then back off. He was playing with the wrong car.
I am NOT saying my car is faster than a new 350z. Either his car was an automatic, he was not totally floored or yes maybe because we have V8s and have very good aerodynamics we can accelerate and keep up with a great sports car from 85mph to 130mph.
The point is I love having the smooth quite ride I do plus the power to play if I wish to. I use my Cruise Control about 75% of my driving. I do this so I don't speed. It sooo easy to do 85 or 90mph on a highway and not notice it. Or even 55mph on a city street.
Jerry Horta
You make allot of since. But honestly I don't like track cars or sports cars for "Daily Drivers" that is why I drive a LS400. Its just awesome that my daily driver car can go to 150mph in a quite comfortable no-nonsense way. It just blows my mind every time I hit the gas at 85mph and speed up to 125 plus. At the same time I have the AC set to 74 and the radio playing smooth Jazz. I have Zero wind noise, Zero vibration, and Zero pull to left or right, Just straight smooth acceleration.
Just yesterday I was driving on the Sawgrass Hwy here in South Florida. A new 350z was being a jerk and passing and weaving around cars. I had my cruise set to 82mph. He got stuck in a pack of cars. Some time later I was ahead of the pack and had a long empty stretch ahead of me. Here he come on my but waiting for me to move over and yet no one in front or behind for about a mile. I was a jerk and instead of moving over I floored it. He tried to over take me and not until we were doing 130phm did he pass me and then back off. He was playing with the wrong car.
I am NOT saying my car is faster than a new 350z. Either his car was an automatic, he was not totally floored or yes maybe because we have V8s and have very good aerodynamics we can accelerate and keep up with a great sports car from 85mph to 130mph.
The point is I love having the smooth quite ride I do plus the power to play if I wish to. I use my Cruise Control about 75% of my driving. I do this so I don't speed. It sooo easy to do 85 or 90mph on a highway and not notice it. Or even 55mph on a city street.
Jerry Horta
04-30-04, 11:39 PM
#18
Pole Position
Interesting experience you got there. Some may argue that the LS400/430s are some of the most dangerous cars out there. Why? Well, a car that insulates the driver from the road, such that going from 55mph to 85mph can be fairly rapid without your senses noticing that the speed has suddenly jumped up is scary for a lot of folks.
With a lot of cars that have the exhaust noise, engine noise, etc. you FEEL it when you are driving faster than you should be. Some may argue that would prevent you from speeding, others may argue it encourages you to speed to hear a better exhaust noise etc.
I know I have an old Lex but many people who have driven smaller cars have stepped into my car, and are genuinely frightened after their first drive. They really find it weird to have acceleration/movement without all the normal noises ;-)
I have got used to it, and find it strange to hear the engine/wind noise when sitting as a passenger in other people's cars!
I never figured out why the US with it's vast stretch of relatively empty straight highways has such low speed limits, when in Europe we have very congested motorways, but our speed limits are higher (70mph in UK, 81mph in France, no restriction in much of Germany). In fact, the police rarely go after anyone doing less than 85-90mph in the UK, and many organisations are calling for limits to be raised to at least 80mph on the motorways here. Also, UK motorways are the safest in the world, with fewest accidents per mile of motorway. A Porsche 911 driver recently got stopped after being caught doing 173mph by a speed camera on a stretch of road in Scotland. Go figure!
With a lot of cars that have the exhaust noise, engine noise, etc. you FEEL it when you are driving faster than you should be. Some may argue that would prevent you from speeding, others may argue it encourages you to speed to hear a better exhaust noise etc.
I know I have an old Lex but many people who have driven smaller cars have stepped into my car, and are genuinely frightened after their first drive. They really find it weird to have acceleration/movement without all the normal noises ;-)
I have got used to it, and find it strange to hear the engine/wind noise when sitting as a passenger in other people's cars!
I never figured out why the US with it's vast stretch of relatively empty straight highways has such low speed limits, when in Europe we have very congested motorways, but our speed limits are higher (70mph in UK, 81mph in France, no restriction in much of Germany). In fact, the police rarely go after anyone doing less than 85-90mph in the UK, and many organisations are calling for limits to be raised to at least 80mph on the motorways here. Also, UK motorways are the safest in the world, with fewest accidents per mile of motorway. A Porsche 911 driver recently got stopped after being caught doing 173mph by a speed camera on a stretch of road in Scotland. Go figure!
05-01-04, 06:32 AM
#19
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brit_lex,
Regarding you observation about "why the US with it's vast stretch of relatively empty straight highways has such low speed limits", U.S. roads do not seem very empty to me compared to motorways in the U.K. I do a lot of driving on rural interstate highways in the U.S. and it often seems like I am driving on a crowded parking lot surrounded by huge trucks and tipsy SUV's. And I regularly drive in other parts of the U.S. - last week in the Albany, New York area, next week around Pittsburgh, PA - and it does not seem any better in those areas.
I have driven only a total of about two weeks in the U.K. in my entire life but it seemed like your motorways are, on average, in substantially better condition than the average interstate highway in the U.S. And are the lanes wider on motorways in the U.K. or did it just seem like it since I was in narrower cars? What struck me most was how smooth your highways are. I don't remember any "potholes" (more like craters) and pavement ripples that we regularly contend with in the U.S.
Interestingly, the only really close call I ever had while driving in the U.K. turned out to be with a driver from - where else - California.
Regards,
Regarding you observation about "why the US with it's vast stretch of relatively empty straight highways has such low speed limits", U.S. roads do not seem very empty to me compared to motorways in the U.K. I do a lot of driving on rural interstate highways in the U.S. and it often seems like I am driving on a crowded parking lot surrounded by huge trucks and tipsy SUV's. And I regularly drive in other parts of the U.S. - last week in the Albany, New York area, next week around Pittsburgh, PA - and it does not seem any better in those areas.
I have driven only a total of about two weeks in the U.K. in my entire life but it seemed like your motorways are, on average, in substantially better condition than the average interstate highway in the U.S. And are the lanes wider on motorways in the U.K. or did it just seem like it since I was in narrower cars? What struck me most was how smooth your highways are. I don't remember any "potholes" (more like craters) and pavement ripples that we regularly contend with in the U.S.
Interestingly, the only really close call I ever had while driving in the U.K. turned out to be with a driver from - where else - California.
Regards,
05-02-04, 07:47 AM
#20
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In my opinion, it is not about how smooth or how heavy the traffic is. People drive accordingly to these matters. What really bothers me most about driving in US freeway / highway is how unexperienced and how rude american drivers are. How often do you find yourself having people tailing you or tailing other motorists? how often do you almost get into an accident while going 70 mph because a person in front of you decide to move into your lane while going 40 mph? I do not understand how difficult it is to look in the rearview mirror every so often. Do you think it is that jerk who is tailing you that causes accident or do you think because you are going 65 in 70 mph zone (even 70 in 70 zone) and you think you have the right to stay in very left lane eventhough there are plenty of cars behind you trying to go faster - now who is to blame? This is probably the thing that I found bugging be most. Autobahn, there is no speed limit as everyone knows, cars go well over 100++ mph on the other hand, numbers of accident are not nearly as high as US. Why? - Drivers respect each other, most of them. And IMO, Fastest lane is there for passing. They are not driving on fast lane like US drivers do. It is really important not to just stay on there because you think you go fast enough. Once you see somebody coming behind you thru your rearview mirrors, you should change the lane immediately, do not wait until he/she is right behind you and tailing you. Why do you think that person is deserve to have to change lane even tho you both are on fast lane but you are the one who is going slower? This can cause accident by wait till the person is right behind you, what if you both decided to change lane at the same time? what if you have to stop immediately and the person is right on your tail? I agree that that person should not be riding your *** but should he have to??
05-02-04, 02:34 PM
#21
Pole Position
Kansas, whereabouts in the UK did you drive? I live in London, and it's not until you drive about 200 miles north of London on the way to Scotland do you seem to leave the congested motorways behind.
The lanes don't seem wider here than the US, but I guess it's a matter of perception. Could be the narrower cars. The typical family car here is a Ford Focus which is a LOT smaller than the typical Accord or Camry sold in the US. My LS400 is just about OK to drive through lanes here (lots of width restrictions of 6'6" to drive through which I scrape through with 1 inch to spare), but if you look at people with the old style S-class (up to 1999), then those cars end up being wider than many lanes here!
I recently spent two weeks on I-95 all the way through NJ, PA, DC and VA. Plus I drove on I-40 in Raleigh-Durham too. It definitely appeared to be way less traffic than the UK. I was impressed. Depends on what you are used to I guess. Yes, US highways need smoothing over bigtime. Let's rename the country to the United States of Potholes! If you think the UK has smooth highways, you should drive in France where many of the autoroutes are ultra smooth. The use all the toll money to get private firms to build nice roads! I take it for granted that roads are always smooth. Mind you, there are a LOT of roads in the US to maintain, so it must be a massive task to do the maintenance.
LexisLS: You are correct about lane discipline. European drivers certainly seem to be more aware that the fast lane is for passing only. I had a Chrysler Pacifica (nice ride!) on my recent visit, and driving from DC to NJ was kinda strange. I always indicated and moved over back to the right hand lane after passing slower vehicles. I didn't see others doing that, and people must have wondered what I was doing ;-) After a while I felt like I was doing something wrong!!! I found some people didn't wait for me to pull over after passing, and would often undertake me just as I was getting read to move out of their way.
Germany is a whole different story. Lane disciple in strongest there, and you have to be ultra aware if you are doing 100mph in the passing lane and a Porsche 911 comes up behind you very, very quickly.
Always interesting to compare different ways of driving in different places...
The lanes don't seem wider here than the US, but I guess it's a matter of perception. Could be the narrower cars. The typical family car here is a Ford Focus which is a LOT smaller than the typical Accord or Camry sold in the US. My LS400 is just about OK to drive through lanes here (lots of width restrictions of 6'6" to drive through which I scrape through with 1 inch to spare), but if you look at people with the old style S-class (up to 1999), then those cars end up being wider than many lanes here!
I recently spent two weeks on I-95 all the way through NJ, PA, DC and VA. Plus I drove on I-40 in Raleigh-Durham too. It definitely appeared to be way less traffic than the UK. I was impressed. Depends on what you are used to I guess. Yes, US highways need smoothing over bigtime. Let's rename the country to the United States of Potholes! If you think the UK has smooth highways, you should drive in France where many of the autoroutes are ultra smooth. The use all the toll money to get private firms to build nice roads! I take it for granted that roads are always smooth. Mind you, there are a LOT of roads in the US to maintain, so it must be a massive task to do the maintenance.
LexisLS: You are correct about lane discipline. European drivers certainly seem to be more aware that the fast lane is for passing only. I had a Chrysler Pacifica (nice ride!) on my recent visit, and driving from DC to NJ was kinda strange. I always indicated and moved over back to the right hand lane after passing slower vehicles. I didn't see others doing that, and people must have wondered what I was doing ;-) After a while I felt like I was doing something wrong!!! I found some people didn't wait for me to pull over after passing, and would often undertake me just as I was getting read to move out of their way.
Germany is a whole different story. Lane disciple in strongest there, and you have to be ultra aware if you are doing 100mph in the passing lane and a Porsche 911 comes up behind you very, very quickly.
Always interesting to compare different ways of driving in different places...
05-03-04, 10:34 AM
#22
Lead Lap
brit_lex,
My point was that I did not see all that much difference in traffic volume between motorways in the UK and interstate highways in the US - at least around the metropolitan areas in the US where I drive. Maybe I would have a different view if I took long road trips in the U.S. - but I mainly fly and then rent a car. I've driven as far north as Edinburgh and as far south as Portsmouth where my employer has an office and one of my co-workers also has an LS400. We've mainly hit the tourist sites - Hastings, Bath, Cotswolds and I think my wife has dragged us through every castle, garden and manor on the British Heritage list. I have not driven inside London but have driven around the perimeter a bit. I was surprised (and relieved) that I found it easy to adapt to driving on the left. I felt very comfortable in traffic so maybe that is why it did not seem so crowded. I found streets in older parts of your cities to be much more of a challenge. Last car we rented was a fairly large Ford Granada and I remember once hearing the driver's side mirror click against the mirror of an oncoming car on a narrow street. Maybe things have gotten more crowded in the UK since I last drove there in the early 90's. Now we mainly vacation in southern Europe where we rent those tiny Hyundai Atos cars which I actually really like.
My point was that I did not see all that much difference in traffic volume between motorways in the UK and interstate highways in the US - at least around the metropolitan areas in the US where I drive. Maybe I would have a different view if I took long road trips in the U.S. - but I mainly fly and then rent a car. I've driven as far north as Edinburgh and as far south as Portsmouth where my employer has an office and one of my co-workers also has an LS400. We've mainly hit the tourist sites - Hastings, Bath, Cotswolds and I think my wife has dragged us through every castle, garden and manor on the British Heritage list. I have not driven inside London but have driven around the perimeter a bit. I was surprised (and relieved) that I found it easy to adapt to driving on the left. I felt very comfortable in traffic so maybe that is why it did not seem so crowded. I found streets in older parts of your cities to be much more of a challenge. Last car we rented was a fairly large Ford Granada and I remember once hearing the driver's side mirror click against the mirror of an oncoming car on a narrow street. Maybe things have gotten more crowded in the UK since I last drove there in the early 90's. Now we mainly vacation in southern Europe where we rent those tiny Hyundai Atos cars which I actually really like.
05-04-04, 01:28 AM
#23
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hello guys,
my car is 96LS 400 with piggy back system. my car does make more power then stock ls400. car gained 20+rwhp and tq through the rpm band on chassis dyno. maybe it was lt1 rather then ls1but i'm not really sure. they all look pretty much the same for last 10 years. anyhow that z28 did not pull away from me on highway. i'm pretty sure that my car will pull pretty hard on stock ls400 with out tuned ecu.
my car is 96LS 400 with piggy back system. my car does make more power then stock ls400. car gained 20+rwhp and tq through the rpm band on chassis dyno. maybe it was lt1 rather then ls1but i'm not really sure. they all look pretty much the same for last 10 years. anyhow that z28 did not pull away from me on highway. i'm pretty sure that my car will pull pretty hard on stock ls400 with out tuned ecu.
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