MrXerox

To be wanting to remove the speed limiter off a 2 ton 4 door luxury sedan so you can see what the top speed will be is a little on the nutty and or childish side in my opinion. 131 is plenty fast for this car, If you need more you have purchased the wrong vehicle.

AlexusAnja

+1 ... for same price (sticker) get a GSR and have at it. The LS is made for luxury cruising, not racetrack certification.

Or, get a minivan, I've seen some doing easily close to 140..

MDEC

The tires are usually the reason for a speed-limiter, but sometimes the driveshaft can have a top speed, as well.

At some natural frequency point, the driveshaft could start bending/whipping, leading to a failure (breaks apart like a pencil)

CarGuy89

It's the idea of knowing the car CAN do it rather than actually going out and trying it. It just says the car was over engineered and does things well that it wasn't meant to do. Like you said, sometimes limiters are put on not just b/c of tires but b/c of other components. Having a car with components able to do 155 is damned impressive in my book. Think of it this way, it's like having a nice watch that can go 500 or 1000 m below water. Are you going to do it? Probably not, but just knowing that it can is a good thing right?

jac430

I fully agree with that.
The reserve this car has is enormous.
Even at our national speed limit the engine has about 2000 rev/min, so just cruising.
That certainly must also account for the longevity and quietness.

In this country the mounted tires have to be able to withstand the max speed the vehicle can reach. Since over here it is "limited" at 250 km/h, the tires have to be accordingly (and accordingly expensive, since the speed limit is much lower...).

Jac

whitetooth

The LS430 has no reserve. It is slower as the VW Phaeton 5l Diesel and much slower as a lot of BMW and Daimler.
Precisely at 259 km/h the speed is limited in the European versions. This is 5000 rpm on 18 '' wheels and consumption is 35 litre / 100 km. Normal tires such as Pirelli P-Zero can be used without any risk up to 300 km/h.
On 22's max speed is real 266 km/h limited by the small LS engine. B.t.w. wind noise above 240 is huge. Sounds like an open passenger door.

chris81964

I did experience the wind noise phenomenon. I was sure the door would swing open. I am glad it was not my car alone. With the drag coefficient I was expecting better aerodynamics at speed.
It is nice to know the car can go very fast.

Maxima3

I've been 153mph in my auto 02 maxima with more to go as an auto... now going that fast is fun everytime i do it, but unless im on the highway at midnight or later where im by myself i wouldnt do it.... not to be terribly off topic but what do these cars dyno stock and with mods??? seems like its only right to speak performance if we're talking speed right... ive never really seen a US spec LS dynoed

DNC

Come on guys, let's not be stupid, just because our cars can travel at those speeds does not mean they were designed to travel at such speeds. Save that kind of driving for the track.

warminwisc

My high speed driving, and I bet most others, is usually on the multilane divided freeway where I can see the very limited number of cars ahead and have paved shoulders to veer off onto IF I need it. Bump er up feel the power and slow er down. i drive the same road every day and know where cops are and it is safe. 100 is easy 125 or so she starts to sound a bit breezy.
Really does not seem that dangerous to me.

HiloDB1

iTrader: (3)

Sorry we have no track. Ive never got my LS above 70 and that was speeding up to merge onto the highway. I do not feel the need or have reason to go any faster then the posted speed limit.

Our highest speed limit here is 60mph so to me even driving above that is "dangerous" but yet everyone in this thread already does over our highest speed limit as cruising speed.

As for the OP the speed limiter is there to prevent the car from going above the speed rating of the tires. It is a safety feature to prevent tire damage at speed and possible accidents.

AlexusAnja

Here's something to look at..the guy was drunk, but I don't think it would have mattered much had he been sober...

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=480106

chris81964

I know this is totally unrelated. On the same day on my drive back the drivers side headlight washer cap/cover disappeared. The morning we left home it was -10 degrees F. It flew off some where on the NY State thruway. Has anyone replaced it before? It squirts windshield wiper fluid straight up and misses the headlight.

yuri.ber

iTrader: (7)

Practically all BMW owners think they're king of the road. These cars do hold the road well and this is what causes the illusion of invincibility and being able to go through a turn at ANY speed. So many people (BMW owners) I spoke to said the same thing about road holding. Thank god it was just him and nobody else got hurt. R.I.P.

AlexusAnja

Yes, same can be said about SUV drivers in snow. They think that they're able to launch faster than FWD or RWD, that it will help them make a turn or stop better too. People... AWD just helps you to go... not to stop !!!