User 41221

Kinda odd that the guy in the video is just barely catching up to the traffic on the road with him, isn't it? Not to mention insanely stupid to try and do that around traffic, but without the background story from the guy driving the car, I am inclined to call bs on this video.

Hypothetically, stock tiptronic cars with the top up on a closed course under the supervision of professionals can hit 159mph at 7200rpm when the rev limiter kicks in, as measured by a GPS. That would be with 16" factory wheels. Or so I have heard.

RajDatta

+2. I call the video BS!!
1st off, he is barely faster than traffic. At 161mph, he should be 100mph!!! faster than traffic. If you have ever pulled over on the side of a road and had cars pass you at 65mph-70mph, it feels pretty fast. This guy should be atleast 25mph-30mph faster than those cars passing you at a standstill. Sounds like some fool who is playing around with his speedo to "adjust" his speed. Also, the car barely is breaking 6k rpm and he is already at 161mph, doesn't add up.
The best part is that he is actually making a slight turn at that speed. I don't care how great a 968 is in a straighline, but to expect to do that on a turn, it would require some downforce.
I have been in numerous vehicle at speeds over 160mph, and let me tell you, this is not one of them. Total BS.

Lemming

Don't forget, most speedos will not be correct at that speed and the majority read higher than actual speed. I do not believe any speedo data, show me GPS data.

Apex Rex

I completely agree with you there Jim. Now maybe if it was supercharged like Lemming's, there may be a chance to see 150 at the tracks you've mentioned.

rgs944

I really do not believe the video is a fake. The speedo might be off but they are passing those cars pretty quick. The average traffic speed was probably about 80mph with some cars running maybe up to 90. I have been on plenty of open freeways like that. The run from LA to Palm springs comes to mind.

rgs944

I have also hit the 95 mph rev limiter in a rental car on the LA to Vegas run. Was'nt trying to do it I was just staying with traffic in the fast lane.

FRporscheman

That video looks fake. I think he messed with his speedometer, or it's just off.

When I did my top speed run (on closed course with professional driver in another country) I had a deathgrip on the steering wheel, and I thought if I turned at all I would die. I mean that's an exaggeration, but you know, on a stock 968 there's no way it could go through a curvy freeway at 160mph.

odurandina

+1.... i have done this a few times. but in a place where there wasn't anyone on the road. not saying it was right, but i wanted to know what the car could do once my instruments could display the actual speed i was going, and i no longer was stuck running the not-so-great, stock exhaust....



this video does indeed look faked... or some kind of optical illusion from the camera lens or filming at night.


i was actually going to post this video a few months ago as a good example of how our speedos mean very little, and can be off by as much as 10~12 mph. ask the guys who run open road races, texas mile etc in their P-cars... as they have pointed out and as i have said dozens of times.


if the video is real, their speedo will be off by 4~5 mph even if they were running the correct tire size.... which they clearly, are not.


the 968 speedometer is set to read 25 mph per 1000 rpm in top gear, but the speedo begins to show a defect of about 0.75 mph for every 25 mph (even when your running the correct sized tire).... and in order to have 25 mph for each 1,000 rpm that tire will need to be 25.5" and it's obvious the guys in the video are not running the bigger tires, so you can add on another 7~8 mph of defect to that.


so, if it looks impressive that they're able to wind the speedo up that high, that's because they're technically running a lower ratio in top gear (tires). this can be confirmed by downloading the mp4 to your computer and then slowing it down w/ VLC media player... keep track of the clock.... count the stripes and you'll discover they're going like, 144~145 mph.... on older cars running the short tire combo, partially clogged cats, you'll be closer to 145 mph, just as the video seems to demonstrate....



the "148" mph in the clip below seems a bit more like it... more than 1/10th mile (663 feet) long trainset clears the gun in about 3 seconds. (the acela reaches 150 mph on a few sections of track in Mass. and RI).



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biCs3...layer_embedded

User 41221

968's can turn quite well at 160mph, thank you very much. The effort it takes to steer a 968 at speed is much easier than the effort it takes to get it up to those speeds. As a matter of fact, I'd say it takes no effort to steer the car at speed. If you want to have some fun, take a late 60's Mopar muscle car up
around 120-130 sometime, that WILL get the pucker factor going if you have to turn or stop fast. I had a number of those cars way back in my youth and have plenty of first hand experience at that.

Doesn't change the fact that I am convinced that video is not a true representation of the speed that they were claiming. I will bet someone could pull some markers off the video and calculate an actual speed, and prove he's not doing 100mph.

odurandina

yes, i agree the 968 is one the best ever for taking curves on an a clean section of interstate...


on my top speed runs i had deal with a few mild bends at 150 + mph while keeping the throttle buried.


took a lot of arrogance, but it was the only way i could see how fast the car would go.


i won't do it again until after the car is set up for 175 + mph.....


anyway staying with the tachometer, here's how i calculated my 163 mph top speed run from last year;


you all can just plug in your tire specs for rev/mile, speed at 6,500 rpm, etc....



running new 26.65" Dunlop 9000 275-35-18 @ 36 psi...


according to Dunlop the tire produces 807 revolutions per mile.... that means the tire's circumference is exactly 78.51"....


on a 968, 6th gear is 0.778..... and the differential is 3.778 ... making the car's absolute ratio is 2.939 to 1.


so your rear axle is making exactly 340.2 revolutions per 1000 rpm.....


there are 63,360 inches in a mile...... and the dunlops i'm running make 26,710.1 inches of forward movement every time my engine turns 1000 times in 6th gear.....


or 0.42156 miles per 1000 turns of the engine, or 2.740146 miles per minute at 6,500 RPM (rev limiter).
....

multiply that number by 60 minutes and you get .... 2.74014599 x 60 = 164.41 miles/hour at the limiter.




first, after installing the bigger tires, i was unable to get the car past about 140~142 mph...... but after dumping the stock exhaust, and changing to the 2.5" straight pipe/glasspack combo i went out somewhere near nebraska on a cold, 15 degree night at about 3:00 am... and i was able to reach about 163~164 mph with that crispy dense air...


this highway was almost perfectly straight and the car needed about 6 or 7 miles to reach top speed... the car ran up to about 150 mph quickly where it encountered a wall of wind and the increase of speed slowed... the last 7 or 8 mph required about 4 more miles of road... i did it again this past summer with a little more wear on the tires and got the car up to about 161 mph...


the car always feels fine, but unlike that cold night from a year ago, this time, something started to smell horrible. don't know if it was the bearings on the torque tube, or the input shaft, clutch or what.... didn't smell good. but not quite the "oil refinery" smell that you get just before your engine blows up so, who knows.



i also have my speedo wound back about 4 mph so it reads exactly 100 mph @ 4,000 rpm.

on interstate 80 i ran 129 miles of mile markers a couple months ago, and the odometer read 128.3 miles



if you really feel the need for speed on dry land, see @ 1:10 of this clip, sick !



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1fW4...eature=related

Fox944

I've had my 968 up over 160MPH and went through curves.

rgs944

I would think changing lanes at 125 would not be a problem at all for a 968. I see Ford Probes and similiar cars do it when getting chased by the cops. Maybe not 125 but they do not seem to have a problem with switching lanes around 100mph.

odurandina

Tony G runs the Roval's long banked turns at 155 mph.

even with the banking, that's still a very sharp curve compared to most stretches of interestate.






he's exactly right. by running fourth gear, all you'd have to do is turn the speedo ahead about 50 mph. and it's very easy to do by gently applying pressure with your finger on the butt end of the needle and turning it clockwise. you could do that without damaging it and then turn it back after. ********.




this looks a bit more real... thinking maybe 135~140 mph in the first video...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8Uld...eature=related



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3lLyTUUoeU

FRporscheman

I guess I'll have to try it myself to believe it (turning at 160mph). Maybe it's because last time I was around those speeds, I was running on 160k mile old shocks which were not confidence inspiring. The video still looked slower than claimed though.

rgs944

There is good thread going on the 928 forum right now about a guy getting to GPS verified 208.