Hi all!

Got out on Autobahn 7 today, heading South.

Kicked it up to 140 mph and held it for 20 min.

Can't complain, everything felt "Good-n-Tight".

Only issue I can point out, is that the hood was vibrating big time (left to right). Wasn't felt in the car, it just looked bad and scary that it might fly off.

It's great to be in Germany with a car like this. Had more fun "at speed" than when I'm hauling "A" in my sons BMW.

So . . . trust me, if you hit 140 mph in the US, even for 30 seconds, you're not missing out on anything with the other 19 1/2 mins.

Tom

 

Cool!! Good for you...

 

Thats awesome I don't think I would have the ***** to do that. 140 mph is super fast man.

 

Hey have you thought about trying the Saleen hood (or perhaps doing what one member here did in modifying the hood with vents so that it is much the same as the one on the new shelby) to see if it helps with the hood?
Would think the shelby style venting would be better since it vents almost immediately and over the hood to help with down force though the saleen allows the air to travel over the entire compartment venting at the rear so i may help with keeping the engine bay cooler by taking a lot of the engine heat out.
Either way, it should - maybe - help with that hood vibration.

 

How much gas was left after 20 minutes doing 140mph?

 

hmmm I hit 140 not to long ago and didnt notice any vibration...did it happen immediately or did it build up?

 

In response to Gattguy -

140 mph is not really as bad as you would think. The overall speed of the "traffic" is moving around 80-100 anyway, with about 1 out of 3 cars in the 120+ mph arena.

Passing a car that's doing 120 is whole lot easier to swallow, than passing somebody that's doing 60 mph.

You would be amazed at how nice it is to "look ahead" when you don't have to worry about keeping a speed limit.

But, nowadays about 1/3 of the all the autobahns have a 75 mph speed limit because of "dips", "tight curves", noise abatement, crowded areas, etc.

Tom

 

The vibration progressively got worse in the first minute, then maintained it. I did go through a few valley type areas and a bridge with slight crosswind. Didn't feel a thing on the crosswind, but the valley areas were smoother.

and on the gas, it went from half tank to 3/8's approx.

I forgot to reset my menus (D-it!), so I have no data on average MPH and MPG

Tom

 

adjust to hood stop pins and the shaking will go away good luck

 

The latest issue of Hot Rod mag had and article on the FR500C race program. It mentioned that the race teams were having issues with the hoods, and that their solution was to add a second set of hood pins. The hood still flew off one of the cars during the race (w/4 pins!).

I guess the retro styling is not conducive to high speed driving.

 

I'm not going to worry about it too much and don't plan on getting hood pins.

This 140 mph business is not going to happen that often with me.

Just had to try it once. My most comfortable speed is around 95-100 on the autobahn. I blend in with other traffic pretty well and the car seems comfortable and smooth at that speed.

The only time I might do it again, would be if I'm playing "tag" with some of these BMW and Audi drivers with their 70,000+ cars.

I just wanted to knock it out early, so I know what to expect when needed.

Tom

 

Heres a rough estimate:
140 mph for 20 min is 46.7 miles
An 1/8th tank of gas is roughly 2 gallons.
That comes out to 23.3 mpg, not bad.

 

It's wierd, 80-120 is a huge differance and 120-140 is just as big. I let the needle touch 140 just briefly enough to be able to say I did it but quickly let it get back down to regular speeds, don't want to lose the car or go to jail. Was really nice, felt great not jittery or nervous real solid. had a renault to 120 before and had a really bad feeling it would just fall apart, was scary. Didn't notice any hood vibration but did not sustain the speed or pay attention to the hood was eyes forward only at 140 :shock:

 

Wardog 07,
I just noticed that you had a convert Was it up or down? How about wind noise? Was the top flapping around or tight?

The Boss Hog

 

Top was up. Noise wasn't that bad, (compared to sons '91 E30 BMW). no flap. It seals real good for a ragtop.

Tom

 

Nice to be able to try her out without worrying about going to jail or losing the car. Was 140 flat out or did you take it to max.

 

Must have been have a blast!

 

Was NOT flat out. Never hit the limiter. Never hit the floor with the pedal.

Had my kid with me. Crept it up slow after 120.

I'll hit the limiter when alone.

TC

 

Lucky poo !! I wish they'd dedicate a copy Eisenhower Interstates to speed. (like I-89 so my commute would go from 15 minutes to 6.4 minutes) :R:

 

my car topped out at about 146-148 then the computer speed limiter started to kick in (car was built in late march) and I have no hood shake at all but my hood needs to be slamed to close