I'm not a big fan of stoplight street racing, but 10 days ago I had a quite interesting experience whilst driving from Paris to Geneva (going to the motor show - saw the '02 s2000, with the Modulo wheels!).

I was on a normal French motorway routine : you see someone driving fast, so you follow him, and usually some other guy will join the fun, hoping the speeding fine will be for the first of the pack...
So I was following a BMW 3-series touring who was following a Peugeot 306, between 170 and 190kmh (105-118mph), for about 45minutes, when I saw a long uphill section. Being the childish competitive boy racer that I am, I decided to get rid of them and overtake the group. As I was pushing my 5th gear at about 210kmh (130mph) and leaving them behind, I noticed a slow Audi TT on the left lane.
About 1 minute later I saw very bright Xenon lights through my (completely fvcked-up) rear window... obviously the TT wanted to play, so I floored it a bit more, but he was staying close behind... so I let him pass in front, and then got into the fastest (can you say dumbest?) race I've been involved in :
I followed him up to 264 kmh (164mph)!!!
It was a quattro I'm sure, probably the 225hp model, and he had vey bizzare plates (swiss expatriate I think).

so far my personal speed record!

 

Bewarned, I got seriously flamed for saying I did 140mph when I went to France.
You never say who won? Please don't disappoint me lie if you have to

Anthony

 

So tell us, LeCar, how did the car feel at those speeds? Were there any curves? And of course, you passed him in the end, right?

To those that haven't driven on French *free*ways, and before you give LeCar any cr@p, please realize that these are some of the best roads in the world:

-perfectly smooth
-fenced
-large radius sweeping bends etc.

and that the people who drive on them are used to large speed discrepancies: when at or under the speed limit, they stay on the right!

What this all contributes to is safe, fast motoring which simply can't be had in the US.



As a side question, what is the discrepancy in real vs indicated speed at the top end? 10%? That would fit with the road tests that claimed the S2000 would do 240KPH (150). Has anyone actually measured this difference? I couldn't find anything on the board...

Hell, my Merc, factory limited to 250 KPH (156 MPH) indicates 270 KPH before the limiter stops the acceleration.

my .02 Euros

 

Doesn't it depend on how the designers decided to take the speed reading? I was told that, on my last car, a SAAB 900 SE Turbo, the speedo got its information from the ABS sensors at the front and therefore was a 100% accurate indication.

I agree with the comments about keeping to the right in France. This is also especially true in Germany and makes driving on the autobahns a delight. None of this British, "I'm doing 75 in the 'fast' lane and so I'm going to sit here come what may" coupled with the "I'm not a slow car so I will drive in Lane 2 regardless of whether Lane 1 is empty or not" idiotic malarkey Driving on British motorways with an almost always empty Lane 1 and a queue in Lane 3 makes my blood boil

 

Some of the new French roads are very good - often in strange places with no cars on too I have to admit France is also where I got my personal best in an Alfa - German has no restriction but there is often too much traffic.

I would expect electronic speedo from ABS to still have some error - there is a difference between precision and accuracy. I guess the error is probably more linear error rather than the error growth you get on a traditional system -

but if your speedo is 10% out at high speed - your odometer will be flicking the miles 10% quicker too - and taking warranty and value you off your car also.

 

Guys I'll have to disapoint you and say that the TT was a perfectly equal match in 5th and 6th! I'm sure I could have had a stong advantage if some tourist had made the error of driving to the limit on the left lane, thus making us both slow down and accelerate again, but the "autoroute" was wide and almost empty.
I didn't leave him behind, since I'm a "safe" driver I kept a very big distance between the 2 cars, 300 meters or so, and after a few minutes following him at 264kmh I just slowed down, also because my passenger (who's no stranger to speed - he did the Gumball in a S2000) was screaming for his life, begging me to stop.
The noise level was almost unbearable, but apart from that the car is absolutely stable at such speeds, even in long curves.

 

I guess the TT must have had the boot spoiler on it. Otherwise he would have been exiting the autoroute backwards

 

I thought that only happened if they had to change lane or stop in a hurry. Maybe that's why le car backed off first? The TT couldn't

 

S2000 RJ, that's too funny

Isn't it silly how they had to add that ugly spoiler to make the car less quirky?

Quick question to you stock S2000 owners, is your top speed limited by RPMS or engine power? Thanks in advance.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JaminBen
[B]Isn't it silly how they had to add that ugly spoiler to make the car less quirky?