BUSTED - Doing 220 in an 85 mph Texas Toll Way

[Syntyr]

John Hennessey was "busted" doing 220 mph in an 85 mph zone on the new Texas I 130 tollway. He was cleared by TX dot to test the toll cameras in his new VR 1200. TX DOT confirms they clicked his toll tag at 180 mph.



Houston Chronicle article - http://www.chron.com/cars/article/Someo ... 981380.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; cool video - " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;!

[snatchel]

I test drove a CTS-V. Yikes. That is a quick ride, for sure. The monster he is driving is what I need though.

[Syntyr]

I test drove a CTS-V. Yikes. That is a quick ride, for sure. The monster he is driving is what I need though.

If I am going faster than 200 mph I better be on the salt flats or have wings!

[DoubleJ]

Good lord, that'll make you reconsider some life choices, right there.

[PUCKER]

Very cool! Well, this sets the precedent that the road is just fine for 200+...I'll remember that should I ever need to "do some 'splaning..."

Gotta take one of the vettes down there soon...I see a road trip in my future...read a vette forum write-up that a local (down there) vette club ran it yesterday, they gave it a thumbs-up!

With the Texas Mile starting tomorrow I have a *very* strong feeling that a few of the competitors will be on that highway, it's fairly nearby from what I recall. The 220.5 mark could easily be broken by some of these folks. It's ASTONISHING the kind of speed they can attain.

[C-dub]

Kinda glad I sold my Busa so I won't be tempted. I've been over 170 mph and, although I would have liked to push it further at the time, when I did the math on feet per second that was enough for me. At around 280 feet per second and given the average person's reaction time of at least 2.5 seconds to realize something must be done and the time it takes to send those signals to your body to tell it to do whatever needs to be done ... that was all the sobering I needed.

So, I sold the bike and bought a couple rifles and some ammo and then a shotgun after saving up a little more.

[Mahzik]

I test drove a CTS-V. Yikes. That is a quick ride, for sure. The monster he is driving is what I need though.

I've been lucky enough to attend two Cadillac sponsored track days where you get to put the CTS-V through its paces on a track with a professional driver sitting in the passenger seat. Slalom course, drag races against other participants, extreme braking, and 3 laps around a road coarse race track complete with Top Gear style video sent to you after the event. Lots of fun!! Race course is setup to limit top speed, but I got it up to about 120 mph on one of the straights and you are taking turns at 50 - 70 mph.

Although, I told one of the marketing guys from Cadillac that I thought there was a flaw in their marketing. While I had a great time, after seeing what the car COULD do on a race track, why would I buy one to sit in rush hour traffic in Houston? Maybe someday, but not today.

[Scott in Houston]

I've hit 175 regularly on a track near College Station. Going straight at high speeds really isn't that exciting relative to turning at 95 or 100 mph.
I've taken my car off track at 100 mph ... I looked like Luckily, my pants were still dry.

I will say that when I was driving to and from the track, the tape and numbers on my car got quite a bit of extra attention... most of it unwanted, but I never broke the speed limit. And after doing it on a track, you really have no desire to do it on a public road.

[philip964]

Just got back from Germany spent quite a while on the autobahn. Kinda like the interstate but no speed limit in most places. Generally went between 85 and 100 fastest I went was 115 mph. I was in a Renault diesel so, unfortunately I was not in a very fast car. Modern cars are very stable at these speeds so it was really not a big deal. Slower traffic stayed in the right lane and I stayed there most of the time except to pass. Many cars were going much faster so I kept an eye out when I went in the left lane.

Came upon one accident on the trip (a rear ender naturally), don't know if that is indicative of more accidents due to the speed or not. But everyone involved had reflective yellow vests on, many were putting them on as I came by. I looked and saw in the map pocket of each seat was a neatly wrapped reflective yellow vest.

Gas is about $7.50 a gallon. A medium sized coke (their biggest) at McDonald's is $4.00. Most things seemed expensive. We really do not appreciate how good we have it. Quaint was a lot of fun for about 9 days, but after that I was ready to come home to ice, big drinks and decent sized parking spaces.

[PUCKER]

I've hit 175 regularly on a track near College Station. Going straight at high speeds really isn't that exciting relative to turning at 95 or 100 mph.
I've taken my car off track at 100 mph ... I looked like Luckily, my pants were still dry.

I will say that when I was driving to and from the track, the tape and numbers on my car got quite a bit of extra attention... most of it unwanted, but I never broke the speed limit. And after doing it on a track, you really have no desire to do it on a public road.

One of the reasons I have paint protection film (aka Clear Bra) on most of the car...I also put my numbers on the car *at* the track...and they come off before I leave. Gotta be stealthy in the "Batvette."

[Syntyr]

Kinda glad I sold my Busa so I won't be tempted. I've been over 170 mph and, although I would have liked to push it further at the time, when I did the math on feet per second that was enough for me. At around 280 feet per second and given the average person's reaction time of at least 2.5 seconds to realize something must be done and the time it takes to send those signals to your body to tell it to do whatever needs to be done ... that was all the sobering I needed.

So, I sold the bike and bought a couple rifles and some ammo and then a shotgun after saving up a little more.

Speeding on 2 wheels is WAY different than on 4 wheels. I have been 180+ in several 911s in my life. I hit 140 once and only once on two wheels. Decided that about 110 was my top speed on 2 wheels. Took about 5 minutes to come down from that adrenaline high and for the shakes to stop. Sometimes fear is a good thing.

[Jaguar]

This is off topic but...

Quaint was a lot of fun for about 9 days, but after that I was ready to come home to ice, big drinks and decent sized parking spaces.

I was in Germany in 1999 for three weeks. The hotel I was at had a restaurant attached so I was a frequent customer there during my stay. My last night I told the waitress to fill my glass with ice and then add whatever coke would fit after that. She tried to explain the "mark on the glass" rule, and I told her I didn't care about the rule, I wanted a lot of ice. She did, and about 1/2 way through my dinner the manager walks by and his eyes bug out when he sees my glass of mostly ice and starts apologizing, trying to take my drink. I had to explain to him I ordered it that way, I wanted it that way, and I was willing to pay more to have it that way.

Germans and their ice, who would have thought.

On another note, the flight home had a German speaking only stewardesses and apparently she had asked someone how to say "you're welcome" in English. Well, in German, "bitte", means both "please" and "your welcome", so when she asked how to say "bitte" in English, the person she asked told her, "please". Anytime I told her "thank you" she would respond, "please". It took me a while to figure out why she kept saying please, and once I did get it, I figured she was just too darned cute to correct.

[Scott in Houston]

I've hit 175 regularly on a track near College Station. Going straight at high speeds really isn't that exciting relative to turning at 95 or 100 mph.
I've taken my car off track at 100 mph ... I looked like Luckily, my pants were still dry.

I will say that when I was driving to and from the track, the tape and numbers on my car got quite a bit of extra attention... most of it unwanted, but I never broke the speed limit. And after doing it on a track, you really have no desire to do it on a public road.

One of the reasons I have paint protection film (aka Clear Bra) on most of the car...I also put my numbers on the car *at* the track...and they come off before I leave. Gotta be stealthy in the "Batvette."

I have it on all our cars. It's so nice to be able to clean bugs, etc. with the gas station squeegee and not worry about scratches.

It also kept it from getting scratched when the little one would get into her spot for long trips.

[PUCKER]

I've hit 175 regularly on a track near College Station. Going straight at high speeds really isn't that exciting relative to turning at 95 or 100 mph.
I've taken my car off track at 100 mph ... I looked like Luckily, my pants were still dry.

I will say that when I was driving to and from the track, the tape and numbers on my car got quite a bit of extra attention... most of it unwanted, but I never broke the speed limit. And after doing it on a track, you really have no desire to do it on a public road.

One of the reasons I have paint protection film (aka Clear Bra) on most of the car...I also put my numbers on the car *at* the track...and they come off before I leave. Gotta be stealthy in the "Batvette."

I have it on all our cars. It's so nice to be able to clean bugs, etc. with the gas station squeegee and not worry about scratches.

It also kept it from getting scratched when the little one would get into her spot for long trips.

[ Image ]

That is precious!! I'm sure I freaked a few people out at the gas station the last time I got the window squeegee out and proceeded to clean the bug-covered bumper of the vette...it worked great! Bugs came right off!

To Jaguar: seems to be that way in most of Europe. Spend a little over two weeks in Sweden last year, partly business, then stayed with some friends. Their idea of an ice tray was this rubbery little thing with tiny cutouts of ships...each ice cube was really small, but pretty....about 12 little cubes per tray....kind of hard to mix a cocktail when you run out of ice! Oh well...they probably think we (or me) are crazy...they're probably right!