How fast have you really gone in your Pontiac?
How fast is too fast? After talking with many of my friends, I have realized there are many people who place importance on a vehicles top speed. While surpassing the 200mph barrier is a crowning achievement, it's something that not very many cars are capable of attaining. Exotic cars treat 200mph like it's nothing, and have moved on to bigger and better things. When will be too much, too fast? Shelby Supercars, not associated with Carroll Shelby, has built a C5R-powered hypercar called the Ultimate Aero TT. It knocked down 257mph in a production car in street trim. This is ridiculous to me. I have known friends to take their cars in excess of 180mph on streets, but this was in vehicles with no engineering thought into the car past, say 160mph.?
Some consider me old fashioned when it comes to this, but the novelty of high-speed travel has worn off. It took one buried speedometer trip in my Camaro SS to wean me off the idea of ever trying it again. My mind started to wander as my buddy was freaking out about how cool it was to see over 155mph. I thought about my tires, the wall on the side of the bridge, and the water just after the concrete barrier. At 155+mph there is very little room for error. Such error could result in an exciting news story the next morning, as well as your death. The fact of the matter is that a Camaro SS isn't engineered very well for that speed. It was spooky. I wonder how it would feel to try that again in a 911 Turbo? hmmm.
Since that day I have learned a lot about cars and aerodynamics. I have come to appreciate exotic cars greatly, which wasn't the case a few years ago. I never saw the need in buying a car like the Ferrari F430 or the Lamborghini LP640. It wasn't until I began to understand the thought process of building one of these cars that I began to smile and drool. Form meets function, and how shapely and nice the form is.
So I ask the question. We all own Pontiacs, so how fast have you taken yours up to? Or do you completely discourage the thrill of high speeds? Let's hear your own personal car stories. Let’s all assume this is a closed course.