A neighbor of mine has a '72 Challenger, 440 6 pack, very nice car. I was driving by and saw him cleaning it in the drive way I slowed down and we started talking about his Challenger and he asked about my Chevelle. Well I asked him how much HP he has and he tells me 600 :eek:. Then I ask him about the rearend, he said it's a posi with 3.55 gears. Then he tells me he topped it out at 200 mph :rolleyes:. He was completely serious, all I could do was smile and say "really" lol?

Even with a 6 speed tranny, he'd be winding that thing to 10,000+ rpm,
It's within the realm of possible, but highly unlikely.

Outside full tilt, purpose built, race cars, there are very few cars that are actually capable of 200 mph, including exotic super cars advertised as such. Those that do, usually only do so under controlled situations. Venues are limited as well, I'd like to think that, aside of a manufacturer renting a facility, management wouldn't be real receptive to such speeds without a full roll cage (purpose built).

Personally, the top speed that I have driven myself, I'd estimate 170ish. I say estimate because it was during a "Richard Petty Driving Experience" at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, my fastest recorded lap (out of 8) posted an average speed of 167mph. So, to make up for reduced speeds in the turns, at some point I'm sure that straightaway speeds exceeded 170, but not much. Although those speeds are frowned upon, mid 150's are the intended maximum, mine was only the third best in my class of 20 or so.

I was a passenger in a heavily modified, "Grey Market" Twin Turbo BMW M6 back in the early 90's that reached 174mph before road conditions forced us to slow down. Even though it was still pulling pretty hard, I'm reluctant to say that it was a 200mph car, probably damn close though.

Actually with a modern 6-speed (.50:1 final drive) and 3.55 gears assuming a 26" tire (pretty standard for a car capable of 200MPH) you would only need to spin 4600RPM to attain the speed claimed. Figure a 200-300RPM cushion for clutch slippage and wind factor it is fairly easy to hit 200MPH with a modern drive train assuming you have the engine HP to pull that top gear. Most of the unlimited cars in ORR have no problems hitting 200MOPH without much of a sweat. I think the new mark is somewhere near 250MPH (Salt flat stuff not included). Mathematically mine will do 180MPH...I don't have the HP to pull that gear nor the aero package to keep the nose down.

But your neighbor is full of BS, if he could really go 200MPH, you would have already known all about it. This stuff doesn’t stay secret in the neighborhood long.

Yeah, my 68 in high school with a powerglide would shift outta 1st at 110. Oh, wait, my speedo wasn't calibrated, make that 35 or so :D

Yeah, lord only knows, but the BS meter is pegged on that one.

I can do 90 in first gear (on my bike).

Another of the endless supply of auto BS'ers. I liken it to the "big head-little head syndrome" when some guys are around hot women. Big head goes numb around hot cars though in this case.

TILT TILT..... the supply of auto tails is never ending ... but please next time you see him .... ask how he got a 72 challenger 440 6-pk ? they stopped building em in 71... or maybe about the rear end gears being 3.55 ??? if its a 4 speed car that would means its got a dana 60 & the ratio would be 3.54...... not big things but ... they send my BS meter into the TILT mode ;)

Then he tells me he topped it out at 200 mph :rolleyes:.
Maybe he meant kph, and even if he did ,its probably still BS.

I can do 90 in first gear (on my bike).

That's nuthin I did that in reverse on my mountain bike once :clonk:

The fastest I'd ever gone was on 2 wheels and I hit 170, only needed to do it once to realize that I never wanted to do that on 2 wheels ever again.

Unless you have access to the salt flats or a super speedway there's just very few places left that you can hit 200.

How much HP were the Winston Cup cars running when Bill Elliot qualified at 210?

How much HP were the Winston Cup cars running when Bill Elliot qualified at 210?
About 800HP but they only run 4-speeds so they don't have the mechanical advantage of OD. So also have a huge aero advantage over pretty much any street car.

I am a coward after nearly dumping at 100+ on a bike. I keep all my speed thrills to the sky 0-120 in 5 seconds, ground rush is a trip.

Oh I forgot to mention, he has a '04 Vette too, it has racing stripes, because "it has the Le mans package." Is there such a thing?

Whenever I encounter mindless bragging of speed and glory I usually counter with something like: your car is still a nice car, no need for stories like that. If they continue on I just tell them in a funning tone...stop it. There are a surprising number of car dudes who like to talk total B.S., and the longer you let them go on the wilder the story gets. They actually enjoy thinking that other people believe them.

Next time you see him ask if he has done 200 mph lately. Or maybe start calling him Mr. 200 mph every time you see him. He'll probably like that, because my experience is that most guys like this almost believe themselves.

There was a special Corvette LeMans Commemorative Edition in '04 - came strictly in Le Mans Blue, silver and red stripes. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LEMANS-BLUE-COMMEMORATIVE-EDITION-Z-06-SHOW-CONDITION_W0QQitemZ4634234750QQcategoryZ6168QQrdZ1 QQcmdZViewItem

Thomas

Dennis,
What's the low down on your typical NASCAR SuperSpeedway gear of choice? Namely, Bill Elliots record setter.

68KMENO,
Geez, what a stickler for details.........I like it!

three85stroker,
Is that a new quote in your signature? I think that I would have noticed it before, as I regularly recite a variation of it.

"I came into this world with nothin'...and I still have most of it"

.

Next time you see him ask if he has done 200 mph lately. Or maybe start calling him Mr. 200 mph every time you see him. He'll probably like that, because my experience is that most guys like this almost believe themselves.

Thomas
Thanks for the link. I asked if he had taken it to the track yet, but he told me the motor wasn't built for racing. It doesn't add up, 600 HP and a claimed 200 MPH and the motor wasn't built for racing? That's a lot for a weekend cruiser lol.

Ask him to take you for a ride with a $20 bill on the dash and if you can grab under the acceleration then you can keep it.

dumba$$ is how I would have responded....

My neighbors brother "has" a z-16 .. yeah right! And the best one is, the dad of one of my son's friends was telling me about his buddy's 68 z-28 vert!!. A lot of car guys tell white lies.. ok but dont take me for an idiot

An ex-gf of mine had an uncle like that, he was always BSing about stories about his harley. Reminds me of "Uncle BS" of tim wilson, if anyone knows who he is.

I have a neighbor that is a car guy, he is restoring a 39 ford. I am significantly outpacing him in the restoration category! :D

Probably none of the ORR Unlimited-class cars are running a 6spd with a .50 top gear because it's a poor combo. Even the Super Sport-class cars w/6spds run in 5th due to the aero drag. Most of the Unlimiteds run a race-type 4spd with rear cogs around 2.00-2.50. Overdrive trannies are inefficient,waste power,and don't like running in 6th gear at ultra high speeds for very long without frying parts. My 90 ZR-1 w/425rwhp Doug Rippie Motorsports-built LT5 would run 180mph in 5th gear(.75 ratio),running a 4.10 rear and 26" tall Michelin Pilot tires,spinning the engine right at 7,400rpm. The car with 3.45 gears would run about 15mph faster but spinning the engine to about 6,800rpm. Shifting into 6th gear with either the 3.45 or 4.10 rear cog would cause the car to slow down at any speed above 150mph,,just too much aero drag and too tall a final drive ratio for the engine to pull. About the only thing I found useful was that shifting into 6th gear would help drop the oil temps to safer levels. LT5's are hard to keep cool under those conditions,even with an upgraded cooling system.

Things we learned: It takes about five miles to accelerate from 120 to 180mph in 5th. From other people's experience,it takes about 450rwhp to power a C4 Corvette to 200mph. With my 90's LT5,my 91 Callaway Aerobody would probably have run a few mph faster,due to its better aero numbers. (.30 vs .34) Something else to consider is a C4 Corvette's rear end starts getting light at speeds over 160mph. Kinda spooky until you learn not to be heavy-handed with the steering wheel. Another thing that's eery is the wind noise as it almost overpowers your senses. The Pony Express 100 has a 13 mile long straightaway that's so long,it makes those high speeds seem almost boring,though. One of these days,I would like to run my 69 at the Big Bend TX ORR in the 120mph class. That ORR has many curves and doesn't see the high speeds that the Pony Express and Silver State Classic ORR's have. I'll need a better driveshaft and more HP to do it,though. :D
Sorry about being so long-winded. Open Road Racing is really a rush,though kinda expensive and dangerous.

The only way that 440 Mopar,4spd,and 3.55 cogs would run 200mph is by running it off a tall cliff,,,maybe.

When I start hearing those claims I say "so does my car"