I’ve had speed up to the 92- 96 mph range several times in passing situations.
First time was driving my parents aging 1965 Olds 98. It handled with surprising stability for having 14" wheels if I recall and its by then getting worn suspension system. The 8-cyl carbureted 425 cu in engine with 3-speed tranny had very good acceleration although it positively guzzled gas. Its heavy weight came in handy when I drove into a hidden rain wrapped tornado near Big Cabin OK in 1979 on the turnpike. It briefly lifted the car off the road while blowing it sideways. Fortunately it came back down still on the road although one lane over. I don’t care to ever repeat that experience.
During the twenty years I had my 1987 Olds Ciera with the 6-cyl 3.8L fuel injected engine with four speed tranny and 14-inch wheels, I had it up to mid-nineties speed several times in passing situations. On the plus side the suspension was better than the 1965 car had been. But on the negative side its shorter wheelbase and lighter weight made it feel slightly less secure at such high speed.
I also had my dad’s 1987 Mercury Grand Marquis well above 90 mph once when passing. Oh my. Fuel injected 8-cyl, long wheel base, heavy weight all equalled secure handling.
The 2007 6-cyl Impala I only had up to around 85-86 mph a few times. It handled it well and securely.
And three or four years ago I had my current 4-cyl 2014 Camry up to about 94-96 mph in a passing situation. At the point I eased off the accelerator and glanced at the speedometer I was stunned to discover how fast I had gotten up to. Why? Because it handled so securely despite the shorter wheelbase and lighter weight, more comparable to the '87 Olds than the other bigger, heavier cars.
The 1973 Toyota Corolla econobox with its four hamster engine never got strained above speeds in the low to mid sixties on the highway. Passing safely with it was a near impossibility.
I don’t like driving at high speed but will briefly when necessary.
Our 2008 Toyota Camry hybrid authorized emergencyehicle attained 120 mph on a blood platelet transport for a 13-year-old in postpartum hemorrhage. Stable and smooth, I would never havexpected attaining that speed had I not briefly glanced athe speedometer.
Felt like it could have gone faster, but there was traffic ahead on the Interstate and I began coasting before catching up to it.
Heh heh, and we’re told to get under something heavy in a tornado like a car or a desk. Yeah no thanks-depends on where it comes down again I guess. Gotta say something though. We used to tell people to move to the interior of the building until the block walls gave way. No fun. A pit is the only safe place.
If you cannot see far enough around a bend to stop before the baby, you’re driving too fast.
Easy to go.ver 100 mph on straight, level, dry roads where there are nobjects hiding babies or Bambi.
Can’t do it at night because you cannot see if any animals are near the roadway and may cross right in front of you.
Colorado is installing “deer fences” whichave dirt ramps from the road side of the fence up to an opening in the fence where animals can jump down onto the ground outside the fence.
But difficult for the deer, moose or elk to jump the ramp’s outside vertical wall onto the ramp.
On a four-lane highwayvas transporting blood to a mountaihospital.
Around the bend was a three-foot diameterock. I slowed and went around it.
Called CSP reporting the rock and they received a call that someone h.it.
@bing Many people think that hiding under the girders of an overpass bridge is a safe place during a tornado. It isn’t. But many motorists caught in a tornadic storm still do so.
There’s a well known video taken in Kansas some years ago of a storm chasing news crew that got caught too close to a twister on an interstate. They and other motorists took shelter up under the girders of an overpass. They got lucky and survived unhurt. The video is used by some SKYWARN severe weather spotter classes as an example of what not to do.
Sadly, only a few years after that incident there were people in Oklahoma City that tried the same thing during a tornado and were killed by flying debris.
Like you note, totally underground is the safest place in a tornado!
And the venturi effect is how carbs work - the air speeds up going through the carb’s venturi, and the resulting lowered air pressure pull gas out of the bowl into the airstream.
Whehigher speeds, you wantires firmer for less flexion to lesseheat build-up.
Tires are rated at 50 psi Max. Tire company inflated to 48 psi. (Theyvill not inflate over maximum on the tire sidewall.)
Said Letsuck recommends 35 psi for greater comfort, not greater footprint.
Been so discussing this on boards, but it is not venturi that keeps planes in the air, it is either Bernoulli or angle of attack. Pilots licence would mark angle of attack as wrong, but if you ever see experts agree mark it as false as experts never agree.
OK, kinda matter of semantics but the air foil on a wing is longer on the upper part and lower on the bottom. The air going over the top has to increase in speed compared to the air under the wing which goes slower to meet the air on the back of the wing, creating a vacuum. It’s been 50 years since ground school though so that will have to do. Incidentally, it isn’t the weight from ice that causes the problem but the change in the air foil with ice on the wing, at least as I was taught. I don’t like flying though or tornados.
Sorry for being imprecise. So just to clarify from the FAA handbook: The angle of attack is the angle between the wing chord and the direction of travel. So the wing changes (angle of attack) as the airplane climbs or dives. The angle of incidence is the fixed angle of the wing as determined by the manufacturer. The venturi effect is the increase in velocity as in a tube as the tube narrows. The Bernoulli Principle is the pressure of a fluid (air) decreases as the the speed of the fluid increases. So the low pressure on the top of the wing and the higher pressure on the bottom, creates the lift on the wing. That’s only three pages of 170, but back to hiding under cars.
I thought the only reason Lexus would make a vehicle go fast was so Robert could brag about how fast he drives . And he still has to insult Lexus . Maybe someday he will be promoted from amateur Troll to full fledged .
I ran a car wide open once and got a free beer for my effort. A friend was riding with me in my 1947 Pontiac 6. He bet me that it wouldn’t go the speed limit which was 65 mph. We were on a straight stretch of open highway, so I put the accelerator to the floor. I got it to 74 mph by the speedometer. We had a beer bet that it wouldn’t go over 65 mph.
The Pontiac might have been able to.hit over 80 when it was new. When I bought it for $75 in 1961, the engine used a quart of oil every 250 miles, so I would bet the compression wasn’t.really great. I could keep.ahead of Volkswagens at the time.
I passed a guy driving an old Pontiac once with my 59 Bug, then I came to a hill and he passed me. Used to just keep the pedal on the floor on the freeway most of the time and only got beyond 65 going down hill.