I Drove a Maserati Yesterday

[sjordan2]

So it's important to own a car that can go 115 mph so that you can do that one time? Really?

I used to own a Dodge Stealth RT (the Dodge version of the Mitsubishi 3000GT). I took it out one morning like you, Skip... very early morning on a deserted interstate with no cross streets or pedestrians or even other cars. I went to 126 and started thinking "gee, what if there's a big pothole up ahead? What if there's a cop behind the next billboard?"

So I quickly slowed back to "normal" speed. In the 7-8 years I owned that car I never again did that. So the fact that it could do that was completely irrelevant 99.999999999999% of the time I drove the car. And I didn't buy the car for its top speed... I bought it for the looks. If its top speed was only 90 I would still have bought it.

BTW... I seem to remember that I was in 5th gear (that's all there were) but still far from redline... so the car would have gone even faster if I hadn't chickened out!

I don't believe I said that I did that one time only. And I was very familiar with the road, so no surprises. But the thing about a car like that is that it doesn't matter how fast you can go. It's how fast you can go fast, and you can experience that time after time. There are plenty of opportunities for responsible drivers. I won't even go into the opportunities for irresponsible drivers.

Edited June 22, 2014 by sjordan2

[cartpix]

I'm a G-Force guy. Acceleration, braking, & cornering. Terminal speed is over rated, mostly bragging rights. Anything over 80, looks pretty much the same but the dangerous stuff happens much faster.

[lordairgtar]

No point in having a car that does 120 if it's a street-driven car. You'll never drive that fast anywhere. I'd much rather have a car that handles well and gets decent gas mileage than a car that can do 120 or 150 or whatever, because that max. speed is irrelevant to how and where I drive my car (not on the track, just on the street in normal everyday traffic). It's the same with Z-rated tires... I have no intention of ever driving on the street at speeds where I would need a Z-rated tire.

Have to disagree. I live in a semi rural area where tractors pulling hay wagons or other equipment is common, as well as the ever present Illinoian pulling his massive boat to his cabin on the Petenwell Flowage or The Dells. I own a car that can do about 120 mph. You actually need the extra power and speed to pass the tractors or tourists safely on a twisty two lane highway when the opportunity occurs. A car that can only reach 65 or 70 mph is already near its peak power and it would take longer for it to overtake the slower car assuming slower car/tractor/motorhome is doing 45 to 50 in a 55 zone. BTW, I was driving on the Edens Expressway last night and was crisscrossed passed by two idiots racing a couple of JDM type cars. Scared the bejeezus out of me and I was doing 80. This was about 11:30 PM

[Tom Geiger]

So it's important to own a car that can go 115 mph so that you can do that one time? Really?

I used to own a Dodge Stealth RT (the Dodge version of the Mitsubishi 3000GT). I took it out one morning like you, Skip... very early morning on a deserted interstate with no cross streets or pedestrians or even other cars. I went to 126 and started thinking "gee, what if there's a big pothole up ahead? What if there's a cop behind the next billboard?"

Pull up a chair, it's ancient story time! Back in the last quarter of the twentieth century, my buddy and I went to a bachelor party in my '65 Barracuda. I'm maybe 20, still dumb as rocks. Coming from the party, no doubt with some beer induced bravery, we headed onto the new section of Route 18 at the New Jersey shore. This road was pretty much empty the first few years and guys were opening up cars there. In fact I have a few stories... but the one of our focus...

So we get on the new highway and I floor the six cylinder, three speed Barracuda to 'see what it will do'. Stock A bodies of that era, especially six cylinder ones really weren't made for speed, and the car had over 100,000 miles on it, so the car started vibrating and shuddering over 80 mph, but I kept my foot on the floor all the way to 100 mph! It did it. For about 10 seconds when we both lost our nerve and I let off the gas. We drove home without further incident, hooping and hollering about this accomplishment. As Harry said, I did this once.

The next morning I leave for work and I get about a block away, on a development street going maybe 25 mph and the front tire pops. Sound like a bullet. Tire hit the ground immediately. Dead tire. Inspection showed that I had a small bubble on the inside of the tire. Imagine if that had let go the night before?

Edited June 23, 2014 by Tom Geiger

[Quick GMC]

You don't NEED a computer, yet here you are.

[Rob Hall]

I'll admit to doing some occasional high speed hoonage back in the day w/ my '87 Mustang GT and later w/ my '96 BMW M3. But with both cars I loved twisty, winding hilly roads more than straight line speed. I still love high performance cars, thinking about getting a '12-13 Boss 302 or an '09-14 Cadillac CTS-v in the next few years...

Edited June 23, 2014 by Rob Hall

[Modelbuilder Mark]

BTW, to the OP, I forgot to mention, good for you. A Maserati Bora has and will always be my dream car.

[clovis]

I once rented a Taurus, and was on a very empty stretch of interstate in Wyoming.

I may,or may not, have tried to see what it might do. The car may, or may not, have hit over 100.

That was almost 20 years ago, and for the moment, I may have thought that it was a cool thing to try.

In hindsight, I look back and think that it may have been one of the more idiotic things that I may (or may not) have ever done.