Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Partial FC: Why top speed is so overrated...

[philville dejazzd.com (philville]

   That will be interesting, I harken back to the day (s) that Brock
   Yates and Dan Gurney took our Kirk F White Daytona across the
   country....as I recall, it was just under 36 hrs and avg. in the high
   80's.....

   But you are right, the fear of retribution starts to be a factor at
   about 75 and srengthens to terror as you approach 130, after that it
   is all down hill.
   I can hear it now 130? you were only doing 130? Well then I will let
   you go with a warning, I thought you were doing 180.
   Phil
   ----- Original Message -----
   From: Fellippe Galletta <fellippe.galletta [at] gmail.com>
   Date: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 2:18 am
   Subject: [Ferrari] Partial FC: Why top speed is so overrated...
   To: Phil Tegtmeier <philville [at] dejazzd.com>
   Cc: The FerrariList <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com>
   > Just saw this video that really puts the whole top speed into total
   > perspective:
   >
   > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEP3ew1MPXA
   >
   > Here you have 4 cars that couldn't be more different than each
   > other and
   > totally different price brackets all clock in between 195 and 201.5
   > mph...Nissan GTR --> Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano. Talk about
   > diminishing returns
   > to get an extra mph in top speed, lol.
   >
   > Horsepower has increased dramatically since 1990, yet top speeds
   > have barely
   > gone up much. Allegedly supercars from back then could go more
   > than 200, but
   > now I'm not so sure.
   >
   > My only explanation is that the newer cars have a lot more
   > downforce and
   > stability than the older cars at these speeds; weight is about
   > the same,
   > aerodynamic drag can't be much different, HP & Torque are a lot
   > higher, so
   > must be the downforce perhaps (or maybe the gearing too).
   >
   > F40, F50, and 550 Maranello all are supposedly in the 195 mph
   > range as far
   > as what they're clocked at, and the reports of their stability
   > at those
   > speeds have been nothing but phenomenal. I can't comment on the
   > very latest
   > Vipers, Corvettes, but traditionally these cars are not rock
   > steady at very
   > high speeds. Don't know about the 911 reputation, but don't
   > think it's quite
   > at the level of supercar F or L.
   >
   > Which leads to the final point.... that is, all that should
   > matter IMHO is
   > the stability one feels flying at these supercar speeds. Given
   > how long it
   > takes to get to these speeds, I doubt very few people will ever be
   > completely stress free going past the 300 km/hr zone. I've
   > experienced 135
   > mph in a few cars and it's quite apparent the dramatic
   > difference between
   > some of them....
   >
   > Most of this is trivial for many of us, but given the right
   > supercar and a
   > cross country trip, I know there are numerous roads where you
   > can go flat
   > out. It would be nice to experience 190 mph drama free for a
   > sustained 30-60
   > seconds....
   >
   > Would like to hear some war stories!! Even more than flat out
   > speeds, I'm
   > interested to hear about highest average speeds for long
   > distances.....averaging 130 mph for an hour or two would be
   > impressive!
   > FG
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   Philip "Phil" Tegtmeier
   39 Churchill Drive
   Elverson Pa 19520
   610.525.8949
   And, go to: ... www.PhilvilleUSA.com