Camaro clocked at 171 mph on Highway 61 (Yowza!)

duluthnewstribune.com ^ | 4/11/2016 | John Myers

[rktman]

What is it about the Duluth-Two Harbors expressway?

In February it was a Nissan Sentra doing 137 mph. And on Friday night a jet-black 2016 Chevrolet Camaro 1SS was clocked at 171 mph on that stretch of Minnesota Highway 61.

Hermantown Police Department Deputy Chief Shawn Padden was on loan as part of a Minnesota State Patrol "Toward Zero Deaths" DWI saturation effort Friday night when the radar in his Dodge Charger squad car started screaming

[XEHRpa]

When I was young and stupid, I had my Datsun 280Z up to 132 on a 2-lane straight road. Real stoopid. I slowed down when the wipers started flapping.

[reed13k]

in my stupid youth I got a ford escort early model up to 110. it was downhill and there was a car pacing me because the speedometer didn’t go up that high....but i later did the math to prove it based on the time and distance involve.

[Pelham]

Fastest I’ve ever ridden in a car was 130+ in a 1969 Barracuda with a hemi engine. That was more than fast enough for my taste. Guardian angel was working overtime that night.

[McGruff]

There’s not a highway around here that’s safe enough to go anywhere near that speed.

[doorgunner69]

I know all about running out of car before horsepower.

My 1967 Corvette with 427/435HP engine totally overpowered the car. At around 135, the front end started lifting so much it made seeing the road ahead iffy. Never tried to go faster than that, though the engine was easily capable of it. Very spooky. Dunno what the guys that road raced them did to stop the front end climbing.

Aerodynamics was a slave of style back then, at least braking systems caught up fast.

[central_va]

My old BMW 318 weighed around 2500 and had a whopping 105 hp. She would hit 120.

right.

[vetvetdoug]

I was with a buddy with a 69’ Buick Skylark with a large engine. We passed a DPS officer between Wichita Falls and Burkburnett going 140mph+. When we stopped my buddy got arrested and I had to walk home. The old saying that telephone poles looked like a picket fence and the stripes on the road were continuous is true at that speed. That's the fastest I've ever been in a car and really don't care to see it again.

[Smokin' Joe]

It might be fast, but radio waves move at roughly C. Pretty tough to outrun the radio.

[Smokin' Joe]

Yabbut, one little bambi pops out in front of you and they will have to sit down and sort the meat...

[sjm_888]

OMG. I’ve never seen such a display of recklessness... ever. Absolutely insane.

[Pelham]

“The old saying that telephone poles looked like a picket fence and the stripes on the road were continuous is true at that speed. That’s the fastest I’ve ever been in a car and really don’t care to see it again. “

You know, I was debating whether to include that in my post. We were on the 5 Freeway coming back to OC from Hollywood. The freeway dividers were made out of fencing at that time, individual posts. We were going so fast the fencing looked like one solid ribbon of white. This was scary fast and I really wondered if we were going to survive. I was sitting behind the driver and could see the speedo which was pegged at 130.

[Texas resident]

My dad told me about an old expression that you can outrun the motor but not the Motorola.

I got a hold of his ‘74 Olds 442 and was running a country road. Got it up to 125 but had to back it down quickly when I saw a deer in the road. Fun though.

[Charles Martel]

Those old Buicks had mountains of torque and highway gearing, so impressive top speeds were possible. My cousin had a '67 Riviera with the 430 c.i. V8 (same engine that later became the 455, using a different crankshaft). The Riviera had an odd speedometer - a rectangular plexiglass window in the dash with a red horizontal line at the middle. The speed numbers were on a drum that rotated behind the little window. We saw 140 mph in that car several times, and yes, the pine trees did get all blurry.

Flat-out, that big V8 had the most amazing sound. Like something out of the WWII aviation world.

[Tijeras_Slim]

I had a Porsche 914 in the 80’s... a crappy money sink. I much prefer the Honda S2000 (2005) I have now. Accord reliability with amazing performance.

[MileHi]

Ha. In these hills, since I got smashed pretty hard head on a couple months ago in our 2011 F-150 (saved my butt) I’m stayin’ in my pickups. Miss my Superglide still, and the wifes 2009 Mustang GT, but the new F-150 and my old PowerStroke feel pretty comforting. Skiers from town don’t know how to drive.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

the new F-150

El FORDO! UNO-FIFTICO!

[MileHi]

I believe. I climbed out of the totaled one. I got my wife another one because she needs to be safe in these hills. And it runs really good. Need the cold air kit we had on the wrecked one (K&N). That buys 10-15 hp and ~2 mpg for a 45 minute bolt on.

[T-Bone Texan]

Most fastest I ever did was 109 mph in my 1992 Mitsubishi Mighty Max.

Years later I told my brother, who informed me that back when he was an addict he took it one night and got it up to 111 mph while on his way to buy drugs

I got my 2013 Tacoma up to 100 on an awesome smooth gravel road in Big Bend Ranch State Park, but that doesn’t count - it has a governer on it that cuts out around 101mph. It scared me when it kicked in.

[T-Bone Texan]

The white-Inyos are beautiful.

I envy you greatly.

[MeganC]

That’s idiotic logic.

People in the US drive 60-70mph because those are the speed limits in most places. THAT is why they don’t drive as fast as people in Germany.

Raise the speed limits and the average will increase just like it did when 55mph was ended as a national speed limit.