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Something I watched more than once in Germany was someone bringing their American car over and overheating it on the autobahn.
American cars aren't made to run at 100 mph for hours.
I also heard of tires coming apart at those sustained speeds because cheap tires aren't speed rated for that.
The reason this bubbled back up for me was Texas saying they were going to remove speed limits in some parts of the state.
I think a lot of people are going to learn the same lessons my fellow soldiers did in Germany in the 1980's.
Texas has long stretches of highway with a 75 mph posted speed limit. That doesn't stop many from ignoring the limit, pushing on faster, and shortening the life of their vehicle. Telling them of their foolishness is a waste of time. A blowout at that speed is attention getting, if not fatal, and usually what changes their mind about trying to save what is only minutes on a long trip.
ReplyDeleteMost of SH130, the toll road near my house is 80 MPH speed limit and south of the airport to where it connects to IH10 is 85 MPH. Lots of people drive it 90+ now. The parts near town often have enough traffic that even though it is 6 lanes you get stuck behind slower drivers. Also the whole SH130 from where it starts at IH35 north of Georgetown all the way to where it ends near Seguin won't take an hour if you're doing 100+ because it is only 91 miles. That's not to say that some cars, especially if not properly maintained won't have problems if pushed that hard for even that long. Cars which have old, soft radiator hoses, questionable water pumps or where the antifreeze hasn't been changed in years, yeah, they can overheat, espeically when it is 110 degrees in the shade here during the summer. And tires are defnitely an issue. Not just cheap ones, but ones that aren't properly inflated, are old or worn. Speaking of that I just got a call from the tire shop telling me the tires I ordered yesterday are in...
ReplyDelete-swj
I personally knew of a guy in Italy in the early 70's that re-upped for 6 years and used his signing bonus to have a new road runner shipped over. His plan was to show the Italians what American muscle could do on the Autostrada. What it could do was blow up after a few weeks. They pushed it into a field behind the auto club while the newly minted sergeant saved up to have parts sent over from the US. I don't know if he ever got it fixed before he had to move on. -Marv
ReplyDeleteBack in 1981 (yeah, I'm old) during a business visit to LA, I bought a Jaguar basket case, engine parts in the back deck with the only grace that it would roll. Came back to the Midwest then drove down to Mobile to see a friend then hooked right on US 10 heading west. Back then I had a nice big honking 1977 V8 Impala wagon, standard in all ways other than a tow hitch to haul the toy back home.
ReplyDeleteOne night, driving through TX where U.S. 10 is laser straight and flat, you know, the part where the signs say "next gas 250 miles", I had my doors blown off by a Greyhound doing well over the limit (I was doing ahem, about 80 ). So, there being absolutely nothing on the road except me and him, I started drafting the bus. Imagine my surprise when looking down and seeing we were cruising at 120? (pegged the speedo). Sustained this for about 2 hours until the bus pulled off the highway. Maybe that Impala was unique, but it never overheated and the tires were fine (I checked). Probably the longest sustained high speed every driven and I say this having done the Autobahns crossing Germany in an S class Benz, there are simply no roads that you can cruise for 2+ hours straight, stuff is too close together.
I’m pretty sure you’ll want to check the dateline on that article…
ReplyDeleteDWW
What pound test line to land a McThag?
DeleteDon’t feel bad, I fully believe our state reps are this stupid, I had to google their names to make sure it was fake.
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