[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Friday - what's the fastest you've ever taken your Scirocco?
Reaching top end on any car can be a time consuming PITA. Braking for any
slower vehicle can be even more annoying. Hit the brakes to decelerate from
a comfortable 140MPH down to 120 or even 100 can be a real pain in the
butt to regain. That's why Porsche first fielded the 930 Turbo, because you
could brake down to even 100 MPH for conflicting traffic then still pin
yourself back in the seat until beyond 140 MPH. It wasn't really about
0-60 of 5 seconds so, nor was it top end. It was that upper end band of
acceleration to regain cruise speed, where braking for conflicting traffic
didn't mean you had to pedal back up to cruise speed, with time to order
lunch or write a letter.
The fastest machine I've ever operated on land was the original Porsche
911/930 Turbo, late 1975, on the Motorway between Heathrow and Oxford. That
was 177MPH indicated, in a 70 MPH sped limit zone. It was actually a right
hand drive version that debuted at the Frankfurt Auto Show then was sent to
Porsche Cars of Great Britain where the salesman who sold me my 74 911S
tried to convince me I couldn't live without one. I slowed down when he
told me I was still liable for any fines and decided I could live better at
under 150 MPH for half the price. (What if I had bought the very first
turbo for $23,000? No, regrets, but...)
After breaking it in for 3-4 months, I took my US spec 1986 8V Scirocco
(power and option everything and AC) to 115MPH (indicated) straight and
level on a good stretch of Autobahn between Stuttgart and Heilbronn. I
recall, but faintly, that was the published top end for a US 8V.
Downhill, I exceeded the 120 MPH limit on the speedometer to what I
estimated at 125 MPH (indicated).
Both of these were done using the cruise control, which worked at those
speeds. That really surprised me for a US spec car.
I did several runs in each direction, without worry of watching for revenue
cops, with all the time in the world. Yes, it quickly slowed to less than
115 MPH on anything even slightly steeper than level.
My 1979 German spec CIS Scirocco GTI (attack/fighter version:no AC, no
power anything, no options at all, not even a radio) would run all day
straight and level at 200 KPH (124 MPH). It did that for 7 years and 160,00
KM until I sold it. (Should have brought it back with the 86 US spec.)
Great motor in that one!
I recently queried the list about VW advertised limit for the US spec 16V
and was told it was 123 MPH. That sounds about right, roughly where the
upper end German spec 8V ran. However, I don't know what the final drive
ratios were for either car. With some room, including no legal worries, Ian
Butler might have pushed his 16V to a liitle more than 120MPH. Makes a
difference when you aren't looking over your shoulder.
Do we need a transcontinental Scirocco run ala Cannonball?
At 06:03 PM 3/5/04 -0800, you wrote:
>Well, they were supposedly good for 123mph new....so that would be about
>right if the motor was sharp.
>
>Larry
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: ian@bluemoon.hplx.net
> To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 4:54 PM
> Subject: Friday - what's the fastest you've ever taken your Scirocco?
>
>
> This is sort-of a cross post; I saw this on the Vanagon mailing list and
> thought it would be amusing to compare. (Vanagons have a ridiculously
> high Cd and not a whole lot of go -- top speed is around 90, and would be
> rev-limited to 95 or so anyway.)
>
> Fastest I've taken my 'roc (88 16v) was 120mph indicated (with a new
> speedometer, for what that's worth). M-14 here in Michigan sure is a fun
> road... :)
>
> ian Butler / ian@bluemoon.hplx.net
> '88 Audi 5000S quattro
> '88 VW Scirocco 16v
> '87 VW Vanagon GL syncro -- FOR SALE
> '77 Mercury Marquis -- FOR SALE
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Scirocco-l mailing list
> Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
> http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l
>
>_______________________________________________
>Scirocco-l mailing list
>Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
>http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l