M25 Fastest Lap

[hairykrishna]

dcb said:

Leaving aside the illegality of cruising at 150 mph in a 75 mph country,
I bet the other road users where surprised by his speed. It can't have been
a lot of laughs for them to be suddenly taking part in Formula One speeds.

Add in that any car capable of cruising at 150 mph, like the GT2,
will be stopping every 200 miles or so for more petrol, that's a stop
every one hour twenty minutes or so.

Lonman may be crazy, but his claims still don't look all that
credible to me, unless his GT2 can do 150 mph all day *and* 40 mpg
or so.

To be fair, it wasn't his claim, someone else heard it from the Gumball organiser. The claimed average speed was 135 so with the fuel stops you suggest, assuming they last ~10 minutes, a 150mph cruising speed would be about right.
Lonman has no qualms about doing 150 in traffic if the numerous youtube videos of him are any evidence. Traffic doesn't slow you down much either if you're willing to overtake on the hard shoulder.
It'd be a dangerous and stupid thing to do but I think it's possible. That doesn't mean that they/he did it obviously.

[V8mate]

jammy_basturd said:

The M25 is apparently 117 miles long.

Hence forth the speed you need to average to get anything less than an hour. To do it in 45 minutes you need to be knocking on an average of 145 leptons.

Back in the late eighties, long before the automated governance of speed, the 'City boys' used to race round during the night in their 911s etc. To be 'in the club' you had to complete the circuit in under an hour: pay the toll, then go round and get back to the booths.

Taking into account the acceleration/deceleration phases plus the tunnel itself, they had to keep the average speed at 120mph minimum. And plenty of them achieved it!

Thesedays - no chance.

[Rocket Pepper]

V8mate said:

Back in the late eighties, long before the automated governance of speed, the 'City boys' used to race round during the night in their 911s etc. To be 'in the club' you had to complete the circuit in under an hour: pay the toll, then go round and get back to the booths.

Taking into account the acceleration/deceleration phases plus the tunnel itself, they had to keep the average speed at 120mph minimum. And plenty of them achieved it!

Thesedays - no chance.

Yes, that's along the lines I remember.

[mike_1985]

So why couldnt you average 120 on the M25 in the early hours ?

I had a dream in June that I managed Southend to M23(Couldson) in 27 minutes

[uk_vette]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

.
.
So, anyone care to say what time they have to the m25 in?

[mike_1985]

Think the cctv operators are too busy going on facebook and red.tube then actually doing any monitoring of traffic, fog, rain, speeders etc ...

It is possible atleast untill you get to the M4-A3 to average 120mph

Is it just me or there are more crashes at the heathrow junction then before ?

[dcb]

zagato said:

I recall the story some years ago claimed the GT2 had a custom larger fuel tank fitted

It is true that some Porsches, in LHD format only, have larger
fuel tanks fitted.

I think a 99 litre tank was mentioned to me once.

BTW, I did some more digging on the feasibility of the
claim of 135 mph average speeds for over a thousand miles
of public road across France and Spain.

It would appear that Michael Schumacher, in a F1 car, in a race
around a track, can average 142 mph over an entire race.

Nice to know that the claim, using a road car over the public
road, is within 7 mph of Schuey in F1.

;->

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/motor-sports/ope...

[cheeky]

john_r said:

Baby Huey said:

dugt said:

you know theres lots of speed cameras

but i suppose 3 in the mornign you could do most of it at 70

not sure what that works out as

whats the current record?

doug

The speed cameras only operate if the display above the gantry is showing less than 70mph.

That is wrong! They reset to 70 when the displays are blank.

so why've they never nabbed my friend who regularly goes through them in the high 90s?

[cheeky]

john_r said:

jammy_basturd said:

Exactly.

1. A friend of mine, a traffic cop in South London, confirmed to me that the cameras are only on when the gantry signs are lit up. They also kindly informed me when the M20 variable speed limit cameras went live.
2. Another 'friend' of mine, who often drives my cars should have received several tickets in the past few years.


This is just heresay, but I'm sure I've read that the type approval for those camera systems only allows them to be on when the gantry signs are on. Just like the average speed cameras on motorways type approval only allows them to monitor one lane at a time, so you can switch lanes between pairs of cameras...

As I said, my friend project managed the communications links for the new digital cameras that are now active all the time. So I think you're friend the 'traffic cop' is either very misinformed, or wants you to get caught?.

Motor Lawyers Blog:
http://www.blog.motorlawyers.co.uk/2008/02/07/m25-...

What Car:
http://www.whatcar.co.uk/news-article.aspx?NA=2308...

MSN:
http://cars.uk.msn.com/News/car_news_article.aspx?...

I could go on with another 100 or so links, but you get the idea!

yeah and several publications including the taxi drivers' magazine claim that the Limehouse Link cameras measure average speed... that doesn't make them right, as thousands of us know!

[hairykrishna]

I have to agree that the F1 car statistic is fairly useless. Le Mans cars average a similar speed over 24 hours for instance.

I still think it's possible although not necessarily that it has been done.

[dxg]

A KLF band member back in the eighties said:

I'm driving as fast as I can, hogging the outside lane when the inner would do. Headlights flash me as I am forced to move over. One circumference is 125 miles. The second is only 124.5. Everything looks normal. I've seen it all before. The North Downs, the Surrey Woods, the Plains of Heathrow, up round the top M1 junctions, St Albans Cathedral in the distance, back down through Essex. All boringly familiar. But we know the further we go, the less familiar it will all become. We will begin to see things not seen before, discover new meaning in the signposts. The lie of the land. Lost tribes. The tank is almost empty. We pull in at Clacky Service Station, fill the tank, buy trash food, have a slash. Gimpo has a stop watch. The pit stop has taken us 9 minutes and thirty-seven seconds. He is not happy with this. Mr Green takes the wheel. We move back out into the flow. The eternal. The around and around. the headlights are coming on. The light is failing. The football results are coming through. End of the season is in sight and things are hotting up. And Mr Green is a dangerous driver. The weirdness is kicking in. It's a drug-free zone; even though Gimpo has invested heavily in all-night chemicals, Mr Green and I just say No. Mr Green cuts another artic. up, slams the brakes, ploughs through a dozen cones in the contraflow. Oncoming headlights blind, jumbo jets climb into the shepherd's delight sky. It's getting good. Gimpo is swimming in his hammock, mobile pressed to his ear, laughing and screaming at some London low-life friend.

http://www.gimpogimpo.com/m25spin/gimpos25.php

[Murdock]

I have to admit to being fascinated by these tales of high-speed derring-do over epic, transcontinental distances since reading 'Cannonball! World's Greatest Outlaw Road Race' by Brock Yates, irrespective of how ludicrous or idiotic they may seem. The current 'unofficial' record for crossing the States (New York to LA) stands at 31 hours and 4 minutes, average speed 90.1mph.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/sports/otherspor...



Granted a lot more planning went into this (I mean come on - a Cessna support plane FFS) than your typical Gumball / Cannonball run, but across the busy highways of America it's still a pretty high average. 135mph average over roughly 40% the distance on deserted French autoroutes with a suitably insane car / driver combination isn't beyond the realms of possibility. Maybe just nudging the edge of said realm.

Edited by Murdock on Tuesday 16th September 08:54

[Rocket Pepper]

dxg said:

I'm driving as fast as I can, hogging the outside lane when the inner would do. Headlights flash me as I am forced to move over. One circumference is 125 miles. The second is only 124.5. Everything looks normal. I've seen it all before. The North Downs, the Surrey Woods, the Plains of Heathrow, up round the top M1 junctions, St Albans Cathedral in the distance, back down through Essex. All boringly familiar. But we know the further we go, the less familiar it will all become. We will begin to see things not seen before, discover new meaning in the signposts. The lie of the land. Lost tribes. The tank is almost empty. We pull in at Clacky Service Station, fill the tank, buy trash food, have a slash. Gimpo has a stop watch. The pit stop has taken us 9 minutes and thirty-seven seconds. He is not happy with this. Mr Green takes the wheel. We move back out into the flow. The eternal. The around and around. the headlights are coming on. The light is failing. The football results are coming through. End of the season is in sight and things are hotting up. And Mr Green is a dangerous driver. The weirdness is kicking in. It's a drug-free zone; even though Gimpo has invested heavily in all-night chemicals, Mr Green and I just say No. Mr Green cuts another artic. up, slams the brakes, ploughs through a dozen cones in the contraflow. Oncoming headlights blind, jumbo jets climb into the shepherd's delight sky. It's getting good. Gimpo is swimming in his hammock, mobile pressed to his ear, laughing and screaming at some London low-life friend.

So that's what he did after he burnt a million quid. Great poetry!

[Rocket Pepper]

It's come to my attention there are a few in this thread who don't understand the meaning of 'average'. Nor can some do simple arithmetic.

Worse still, you'd think French motorways were straight tarmac lines never seeing a bend or a hill. Can someone please direct me to these thousand mile long Euro dragstrips? Or is that Eurotrash talk me thinks.

Edited by Rocket Pepper on Tuesday 16th September 08:50

[Murdock]

Rocket Pepper said:

It's come to my attention there are a few in this thread who don't understand the meaning of 'average'. Nor can some do simple arithmetic.

Worse still, you'd think French motorways were straight tarmac lines never seeing a bend or a hill. Can someone please direct me to these thousand mile long Euro dragstrips? Or is that Eurotrash talk me thinks.

Edited by Rocket Pepper on Tuesday 16th September 08:50

I've just spotted the crucial error in my last post - could've sworn I typed average.

[Rocket Pepper]

Murdock said:

I've just spotted the crucial error in my last post - could've sworn I typed average.

Well, I wasn't referring to your post in particular. But as you believe 135mph average is possible along French motorways, I'd love someone to tell me where these motorways are. Put it another way. 270 miles travelled in 2 hours. 405 miles in 3 hours. One would assume the French would have a few mountains to climb. A few rivers to cross. Maybe the slight possibility of the odd town, or even a city to go around.

But of course, these guys are driving gods. They do it in the dark whilst mysteriously all French people wouldn't dream of being out on the roads. Did I mention headlamps? Are we allowed to factor in fuel stops too?

I think 135mph average, in reality, means travelling somewhat quicker than 135mph to maintain an average of 135mph was my point. In any case, I say it's bks. No matter the car, you couldn't compare such with an F1 car lapping consistently same lap times. The track is laboratory like, where as the road, no matter the lack of traffic or time of day, is a long way from being a predictable smooth as silk 2 mile loop fit for F1 racing.

But I'll stand corrected when someone shows me the proof.

[dcb]

mickken said:

Both cars have a similar top speed and range.

Hilarious. You really are showing your ignorance now.

Any 911 isn't in the same league as any F1 car.

mickken said:

This year I did an average of 120 leptons for 800 miles across Europe in the 730d.....no sweat al all.

Another not credible claim. 800 miles in a 730D in
just over 6.6 hours ? Not possible, even on unlimited roads,
never mind the rest.

I've done the London-Munich run loads of times in various cars
and those averages aren't credible in any road car, much less
a mere 730D.

When you've completed twenty years of driving on unlimited
roads, feel free to come back and let us know your averages.

[german tony]

I can't average more than about 80mph Nuremberg to Calais & that's pushing it with only a 5 minute fill & go in Luxembourg.

[monthefish]

hairykrishna said:

dcb said:

Lonman may be crazy, but his claims still don't look all that
credible to me, unless his GT2 can do 150 mph all day *and* 40 mpg
or so.

To be fair, it wasn't his claim, someone else heard it from the Gumball organiser.

lonman in that old thread said:

Back in 2002 (funnily enough, in the GT2!!) i did a lap in 45 mins and something seconds. No video evidence though. (146ish average). To be fair though, we did it for a laugh, not for a record, so anyone with a 150mph motor, would, in theory, be able to beat it.

If the above quote is correct, it's not.......

[The jiffle king]

Not sure if anyone has posted the real original thread from 2002

[url]
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=21759&... [/url]

It also gives a little info on the Bridge run down the M4.

T-J-K