Did you really drive *that* quickly 'back in the day'?
Discussion
Let me think, the roads weren't punctuated with quite so many potholes, there were no speed cameras, so for a short time I did drive quicker. Then I scared someone I was trying to impress while giving her a lift home (not sure why I thought would impress her), so I calmed down very quickly.
21st Century Man said:
It's not just that we drove faster relative to other drivers, but that we drove at ten tenths, everywhere, all the time, in the vehicles of the day, without the levels of grip that modern wheel/tyre combos give us, without abs and various other devopments, and in vehicles with all the structural integrity of a crisp packet, not just in design terms, but MOT failing levels of rot too.
Yep. I think that sums it up. 21st Century Man said:
It's not just that we drove faster relative to other drivers, but that we drove at ten tenths, everywhere, all the time, in the vehicles of the day, without the levels of grip that modern wheel/tyre combos give us, without abs and various other devopments, and in vehicles with all the structural integrity of a crisp packet, not just in design terms, but MOT failing levels of rot too. Some of us can remember not even having seat belts! The same speeds could be easily replicated in today's modern cars, far more competently, safely and certainly less dramatically, but we tend not to anymore, and even when we can and do, it's not the same. We've calmed down a fair bit in our old age and traffic density etc has curtailed opportunity. Sure, a lot of us still like a blast and a bit of a hoon when we can, but we're no longer on the ragged edge of the envelope driving like a crazed loon when just nipping to the shops. Well, I guess some are!
This sums things up quite nicely.No crash helmet in my early days on two wheels, no seat belts required when I learnt to drive, and for many years afterwards. Never really considered the consequences at the time. That said, I managed to roll an MGB GT while (legally) not wearing a seat belt and survived. If I had been wearing a seat belt I would have died - no question about it - so it wasn't all bad....
spaximus said:
Debaser said:
Yes I did, and I still do. Earlier this week I hit just over 200mph on the m23.
There will be internet detectives reporting you at this moment as they will not get the humour.The guy had made various mods to improve the car ( nothing silly ).
He was reported to his local authorities by someone on here.
Turned out he had declared everything anyway and was 100% above board.
Edited by StuntmanMike on Saturday 23 May 19:32
Mort7 said:
I managed to roll an MGB GT while (legally) not wearing a seat belt and survived. If I had been wearing a seat belt I would have died - no question about it - so it wasn't all bad....
I remember when it became compulsory to wear a seatbelt in January '83. I was in car sales at the time and it was difficult to get the older generation to wear one on test drives, they considered them to be dangerous. We had an old boy who would do driving jobs for us and he refused to wear one. Whenever I went out in a car with him driving he'd be one handed all the way, holding the belt buckle about an inch from the latch for the entire journey with the other hand, so it looked like he was wearing it if he was spotted by the Police, who were all over it at the time. It was just as daft when 5spd gearboxes came in, this generation wouldn't use 5th on test drive either, they were unsure about it and distrusted it, prefering to stay in 4th. I remember one old boy saying he'd never used the fifth gear when he traded in his Maestro, as if it was a selling feature, no wear on it!Megaflow said:
cptsideways said:
Might have done knockhill to Dorset in 3.5 hours a good few years ago 
The doors were flapping the whole way 
~460 miles in 3.5 hours is an average of 131mph... I find that very hard to believe. The doors were flapping the whole way Slow out of knockhill ciruit too, certainly not roads that you can sustain very high speeds on. Quite a while before you're on motorways. And probably a minimum of two fuel stops in any car at that speed, probably more, even if the car is brimmed full to start with. Average would probably need to be near 160mph on the motorway sections. It does seem a little unlikely doesn't it!
Tall stories always fall apart on the details. My friend once claimed to have averaged 100mph from his office in Leeds to his home east of Newcastle. 100 miles in 1 hour dead. In a 1.4 8v 306, leaving in evening rush hour from the centre of Leeds. It's the 5-10 miles of urban junctions and traffic lights etc at either end that always kill average speeds on most journeys. Unless you are so reckless that you'll jump lights etc you'll barely average 20mph through most built up areas so 10 miles of crawl will take 30 minutes. So to cover 100 miles in 1 hour requires you to cover the remaining 90 of those in 30 minutes, at 180mph in a 1.4 Peugeot....
More on topic, I did indeed drive like a total dick in my youth. I do still have the odd moment now though it's pretyy rare and I am generally quite a relxed driver. The absolute speeds when I was young were not necessarily noteworthy, mainly helped by spending my first 3 years with only 55 bhp at my disposal, but it was the totally inappropriate use of speed that makes me shudder. One residential street where I grew up I just used to keep the throttle pinned for ages. Probably doing 60-70mph. If I ever drive down it now I can observe that street is notable for just how poor visibility is down there, loads of driveways and several junctions too and full of parked cars. I bet I don't crack 20 down there now. I must have looked like an f'ing lunatic at the time. Gives me chills thinking about it. I did have a couple of accidents back then but fortunately no biggies but I did come close to a massive one where I was driving down a quiet road that I was't at all familiar with. I could see that the road was straight for a few hundred meters and I was probably doing about 60 (in a 30). Didn't realise that the minor road I was on actually crossed a main road and I sailed over the give way lines having barely even got on the brakes. Luckily missed everything but I was damn lucky as that was quite a busy NSL road and any accident would have looked like a plane crash. Absolute bell-endery of the highest order.
Edited by Gad-Westy on Saturday 23 May 19:35
Fleckers said:
I am a good boy I have never broken the speed limit by 131mph
Unlike someone
https://news.sky.com/story/police-to-investigate-h...
Wow that's nuts. I don't think I would be holding a phone at those speeds.Unlike someone
https://news.sky.com/story/police-to-investigate-h...
So what car is that do we think ?
As an example, used to drive a set of roads in Cheshire to my GF's (now wife) in a selection f not very fast by modern standards cars (Manta GTE, MK2 Golf GTI) and could, when it was clear absolutely fly.
Years later, was an lightly modded 2003 Saab 9-3, being followed by a mate of my cousin in a 911 Turbo (997) who didnt know the road quite as well, and was struggling to keep up according to my cousin who was a passenger, my mobile rang and he said "Was that you in the Saab going to her mums", I confirmed it was and he reported back to his mate with the 911 that it was indeed me, he just said dont try and compete with *insert family name* whatever you are in as you will lose.
All b
ks of course, was in a nicely fettled nigh on 300 bhp car, took brain out and knew the road intimately.
Its rare I drive to that pace, nice to know I still can occasionally, opportunities are so limited and common sense kicks in first.
Years later, was an lightly modded 2003 Saab 9-3, being followed by a mate of my cousin in a 911 Turbo (997) who didnt know the road quite as well, and was struggling to keep up according to my cousin who was a passenger, my mobile rang and he said "Was that you in the Saab going to her mums", I confirmed it was and he reported back to his mate with the 911 that it was indeed me, he just said dont try and compete with *insert family name* whatever you are in as you will lose.
All b
ks of course, was in a nicely fettled nigh on 300 bhp car, took brain out and knew the road intimately.Its rare I drive to that pace, nice to know I still can occasionally, opportunities are so limited and common sense kicks in first.
SimonTheSailor said:
Fleckers said:
I am a good boy I have never broken the speed limit by 131mph
Unlike someone
https://news.sky.com/story/police-to-investigate-h...
Wow that's nuts. I don't think I would be holding a phone at those speeds.Unlike someone
https://news.sky.com/story/police-to-investigate-h...
So what car is that do we think ?
Depends what you mean. Compared to how quickly I was riding yesterday? Not very quick at all. However if the question is too quickly for my level of experience, ability and at times road conditions? Unfortunately yes. I had a couple of accidents and near misses but for the past twenty five years no mishaps (if you exclude no fault incidents where people have driven into me).
I won’t lie, when I had my cooper S and even FN2 triple figures were the usual when I went out. I used to push it and push it, to the point that others who maybe decided to ‘race’ me would end up giving up because they probably realised 130mph plus on A roads was stupid.
Then I move, stopped driving as much as I did for pleasure and before I knew it the plod were everywhere so I’m a bit less of a speed freak these days. I prefer to save it for the track. It’s not worth the hassle.....15 years ago when I was 20 I wouldn’t have said that!
Then I move, stopped driving as much as I did for pleasure and before I knew it the plod were everywhere so I’m a bit less of a speed freak these days. I prefer to save it for the track. It’s not worth the hassle.....15 years ago when I was 20 I wouldn’t have said that!
Edited by MGirl on Saturday 23 May 20:42
Edited by MGirl on Saturday 23 May 20:43
gareth h said:
Living in the villages a weekend wasn’t a weekend if you weren’t pushing a car out of a hedge / field on a Sunday morning! Normally with a hangover, in our defence it was the late 70s early 80s.
I used to live in a village on the A65 near Settle. I was struggling to sell a mk2 cavalier, until the father of an 18 year old, who lived down our street, found he had no way to get to work on Monday due to his son putting his car over a dry stone wall.
The 4 18 year olds had to fix Walls for 3 weekends for the farmer as a penance.
One of them became a professional dry stone Waller
AAGR said:
Way back in the 1980s, when I was running a Ford RS200 (no, not a misprint - an RS200) as a road car, it wasn't the flat-out speed I enjoyed most, but the sheer agility of this machine.
In particular I liked going through roundabouts and such diversions at an unseemly speed, especially when some cowboy was behind me (often in a Sierra RS Cosworth or a Capri 2.8 Injection) trying to keep up - and failing. I must have left an awful lot of brown-trousered chasers in those situations ....
Brilliant, that is why I replaced my MK2 Escort RS2000 with a 2.8 Injection Capri in 1984! But it wouldn't have got anywhere near an RS200!In particular I liked going through roundabouts and such diversions at an unseemly speed, especially when some cowboy was behind me (often in a Sierra RS Cosworth or a Capri 2.8 Injection) trying to keep up - and failing. I must have left an awful lot of brown-trousered chasers in those situations ....
I still enjoyed my 2.8is though, even if my more recent BMWs are way better.
Twenty or thirty years ago, for me and my mates, vehicles were often driven at 130%, mainly because we never had really fast cars, and also because we were d**ks.
That sometimes meant skinny little tyres screeching everywhere, dangerous levels of brake fade and a weird way of driving. Less traffic of course helped.
Lots of vehicles were light and deadly in a crash- no airbags, no abs, proper crumple zones were a far off dream and often there wasn't even a headrest to try and curtail the whiplash.
Having said that I don't think whiplash was so much of a thing back then anyway, mainly because your aorta would've detached in a crash, or you'd be wearing a funky engine/steering column combo in your body. You'd basically die a lot of the time.
So, did we drive *that* quickly? Yes. Like idiots.
Was it actually quick? Not really mainly, but it felt it.
On a motorway/DC run I still can't do the journey times I did twenty years ago because of speed cameras and traffic, even though my current low spec vehicle is capable of nearly twice the speed limit rather than a ton ten, down a hill with a tailwind sort of performance there was.
On the twisty a roads, my eurobox mid size estate as standard has more tyre than a 205gti did in its pomp, and actually matches it in performance. Point to point, same driver, I'm not sure the hot hatch from the 80s would have a chance.
Lots of us used to rag the living daylights out of far lesser machines.
That was fun.
That sometimes meant skinny little tyres screeching everywhere, dangerous levels of brake fade and a weird way of driving. Less traffic of course helped.
Lots of vehicles were light and deadly in a crash- no airbags, no abs, proper crumple zones were a far off dream and often there wasn't even a headrest to try and curtail the whiplash.
Having said that I don't think whiplash was so much of a thing back then anyway, mainly because your aorta would've detached in a crash, or you'd be wearing a funky engine/steering column combo in your body. You'd basically die a lot of the time.
So, did we drive *that* quickly? Yes. Like idiots.
Was it actually quick? Not really mainly, but it felt it.
On a motorway/DC run I still can't do the journey times I did twenty years ago because of speed cameras and traffic, even though my current low spec vehicle is capable of nearly twice the speed limit rather than a ton ten, down a hill with a tailwind sort of performance there was.
On the twisty a roads, my eurobox mid size estate as standard has more tyre than a 205gti did in its pomp, and actually matches it in performance. Point to point, same driver, I'm not sure the hot hatch from the 80s would have a chance.
Lots of us used to rag the living daylights out of far lesser machines.
That was fun.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff