Re: Them Tarz

["Al Powell" <APOWELL@agcom.tamu.edu>]

The Hon. Bob said:
> 
> I dont think this is a pissing contest, just that the blanket statement 
> that nobody goes faster than 130 might be untrue. Ive personally done 
> much more than that on the right conditions.... You're right, it isnt 
> 'real world' driving, on the hiway I do 65... but once in a while when 
> the times are right, I open it up, and it doesnt take long to get to 130 
> (relatively speaking...)

Perhaps - although what I meant to imply - and perhaps did not - is that 
people don't drive at 130+ on public roads long enough for the degisn 
limits of an H-rated tire to be compromised. 

About "it doesn't take long".../I've never owned a street car which I 
thought could do an honest 130, including my 1990 200.  Those tire 
ratings are for "sustained speeds" in excess of XXX mph, and my 
understanding is that the primary factor involved is heat buildup.  
(If centrifugal force is also a primary design factor, then I am seriously 
deficient in my argument here....duuuuhhhhh)  I would 
consider "sustained speeds" to mean 10+ minutes or more - and I submit 
that there are jolly few places one can travel at over 130 mph in the 
good old US of A for 10 minutes or more.  Even if one COULD, I submit 
that doing so on public roads **for 10 minutes or more** is an offense 
for which one should receive serious social sanctions.  It's not 
smart.  

I can visualize a long highway in Nevada during daylight, and a 
romp up to discover the top end - and then shutting it down to a more 
sane speed which is in line with the driving conditions - meaning an 
conditions on an open public road, not a NASCAR track.  For those 
conditions, I think that most of us should limit our endeavors to 
something in the 80+/- range, depending on all those factors which 
intrude - fatigue, traffic, road conditions, lighting, weather, etc.

Now, I did live in the West for a couple of decades...and I have  
driven thru Nevada and Montana...with the attendant romps up to find 
top end in my '66 GTO and sundry other vehicles.  But not at 130+ 
for extended periods.

Of course, if centrifugal force is the limiting design factor 
(rendering the above tirade irrelevant except for the commentary on 
sustained speeds over 130 on public roads,) then as the inimitable 
Jack Douglas once wrote, I should: "S**t in my hat, pull it down over 
my ears, and call myself Mary Pickford."

That's mah story and ah'm stickin' to it.  

Al Powell                           Voice:  409/845-2807
107 Reed McDonald Bldg.             Fax:    409/862-1202
College Station, TX 77843           Email:  a-powell1@tamu.edu 
W3 page - http://agcomwww.tamu.edu/agcom/satellit/alpage.htm
"Baseball is 90 percent mental.  The other half is physical"...
...Yogi Berra.