The thing about modern cars is that most of them are speed-limited. I've driven Chevy Luminas, and, last week, a Ford Taurus, all of which cut out at 172kph (107mph), while the high-revving (6250rpm) Chrysler Sebring will run up to 188kph (117mph), the same speed as my Dodge Grand Caravan. It has the power to go faster, but how fast do you want to go in a minivan?
If you want to go fast for an affordable price, a bike is the only way to go. For under $20,000Cdn, you can buy a reliable 300kph (186mph) bike that stops and handles well. The bikes could go faster (Suzuki Hayabusa, Honda Super Blackbird, and Kawasaki ZX-12), but there appears to be a gentlemen's agreement between the manufacturers that none of their bikes will go over 300kph in showroom condition. What the heck, that's fast enough for most occasions. What you have to watch for is that travelling at high speed can easily become a habit. With my FZR1000-powered FZ750 Yamaha, 200kph (125mph) was the tire- and gas-conserving speed, while its actual top cruise was more like 215kph (134mph). Top speed was around 266kph (165mph). One time in the 80s, I was approaching Toronto on Highway 404 (an expressway, with 4 or 5 lanes in each direction) and saw signs warning of a construction zone ahead. I rolled off, thinking I was tippy-toeing around the potholes, and noticed I was still doing 160kph (100mph). Ironically, you don't get to go very high speeds on the racetrack, since the straights are rarely all that long. Mosport, in Canada, is a high-speed road course, and I never exceeded 245kph (152mph) on that track. Of course, high-end race bikes go faster than that. I can only imagine how comfortable and competent bikes of the last couple of years are when travelling quickly. Dreaming of riding a 2004 Yamaha R1. Pat White
