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Top speed of an auto?

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Old Jun 10, 2004 | 07:12 PM
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Top speed of an auto?

All i know is when i tried getting up there 4th gear was SOOOO long. I got to 125 and shut down since it was climbing so slow. Anyone ever topped out an auto? I know the manuals did 142 MPH in a Motor Trend back in 95. I would guess an auto would do around 135.
Old Jun 10, 2004 | 08:45 PM
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I have been in the 130mph range, but like you said it was slow getting there. You have to make sure that the O/D is off until you are about to redline 3rd gear then put the O/D on. It will go into O/D at a higher RPM & give you alittle more umpf up top. Be careful & be safe!!!
Old Jun 10, 2004 | 09:15 PM
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Originally Posted by nostrixoxide
I have been in the 130mph range, but like you said it was slow getting there. You have to make sure that the O/D is off until you are about to redline 3rd gear then put the O/D on. It will go into O/D at a higher RPM & give you alittle more umpf up top. Be careful & be safe!!!
Did you mistake by putting off then on or is it really like that?

How can I know what speed my wheels can go to? I think it's written on the wheel and i think it's only a letter but dunno what the letter means
Old Jun 10, 2004 | 09:42 PM
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Max-2-GTR, check here. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...eral/speed.jsp

It is very important to bring it all the way to redline in 3rd and then shift. I mean like bounce off the d@mn fuel cut. If you don't do that you won't get true top speed. Its all about the gearing. Seeing as the auto has a lower final drive it has the potential to hit a higher top speed than the 5Spd but the engine doesn't have the power to get you there in the tall @ss 4th. If you had the power with some sort of boost I'd say redline in 4th would bring the car to about 160-165. I've taken mine to 138 with my current mods. Thats with the big @ss 235's. With my stock rims with pressure bumped to about 50 I'd say 140 is attainable and possibly more. Now imagine a built valvetrain with 8K redline, built internals, some insane boost levels and 170 to 175 is attainable. Imagine that. A max that can reach 175. Competition for the skyline...stock. Ha.
Old Jun 10, 2004 | 09:50 PM
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Originally Posted by broaner22
Max-2-GTR, check here. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...eral/speed.jsp

It is very important to bring it all the way to redline in 3rd and then shift. I mean like bounce off the d@mn fuel cut. If you don't do that you won't get true top speed. Its all about the gearing. Seeing as the auto has a lower final drive it has the potential to hit a higher top speed than the 5Spd but the engine doesn't have the power to get you there in the tall @ss 4th. If you had the power with some sort of boost I'd say redline in 4th would bring the car to about 160-165. I've taken mine to 138 with my current mods. Thats with the big @ss 235's. With my stock rims with pressure bumped to about 50 I'd say 140 is attainable and possibly more. Now imagine a built valvetrain with 8K redline, built internals, some insane boost levels and 170 to 175 is attainable. Imagine that. A max that can reach 175. Competition for the skyline...stock. Ha.
What I meant is: do you have to turn the OD off (light on) then at 3rd and redline, turn OD back on (light off) cause I thought the OD off let the engine go into 4th. What you're saying is that we can get to a higher speed at 3rd? Man, I'm all confused...
Old Jun 10, 2004 | 10:32 PM
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Yes, the O/D needs to be off (light on) once you have redlined 3rd gear put O/D on (light off) Then 4th gear will engauge at a higher RPM which will allow your vehicle to pull stronger towards top speed.
Old Jun 10, 2004 | 10:35 PM
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hes saying have the light on til you redline at third gear, then press the button to go into fourth once you bounce off the rev limiter. i've gotten my car up to around 134 before i slowed down. my tire treads getting low and dont really trust them. the H rating handles up to 130. I'm going to get some v rated (149 mph) for better traction and higher speed handling.
Old Jun 10, 2004 | 11:03 PM
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135 on a very long highway
Old Jun 11, 2004 | 04:53 AM
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Ok.. i take O/D off. I did at like 3 am and NO one was on the highway
Old Jun 11, 2004 | 06:09 AM
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But if you manually shift it wouldn't make any difference whether you have the O/D on or off at 1st and 2nd gear right?

I Know it has to be on after reaching the high 3k rpms beacuse otherwise it dies, but since I manually shift while racing, I'm guessing it won't matter if I have the O/D on throughout all the gears from the beginning right?
Old Jun 11, 2004 | 06:35 AM
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If you had enough power the gearing of an auto would get you to about 180 mph.
Old Jun 11, 2004 | 06:47 AM
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Originally Posted by max83
If you had enough power the gearing of an auto would get you to about 180 mph.
111 in a 1/4 of a mile and 140+ in 3/4 of a mile.
Old Jun 11, 2004 | 06:52 AM
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top speed on my 95 auto 140
Old Jun 11, 2004 | 09:05 AM
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Max_PR, you want it off at the beginning of the run so you don't forget or have to worry about it until you hit redline in 3rd. Manual shifting does nothing unless you have an extended redline and VI.


C MAX, wow! What mods have you forgot to list in your profile? haha.


max83, you really think 180 is attainable? Wow! I know there are a bunch of boosted auto's; so, what are your top speeds?
Old Jun 11, 2004 | 09:40 AM
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Originally Posted by broaner22

C MAX, wow! What mods have you forgot to list in your profile? haha.

?
oh excuse me broaner buddy, sometimes i forget not everybody knows me. http://members.cardomain.com/whoamax
i haven't dynod but im pushing 11lbs s/c and nitrous.
Old Jun 11, 2004 | 11:07 AM
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Agree with the rest..140+/- if downhill and tiresize slightly larger...definitely agree with the o/d off until redline...
Old Jun 13, 2004 | 09:27 PM
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Okay C-max. I saw your post in the i30 powercooled thread and realized what you've done. Very impressed.

96 max se-r, tire size needs to be smaller if anything. Smaller in diameter and width. The smaller tire helps the gearing of the auto. This is why auto DR's are 22" or smaller. BTW, we aren't cheaters. Top speed should only be considered valid unless on a flat road with no tail or head wind. Oh yeah, where have you been for a year and a half?
Old Jun 13, 2004 | 10:15 PM
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If your Max is healthy, you should be able to reach the top speed without ever even turning off overdrive. If it's hitting a wall around 120, she might need some new sparkplugs n stuff.
Old Jun 13, 2004 | 10:25 PM
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wow 6 posts in almost three years...and the lurkers come out in this thread
Old Jun 14, 2004 | 05:46 AM
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[QUOTE=broaner22]Max_PR, you want it off at the beginning of the run so you don't forget or have to worry about it until you hit redline in 3rd. Manual shifting does nothing unless you have an extended redline and VI.
QUOTE]


Well I have the extended redline with my JWT ECU. Still dont have the money for the Mevi
But someday...
Old Jun 14, 2004 | 07:14 AM
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Wow, this thread still lives. Our cars will NOT do 180 people. Aerodynamic drag, POWER, gearing and others play major rolls. Blah blah blah i know
Old Jun 14, 2004 | 07:20 AM
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Top speed in my auto has been 142 against a Grand Am. Took me a long time to get up there, but i got there. Ever since then I haven't been able to break 130. i don't know if it's my tranny or my engine that is keeping me from hitting that again, but it's starting to annoy me to say the least.
Old Jun 14, 2004 | 03:06 PM
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My top speed was 137, cold morning on the Pa turnpike, man it took long to get there at 137. Rpm didn't go no more after 4700 something on last gear which is overdrive, NOS needed. Car don't have any performace than an intake. Is there any way to go faster without adding any performace part? where is that governer, in the pcm?
Old Jun 14, 2004 | 03:14 PM
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Originally Posted by LudeAEM
...I know the manuals did 142 MPH in a Motor Trend back in 95. I would guess an auto would do around 135.
hmmmm, I don't know about 95's and others, but from what I've heard it all depends.

I say it depends because after reading hundreds of threads like this one, people always say different numbers and tell different stories such as "my car turned off at 1XX mph blah blah blah"

Some say their manual only gets up to 125, others say it goes to 130, still others say they've gone pass 145 etc., which I believe. Why?
Because I honestly hit 143 mph in my 99 on the way home from a nightclub once.

I guess my point is that it's hard to give a definitive answer here. Also, when my tank is less than 1/4 full, I can rarely get pass 120 because I suddenly feel a fuel cut-off of some sort. When it's half full, however, I do 130+ with ease.
Old Jun 14, 2004 | 03:45 PM
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Ive been to 132.. It didnt take that long, but ofcourse I had an MEVI at the time
Old Jun 14, 2004 | 08:28 PM
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LudeAEM, I somewhat disagree. We were talking about with some nice FI or Nitrous(I'd imagine the later isn't very safe for long @ss high speed runs). I don't know if stock redline would bring it to 180 but somewhere pretty close. Think about it. If the car has enough power it will overcome drag. I mean you can easily be in fourth @40MPH at like 1800RPM. At 70 you cruise along at 2800. 4th is a tall @ss motha fxcking gear man. At least we have the ability to increase our top speeds unlike some cars that top out when they hit redline in their last gear. That would suck cause then crazy gearing work is needed and daily drivability is reduced.

96'MAXSE, your car has no governor. Only GXE's have it and not even all of them. 137 is simply the top speed of your car. Don't feel left out cause thats what mine does. The engine doesn't have enough power to pull it higher into the power band.

Boss, of course it depends. It depends on weight, conditions, vehicle condition, mods, etc... I totally believe 140+ is attainable on a stock 5Spd. Thats why this thread is called, "Top speed of an AUTO?" Not being offensive here. On a more positive note, you bring up a good point about the fuel condition. I guess its all a balance. Less weight is good but consistant fuel delivery is required. Why don't gas tanks have baffles in them that reduce fuel splashing? Just curious; what rpm are you at in 5th a top speed.
Old Jun 15, 2004 | 07:02 AM
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Originally Posted by broaner22
LudeAEM, I somewhat disagree. We were talking about with some nice FI or Nitrous(I'd imagine the later isn't very safe for long @ss high speed runs). I don't know if stock redline would bring it to 180 but somewhere pretty close. Think about it. If the car has enough power it will overcome drag. I mean you can easily be in fourth @40MPH at like 1800RPM. At 70 you cruise along at 2800. 4th is a tall @ss motha fxcking gear man. At least we have the ability to increase our top speeds unlike some cars that top out when they hit redline in their last gear. That would suck cause then crazy gearing work is needed and daily drivability is reduced.
Anything above 150-155mph would be almost impossible to reach. Or cars have a nice shape but they aren't THAT aerodynamic. The running into a brickwall affect happens just like with the old muscle cars of the 70's. They made 500+ HP back then and couldn't go any faster.
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 01:08 PM
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Bmr4life, reaching top speed is an expontential thing. It is not a brick wall. The car does not accelarate quickly and then stop. They slowly stop accelerating. The example you brought to the table is a totally different ball 'o wax. At the time of most muscle cars conception they barely knew what a wind tunel or drag coeffecient was. Also, do you happen to know the gearing on those vehicles? Most muscle cars cruise on the highway at 3500 or 4k. Thats insane. I'd be willing to guess that they reached top speed of the gearing, not the engine. Your saying a max with 500+ HP couldn't reach redline in 4th? I disagree. Why don't we ask the insanely boosted people what they're top speed are? Most people don't have the guts or area to actually reach top speed. But on the salt flats or something.
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 02:29 PM
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broaner is right, muscle cars have the gearing and power combination for one main thing, and its only about 1/4 mile long. if you had a muscle car with 500+ hp, and about a 3.43 ratio or lower, then hell, it would never stop accelerating. now the "brick wall" ideal, i dont believe it, if you have the right gearing and the power to pull the car, unless your doin like 180+, areodynamics arent goin to just let your car stop accelerating, just slow the acceleration down.
in my opinion, reaching 170+ in a maxima is very attainable, for 300+ hp guys that is. i know this post is for automatics, but redline in 4th gear in a 5 speed, is in the 132-137 range, i dont really pay attention to the speedo while goin that fast, i got better things to stare at
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 02:50 PM
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ive done 140 to maybe 142ish..... long *** road and damn did it take a long time.... hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm gotta love the od to redline, or else you just cant get past a point in 4th....
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 03:09 PM
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Keep O/D off (light on) until right here:


Then click it into 4th and you'll keep accelerating a little. My highest is 138, about 4800 RPM in 4th gear.
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 06:54 PM
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i hope you had someone else take that pic while you kept your hands on the wheel...
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 07:01 PM
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thats right when it becomes VERY scary
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 07:09 PM
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Gotta laugh MZMTG, you had no gas in the car!
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 07:13 PM
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The highest I hit in my Auto baby was 134, some Sentra flew by me so I had to show it what was up, but after I got a good lead on it I let off the acc., dont know how much more I couldve hit since it was still goin up.
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 07:23 PM
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i topped out at about 130-135 one night. I really wanted to test my first new/used car...impressive
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 07:29 PM
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Originally Posted by rmurdoch
Gotta laugh MZMTG, you had no gas in the car!
Seems like he has more than a quarter of the tank, that's not the last line you're looking at. Anyway, I did 127 on my auto, with no mods but a muffler. This was on the Garden State Parkway going to Atlantic City for you in the northeast. I could have gone more but ex stock 15 inch wheels and tires were not cooperating. I should try it now with all the mods and better tires.
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 07:32 PM
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btw, that 134 I hit was when my baby was still young and stock, havent tested her with the cai, exhaust, y-pipe, and less weight.

*Plus I didnt have a radar detector then.*
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 07:43 PM
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Hit 135 MPH out in the middle of nowhere, but shut it down due to some small traffic up ahead. It was still pulling I probab could have touched 140. Car felt twitchy at those speeds. I had an intake and ypipe at the time.

I'm now lowered, so maybe the car wouldn't feel as twitchy as it did. But I don't really care to top it out too much, cops linger around out there in the boons sometimes just waiting for somebody like me to blow by them.
Old Jun 16, 2004 | 07:54 PM
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My one high-speed run was on the Coquihalla highway in the Interior of BC, about 40 miles from anywhere on a divided highway, seven years ago. My odometer only goes to 220 kmh and I wound it right off the end. I would say I was going 230 to 235 kmh or 143 - 146 mph. I let it run for quite awhile after it hit 220 kmh in order to get there. I saw God twice and shut it down. The car was stock, with low miles on it. A 5-speed by the way. Now has 53,000 miles on it with Y-pipe installed last week. Don't think I'll be trying to beat that speed anytime soon, particularly with my tires still being original.



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