Posted on 10/31/2013 3:52:36 PM PDT by nascarnation
Ed Bolian had a serious cross-country need for speed.
The 28-year-old Atlanta man and a two-man crew shattered the unofficial record for fastest drive from New York City to Los Angeles earlier this month by making the 2,813-mile trip in 28 hours and 50 minutes, besting the previous mark set in 2006 by more than two hours.
Using a souped-up 2004 Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG, Bolian, co-driver Dave Black and support passenger Dan Huang left the Red Ball Parking Garage on 31st Street in New York City at 9:55 p.m. on Oct. 19. The trio later arrived at the Portofino Hotel and Marina in Redondo Beach, Calif., at 11:46 p.m. local time on Oct. 20. The ride went as smooth as anyone could’ve imagined, Bolian said.
“The trip went completely perfectly, in ways I could not have guessed,” he said. “We had no traffic, no construction, no accidents, we didn’t find any speed traps and had no bad weather … It was perfection.”
The trio stopped only three times to refuel, add oil and to take restroom breaks. The Mercedes’ average speed was 98 mph, Bolian said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Gas is 7 lb/gal
so each extra tank is less than a fat girl....
On NewYears Day 1997 I was in a race fron Daytona Beach to La Jolla . Not a canonball but after hitting our checkpoints we found ourselves running at 110-130 in my Porsche to get to the daily endpoint. Had a blast but I was exhausted by the time I was home in California. Two cars out of 36 starters did not get a speeding ticket, both Porsches ( one was mine)and both running the Valentine One radar detector.
I backed off finally and cruised into Montana, where I was informed that I'd gone directly by the Wyoming State Patrol academy where they routinely set speed traps to give the new officers some experience. And that I could have ended up in jail for the, ah, slightly over the speed limit rate I was driving. All I will say is that I honestly don't know how fast that was because the speedo didn't go quite high enough.
I still have the car. If I tried that on the roads around here, though, I'd be dead meat.
I had my ‘89 Ford Ranger SLT on the autobahn many a time. Of course, the speedometer on the Ranger only went up to 85, but I have gone faster. How fast? I’ll never know. I’ve actually been cruising at top end (85 MPH) and then gone faster. Once a 911 came blazing by, so I pulled out and chased it! LOL! It got away, of course, but I did feel my truck actually accelerate. I was going down hill at the time. This was somewhere on A-61 north of Speyer.
2 22 gallon tanks is about 310 pounds of gas, full, plus weight of the tank and gas piping pipes. two extra guys are probably 350-400 pounds all the time.
what's-a behind me, she's-a not important... 
HA!
Last week we did Pensacola to Indy with a 79mph avg (my SIL was at the wheel the whole time). More than fast enough for me.
is there noticeably less traffic on the roads these days? i haven't been on a real road trip since 99...
The Firestone 500s were recalled back in the mid 1970s, leading to the near bankruptcy of the company and its acquisition by Bridgestone.
Z rated tires were likely fitted to this Mercedes...
I’d say traffic similar to historical norms. Of course that’s opinion not data.
I-65 is typically heavier during vacation and holiday seasons, major midwest conduit to Florida panhandle/Alabama Gulf (aka redneck Riviera). In October I think that’s more of a lull period, good time to visit Fl, air still warm, ocean still warm, rates down, and not crowded restaurants, etc.
Thankfully the “shutdown” was over and the Naval Air Museum was open.
i went once in the late 70's, seems like a lifetime ago, damn near is...
The first long distance driver was a woman:
Bertha Benz Memorial Route
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Benz_Memorial_Route
That's damn' impressive coast-to-coast.
I have to wonder how many "lookouts" he had along the way to avoid the various State Highway Patrol's and their "eyes in the sky."
Ohio and Indiana are particularly nasty that way. I got busted doing 126 on the Indiana State Tollroad back in 1987 in a turbocharged Nissan 200SX on my way home from Buffalo, NY to the SW Suburbs of Chicago.
The officer in the pursuit car that had been chasing me for 18 miles (and was several miles behind me unbeknownst to me) wasn't the one who caught me. It was the bear in the air.
Never tried doing anything that stupid again.
Ah the old 85mph speedo. Governments answer to speeding. Ha! I had one on my Seca 750. Hit redline in 5th many a time and I sure was moving faster than 85.
I used Trapster last weekend when I was Hammering east on 80 through all of PA.
“I stopped at a Firestone Tire dealer and the guy told me the belts were separating on the Steel Radial 500’s I was using.
Those tires apparently couldn’t take the heat of that kind of drive.”
You are lucky those tires did that good. I had one separate between the time they mounted it and when I picked the truck up after work. None lasted 5K miles.
“Ohio and Indiana are particularly nasty that way. I got busted doing 126 on the Indiana State Tollroad back in 1987 in a turbocharged Nissan 200SX on my way home from Buffalo, NY to the SW Suburbs of Chicago”
Those cars were really pretty dang fast for their time. And their price point especially. As you know, 126 really doen’st feel that fast after several miles on a fairly uncrowded road. Keeps your attention tho. Time sure does go by fast. But, if something goes wrong it sure goes wrong in a hurry!
none.
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