The 'E' Type Forum

Hi all just being a bit nosey who has got near the 150 or any one been over it in their E Type

We took the E-Type to Millbrook for testing and got up to 150mph for a couple of laps of the bowl just to prove a point. Not sure I would want to do it on the flat though. Fastest I have been on the road is 135mph but the car, an OTS, started to get very light at the front and stability was compromised so I backed off.

Dear All,
I Hit 140Mph on the clock which I suppose is 10% less on a GPS, It still had space to go but I Pulled off. The car handled perfect I was just scared
to damage. For Me 90MPH is more fun on Country Roads waking up everyone.
Paul

I've been to 135 mph on a level straight. At that point I'm pulling 5,400 rpm and so decided to back off. I'm pretty sure that I would have reached 150 otherwise.

As David noted the nose gets light above 125 mph although it's not bad if there is no cross wind. You just need calm hands.

Larry

Both of mine have reached a top speed of 1mph whilst pushing them around the workshop. :D

I could tell you... but maybe I won't.

It might not be a good idea to brag online.

A driver boasts about going 140 km/h on a road with a 40 km/h speed limit.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/ ... on658.html

Here's the forum in question:-

http://forums.5series.net/topic/95495-g ... w550ifreak++

Thanks Clive for posting those sites.

That kid is a real hazard!!! If his parents have a brain they'll take his car away for good.

There are places where top speed can be appropriately probed: the no-limit parts of the autobahn, closed tracks, etc.

In the US we have a cool option: speed trials!!

Check this out:
http://www.scta-bni.org/

If you ever come to Los Angeles it is a very short drive (over the mountains) to El Mirage. The prep events for Bonneville are very cool.

Larry

All sounds like typical 19 year old bullsh%t to me, with a bit of urban myth thrown in

What's not urban myth is the restrictive laws this type of person has caused to be imposed upon the rest of us here in Ontario.

If we are caught doing 30mph over any speed limit, we now have a $10,000 fine, automatic instant license suspension plus roadside vehicle seizure and impoundment. Massive roadside signs placed beside all the major highways now proclaim this. So that would be 80mph or over on a back road or say 95 on a motorway type highway.

So no more 100+mph fun blasts here, that's for sure, thanks to the ricer street racers and the 19 year-old kids with $60,000 BMWs.

Larry Wade wrote: Check this out:
http://www.scta-bni.org/

If you ever come to Los Angeles it is a very short drive (over the mountains) to El Mirage. The prep events for Bonneville are very cool.

Larry

Thanks Larry. Yes, I guess the only thing left is something like that or track. We have a couple of decent tracks near me where you can spend the day for around $100.

Yup, they don't mess about in Canada:

We must all agree speed has it's place,
best when behind the wheel of an E :D
so might be best not to give the powers that be, any idea's or ammunition
on this or any other site.
just a personal view
Paul

Track Days have been my passion to stretch the legs of my E-Type on regular occasions over the past few years and the cost was reasonable in the UK originally around 150 sterling and for me was one of the best kept secrets around. Unfortunately every man and his dog are track daying these days and a well organized limited entry (to give you more than five minutes on the track) is costing over 300 sterling. Add to that the fuel burned and transportation to the track which could involve an overnight in a hotel and there is no change out of 600 sterling. This has dampened my enthusiam for track days at present

I owned a 63 E-Type, back in the day . . . drove it across Nevada in 1964 (no speed limit) on possibly the first stretch of I-80 with my foot to the floor, pegged the speedometer at an indicated 160. Measured mile: around 23 seconds (no stopwatch). From 150 to 160, I could see its shadow getting longer. Scary, that airfoil shape was lifting off.

Top down, but the custom-made plexiglass windshield exentsion, 6" high and locked on with roof top clamps (which were ridiculously expensive) was in place. (I was tired of sticks and other debris hitting the top of my head.)

Held that speed for about 2 minutes. Tach was pegged. Motor temp also in the red, the poor motor was never the same again. When I backed off, the temp eased back but stayed in the red. As I walked away from the parked car into a Reno casino, I could hear it boiling . . .

Thats one of the 3 questions I get asked about my E and I suppose many others:

How fast does it go?

Is it a 12 cylinder?

How much is it worth?

I always answer 1 and 3 with a shrug and 2 with a no it's the 6 cylinder which usually disappoints people for some reason.

Dave

I was practically never asked if it was a V12 in the UK but it's the commonest question here after 'What year?'

When they ask is it a twelve I say no way, it's the twin cam hemi. That suits them over here where hemi means something.

Pete

Only 90mph. But I was still in third gear

In '64, I was driving back from Indianapolis to Lafayette, Indiana, a divided highway with actually very little traffic, doing my usual 85-90. I passed a large American car with some kids in it who decided to keep pace with me. So I gradually accelerated until we were both doing around 105 side by side when, just because I could, I downshifted to 3rd as they watched and floored it. I swear I could hear them howling.

That's the year I got to drive it on the Indy 500 track, at speed. How? Too long a story to burden you with here. 110 in turn 3. In the days of skinny tires, no downforce, and the 150 MPH lap had just been achieved.

I finally got rid of the beast after 6 years, it was spending half its time in the shop. Not because of my mistreatment; because it was a Jaguar. Every time they replaced a part, it was different from the original. The tach drive insert in the camshaft went twice, each time the new insert was a different material. And each time, I had to pay. The final straw was when the welds that held the monocoque body together started to split. That, I demanded, Jaguar must pay to repair, and that was the only time they did.

Has Jaguar ever built anything that wasn't -- in today's terminology -- a beta release? I mean before Ford stepped in.

Its funny I've been asked a few times in the last month whilst in the US if a 3.8 I'm smoking about in is a V12. They do seem disappointed to hear its only a 6 pot.

Still I should have my old mans V12 here in a minute. I think he said he had 140 ish out of the old girl going up the M1 before they bought the speed limit in.

"Is it a V12?" Is the commonest question I get asked both in the UK and Europe. My answer always is "No, it is the fast one - the straight six". They look bemused but satisfied they have learned something!