Top Gear must be my kind of show. I can sit and watch the whole thing all by myself, something that I cannot say for most of what is on TV. Today I watched an episode about the Bugatti Veyron, possibly one of the most amazing/wonderful/ridiculous cars ever built. I mean they took the Bugatti name, shoot they didn't just take it, they had to dig it up from a French graveyard and now they've stuck it on a car designed and built by Germans. They even stuck a character of the original Bugatti radiator grill on the front of the car. Why? Is it supposed to make it look like a Bugatti? But never mind all that, it's just me frothing at mouth, and it doesn't have anything to do with the car itself. The car itself, hmm, well, it's something else for sure. Based on it's price and performance you could call it ridiculous. I mean, where are you going to drive something like that? I suppose you could build a private road from your beach house to your mountain chateau or something. Then you might make good use of it.
On the other hand it is quite a feat of engineering. If you can find the right road, it can go 250 MPH, and it does it smoothly and comfortably. At that speed tires will last 15 minutes, and fuel will last 12. 12 minutes at 4 miles a minute will get you 50 miles down the road. That is pretty impressive. I'm thinking with that kind fuel economy, maybe a jet engine would be a better deal. Tires might last a little longer, too. Kind of rough on those following you around town though.
Let's just think about this for a minute. 250 MPH. LA to NY is 2500 miles. At 250 MPH you could be there in 10 hours, and no hassles with the airlines or terminals. Of course you would need an adequate road, and you would need to do something about fuel. But think of it. Just get in your car and drive. I could be in Seattle in 35 minutes. SF would only be about 3 hours. Of course, if you could afford this car, you could afford to hire a private jet to take you where you want to go.
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Not for me. I'm guessing my reflexes are a bit too slow for something that can tool along at four miles per minute.
And anyway, even apart from legal considerations, I tend to get antsy over 100 mph.
Another good reason to live in OKC: you're in the center of a flat state with long straight roads. You can go 100 if you are so inclined without too much difficulty.
And here in Sprawl Central, I have a short, as in "brief," commute. The mayor has been known to crack wise about how this is the only major city (31st nationally, which I guess is major enough) where you can still get a speeding ticket during rush hour. In fact, I hit [number redacted] mph on I-44 just west of I-35 this afternoon, trying to create space between myself and a semi without blocking out some humongous SUV in the $200 lane. Traffic routinely moves around 70-75 in the three-mile stretch between I-35 and I-235, even at 5 pm. (Posted limit is 60.)
Writing from Germany.
Would someone explain to me the concept of speed limits ? ;-)
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