I was amazed how rock solid my MCS felt at 110mph over rough country pavement. The car has no problem getting there either.

 

Have pictures of me following a Mercedes at a comfortable 110mph on the Autostrade here in Sicily. Car is stuck like a glove to the road, only have to worry about some very minor wheel hop on some corners that have expansion joints embedded in the road. Wheel hop with low profile tires can get a little worrisome IMHO (feel free to correct me if my opinion is wrong ).


Cheers!

 

Hasent like Utah and Nevada gotten rid of the speed limits on their interstates?? I remember that from a few years ago. I'm not certain what states but they were out west some place. Looks like I need to find out and take a road trip!

 

Montana, for a few years, had a rule that the day time speed should be "reasonable and prudent". Unfortunately, they needed the Federal Highway Funds, so they had to put a regular speed limit back in place.

Objxs

 

Stranger yet was the offering by Mazda to buy back the RX-8's from dissatisfied owners when they found out they didn't have 240 HP as advertised.

 

They had that twice. Back in the 1970's they had it, then rescinded with the national 55 MPH campaign due to the oil shortage and then again when most states were allowed to go to a max of 75, they again made it "reasonable and prudent", but alas, us poor American driver caused too many fatalities that it only lasted for three years. Bringing this discussion back into the present, Why oh why haven't we gone back to lower national speeds with our current oil price gouging we're currently experiencing?

 

If you do nothing to your stock MCS you will do fine, drive it stock for the first 2000 miles. If you add intake, cat-back exhaust, and suspension upgrades or wheels you'll be a bit safer for any mechanical problem and still have your warranty for the engine intact.

In fact you might want to go only that far and see how you do for the first 6000-8000 miles. Later if you need to then you can add a reduction pulley but that voids the supercharger warranty. 15% is well tested and reliable. 17% and 19% are doing quite well according to owners across the country.

You'll have no problems commuting long distance with any of these options.
Will your MINI hold up with the mods? Yes. Just don't overdo redline.

 

RU serious? I mean, nothing stopping you from driving 55 now.

Paul

 

People need to be TOLD what to do and of course what is good for them. Most complainers about the price of oil also complain about drilling for it....at least in their back yards.....go figure.....

 

Wow. I'm a libertarian. My philosophy is 180 degrees opposite. 55mph would do nothing to the price of oil.


Paul

 

I'd like to see the price for gas go up another dollar for a year. It would sure get rid of a LOT of those SUVs you see out there! ;-)

Don't forget that we in America pay a whole lot less for gas than anyone else in the world.

Also don't forget that 55 speed limits aren't really about safety - they're about making money. Counties make a lot of money from traffic tickets and they do so in order to keep from raising taxes.

 

[QUOTE=CornOnTheCob]I'd like to see the price for gas go up another dollar for a year. It would sure get rid of a LOT of those SUVs you see out there! ;-)

Don't forget that we in America pay a whole lot less for gas than anyone else in the world.>>>

I just had to jump in here - We do not pay less for gas than "anyone else in the world" the price of a gallon of gas to the average Iraqi right now? Five cents.
I am aware that gasoline in most of Europe and Asia is more expensive than what we pay for it here, however, we are not only an oil-producing nation but we also deal in volume. We in the U.S. are the world's largest consumer of energy. Think of it as a giant "group buy".

 

Actually all highway speed limits are actually set by the Federal Government who collects no money from speeding tickets. Many states would be intersted in higher speed limits but that can't if they want to collect the Federal Highway Maintenance dollars.

 

If you cared to read past the headline you read before you regurgitated this piece of information, you would have seen that they are not paying 5 cents a gallon, they are paying $1.55 a gallon, $1.50 of which America is subsidizing during the transitional period between Saddam's rule, under which gas prices were inexpensive (though not 5 cents a gallon), and the new government, under which gas prices will be higher than they were before. This subsidizing is costing American tax payers $500 million a month.

Thanks for your sensationalized input, though.

 

Paul, are you serious in your reply or playing with me? I mean, if they had to lower the speed limit from 75 to 55 back in the 70's to get people to conserve fuel, why not now? Were you against what they did back in the 70s by regulating the max speed?

 

Not true! There are other countries that pay much less per gallon than we do in the USA.

 

Back in the 70's the 55 speed limits were imposed primarily for the reason of fuel conservation during the oil shortage. Sure it's much safer for everybody with lowered speeds on the roadways, this is a physics fact that cannot be argued. Making money is always good. Now why do you think counties will make more money when the national speed limit is set to 55MPH than when set to some number higher?

 

Simple. More speeding tickets.

 

Simple. More speeding tickets.

 

Simple More speeding tickets.

 

It was a feel good no substance measure from Jimmy Carter, the same guy that mandated a/c temps in public places.

Yes I am serious. Speed laws are about safety not conserving fuel. Why not a law making it illegal for recreational driving or better yet rationing? Madating frugality is BS. If people want to save they can, nothing stopping them. I was against 55 in the 70's and still am. Don't want to wast fuel that fine. Don't want me to waste fuel? Well mind your own business. Keep the government involved in only one thing: Protecting me from you, not me from me.

Paul

 

Bah. Stupid submit button got stuck.

 

First of all, last I checked, $1.55 was still less than you can buy gasoline for anywhere in the U.S., so my original point still holds true.
Second, gasoline started being subsidized by Saddam's government before the regime change and it was bankrupting his government.
Third, if a gallon of gas is $1.55 and $1.50 of that is subsidized, then the cost of a gallon to an Iraqi is still five cents!

Ascerbic and sarcastic, you must be a hit with the opposite sex, huh "Corn"?

 

I'm also a nitpicker. You misspelled acerbic.