What it feels like to reach a speed of 200 km/h mainly depends on what kind of car you drive.
The commercial operation speed of high-speed rail is 350 km/h, but you won’t feel bumpy or afraid when taking high-speed rail. Similarly, when the speed reaches 200 on the highway, the Porsche 911 and my old Golf feel completely different.
On the German highway,The first time I drove over 200 km/h was an off-road vehicle (project car). With 330 horsepower and 700 Nm of torque, it can accelerate significantly at 180 km/h, but the height of nearly 2 meters makes it far less stable than a car at high speed. When I first drove this car, I hadn’t fully adapted to its characteristics. Once I changed lanes and overtook in a corner at 160 km/h on the highway. The car body tilted to one side violently, and the car almost lost control. At that moment, I almost thought I was finished. Fortunately, the body stabilization system intervened in time at this time, and I didn’t turn the steering wheel randomly when I still had a trace of reason. The car shook and then stabilized again. So, you can imagine how dangerous it is for a “square” off-road vehicle with a height of nearly 2 meters to change lanes at 200 km/h. The electronic speed limit of this car is 210 km/h, which is also the highest speed I have actually driven.
Generally speaking, after this car drives to 200 km/h, the steering wheel doesn’t shake much, but the wind is loud and the windshield feels like it will be blown away at any time. In terms of comfort, this car is not even as comfortable as a C-class car after the speed exceeds 150.
Although the off-road vehicle is good, it is not my own car after all. Later, I bought an old BMW, three series, E 90, diesel version, 143 horsepower. If I remember correctly, the electronic speed limit of this car should also be 210 km/h. When I bought it, the car was 9 years old and its maximum speed was 207 km/h. After this car is at 180 km/h, you can clearly feel that it starts to accelerate weakly. It takes a while to step on the accelerator before it can drive to 200 km/h. How much it can drive after 200 km/h depends on the road conditions. The time to reach 207 km/h was achieved with the help of a small downhill. Compared with the off-road vehicle of the project, its wind noise after 200 km/h is less and the body is more stable, but the steering wheel is a bit floating.
Since many cities in Germany began to ban diesel vehicles in 2019, BMW sold it after three years of driving it, and later bought a Golf 6 that was almost old (the driving car became more and more frustrated hahaha). This car is more than ten years old now. The electronic speed limit is also 210 km/h, but it only has 122 horsepower. The fastest I have ever driven is 190 km/h. When the road is in good condition, the car should be able to reach 200 km/h if you step on the accelerator on the downhill section to accelerate for a period of time. However, the steering wheel of this car starts to float when it drives to 160 km/h, giving people a feeling of being very light, thin and extremely unsafe. Therefore, every time I drive to 190 km/h, I feel timid, and I haven’t tried it yet. The limits of this old golf.
In fact, many Germans have driven 200 km/h, or even faster. There is no speed limit on most highway sections in Germany. When everyone just gets a new car, especially a good car, they can’t help but want to try how fast this car can run. But in most cases, especially when family members are in the car, everyone is relatively restrained in driving. After all, ultra-high speed driving is extremely dangerous, and attention needs to be concentrated. Even experienced drivers will unconsciously hold the steering wheel with both hands after driving at this speed. Like mine, their palms will sweat, and they will involuntarily wipe the sweat from their pants every once in a while.
In addition, how it feels to drive to 200 km/h depends on the road conditions. In some test sites, there are basically no other cars in 2 to 4 lanes in one direction, and the curves are specially designed to tilt inward like a bowl wall, so that the cars will not fly out even at 200 km/h. On such a road, it is easier for ordinary people to drive 200 km/h than to drive 90 km/h in urban areas. The road sections with no speed limit in Germany are designed with terrain factors considered. Theoretically, if you drive 200 km/h or even 250 km/h in a curve, there will be no danger of being thrown out. The basis of domestic high-speed design is 120 km/h. Even when there are few people and you think it is safe, speeding and cornering may make you fly out.
Therefore, please pay attention to driving safety and don’t speed!
Please pay attention to driving safety and don’t speed!
Please pay attention to driving safety and don’t speed!
