Cool story. New transcontinental record in a 9-year old AMG, averaging 98 mph.
3 fuel tanks, 3 radar detectors, 3 Apple chagers, 2 drivers, 2 GPS's, a scanner, a CB radio and a passenger.

Meet The Guy Who Drove Across The U.S. In A Record 28 Hours 50 Minutes

 

That's awesome. I remember reading about the last guys to set the record in '06 and thinking it seemed like it'd be possible to beat the record if you didn't get caught. I'm not sure that one will go down anytime soon though.

 

I read that this morning, neat story. The guy in '06 had all kinds of support in the form of planes and helicopters looking for cops and stuff, but this guy just had 3 people in his merc. And he SHATTERED the record. I'm honestly not sure how that works. I can see how he could do it in ~29 hours, I'm just confused what took the guy in the M3 so long with all his support. Surely that M3 would go 100mph just as easily...

 

Well, it doesn't hurt that with the three fuel tanks the car didn't have to stop but once every 800 miles. Even then, two pumps could fill the tanks at once meaning fuel stops were only barely longer than a normal stop.

If I recall they only had to make three or four stops for gas whereas the previous record holders had to stop 10 or 12 times. If you think about it, that is another hour or two just in fuel stops.

Plus, while he didn't have helicopters and night vision, he did have vehicles driving ahead of him in some cases spotting traffic hazards and with social media programs like Trapster, Waze, and the ones that directly link to the radar detectors I think he wasn't at that much of a disadvantage.

The 98mph average is mind blowing though. That is some *****.

 

I saw this on Reddit and a lot of people were bitching about how unsafe and bad this makes people who mod cars look... which I can see their viewpoint if all you know about the cannonball is that people are on public roads and they are averaging 98 mph.

 

I can see how people might be upset, but the truth is that in many places our highway system can handle speeds in excess of 100mph. Cars can safely handle speeds well in excess of 100mph. I can understand if a section of road is unsafe at 65mph or higher due to curves, road conditions or whatever, but I wish we would just get over ourselves and just drive responsibly no matter what the speed.

I know one of these days we will all be driving autonomous cars that travel at a steady speed and we won't care about this at all, but in the meantime I wish we could find another way to do this.

My idea? Left lane transponders... Basically a GPS and cell network data driven device that updates (left lane) speed limits live via the data stream. When no hazards are spotted, it raises to whatever is the maximum for that stretch of road. If there is a hazard or road conditions change the limit lowers. The only restriction would be that you have to maintain speed or move to the right lane where standard speed limits are obeyed.

Oh if only...

 

It's ok Chibur. They will soon have little black boxes on every car to let them know the slow and fast people in the left lane.