stock 325i beated Altima 3.5

[holycowe]

I had my car for couple months and I wanted to see its top speed at least once. Well, finally yesterday I had a chance when we went to LA.
It was 10.30pm on the way back to Vegas on I-15, there was a new white Altima 3.5 doing like crazy left and right. I tried to keep up with it and finally after a curve, just me and him/her on the wide open freeway. I started to floor the gas and in the right lane (in "D" mode not "Sport"), the other one in left. Both were almost in the same speed 'til speedometer reach 130mph. And I started to pull ahead for good, we both flashed the emergency lights after that . He maxed out about 130 and I didn't have a chance to look at the meter for a second time (doing 130 at night), it said about 134mph but I didn't feel the gorvernor kicks in.
I thought the manual says 325i can do 128 max (governed), but I'm sure it was around 135mph

Oh, I forgot. I don't know how many persons on that Altima because everythings really dark. But my 325 carried 3 persons plus at least 40 lbs of stuffs in the trunk (my wife seated next to me but she was sleeping, otherwise no way in hell I could do that much because shes always when I do more than 90mph . I do believe I have a completely stock car accept 245-40-17 tires in rear.

That was a great experience but I won't do that again 'til I have another car

 

[adamsonem]

The limiters are guestimations... When I had my E30, I had it up to 134 with an electronic limiter of 130.

 

[MrElussive]

Dude, I don't know about that. Those new V6 Altimas do 0-60 in 6.3 seconds, which is far superior to the 325i Auto's 0-60 time of 8.1 seconds. Sorry to say it, but I think the Altima should have won...but who knows, maybe you out-drove him and your 2.5L I6 pulled strong...

 

[epj3]

The limiters are guestimations... When I had my E30, I had it up to 134 with an electronic limiter of 130.

E30's actually are limited to 133

 

[holycowe]

Yeah, but I'm "ALMOST" sure he did all the way because the way he drove (cut left, right...). It gotta be a young driver too and the freeway was still empty.
I think so too, it's hard to believe a 2.5 blew 3.5 away, especially my car carried lot of weight.

 

[jonnyz16]

yeah 0-60 you would get blown away but at high speeds I would say the bimmers superior aero's and suspension took over ..

p.s. I'm surprised she didn't wake up..

 

[Wallie05]

Dude, I don't know about that. Those new V6 Altimas do 0-60 in 6.3 seconds, which is far superior to the 325i Auto's 0-60 time of 8.1 seconds. Sorry to say it, but I think the Altima should have won...but who knows, maybe you out-drove him and your 2.5L I6 pulled strong...

What does the 0-60 time have to do with it? They were obviously driving at speed and like Johnnyz16 said, aero and suspension are important at maintaing controlability at high speeds. Who cares if the Altima does 0-60 in 6.3; I'm sure at high speeds its steering/handling get mushy and are not confidence-inspiring--I sure as hell wouldn't want to take an Altima up to 130+. Nissan's aren't made to be driven that fast and are not built to sustain such high speeds for long periods of time, unlike BMWs...

I've passed a fair number of Maximas and Altimas on the highway; usually guys blow by me at 90 or so when I'm doing 80. I'm in 5th gear by that time so I just step on it and wait a few secs til my car reaches 120 or so--I've never seen one guy follow me up to speeds that high, at least not in a Jap car [bmwkick] . Don't get me wrong though, I've seen plenty of guys in big Audis and Benzes smoke past me and I don't dare chase after them.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

I'm not sure about the BMW high speed stability thing, when the car was newer it felt much more secure. I have to admit one night there was a toyota camry taking curves at 90 and my bimmer didn't feel up to the task, it didn't seem safe. Maybe it was just me and the fact that I had been up for 18 hours...

 

[Wallie05]

You have a 2003 325i and you say it didn't feel up to it? I don't know man, sounds like the driver was more hesitant than the car. Do you have the sport package? Also, my sister drives a Camry--the steering is way overboosted and the suspension is super soft. No way would I take curves at 90. Also, how do you know it wasn't modded? Or furthermore, how do you know it was doing 90...you must have been going pretty quick yourself if you could see him taking corners that fast (which I doubt anyway).

I should've clarified, not all Jap cars are incapable. Certainly the 350Z's and Skyline's are awesome sports cars. But I meant to say that run-of-the-mill Nissan/Honda/Toyota sedans aren't designed for autobahn-style driving in the sense that VWs/BMWs/M-Bs are.

 

[MrElussive]

What does the 0-60 time have to do with it? They were obviously driving at speed and like Johnnyz16 said, aero and suspension are important at maintaing controlability at high speeds. Who cares if the Altima does 0-60 in 6.3; I'm sure at high speeds its steering/handling get mushy and are not confidence-inspiring--I sure as hell wouldn't want to take an Altima up to 130+. Nissan's aren't made to be driven that fast and are not built to sustain such high speeds for long periods of time, unlike BMWs...

I've passed a fair number of Maximas and Altimas on the highway; usually guys blow by me at 90 or so when I'm doing 80. I'm in 5th gear by that time so I just step on it and wait a few secs til my car reaches 120 or so--I've never seen one guy follow me up to speeds that high, at least not in a Jap car [bmwkick] . Don't get me wrong though, I've seen plenty of guys in big Audis and Benzes smoke past me and I don't dare chase after them.

I have the same engine under my hood, except mine is 280hp and RWD platform. I can tell you that the engine pulls from 60-120 the same way it pulls from 0-60, it is a champ. Neither of us have taken an Altima up to 130+mph so I'm not going to make conclusions on its high-speed stability. But yes, you are right, BMW aims much higher in terms of suspension and braking so I would expect the BMW to be much more stable at high speeds.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

You have a 2003 325i and you say it didn't feel up to it? I don't know man, sounds like the driver was more hesitant than the car. Do you have the sport package? Also, my sister drives a Camry--the steering is way overboosted and the suspension is super soft. No way would I take curves at 90. Also, how do you know it wasn't modded? Or furthermore, how do you know it was doing 90...you must have been going pretty quick yourself if you could see him taking corners that fast (which I doubt anyway).

I should've clarified, not all Jap cars are incapable. Certainly the 350Z's and Skyline's are awesome sports cars. But I meant to say that run-of-the-mill Nissan/Honda/Toyota sedans aren't designed for autobahn-style driving in the sense that VWs/BMWs/M-Bs are.

I was doing 70 and he easily had 80 and he sure was playing with that car, but maybe I wasn't up to it and it was me. Afterall I wasn't feeling right that night... At least not right enough to do high speed in a 35mph curve zone.

 

[estrauss]

Keep in mind with the top speed, that car manufacturers over estimate speed on their cars. I read an article in either C&D or R&T that discussed this. Germans with all of their attention to detail are actually the biggest over estimators, followed by the Americans and then the Japanese. This of course is due to the litigation happy US and they are just protecting themselves.

Now if you were to look at a secondary speed display, such as a cruise control, that actually would be more correct. A more accurate way to measure speed is actually with GPS. Some of the hand held Garmin units have this feature. I haven't played with too many Nav systems, but I would expect them to have a good speed measurement.