As someone that does an annual road trip in my 911, driving at those speeds would quite possible easy from Little Rock, AR on west. From Memphis, TN to Little Rock it would be impossible. The traffic is heavy and 90% of the people want to just stay in the left lane at 71 MPH.

And in Yankee land (north of the Mason Dixon line) the population is heavy enough to make it a real challenge.

I figure they make airplanes to go across the country faster and a thousand times safer and legal. I can't imagine wanting to try it at high speeds.

I believe they didn't take 40, but since it is what I have taken I'll give my assessment.

West of Little Rock you still have a lot of undulation and twists in Oklahoma. Your sightlines are limited and you shouldn't hold steady speeds, instead it would be a lot of speed variation, pick up speed on the downhill, shed speed on the uphill.

Then you have to pass through Oklahoma City, which is a pretty heavy area as well. Lots of exchanges, ramps, etc, and leaving in the evening/night from one side of the country means I've generally passed through at a high traffic time.

Once out the other side of Oklahoma City it starts to flatten out into longer straighs and steady uphills. There is potential to make up some real speed up until you hit a serious set of squiggles in New Mexico. Then it really goes to hades, pavement quality is rough, and some sections are corner after corner.

New Mexico has two serious slow sections, and they aren't short. Then, again you mostly climb straight up until Arizona.


In Arizona, you enter fairly straight, but are looking in the distance at what some hours later will be some pretty serious sets of turns. Pavement is better than in New Mexico, but lots of blind sightlines, corners, and ups and downs.

Eventually you get to another section that tends to not undulate as you get into California. Then if you are going to LA, you're going to hit heavy traffic, steep downhills, lots of turns, and lots of brake lights on I-15.


I've managed to hit this section fairly early in the morning, and it isn't as bad. If on a speed run I'd hit it even earlier.


Memphis to Little Rock if you leave the east in the evening is going to be crossed at a time without a lot of traffic, but the pavement STINKS. Kachunk, Kachunk, Kachunk. It is a fairly straightforward incline for most of Tennesee, but as you get closer to North Carolina it develops a serious case of the squiggles. Tennesee is probably my least favorite state on this drive, it just keeps going, and going. The speed limit is lower. Without a speed limit, it might not be so bad.


40 through NC is a bit of a cop fest, but otherwise tends to have good pavement. There are undulations reducing sightlines, but not as bad as Oklahoma.


Overall, Arkansas is a state I like to "skip" as far as gas stops go. The part of that state surrounding 40 has never been a place I'd want to spend time. The eastern or western ends are ok, but the middle of the state is just sad and depressing. There are other sad and depressing stretches of the country along 40 but with Arkansas it is a green bountiful soil rich in grass and trees, there is no excuse of nature for the run down condition.


Overall, even without speed limits and cops, 100MPH across 40 and down 15 to LA is not something just any two driver pair could get out and do. I think I could do it, and if it were legal I would do it. I would not consider it easy. Crossing the country in one go as I have done multiple times is quite different than just crossing a few states. You have to have a solid mental attitude and stamina. Not everyone has that. Maybe a disproportionate amount of forum members have it than the regular population. This would not surprise me.

However, give the equipment and logistics to two random drivers in lots of sets, and it won't be easy enough for all those sets to safely pull it off. I get to see what happens when you unleash a wide range of drivers into rental equipment at a kart track. The bulk of drivers in this country is truly terrible in comparison to a good one.

One interesting tidbit, one of my drives I left Charlotte such that I passed the exit from Bristol Tennessee about the same time that a NASCAR night race would have gotten out. What I found amazing is that the "Cars" movie where they drive from the track and cross the country has matched the lighting/time of day to each shot accurately.
A little movie detail that warmed my heart when I realized it. Not all movies have people that care enough to go to that effort.

Per the articles I’ve read they left NYC at midnight to mitigate traffic, took I80 across NE, dropped down S through Denver and SLC. So it was a northern route.

When I got to this part, I spit coffee out my nose.

If there's anybody on this forum that's driven more in this country than Glen, I don't know him. And to describe driving through the part of the country where Glen lives...

:D

Neither of us have a ticker of how many miles we've driven, so I won't play that comparison. Glen is also significantly my senior, so he has had about twice as many years to rack up a bigger total. I won't say I've driven more than he has.

However, when it comes to a cross country trip with only stops for fuel I have done that (one way) 5 times as a two driver pair, once as a three driver pair, and four times more with more than three. On top of this, I have ridden that cross country trip as a kid extensively as I grew up traveling:
Time of day when you hit a stretch matters a lot to your average speed; as does your risk tolerance.
The time of day I have often hit Oklahoma, the stretch of I-40 from Arkansas out to just west of Oklahoma city has often been a long train of side by side semi's.
Only two lanes wide, and the semi's passing eachother often have different gearing where one gains on the downhill only to lose on the uphill. Once one finally wins, you get by, only to end up on the next pair.


It is one thing to choose a good time of day and cross a state and make an average of 100MPH. It is another thing to cross east to west and still have that average. It does help on the east side that you can leave at a time of low traffic, crossing some of the more heavily populated areas at their minimums.

If you want to argue, don't argue with me, argue with their own video production. They were pretty clear in the west their average speed was dropping compared to the east.

That said, I haven't taken the route they did in a fuel stop only east to west ever. They took a more northern route than 40 that had them pass through Colorado.
Keep in mind, I'm not saying impossible, but I do consider that for something to be "easy" it would need to be something general slices of the population could all complete.

You miss the irony. You'll get it someday.

Happy haulin'...

Team of 3, one spotter, one resting.

The previous team did it in 28hrs which correlates with the top speed of 150mph being significantly lower than the 192 mph due to the souped up 63 vs 55.

https://jalopnik.com/meet-the-guy-who-drove-across-the-u-s-in-a-record-28-h-1454092837

I was part of a pair that did SF to Memphis back in 2001 in about 25 hours. We left SF around 4:00 PM on a Saturday and went South on I-5 and then East on 8/ 10 /20. We were driving a mildly modded 2.7 TT Audi S4 with a Valentine 1 and some off-the-shelf Escort detector. We made serious time in New Mexico and West Texas (did 140 mph for multiple hours) until we got near Dallas. So our average speed was in the low-90's. No tickets until we got to NC. We got paced by an unmarked cop car who eventually lit us up a few miles East of Asheville. Oh well, I wasn't driving then. No real goal other than to get to NC and the NYC as quickly as possible.

Doubt I will ever come close meeting that average mph again over a distance that large. Too many people doing 5 under and texting in the left lane these days. Effin' nuts.

That certainly beats my best time of 54 hours flat from San Francisco to Boston in a ‘69 E. What a great trip that was.

Uh Oh!

https://www.bicycling.com/culture/a30156034/cannonball-run-car-culture/


This guy starts off with some good points, but then goes full-on Bike Nazi

^^^
Hahaha, this must be click bait.

The best I've ever done, coast to coast, is four days. Mind you I did set off walking.

I think they went to LA via Omaha.

As any sensible rider would.

I saw an interview with one of the drivers and he said they did not pass other cars at a high rate of speed. He said it was due to safety but also so they wouldn't piss off other drivers who might be compelled to call the police.

I can't imagine the luck of not collecting police attention!

Just unreal.

Precious Moment at the front counter at the local Jail / Courthouse.

I was in the lobby and overheard the well-donut-fed desk Officers...... "Hey Fred, did you hear of a recent speed run across the country, average speed was 103 !!!

I grinned and simply said 2825 miles in 27 h 25 minutes.


they didn't look happy after that.

I already said it but that is an absolutely essential part of speeding on the interstate. You cannot roll up on other motorists at high speed in relation to them, (speed delta), even if they are in another lane. (Passing).

I've done more of it than I care to admit w no attention from LEOs, though not at anywhere near the speeds these guys reached. There is absolutely a technique to it and people who do not understand it are the ones you see on the side of the highway getting cited.

Yes, we do... I used to live in Tulsa and drove I-44 to OKC. This toll road has/had very few exits and I took the old 1985 Mercury 5.0, back in the late 80's, up to 135mph but realized if I needed to stop from that speed it was not gonna happen. A few miles were going to be needed due to very small factory brakes on that car.

I am surprised that the record breakers are not using semi truck trailers to drive into for refueling on the move, lol. This was done in one or several of the movies from the Gumball or Cannonball series.

Yes, this is very wise. Never fly by any other vehicle, slow down to pass then get back on it, repeat. I used that technique when I did my 9 hour run back to Florida in the 911. I only hammered it when I was not passing anyone. Lots of speeding up and slowing down.

We learned that lesson the hard way at one in the morning on I26 somewhere in South Carolina. We mistakenly thought Truckers were cool.

I had rented a 350Z to make a run up to my house, the plan was to get there, grab my 911 and then run over to Fontana Village for a Porsche meet for Tail of the Dragon runs. Then drive both cars home to Florida.

We were a little behind schedule so we were beating cheeks running triple digits on a pretty much empty road outside some truckers.

I recon there was some radio chatter about us, my brother was driving at the time, and the police either overheard it or were called. We had a V1 in the windshield at the time we saw a Trooper heading the opposite way. It never went off. We were also only doing about 70 in a 60 at the moment as we had encountered some other cars that slowed up our progress.

Cop seemed to be looking for us, he flipped a u-turn and pulled us over. I am 99% sure the truckers were involved in him spotting us and singling us out.

He told us he clocked us at 90 in a 65 but was going to reduce it to 80 in a 65. All of that was BS as he never clocked us.

1 in the morning + State Trooper + side of a pretty much empty road = do not argue. We smiled thanked him and moved on our way.

I gave my bro the money for the ticket since I invited him on the trip to get my car.

http://https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_Across_America

The bicycle equivalent, which had fatalities.

Rich