I saw this and just had to post it !!!!

Sat 28 August, 2004 03:10

LONDON (Reuters) - A man accused by police of driving at 115 mph (185 kph) in a Fiat Punto thought the accusation so ridiculous he enlisted an expert driver to help prove his new car was incapable of going that fast.

Law student Steve Lucas, who risked a large fine and losing his driving licence if convicted of being so far over the 70 mph limit, said his small Fiat hatchback was just too slow to have reached such a speed, newspapers reported on Saturday.

"I was happy to put my hands up and admit that I was driving at 85 mph but the idea that my little Fiat Punto 1.2 litre could manage 115 mph was laughable," he was quoted as saying.

Lucas spent 18 months fighting the charges, hiring a traffic consultant to test drive his Punto on a private racecourse. He found the best the car could manage, going downhill with a following wind, was 104 mph.

Police were finally forced to drop the speeding charges, although Lucas was fined 40 pounds for driving without due care and attention.

funny.... if it was the sporting 1.2 thats 16v and with the right conditions and long enough strart you can get 115....the fact its been tested on private track at 104 indicates its not so the bloke was right to fight it...and 104 for a standard 1.2 is about right...what it doesnt say is that how the police recored the speed.... if it was the trap that they count the time between two points could have been a simple mis calculation..

JOel

if it was the trap that they count the time between two points could have been a simple mis calculation..

JOel

This is what happened with me and my boss, travelling on a motorway at about 85ish on the speedo, had cars overtaking us, we then get pulled over with the guy saying we was doing 95mph, he said he clocked our speed between two distances and came up with that figure, my boss asked for the proof he said he didnt need any...

Any who my boss said he wasnt excepting it and the Policeman said he'l have to go to court...

That was 6 months ago, not heard a thing.

Ive had my Punto (1.2 8v) showing 110mph on the clock downhill. Obviously the speedo is well out at these speeds........Theres no way you'd get a true 115mph out of the 8v.

But I agree about the Sporting, at a push, being able to this speed.

Ive had my Punto (1.2 8v) showing 110mph on the clock downhill. Obviously the speedo is well out at these speeds........Theres no way you'd get a true 115mph out of the 8v.

But I agree about the Sporting' date=' at a push, being able to this speed.[/quote']

i had an 8v at one point and 110mph was the max i could read on it, but the sportinh which i had a loan of for a week is well capable of 115mph

I`ve owned 2 Punto Sportings (1.6 8v and a punto 2 1.2 16v 6-speed sporting) and the most i ever got either to register on the clocks was 110 (on a private track of course...) and that was the 16v-er..

I`ve owned 2 Punto Sportings (1.6 8v and a punto 2 1.2 16v 6-speed sporting) and the most i ever got either to register on the clocks was 110 (on a private track of course...) and that was the 16v-er..

deffo on a private track maybe the one i was using was a weird one lol, but could deffo do 115, well at least the clock said it was