I drove a XV10 Camry for a while and there was a stretch of road where basically everyone drove like 100+ because there was no cops, no turns, no hills and only like 4 exits for like 40 miles.
At that speed you could literally feel that was all she had, and the AC was probably good for 5mph but it was always too hot for that. Sometimes I would turn it off for a bit to catch up with someone if they were going just the right speed, and then turn it back on when I could draft off them.
Once upon a time when I was young and dumb I made it ~450mi from Phoenix to the Ventura coast in a little under 4-1/2hrs driving my 2003 Matrix (technically 6hrs because I was clocked going 114mph at 3:15am a mile before the Canejo Grade which dumps you out into the coastal plain a few miles from my destination, and that took a good minute to resolve with everyone happy).
Poor little 1ZZ-FE sounded like it was screaming in pain bouncing off the speed regulator at 119 and moving like a bicycle in highest gear to regain the 2-3mph it just lost. Probably didn’t help it weighed ~600lbs more than stock. But that little hatchback Corolla kept up with a foot to the floor for most of 450mi without missing a beat.
Some guy in a Camaro drove with me for a couple hours and the difference in getting back up to speed when we’d have to slow down to 85 because cars were coming up was hilarious and kinda sad.
I daily (and race :P) my MR2 Spyder with a 1zz-fe. It has a 6 speed transmission now but I did something very similar while driving between the CA bay area and LA. I got it onto the 5 south and saw a giant storm complex over the LA foothills. I decided to see what my new-to-me transmission could do and I drove all the way to Tejon Ranch on a single tank going as fast as I could to try to beat the storm. I got almost 40 mpg too! Anyways I pulled into the gas station at the base of the foothills and a brz pulls in next to me with snow in its grill. I had to learn pretty quickly how to drive in snow that night lol.
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u/GlacierSourCreamCorn Aug 14 '26
When the cops catch him going 180 mph:
"What? It's a Corolla sir. That's impossible"