143.45 mph in Indy. Now on to Ocala....

Quote from rabtech

It does get super light toward the end of the run. I gently moved my steering wheel to put me more in the center of my lane and it really over corrected. You just need to get your lane position worked out before you get to 100 and then lock your arms in the rest of the way. We did have a crosswind to deal with but it didn't bug me as bad as it did Kyle. That may have been because I'm kinda used to crosswinds on the interstate I run on at night alot.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Polaris Slingshot Forum mobile app

@Kyle D and @rabtech, So just some food for thought. I've been contemplating removing the front fenders altogether and leaving just the hood (haven't gotten the nerve to cut off the fender subframe plus I need to find a good source for a bit of fiberglass work up front).... have either of you tried running without them, even just taking them off and leaving the subframe ? I wonder if that might settle things down a bit (less drag) and give you a bit more speed at top end.

Quote from rabtech

It does get super light toward the end of the run. I gently moved my steering wheel to put me more in the center of my lane and it really over corrected. You just need to get your lane position worked out before you get to 100 and then lock your arms in the rest of the way. We did have a crosswind to deal with but it didn't bug me as bad as it did Kyle. That may have been because I'm kinda used to crosswinds on the interstate I run on at night alot.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Polaris Slingshot Forum mobile app

What is the possibility of cutting off the power steering when making these runs?

Quote from jorgebri60

185 in kilometers maybe . Probably the same guy that was going around posting a video claiming really high speeds in a slingshot... that was in KPH .

I find it very interesting that with all of the people here and all of the time the Slingshot has been out that we still do not seem to have any consensus on what the top speed of a stock slingshot is.

I just think it is really odd that we havent a large number of people find a nice long flat road and try to settle this, but then again I havent so I cant really complain can I

Quote from edwardaneal

I find it very interesting that with all of the people here and all of the time the Slingshot has been out that we still do not seem to have any consensus on what the top speed of a stock slingshot is.
I just think it is really odd that we havent a large number of people find a nice long flat road and try to settle this, but then again I havent so I cant really complain can I

I have run over 5 miles in 5 th gear and the max speed was maybe just over 120 MPH. I have also done this in 4 th gear and still the top speed is just on the north side of 120 MPH. OH! it has been settled on the forums just how fast the stock Slingshot will go. With a REAL good tailwind you may get to 130 but I doubt it.

Quote from edwardaneal

I find it very interesting that with all of the people here and all of the time the Slingshot has been out that we still do not seem to have any consensus on what the top speed of a stock slingshot is.
I just think it is really odd that we havent a large number of people find a nice long flat road and try to settle this, but then again I havent so I cant really complain can I

What do you mean?!? This subject should have been settled forever ago. A stock Slingshot will go as fast as 4th gear allows. Many people have done this many times. 4th gear ends right around 135mph. If you are heading down a mountain, you can pick up some more speed in 5th gear. But should that really count?!

On a different note. Below is a good video of another aerodynamically challenged vehicle. Some of the findings here in the wind tunnel may shed some light on where the Slingshot may have issues on cutting through the wind.

Quote from TravAZ

What do you mean?!? This subject should have been settled forever ago. A stock Slingshot will go as fast as 4th gear allows. Many people have done this many times. 4th gear ends right around 135mph. If you are heading down a mountain, you can pick up some more speed in 5th gear. But should that really count?!

On a different note. Below is a good video of another aerodynamically challenged vehicle. Some of the findings here in the wind tunnel may shed some light on where the Slingshot may have issues on cutting through the wind.

I agree that it should have been settled and I have heard the 130 / 135 number many times before, but I have not heard people confirm this as being agreed upon, and frequently I see posts where people claim they have gone faster without people calling BS - as such I am not sure it is really settled - I would really love to see documented runs with some back up like we are getting here with these 1/2 mile runs. And when I say backup I dont mean it has to be a time trap event like these 1/2 mile runs just a good cell phone video by a passenger showing a GPS speedometer would be good enough for me

As a side note, great video! thanks for sharing that - I found it very impressive how much down force the wing was making

You can mount a Garmin Virb or any other GPS camera and go out and run the snot out of your SS
Then play back the video thru the software and get your speed....with some reasonable back up.
I do not have a smart phone or even know how one works but I bet there is an app for that as well

Any one can do it.......

Quote from MACAWS

You can mount a Garmin Virb or any other GPS camera and go out and run the snot out of your SS
Then play back the video thru the software and get your speed....with some reasonable back up.
I do not have a smart phone or even know how one works but I bet there is an app for that as well

Any one can do it.......

I do not know how accurate it is, but I have an app on my iPhone called Gauges that has a gps speedometer and the ability to record it - I am sure there are many other apps as well so you are correct - it should be something anyone of us can do - - this is why I am surprised I havent seen a bunch of posts here and on face book where people have tried to document the top speed of their SS.

I have seen snaps people have posted of the speedometer, but thats about it

I guess we are all too worried about getting a ticket

Quote from edwardaneal

I do not know how accurate it is, but I have an app on my iPhone called Gauges that has a gps speedometer and the ability to record it - I am sure there are many other apps as well so you are correct - it should be something anyone of us can do - - this is why I am surprised I havent seen a bunch of posts here and on face book where people have tried to document the top speed of their SS.
I have seen snaps people have posted of the speedometer, but thats about it

I guess we are all too worried about getting a ticket

I would be real careful about posting videos of a high speed run on a public road. There have been people getting convicted and losing there licence from this lately.

Quote from Slingrazor

I would be real careful about posting videos of a high speed run on a public road. There have been people getting convicted and losing there licence from this lately.

Yes - I have seen a few of the news reports where they have busted people after they posted their speed runs - and I laugh every time

you really have to be not thinking things through to post video evidence showing yourself breaking the law - - If I found a safe place to try such a thing I would only post the results shown by the speed app - - unless of course I found a place like an air strip where it was legal, then posting video would be nice

The speedos start getting pretty inaccurate above 120-130mph and the tachs are quite far behind. When I ran mine out to 8500RPM on our dyno, the tach on my dash only read 7000 but my digital tach and shift light set at 8500 for that run turned on. I THOUGHT there was a post from @rabtech somewhere in this thread or another where he said he saw 150 but trapped 140 something. Or maybe that was a convo we had in Indy.

Anyone live out west near the salt flats? Those are still legal....right?

Quote from TravAZ

What do you mean?!? This subject should have been settled forever ago. A stock Slingshot will go as fast as 4th gear allows. Many people have done this many times. 4th gear ends right around 135mph. If you are heading down a mountain, you can pick up some more speed in 5th gear. But should that really count?!

On a different note. Below is a good video of another aerodynamically challenged vehicle. Some of the findings here in the wind tunnel may shed some light on where the Slingshot may have issues on cutting through the wind.

Damn @TravAZ. That's one of the best, most informative videos I've seen. It's interesting to note the HP necessary to get it to the speeds they were achieving. ... thanks for the find .

Quote from KayTwo

Anyone live out west near the salt flats? Those are still legal....right?

Southern California Timing Association - they hold events at both the Salt Flats and at El Mirage dry lake in So California - their next even is September 9th at El Mirage

I dont have a clue if they would allow Slingshots in their events, but it might be worth looking into.

On the other hand it is my understanding that El Mirage is now under BLM management and for a fee anyone can use the lake bed for "recreational" use so I guess if a person wanted to go there and pay the $15 for a day pass you could do speed runs legally without much problem at all - It is possible that this is also true for Bonneville, but I am just speculating

when I was a kid people regular went to El Mirage to race their cars, back then it was wide open to whatever people wanted to do - now I guess they have fenced it off so they can regulate it and make money

Quote from SlingLow

I've been wondering if either @rabtech or @Kyle D has had the opportunity to run it out to see what the actual top speed might be. There were claims over on TDS of 185 which pretty much everyone called BS on, even though the guy stuck to his guns on his claim. It seems y'all might be able to hit something like that without the half mile limitation...

That claim of 185 (if it's mph) is total BS if they're running the Polaris ecu. Even with Bob's tune, the ecu has a preset governor for 160 MPH. and there's NO WAY that's going to happen unless it's being dropped from a plane or pushed by a hurricane. Now with the power the big boys are putting down and running a Haltech system, that 160 mph restriction does not apply

Quote from FunCycle

What is the possibility of cutting off the power steering when making these runs?

It seems you could turn on the key for 5+ minutes before starting and the power steering will be disabled.

Quote from SlingLow

It seems you could turn on the key for 5+ minutes before starting and the power steering will be disabled.

That is what I was thinking. Turn off in staging and restart the Sling without the power steering. I would have to try that out somewhere first before trying for the 143 MPH

Quote from FunCycle

That is what I was thinking. Turn off in staging and restart the Sling without the power steering. I would have to try that out somewhere first before trying for the 143 MPH

I'd have to try it AND install a big ol' badass turbo AND grow a bigger set of cajones before going for the 143 mph.

Quote from FunCycle

That is what I was thinking. Turn off in staging and restart the Sling without the power steering. I would have to try that out somewhere first before trying for the 143 MPH

You can just unplug the power steering. There is a relatively easy plug on top of the unit, that once disconnected, pulls the power from the power steering. We disconnect ours all the time when doing the track days or a lot of driving on the interstate.

Quote from rabtech

You know I'm trying my best to remember who on the forums used to say they ran 150mph in a stock slingshot... I swear I remember a thread on the dark side where some people said they had held their gas pedal to the floor for however long and it was over 150mph.

I seriously dont think terminal velocity for a slinshot pushed out of a airplane would be near 150mph....

I hear 150 and 155 often from folks. I personally have seen 140mph on my sling in a long straight away in Texas hill country. I had lots more room and climbing but I let off the gas because my wife was in sling with me. I really would like to get on a safe flat surface with miles of open area in front of me to see what speed I can get it up to. Although when I was in hill country I was already driving at 70mph when I decided to floor it and see what it would do I also do not know how much distance I traveled to get from 70-140mph. The folks who told me they hit 150 and 155 or more. Some I believe. Others I laugh inside and smile.

anyhow it was fun and I will do it again.

I do think the slingshot can get over 150.....I just do not know how far you need to go and at what HP.