Most speed tests on TV shows are on airfields or dedicated motor racing circuits with little in the way of elevation changes. Motorways (autobahn) are different.

In the TV show the runway runs out. The top speed is more to do with the length of the runway than the performance of the car.

I used to drive up to Scotland in a V6 Renault Espace. Due to crazy boss in the passenger seat sticking to the speed limit was not acceptable. We had lots of expensive tech gear in the back in very heavy flight cases. At two in the morning, with walls of ice and snow either side of the road, in something that had the aerodynamics of a bus the speedometer was stuck at 150 mph, mile after mile. Even allowing for a 10% error in the speedometer reading that was still faster than what a sane person who cared about holding onto their license would ever wish to go at in the UK.

Like your Honda, if I tell this story people question me as if I am bumping up the numbers a bit. "Are you sure?" "Renault Espace?" But yes, a speedometer speed of 150 mph (not to be confused with actual speed or kilometers) was definitely achievable, not for a few brief seconds but for tens of miles on the big downhill in to Scotland.

30 miles of empty road is different to a 3 kilometer runway and, if there is added gravity assistance, there is a much higher terminal velocity that can be reached than anything TV shows elude to. This is the bit people don't get.

Almost everything in the company fleet had a V6 engine. As well as buying cars tax efficiently the boss liked his booze so there were practical reasons why I was the idiot at the wheel. The Celica GT4 was good for 150 mph everywhere, no hills or suspicious speed claims needed. The true surprise was the one lame car, a Ford Escort diesel. This pre-dated the Ford Focus and the engine didn't have performance to boast about. Yet that would get a speedometer 140 mph no problems, plus the handling was great.

My last drive was when I quit that job and needed to move my stuff. I had a mere-mortals car hired for the day with flat spot tyres, play in the steering and lots of rattling things. It didn't even start first time. That wandered across the road a bit and did not feel safe.

After that I decided that normal driving was intolerably dull and, since I had not got caught or killed, quit driving for good. I made the humble bicycle my thing. On the bike I can go at max speed and effort everywhere, pulse fully quickened, at the limits of tyre adhesion and braking ability, getting that thrill of speed but doing no more than 20 mph or so. I don't have to kill my soul 'sitting in traffic' or inching towards traffic lights that go red as I get there. I just prefer continual movement and not being strapped into a tin box.

I still have not driven thus far this century. I am now old enough to not recommend driving idiot style. But then there are contradictions in the cult of the car. Performance sells cars but that performance is only enjoyed by proxy through TV shows, video games, motorsport and films. My friends who have driven nearly every day this century have not pushed it for real. Yet they have cars as bit as fast as what I was driving two decades ago. "All the gear but no idea" has been normalised.