There is a 120km section of highway in South Africa where the legal limit is more than double the national average of 120km/h.
This particular piece of the N14 freeway is located between the small towns of Kakamas and Pofadder in the Northern Cape, boasting a “speed limit” of 250km/h.
The caveat – only cars approved by the relevant authorities with a bright yellow sticker reading “High Speed Test Vehicle Approved By Government” are allowed to go up to 250km/h on this road.
The rest of us normal folk are, unfortunately, still capped at 120km/h.
The 250km/h highway
Carmakers generally use the so-called 250km/h highway to test vehicles in hot weather conditions before they are put into production to ensure they continue behaving as they should when the mercury rises.
The roads are desolate, flat, straight, and in great condition relative to the rest of the country since they get used so sparingly by the few inhabitants of the province, cultivating the perfect conditions for putting high-performance vehicles through their paces before they are handed over to their customers.
It’s impossible to miss the 120km stretch; there are big, yellow signboards posted at the start and end of the road reading: “Caution. Only authorised vehicles for speed testing for next 120km.”
Tremendously impressive machines have used the South African road as their proving ground in the past, perhaps the most noteworthy of which was the breathtaking Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse which performed its trials in 2012.
The second-generation Porsche Panamera ripped up the freeway in 2016, as have numerous BMW models since as far back as 2008.
A Reddit user living in the area also claims to have seen the Audi Q2 and the iconic Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG testing on the hallowed tarmac before.
On a recent road trip through the Northern Cape, we happened to spend the night at the Augrabies Falls Lodge near the 250km/h freeway which openly displayed pieces of prototype car memorabilia to visitors.
Steering wheels, grilles, bumpers, rims, engine covers, and pistons – mostly from older BMWs – all hung proudly above the hotel bar adorned with signatures from factory drivers and engineers, signifying the long and storied relationship between these small South African towns and multinational vehicle conglomerates who share a single highway, but use it for vastly different purposes.
Next time you drive through the N14 near Kakamas and Pofadder in the heat of summer, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for rare metal on the seemingly never-ending roads.
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