A police serious crash report found he had been driving at at least 160km/h in the 70km/h zone when the car crossed the median strip and a wide grass verge near Manse St.
The car became airborne at about 127km/h and flew across the 22.5m-wide Waiarohia stream, crashing into the bank on the opposite side.
Ahpene was found dead of multiple traumatic injuries.
The inquest into his death heard how Ahpene was chosen as the driver because the two friends he was with had been drinking, while he had not.
They drove from Kaikohe to Whangarei, playing a "cat and mouse" game with a motorcyclist on the way, before meeting up with other young car enthusiasts at a skate park.
They left the park to cruise around the streets of Whangarei with friends in two other cars, and were pulled up by a random police check.
Ahpene was fined for driving on a restricted licence, but was allowed to continue driving after a friend with a full licence travelled in the car with him.
The inquest heard how, in the moments before the fatal crash, the two other cars were driving alongside one another, while Ahpene sped ahead.
He accelerated away so quickly in the Nissan that it could not be seen from the other cars.
The report noted the other people in the crashed car were "extremely lucky to still be alive today".
Mr Shortland said Ahpene was an important member of his family, despite his young age, having left school to work and take care of his sick mother.
He had acted responsibly for most of the evening, but his death was unfortunately one that was played out on New Zealand roads often.
"It matters not whether the setting is urban or rural. The fact of the matter remains that young drivers who die as a result of speed related deaths are over-represented in the fatality statistics."
The four-lane road on which Ahpene died now has steel barriers installed along the median strip, which Mr Shortland said would ensure cars could no longer cross the centre.
