I’m just full of questions! I have such an enquiring mind, or something like that…
Ok, how come cars register speeds such as 120 mph? If its not legal to ever go that fast, why make them so they can? Someone told me that it was because some were foreign cars…what about Fords?
How convinced would you be by a car salesman who told you that honest, even though the speedo only goes up to 70, it’ll do a hundred and fifty?
There is no law that says you can NEVER go as fast as you like. Just laws that say you can only go so fast in certain places (usually roads). There is always someplace where one can take one’s car and drive 120 miles an hour if one has the inclination; whether it be a race track, a private road, or Montana.
How on earth could Chrysler-Daimler (I have the funniest feeling I don’t have that right) move Stealths if the speedometer only went to 75? I owned a BMW 320i for quite a time, and its speedo only went to 80.
My high school best friend (still best friend) got a Dodge Dart w/the 340 and a 4-speed (in '68, I think) and its speedo went 100 (early production model - I know they had higher speedo’s later). We clocked it at 140.
My 1991 5.0 Thunderbird has a speedometer that only goes to 90, but I have put it about an inch past that. I would guess that it was going 130.
The facts, although interesting, are irrelevent.
A speedometer that goes up to 140 has 70 in the middle – a nice, readable position for driving on the highway. A speedometer that only went to 85 would still have the lower speeds at the lower left, with highway speeds at the lower right. In the middle, you’d have 42.5 mph – and how often do you drive at that speed?
I’m guessing the reason cars can go much faster than allowed is for avoiding accidents. I know it sounds crazy but sometimes its better to speed up than slow down, and you need that H.P… Also, if your car was only capable of going 70 MPH, how long would it take you to get to 70 MPH. A long as* time. Now think about this, how long do you have to get onto a highway. Most onramps are not very long. A car has to be more powerful so that you can get up to speed and not cause someone to get “road rage”.
It all comes down to business. No one would buy slow cars that only do 65. At least not for allot of money. Its one of those laws that they enforce half-ass. I know I speed constantly, If I get a ticket than that’s the price I pay. They should have speeding “certifications” or something where you have a sticker on your car that says you are authorized to speed up to such and such a speed, I would pay 500 bucks for that!!
Everyone is missing a key concept here.
Because of the way engines work, if you make a car that has enough power to accelerate to 55 reasonably quickly it will have enough power to go much faster.
What this means is that to prevent cars from going faster you’d have to, well, prevent them from going faster! In other words you’d have to physically restrain them with some kind of Federally mandated, tamper resistant, speed governor. And the American public simply would not stand for that. A catalytic converter is one thing, but a speed lease is something else!
I for one welcome our new insect overlords… - K. Brockman
Ursa Major, Montana does have speed limits now. Lots of 'em. On the freeway, it’s 75 MPH, 65 for trucks. On regular highways, it 70 daytime, 65 night. For trucks, it’s 65 daytime, 55 night.
I think we were better off with “reasonable and prudent”.
You cannot operate a gasoline engine ,or any other at maximum speed for any length of time. it will tear itself apart. The speedometer is designed for looks.
Boy, you people must be really young.
They set them to only go as high as 80 in the US, because the idea was to keep people from trying to go faster than that.
kunilou said:
A speedometer that goes up to 140 has 70 in the middle – a nice, readable position for driving on the highway.
Good point, however since speedos are rated for accuracy as a percentage of full scale (+ - 2% as I recall), a 140 MPH FS speedo would have an accuracy span of 5.6 MPH while an 85 MPH FS guy would have one of 3.4 MPH.
The lower the full scale, the more accurate the speedo.
Could it be insurance reasons? A car that has 85mph gauge will have a lower insurance bill then that of the same car with a 140mph gauge even though the 85mph car will do 130. Surprisingly, many people I know think that if the car says 85, it will not go faster! This is Stupid. And insurance company’s know this, so it’s cheaper for the stupid ones. Even with a limiter, cars max out at 99+/-.
Farmer, USA cars went to 80mph on the speedometer for some time. Foreign cars could have any speed they wanted. I suppose its changed now & USA cars can put faster speedometers in, okay?
The speedometer on my '81 Rabbit only went to 85 MPH, with an enlarged 55 at TDC on the dial; guess which era that comes from!
BTW, it does well over 85, even at age 18!
My '81 Kawasaki KZ1000J has the same speedo, and I guarantee it goes much faster!
VB
Changing my Sigline 'cause Veb has a delicate stomach right now…