Why do cars with analogue speedometers have maximum speeds which the car can never actually attain?
Here's a photo of my car on a day where I regularly drove over 100 MPH legally. There are many roads (or race tracks) that are not subject to public road law.
Do all cars reach the maximum speed printed on the speedometer?
No, it depends on the car and whether the manufacturer limits the speed. As an example, BMW limits the maximum speed based on the tires ordered for the car. For the 5 series, Performance tires = 155mph max, all season tires=135mph max.
Why do speedometers have such high maximum speeds indicated but can never be reached?
Speedometers are strange. Some vehicles have speedos that are insufficient for their top speed, and some have speedos that are way above top speed for the vehicle.For example, in Greyhound buses in the USA, you will see the speedo go upto 85 mph, but the buses are capable of more and I have indeed traveled in one that went easily 100mph for a sustained period of time, and I know since we actually covered that kind of distance in that sort of time. I even crept up to the driver to sneak a look at the speedo, and it was fully maxed out. Rock steady, no problems.I have ridden motorcycles where the top speed on the speedo is actually the top speed of the bike. Feels great when it gets there, and can be scary too if there is the slightest hint of something happening ahead that is not in our control.The top speed indicated on the speedo is hardly ever the claimed top speed of the vehicle. I do think this is because it is perfectly okay to design a range of speedometers using the same base gears for similar wheel sizes, since the accuracy is easily maintained over a range of vehicles, particularly passenger cars. It can be annoying to not be able to max out the speed on the meter, but by no means do such cars ever claim to be able to do that - certainly none that I have come across.Here is the strangest thing I have noticed in a lot of cars - the needle on the rev counter or the tachometer stays parallel to the speedometer needle in top gear! This could be a mere matter of aesthetic. Again, no con job.What IS a con job, however, is what Maruti pulled on Indian customers.http://backwardindia.blogspot.in...
Have you reached the speedometer limit of your car? If yes, why, and how?
Yeah, several years ago, when I bought my 1972 Chevy C20 Longhorn truck(Factory 402 Big Block), I drove all the way past the speedometer limit(100mph) on the highway driving it back home. Reason why, just wanted to test the preformance.
Why do speedometers gauge up to 160 MPH when the max speed limit is 85 mph in the US?
There are cars out there that apparently had a speedometer installed that go up to 200mph(touareg v10 tdi UK and Europe versions had speedo max upto 200 mph, 320km/ph) so why is this the reason?On the road today there are many cars that can't hit 160mph even the big German brands only are limited to 155, there are a few exceptions that can go beyond 155 from factory but look at cars that aren't really powerful but have a speedo that claims it can do 160 when the car can barely hit 120mph.When a car is made the marketing people have to sell the car so they will build an image of the car and potray it how they want. Every car manufacturer knows the cars best feature has to be the engine (if engine is lacklustre no point is there) so the engineers to make the car feel solid and fast and powerful will install a speedo of a 160 mph so the customer will feel this engine can do some serious speed wow. Back in the days people didn't really read car reviews or see attempted top speed videos so they didn't really know what they were getting into so in example form:You go to a nissan showroom (example purposes btw I love nissan) and it's a small little 1.8 engine and it can barely do 100mph never mind 160mph. So you sit in and you glance at the speedo and you see 160mph as soon as you see that you will automatically assume this car will do 160mph you won't ask the salesman because he will say “yes yes very solid engine engineer's say it can do 160mph”After that well car sold.It was just used as a sale marketing technique that's all its stupid really but that's what it is.If your wondering well speed limit is only 85 here in US why 160mph speedo well car manufacturers cant design every speedo to abide countries speeding laws so there has to be one speedo fitted exactly THE same figures in every car. You can go upto 300kmh in some parts of Germany so car manufactures need to add figures upto 300kmh on speedo so ze driver in Germany can see how much speed he is doing.Thanks mo
My cars max speed says it can reach 140mph. Why does it only reach 110?
Assuming you haven’t changed anything from the OEM and it’s drive train isn’t old and worn, you most likely have a limiter on the vehicle which limits its top speed … Usualy it’s for safety reasons. Such as the vehicle is capable of doing 140mph but isn’t designed or engineered to handle these speeds … Also to pass consumer safety standards. To drive at such speeds is highly dangerous, especially if the car becomes unstable. Also the tires are rated for certain speeds and conditions, if the OEM tires were not rated for these speeds… there’s your sign and/or answer. Think of it this way, a lot of airplanes take off at around these speeds. (Not just the small ones ) - Also category 4 hurricanes have winds around this speed. So maybe that will help you envision and understand the forces that would be acting against and on your vehicle as you reach these speeds … Just because it’s capable if reaching these top speeds , doesn’t mean it should. Cheers
If cars didn't have speedometers, what speeds would people average on highways?
They would either follow the leader so to speak ( matching the speed of the car ahead of them and keeping a minimum of a two second distance from said car....or travel at the personal "zoom-factor". The personal "zoom-factor" is the speed the driver feels most comfortable with driving a specific vehicle .The "zoom factor" can vary from person to person and from vehicle to vehicle. If I drive an econo rattle box like a FIAT 500, that has rear window defoggers as standard equipment in order to keep the hands of the people pushing it warm then the "zoom factor" might peg out at around 120km/h on a highway.If on the other hand I drive the new Alfa Romeo Giulia or something equivalent that "zoom -factor" might be around 200km/h .In other words, people would drive intuitively.
Why can't the speedometer be connected to the speed limit?
A lot of taxis have speed governors that prevent them from going past a certain speed. Tanks do as well. It is often legally required for public transit vehicles: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...It's a mechanical device and does not require GPS.
Why can't cars attain the max speed which is printed/hardcoded at the speedometer?
It's really a margin of error. Like the 2016 Camaro 2SS, and it has a speedometer of 200 MPH. But the top speed of the car is around 160 MPH but that's with the governor on. I estimate that without the governor it could get to 185 MPH. Still almost 20 MPH above what it truly can do. Again margin of error. Just in case people modify it. Chevy and Ford are huge supporters of the aftermarket game, unlike Dodge. Chevy and Ford encourage people to modify and make their cars better, lighter and faster. They want people to supercharge their cars, put forged internals in, and to replace the exhaust system or to replace the interior seating.However, their are some cars who's speedometers are lower than the top speed. Such as the Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack. The car is pushing 182 as its top speed but the speedometer only goes up to 180MPH. The reason behind this. To discourage modification of the actual car. Also, I just learned this, but dodge actually encrypt their car computers and its more difficult to change the settings of the computer, again this is to discourage modification of the car. The Scat pack is packing in around 485HP. The reason why they want to discourage modification is because they want you to buy the next fastest car. Which is the SRT HELLCAT. which has 707 HP. so with around 10k in upgrade. I can get the scat pack doing 800HP. That's 100HP more than the hellcat and around 15k less than buying a hellcat.So all in all, most companies do it as a margin of error and for modification. However, a small portion of companies, like dodge, do it so then you'll buy the next fastest car from them and not from an aftermarket shop.
What could be a reasonable max speed that 1:64 Hot Wheels cars can reach?
Mythbusters did an episode on this. I think they got like 60 mph. They had problems keeping the track flat & straight, due to sunshine heating & causing track sections to expand.They raced a standard Hot Wheels car vs a full size Dodge Viper (engine on for power steering & power brakes, but in neutral gear. ) the Hot Wheels car actually led for 1st 60 feet or so.