Why do speedmeters on cars go up to speeds that are completely illegal?
Answers:
I always thought that, whats the point in making cars that do over the speed limit? I'm not saying all cars should be fixed to do 40 but if the car wouldnt do 100mph then we wouldnt get caught driving 100 mph.
Varying speed limits in different countries would be my first guess, although the UK are one of the few countries which still use mph. If you were to take your car on a track for racing you are not bound by the national speed limits.
its not the speedmeters that go above the speed limit. its the actual car. but just because your car goes over the speed limit does not mean you have to drive like that.
evry human has chices to make. your body could be thrown from a cliff but you choose not to do that. so keep your pedal away from the metal
Because the speed limit is just a regulation, with consequences defined for exceeding it. You can go as fast as you want to, you just risk consequences for doing it. And how would you know if you were speeding in a 45 zone if the spedo only went to 35?
.. like you buy a pistol and its illegal to shoot a guy ... its to use for overtaking quickly ...
They don't build cars for our grandparents who may actually respect the laws, they put them up to the excess speed to show the car is capable of going up to that speed, although you would have to change/modify the computer setting to do that. Its a big selling point to us whenether we really know it or not. Would you buy a car if it is capable of going 220 or if it only goes to 100 (kilometers per hour, im canadian). And lastly, the old style speedos which were found in pre 80's car were very inaccurate as the increcements were very short for lower speeds and it would increase as you went faster, so it was very inaccurate, so they put more numbers in there to balance it out.
Cars are built to be sold all over the world. In some places the speed limits are higher than others, so the cars have to be able to keep up with the locals. Some places there are no speed limits at all.
Even in th US speed limits vary by state. Some states it is still 65 on the highways and in others (Nevada for instance) the maximum safe speeds are set higher than that.
So cars are designed for all places they may be driven instead of just the one with the lowest speed limit.
Theres still highways in Montana that have no speed limit during daylight hours. Who knows, theres no explaining car manufacturers.
Sometimes I need to know if I'm going 140mph or just 120mph. after 100mph or so its really hard to tell how fast your actually going.
The new Corvette reads to 200mph, fyi.
Most cars can't even get to the speeds indicated at the top of their speedometers, but for the average American it doesn't matter, its just an ego thing. We like seeing it, its makes us think that if we needed to, it would go that fast. It makes the car seem that much more capable.
They tried the opposite in the early 80's I think, as I had a 280ZX that only read up to 80mph even though it was capable of much more. Obviously that didn't go over well, as I don't think anyone wants to buy a sportscar that says it can only do 80mph. That plus when going over 80mph it was kind of like being blind, you don't know how long exactly its going to take to get back down to 80mph.
If you want a car which tops out at 70mph the closest you will get is a Chevolet Matiz.
So go get one of them!
Seriously, no no will buy a car which limits their speed to that. Or do you want a car which can go faster than 70mph but the dial only goes that far?
For the German Autobahns.
The speedometers tell you how fast you are going. This way, you know by how much you are speeding. The related question raised by another answerer is a great question too: Why does the government permit companies to sell civilians (non racetrack / non emergency services) cars that go faster than is permissible by law ? If it is a crime to drive any faster, then my not rig the cars so you cannot go faster than is legal ?
Apart from medical emergencies and visits to racetracks, the only three answers I can think of is In Case You visit Germany with thei car; in case the law changes to permit speeding; or TO ALLOW THE STATE TO TAX US through giving out these BLEEDING %$£%^&*$£ speeding tickets.
So overall, it would make more sense to rig cars so you could just floor it and still not be speeding (if this were achievable).
And similarly, your suggestion that we also rig the speedometers on future cars to go no higher than the maximum legal speed on motorways is also a good one - this way boy racers might be put off and forgetful people would know for sure when they are going too fast.
On my little sports coupe the speedo goes up to 160mph the cars top speed is 152mph.
that's the way the law get's your money cause they know you will speed no matter what.
this is a legal requirement, so you can't say you didn't know you were going that fast!
Vehicles are built with common parts for various countries. It is possible to drive limit free on some autobahns in Germany, so speedo's need to display that. Most of the time the vehicle won't even be able to reach the top speed shown anyway, so in that case it's more of a psychological sales gimmick. "This car has a shown top speed of 70mph, but this one has 140mph sir, etc etc."
Because too many wankers are impressed by things like that.
for the cars to be sold and used in different countries! germany has roads with no speed limits on! lucky buggers!
because rules are there 2 be broken also germany doesnt have speed limits on its motorways (autobahns) so maybe that why but who sticks to thew limits anyway i sure dont faster the better i say
Kids used to look through the window in cars to see the how high the speedo went as they thought this was how fast the car would go. They are now grown up but still need a high reading speedo despite pitifully low speed limits!
BTW some cars in America are only allowed to have speedos showing up to the speed limit.
RoyS
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