My friend says a car will go as fast as its speedometer goes up to.?

Question

I don't think that's true, but I can't come up with a reason why?
She says that's why some speedometers go up to 160 m.p.h. and others only register 100 m.p.h. Please help.

Answer 1

Yeah your friend is wrong.. Truth be told the high MPH and RPM shown on stock gauges are a sales point for kids, your adults, etc.. It's for looks and nothing more most of the times.

Most OEM 4 and 6 cyl cars has a real max speed limit of 100-130 MPH. Sure some can go faster, but thats rare. Those same cars has 110 to 145 MPH speedo.

The "sportier" looking cars, or cars bought mostly by late teens, early 20 year olds are the ones with high MPH speedo.. Again it's a sales point.. Kids sees a 160 mph speed and thinks thats "cool"

Also cars with tachs (rpm gauge) norm shows 7,000, 8,000, and even 10,000 rpm.. Theres no way any stock 4 stroke, 4, 6, or 8 cyl engine can spin that high with out blowing up.. It's for looks.

In the 1980's though gov. law forced cars to only have 85 mph on the speedo. (the reason was they said higher readings temped people to go faster or try to go faster). Back then yes most v8 engine cars could go well past the speedo limit of 85.. Some v6's could as well, and a few 4 cyl cars too.

Answer 2

Fast Speedometer

Answer 3

I think the answer is yes AND no. I think most cars today have a "Rev Limiter" (I think that's what it's called). It basically lowers the top speed of the car. My car's speedo tops out at 140 mph but because of the limiter I can only top out at around 115. Plus going 140 maybe pushing it for a small 4 cyl engine. I pretty sure most cars can go faster then 100. Some cars could go faster then the posted speedo top speed but now your talking super fast cars.
The speedo may or may not be lying but unless you take out the limiter you'll never know.

Answer 4

I believe your friend is wrong. Usually the car tops fairly close to the speedometer but some are less and some go all the way out and you could be going faster than the speedometer says. I agree that it is only a measuring device.

Answer 5

Sometimes,i was in a friends car and he had a very expensive sat nav which also gave the mph we were travelling at .there was a 10% difference in speeds and he said the sat nav was the accurate one,this seemed to be true when we passed a police car at 85 on the speedo and 73 on the sat nav.

Answer 6

That is not always true. A car can have a 160mph speedometer and yet be electronically limited to 142mph.

There was a time when the cars had 85mph speedometers on them, they would sure do more than that.

Answer 7

well, i got pulled over going way over the top of my 85 mph speedometer... ive also MAXED a car out at 101 with a 140 mph speedo.

ive actually NEVER EVER seen a car that the top speed was exactly the same as the top of the speedometer

Answer 8

Actually, you both are technically wrong. Cars can go fasteer than what the speedometer indicates. However, the maximum speed in the speedometer is the speed at which you can damage your car if consistently keeping that speed.

Answer 9

Your friend is wrong. It's like saying you will sometimes weigh as much as your scale goes up to. It's just a measuring device.

Some cars can go faster than their speedometers, but many top out slower than the speedometer.

Answer 10

NOT TRUE

Most cars built today are governed to a certain speed.

My Intrepid says 120 MPH, but cuts out at 107

The governor can be bypassed and the car will bury the 120 mark