Why are many cars made capable of travelling at twice the national speed limit..?

Question

If fuel consumption and emissions are such a concern wouldn't it be wiser to impose limits on the manufacture of large capacity engines?

ok lets tweak up the question.... its not a STUPID question sjr, .. you have actually answered the first half correct, maybe you cant think deep enough to expand the question..never mind....if you are breaking the law and endangering lives by travelling in excess of 70, can you rightfully question WHY the car can exceed that speed an does it therefore make sense that the car is made to go a lot faster....maybe the speed limit should be lowered then and travelling times adjusted accordingly...?

regarding the emissions, ozone, carbon footprint, fossil fuels debate.... surely a slower car wouldn't guzzle as much gas would it..? therefore there SHOULD be a market for cars with lower emissions, whether it means we all drive bland lookin motors or not....

acknowledged then, that the ones gobbing over the climate warming are not as passionate about saving the planet as they should be...and I bet they all have swanky motors...

Answer 1

You raise a good point!
Also, you could ask why cars are getting faster and more powerful as the years go by, instead of getting more eco-friendly and economical. Up to the 1960's, only a few cars could exceed 100mph and most could only do about 80mph. During the 1970's, when the price of fuel rocketed, cars became more economical and powerful, fast cars almost became extinct.

But since the 1980's, cars have steadily gotten bigger, faster, more powerful and less eco-friendly. Nowadays, a typical family car weighs a ton and a half and produces around 200 horsepower - a 300% increase on Granddad's old jalopy. It will also get up to 130 or 140 mph, about as fast as a really quick sportscar of 40 years ago.

The fact is we don't need that sort of bulk, power and cost to propell a human being around efficiently. If the current paradigm of heavy, large, powerful cars was thrown out completely, we could easily get by with far lighter, more economical vehicles. Between the two world wars, the roads were filled with little cyclecars, carrying 2 or 3 people around at a reasonable speed and powered by a small motorcycle engine. Today, we need a turbocharged V8 gigantic lump of off-road metal just to go down to the store for a pint of milk.

I don't think we can completely blame the motor manufacturers, though they must take some responsibility for promoting such envirnmentally lethal vehicles. Instead, we should probably look to ourselves and the sort of societal values that we have.

Answer 2

The simple technical answer to your question is one of pure mathematics. A car's engine must spin fast enough to produce enough power to move the vehicle away, possibly fully laden, and possibly uphill. Without gears, this would mean that the car would do about 40mph flat out, engine screaming, doing about 3mpg! What the car companies do, therefore is to fit gears, which allow the driver to keep the engine speed down while increasing road speed, which is what saves petrol, which I assume is the point of your question. A car travelling at a steady 70 mph might be doing over 40mpg, even at that speed.
Many powerful cars are fitted with limiters, which limit the speed to155mph, which you may consider too much, but it's perfectly legal in Germany.
From the tone of your question, am I right in assuming you either don't drive at all, or do so reluctantly?

Answer 3

We just don't like to be limited in our privacy. That's why American colonists revolted against English and made that place a great country. In most other places around the world people accept limits, even the most unacceptable. Then they do express resentment and envy toward those who were courageous enough to preserve their individual freedom.

Not everyone is concerned with fuel consumption and emission.

It is also part of your freedom to ride in excess of the speed limit and run the risk to get a ticket. Automobile is an important feature of liberty. It is a place of social intimity and individual privacy where most people hardly tolerate the intervention of the state.

Any attempt to do anything against this innescapbly lead to forms of despotism, as it is the case in many European country, and in France in particular, where most people have no choice but to ride small and unatractive cars for which they have to spend a lot through implicits rules of insurance and gas prices.

Answer 4

In a way I agree.

But I think the best way to deal with it is to put age limits on engine sizes eg. people under 21 should not be allowed to drive a car with an engine bigger than 1.2L. Or for someone caught doing over 100mph, restrict them to a 1.0L engine for a year after they get their licence back.

Although, it's usually the kids in the little Clios and Peugeot 106s that I see upside down or facing the wrong way on motorways. It might help a little but you can't stop morons being morons.

Answer 5

I like cars to be capable of going way faster than the speed limit. I never know when I want to drive fast. I don't worry about emissions...not my problem. And I don't mind using some of that gas as quickly as my big a** motor can suck it down. Not bragging...stating fact.

Answer 6

Cars are another tool of ours to make our lives easier. We don't really care about emissions, or else we would be riding bikes. Also this world is all about NOW, TODAY, PRONTO, SPEED, LAST MINUTE, SOON, STRAIGHTAWAY, LIKE NOW, IMMEDIATELY.

It would be easy to make a car with limited speed. That also means less power, less passengers, more trips. Also don't forget the safety aspect. I wouldn't want to get in a car accident with my little baby car that has 100 gallons of gas.

Also, who would buy it? There isn't a market for little emission cars today. If there was we would all be driving little Geo Metros.

Answer 7

The better question, that makes the answer about escape from a tornado, use in a medical emergency, etc., incorrect is why are the cars (exclusive of tires) made capable of going faster than the tires can withstand?

Answer 8

If a car could only do 70mph, it'd be thrashed, because it'd be working at the limit of its performance all the time.

My car will do 150mph (OK, 148), and at 70 it's completely without drama.

Answer 9

No stupid... The idea is this. If a car can reach 155 mph, then it will be a very safe car to drive at 70 mph, as your only using a fraction of its power. Also, a car with a large engine will be doing little more than tick over on a motorway, whilst a small engine will be reving a lot higher to achieve the same speed.

Answer 10

Because people buy them.
Because some people going 55-70 need the power because of loads being carried.
Because the auto lobby is bigger than common sense.