Cars with ambitious speedometers

[s m]

Mr Tidy said:

It's usually because manufacturers just make one speedo for the whole range that will cope with top of the range models.

My 1990 Sierra Sapphire 2.0GLSi had a 150 mph speedo, because the Cosworth of that era got close to that - before it got chipped!

Sapphire Cosworth got 170mph clocks (as did earlier 3-dr which also had boost gauge by Rev-counter )


They’d be way off the 150 ones at full chat thanks to the normal over-read

E.T.A. the original engine setup was delivering 265-270 bhp and the cars would do a genuine 156-158 mph ....at which point you would need increments up to 170mph. ( speedo read 126 at genuine 120 ) Ford product liability people asked for car to be limited to 180bhp but around 200-205bhp was as low as Cosworth could make it run properly with std Turbo and fuelling

Edited by s m on Saturday 4th July 11:16

[kharma45]

My mum’s old 90 brake TDI golf reading to 160...

[mrkipling]

Opposite here, car hit 179 at Vmax with a mild tune & pulley change.

[vacant-100]

Triumph Man said:

The least optimistic speedo is that in my 530i - speedo reads to 155mph, and the car’s apparent top speed is 155mph. No idea how much it overreads by though - I had 145mph indicated once but no idea what the actual speed was!

Same with the M140i (and I guess most powerful BMW's except the M cars). Speedo reads to 160, car limited to 155.

[raceboy]

Shnozz said:

My Vantage. 220mph meaning if the digital readout isn’t on speed or a fault code has rendered it out of action then you struggle to see speeds of 30/40mph come city centres.

You can clear the fault code (for that trip) and return the dash to the digital speedo by pressing the 'read' button above the nav joy stick.

[littlebasher]

This Picassos speedometer has the potential to go up to 299 MPH

[Chris944_S2]

I used to have a Brabus E class estate, and although it would theoretically hit 300kph, the speedo was a tad optmistic. Brabus even offered one that read up to 400, so mine was still reasonable in that sense



Also, it was cold that day

[Burgerbob]

nipsips said:

My 2020 1.5 diesel 308 SW 100bhp has a very optimistic 160mph Speedo. Not that I use it I use the dial just the digital display.



Also appears to step up like the Rev counter. Don’t look at that either, the rattles tell you when it’s time to change gear ??

My GTi was limited to 155mph with the same speedo so 160mph makes sense.

I did get caught out a couple of times, on private roads of course, that the span from 90 to 110 was the same as 70 to 90. Made you think you were doing 100 when in fact it was 110!

[2172cc]

s m said:

Mr Tidy said:

It's usually because manufacturers just make one speedo for the whole range that will cope with top of the range models.

My 1990 Sierra Sapphire 2.0GLSi had a 150 mph speedo, because the Cosworth of that era got close to that - before it got chipped!

Sapphire Cosworth got 170mph clocks (as did earlier 3-dr which also had boost gauge by Rev-counter )


They’d be way off the 150 ones at full chat thanks to the normal over-read

E.T.A. the original engine setup was delivering 265-270 bhp and the cars would do a genuine 156-158 mph ....at which point you would need increments up to 170mph. ( speedo read 126 at genuine 120 ) Ford product liability people asked for car to be limited to 180bhp but around 200-205bhp was as low as Cosworth could make it run properly with std Turbo and fuelling

Edited by s m on Saturday 4th July 11:16

140mph showing on a standard new Sierra XR4x4 hire car. Actual top speed was quoted as 129mph. It was downhill with a tail wind but we nearly got it off the clock.

[Car_Nut]

gforceg said:

My Mk2 16V Golf speedo read to 160. A bit more than needed and more odd in that when it was new I doubt there was any VW that could do more than, what, 130 ish?

Apologies for taking over three years to respond. I have a 1984 Mk2 Golf GTI and a 1988 Mk Jetta GTI 16V, both of which I bought new, so know a little about it. When the Mk2 came out it had a 120 mph speedo, which as the top speed of a standard GTI was officially 119 mph was a little tight - In the happy days of the 1980s, with speedo flattery, it was entirely possible to get the needle off the scale (in entirely legal circumstances officer) - the highest speed that I ever saw was “H”, where it says “MPH” across the bottom of the speedo. When the 16V came out it was 10 mph faster, and thus needed a 160 mph clock, and hence the change in Golfs - I have had my 16V on the Autobahn and have seen an indicated 145mph, and it was still accelerating (albeit very slowly) - 5his also indicates the speedo flattery at the higher end of the range....

[Mr Tidy]

vacant-100 said:

Triumph Man said:

The least optimistic speedo is that in my 530i - speedo reads to 155mph, and the car’s apparent top speed is 155mph. No idea how much it overreads by though - I had 145mph indicated once but no idea what the actual speed was!

Same with the M140i (and I guess most powerful BMW's except the M cars). Speedo reads to 160, car limited to 155.

Yes, BMW have been doing it for a while. My 3.0Si Z4 had a 160mph speedo but my Z4M has a 180mph speedo. Despite having a 155mph limiter I believe that only operates when the car is in 6th gear, and the M is geared to get well past 155mph in 5th. But BMW also offered a higher limit as an option on the M Coupe. Mine doesn't have that option but I don't think it will ever matter!

[Second Best]

Similar to the original post, the 4-pot F-Type has a speedo going up to 200mph. The top speed is 155mph.



The (facelift) V8 F-Type has a speedo going up to 220mph. The top speed is 186mph.

I have a pre-facelift V8 and the speedo goes to 200mph, which seems perfectly reasonable for a 186mph top speed. Not sure why Jaguar changed it.

[markyb_lcy]

Second Best said:

Similar to the original post, the 4-pot F-Type has a speedo going up to 200mph. The top speed is 155mph.



The (facelift) V8 F-Type has a speedo going up to 220mph. The top speed is 186mph.

I have a pre-facelift V8 and the speedo goes to 200mph, which seems perfectly reasonable for a 186mph top speed. Not sure why Jaguar changed it.

It also seems quite odd to me to start the numbers at 10 and then go up in 20mph increments.

[finchy90]

not so much speedo reading but whilst driving my 1.5 vauxhall vivaro van today, i was playing with the cruise control, it goes up in 5mph increments all the way up to a rather optimistic 145mph

[The spinner of plates]

markyb_lcy said:

It also seems quite odd to me to start the numbers at 10 and then go up in 20mph increments.

Maybe they thought 30mph and 70mph were highly relevant numbers.

[markyb_lcy]

The spinner of plates said:

markyb_lcy said:

It also seems quite odd to me to start the numbers at 10 and then go up in 20mph increments.

Maybe they thought 30mph and 70mph were highly relevant numbers.

20mph and 40mph are relevant for the same reasons though, aren't they. possibly less prevalent though, I'd agree.

If they didn't top the speedo out at a number the car is never going to travel, maybe they could all be marked? marked 10mph increments to me seems the most reasonable.

[Dave.]

Defender from 1983....



2.5 non-intercooled turbo diesel.

[snowandrocks]

Dave. said:

Defender from 1983....



2.5 non-intercooled turbo diesel.

I had an early 110 V8 with the same speedo. It would happily show 100+ if you had the nerve.

Probably hopelessly optimistic though, the V8 was the 3.5 carb so not really very powerful despite the spectacular noise and fuel consumption.

[Dave.]

snowandrocks said:

I had an early 110 V8 with the same speedo. It would happily show 100+ if you had the nerve.

Probably hopelessly optimistic though, the V8 was the 3.5 carb so not really very powerful despite the spectacular noise and fuel consumption.

I had a 30tdi when I first started driving... Fastest I went in it was down a long steep hill, only did it once... And that was nowhere near 100, think it was 80ish, that was enough.

[alec.e]

Chris944_S2 said:

I used to have a Brabus E class estate, and although it would theoretically hit 300kph, the speedo was a tad optmistic. Brabus even offered one that read up to 400, so mine was still reasonable in that sense



Also, it was cold that day

Looks like you beat me to it! Brabus K8?



Probably won't be that amitious though once the new turbos go on...