RE: Volvo to fit all cars with 112mph speed limiter

RE: Volvo to fit all cars with 112mph speed limiter

Author
Discussion

NGK210

3,007 posts

146 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
It’s cost-cutting. For example: cheaper tyres (lower speed rating); less development time in wind tunnels or using CFD to improve high-speed aero / stability and cooling; etc, etc.

beanoir

1,327 posts

196 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
I wonder if Volvo compared the incidence of Volvo cars in the “25% of accidents involving speeding”...


ScoobyBazza

18 posts

141 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
jamei303 said:
People who want to drive faster than 112mph on public roads probably don't tend to buy a new Volvo for such purposes anyway.

LOL........the V70 is a great high speed Continental tourer.
Especially through Germany.

0a

23,905 posts

195 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
NGK210 said:
It’s cost-cutting. For example: cheaper tyres (lower speed rating); less development time in wind tunnels or using CFD to improve high-speed aero / stability and cooling; etc, etc.
Good point - I bet most manufacturers would love to be able to do this!

gashead1105

561 posts

154 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
Roy m said:
Slippery Slope - I was looking at an XC60 to replace the Merc but decided an XC90 was a better bet. Liked the new upgrades and I can guarantee that I would never have gone over 112mph in it but I won't buy one now. Not for practical reasons but just on principle - where does this stop if they get away with it?
+1

jagnet

4,126 posts

203 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
nickfrog said:
simonrockman said:
automatic geofencing to automatically limit speeds around schools and hospitals.
I hope that's implemented as it sounds like a great idea, hopefully others will follow.
So long as it's intelligently implemented. I regularly drive past a school at 70 ish - I'd be annoyed if my car thought it knew better.

Superleg48 said:
Ask yourself how many times you did over 100 mph on any public road for more than a few seconds or at all. This is license losing territory and on our roads a bit silly.
Regularly and for sustained periods. It's not licence losing territory everywhere.


Harry_523

359 posts

100 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
The big worry here is that the volvo bean counters use this as an excuse to start reducing the engineering quality of the cars.

Part of the reason German cars became so popular is that they were engineered to work at 150+mph, so running at 75mph they were barely out of bed compared, to say, a car that maxed out at 110, making them feel secure, quiet, and comfortable.

lower rated tyres, smaller brakes, weaker bearings etc, whilst good for their cost/weight advantages, will be operating closer to their design limits in normal use, and the driving experience will suffer as a result.

Salmonofdoubt

1,413 posts

69 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
kambites said:
I've never driven a road car faster than 112mph anyway, so I couldn't care less.
I was thinking that I’ve never owned a car where I’ve reached it’s true max speed on a road. Plus if you sit at an indicated 90 on a mway in the UK very little passes you. At 112 you’d be the fastest car on most roads

jamei303

3,005 posts

157 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
Jhonno said:
This.

It isn't the 112mph restriction that is the issue. I don't like the removal of choice. I drive cars that can do a lot more. Do I choose to use it, pretty much no, but I could if I wanted.
Do any of your cars have a rev limiter?

Fiesta1.0L

97 posts

99 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
Harry_523 said:
The big worry here is that the volvo bean counters use this as an excuse to start reducing the engineering quality of the cars.

Part of the reason German cars became so popular is that they were engineered to work at 150+mph, so running at 75mph they were barely out of bed compared, to say, a car that maxed out at 110, making them feel secure, quiet, and comfortable.

lower rated tyres, smaller brakes, weaker bearings etc, whilst good for their cost/weight advantages, will be operating closer to their design limits in normal use, and the driving experience will suffer as a result.
Not as simple as it seems:
lower rated tyres - in terms of top speed, but performance at normal speeds will probably increase as they don't need to be able to spin at 155mph
smaller brakes - inevitable anyway with energy recover/hybrids. Also: reduced unsprung mass=better handling
weaker bearings - not sure why

So for 99% of owners, 99.9% of the time this is a win.

ScoobyBazza

18 posts

141 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
kambites said:
More than I'd have expected actually! I wonder what proportion of them ever do more than 113mph on the autobahn.
I'm in the UK but travel to and through Germany a few times a year and enjoy letting my V70 D5 'do it's thing' whenever possible. l wish the rest of Europe would follow Germanys lead.. Good driving standards and great lane discipline too.

Rovinghawk

13,300 posts

159 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
nickfrog said:
simonrockman said:
automatic geofencing to automatically limit speeds around schools and hospitals.
I hope that's implemented as it sounds like a great idea, hopefully others will follow.
And slowly the wedge will be driven inexorably deeper........ today schools & hospitals, tomorrow urban areas, next week the suburbs, soon the country roads that have been pointlessly lowered to 50 mph........................................

jamei303

3,005 posts

157 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
Harry_523 said:
The big worry here is that the volvo bean counters use this as an excuse to start reducing the engineering quality of the cars.

Part of the reason German cars became so popular is that they were engineered to work at 150+mph, so running at 75mph they were barely out of bed compared, to say, a car that maxed out at 110, making them feel secure, quiet, and comfortable.

lower rated tyres, smaller brakes, weaker bearings etc, whilst good for their cost/weight advantages, will be operating closer to their design limits in normal use, and the driving experience will suffer as a result.
Given that they are now competing directly with Audi and BMW by producing cars of the same build quality but which give a more comfortable ride, I really don't think this is their plan.

simonrockman

6,869 posts

256 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
Good grief, Rolls-Royce is at it now..

ROLLS-ROYCE MOTOR CARS CALLS FOR IMPROVED PARKING AND SPEEDING CONTROLS IN LOCAL AREA

https://www.press.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/rolls-r...


Is this some kind of self-regulation to avoid government intervention?

Mackofthejungle

1,074 posts

196 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
Great stuff. Makes total sense - all road cars should have limiters. There is ZERO need for all the 155mph rep mobiles on the roads - it's a waste. Even 112 is too much. A round 100mph limit would be absolutely fine with me.

If a car does X mph then naturally the crash structures, the brakes, the tyres all have to keep up. That costs money in development, it costs weight and it costs more to maintain from a customer perspective. And it all has to come at the cost of aerodynamic efficiency, because if a car does 150mph, it better be stable at 150mph, and that requires drag.

Even if it makes NO difference to road safety, the amount of money and effort that can be saved makes it worthwhile. If this spreads then maybe a return to fun cars could actually happen, without dick waving numbers being required.

ChocolateFrog

25,645 posts

174 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
Not really a huge problem with limited cars. My car is limited by physics to about 110.

Won't do Volvo's image much good though. People don't want to be told what to do by big corporations, especially Chinese ones.

ChocolateFrog

25,645 posts

174 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
ScoobyBazza said:
jamei303 said:
People who want to drive faster than 112mph on public roads probably don't tend to buy a new Volvo for such purposes anyway.

LOL........the V70 is a great high speed Continental tourer.
Especially through Germany.
True. Got an indicated 136mph out of my near 300000 mile V70.

beanoir

1,327 posts

196 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
Mackofthejungle said:
Great stuff. Makes total sense - all road cars should have limiters. There is ZERO need for all the 155mph rep mobiles on the roads - it's a waste. Even 112 is too much. A round 100mph limit would be absolutely fine with me.

If a car does X mph then naturally the crash structures, the brakes, the tyres all have to keep up. That costs money in development, it costs weight and it costs more to maintain from a customer perspective. And it all has to come at the cost of aerodynamic efficiency, because if a car does 150mph, it better be stable at 150mph, and that requires drag.

Even if it makes NO difference to road safety, the amount of money and effort that can be saved makes it worthwhile. If this spreads then maybe a return to fun cars could actually happen, without dick waving numbers being required.
This is Pistonheads, are you sure you haven’t got lost on your way to Mumsnet?



ScoobyBazza

18 posts

141 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
Mackofthejungle said:
Great stuff. Makes total sense - all road cars should have limiters. There is ZERO need for all the 155mph rep mobiles on the roads - it's a waste. Even 112 is too much. A round 100mph limit would be absolutely fine with me.

If a car does X mph then naturally the crash structures, the brakes, the tyres all have to keep up. That costs money in development, it costs weight and it costs more to maintain from a customer perspective. And it all has to come at the cost of aerodynamic efficiency, because if a car does 150mph, it better be stable at 150mph, and that requires drag.

Even if it makes NO difference to road safety, the amount of money and effort that can be saved makes it worthwhile. If this spreads then maybe a return to fun cars could actually happen, without dick waving numbers being required.


Wow.....just wow !!!!!
So you don't think a car designed for 150+mph is much safer and efficient at 70mph than a car designed just for 70mph ??
And you don't think a car capable of 150mph is a fun car ??
Very strange bubble you live in..

thecremeegg

1,967 posts

204 months

Monday 4th March 2019
quotequote all
Mackofthejungle said:
Great stuff. Makes total sense - all road cars should have limiters. There is ZERO need for all the 155mph rep mobiles on the roads - it's a waste. Even 112 is too much. A round 100mph limit would be absolutely fine with me.

If a car does X mph then naturally the crash structures, the brakes, the tyres all have to keep up. That costs money in development, it costs weight and it costs more to maintain from a customer perspective. And it all has to come at the cost of aerodynamic efficiency, because if a car does 150mph, it better be stable at 150mph, and that requires drag.

Even if it makes NO difference to road safety, the amount of money and effort that can be saved makes it worthwhile. If this spreads then maybe a return to fun cars could actually happen, without dick waving numbers being required.
Because nobody ever takes a road car off road do they.....