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Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

arstechnica.com

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Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#21

Post by Ductapemaster »

chasingthewind wrote: post #5

There is no circumstances under which a maximum speed of 112 would bother me. I drive a Honda Fit. I don't think I have ever driven it over 85 miles per hour (137km/hr). I'm not comfortable driving faster than that. What makes me mad is that my speedometer goes up to 140mph! Why?! The only answer I've ever seen that makes sense is that it's a marketing tool, but who honestly buys a Honda Fit and thinks to themselves…

I've always wondered the same thing - My theory is that at normal freeway speeds, the indicator points more or less at 12 o'clock, which is easier to see for a driver.

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#22

Post by ken »

retube wrote: post #17
chasingthewind wrote: post #5

There is no circumstances under which a maximum speed of 112 would bother me. I drive a Honda Fit. I don't think I have ever driven it over 85 miles per hour (137km/hr). I'm not comfortable driving faster than that. What makes me mad is that my speedometer goes up to 140mph! Why?! The only answer I've ever seen that makes sense is that it's a marketing tool, but who honestly buys a Honda Fit and thinks to themselves…

> What makes me mad is that my speedometer goes up to 140mph! Why?! It's a standard dial they stick in all models / engines

Which Honda goes 140 mph? As the article points out, Japanese domestic cars have been limited to 112 mph for years. High performance cars like the NSX and Type R trims go far faster than that.

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#23

Post by ken »

SurrealSoul wrote: post #12

Pretty cool, by establishing a top speed standard they could run reliable crash tests for the absolute worst case that the car could experience. Looking forward to the future of "No matter how you drive this car, it won't kill you"

People die every day in car crashes at far slower speeds than that. There's no way to guarantee a car crash won't kill you, even at normal highway speeds.

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#24

Post by ocdtrekkie »

zamadatix wrote: post #18
chasingthewind wrote: post #5

There is no circumstances under which a maximum speed of 112 would bother me. I drive a Honda Fit. I don't think I have ever driven it over 85 miles per hour (137km/hr). I'm not comfortable driving faster than that. What makes me mad is that my speedometer goes up to 140mph! Why?! The only answer I've ever seen that makes sense is that it's a marketing tool, but who honestly buys a Honda Fit and thinks to themselves…

The Fit's estimated top speed is 115. Applying logic to the problem I'd say it goes to 140 because it probably supports switching to km/h mode (e.g. if you need to drive through Canada) and 140 km/h = ~85 mph which as you say is probably the reasonable limit to take the vehicle

Most speedometers have a second ruler specifying the km/h speed. It would add a lot of unneeded complexity to change the speedometer's movement rate depending on mph vs. km/h: It's a lot easier to just use a different guideline on the existing dashboard.

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#26

Post by izzydata »

chasingthewind wrote: post #5

There is no circumstances under which a maximum speed of 112 would bother me. I drive a Honda Fit. I don't think I have ever driven it over 85 miles per hour (137km/hr). I'm not comfortable driving faster than that. What makes me mad is that my speedometer goes up to 140mph! Why?! The only answer I've ever seen that makes sense is that it's a marketing tool, but who honestly buys a Honda Fit and thinks to themselves…

Thankfully an additional digital speedometer is becoming common. I get the logical design of making your speedometer going from zero to the max speed of the vehicle under its own power, but in practice it isn't very useful.

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#28

Post by vvillena »

ken wrote: post #22
retube wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What makes me mad is that my speedometer goes up to 140mph! Why?! It's a standard dial they stick in all models / engines

Which Honda goes 140 mph? As the article points out, Japanese domestic cars have been limited to 112 mph for years. High performance cars like the NSX and Type R trims go far faster than that.

Surely both the Civiv Type R and the NSX do, although I don't see those two models using the standard instrumentation.

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#29

Post by batbomb »

MikeKusold wrote: post #7
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #3

Is there any particular reasoning as to that value? If we assume major highway limits of 70 mph and add an excessive 20-30 mph for passing, that's still a ton of extra lethal kinetic energy. edit: Apparently even the Autobahn has a recommended speed of 80 mph (I'm aware you can go faster, but then why have a limit at all?)

It's roughly 180 km/h. Your assumption of a 70mph speed limit is based on the US, and it's incorrect. Portions of highways in the US have 85mph speed limits (i70 on the eastern part of Utah comes to mind).

I've done 120 or 130 on the stretch between Wendover and Salt Lake City. Most people go about 90

Re: Volvo is introducing a 112mph speed limiter to all its new cars

#30

Post by dethswatch »

jbob2000 wrote: post #25

I've always wondered why the government sets speed limits but then doesn't enforce them on manufacturers. You can solve 99% of speed "crime" by making it illegal to sell a car that can break the speed limit.

You've never had a track day...

This whole page is filled with "Doesn't apply to me, so go for it", which seems like a really bad rationale to apply to hundreds of millions of people, potentially.

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