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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

#171

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

cpursley wrote: post #124
tracker1 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I drive a 392 challenger scat pack shaker... I don't think I've ever had it over 100, though the max is 201. I'm not sure I'd be bothered by a regulator for the top speed. That said, I don't think speeding is even close to the number 1 killer these days... Cell phones seem to be the leading cause of accidents these days. Maybe they should detect motion over 5mph and turn off display of messaging apps, only bluetooth…

> I drive a 392 challenger scat pack shaker... I don't think I've ever had it over 100 I don't see the point of a vehicle like this unless you drag race it on a regular basis. It has limited utility, is larger than an Abrams tank, guzzles fuel like it's 1998 and couldn't make it around a slalom cone course even with a skilled driver. It's a make a lot of noise and go really fast in a straight line car. That's what it…

Well, "scat" is in the name.

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

#172

Post by joezydeco »

013a wrote: post #149
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'm not comfortable driving faster than that. Of course you're not comfortable driving faster than that in a Honda Fit. That's like saying you're not comfortable going faster than 30 in a golf cart. In the right car and on the right roads, hitting 120 is as simple and easy as hitting 70 in typical econoboxes. And actually, I'm not even talking about a Porsche 911; more like, every German car, especially Audi/BMW/Me…

Geography and equipment do not change your ability to react to events.

I've driven 180-200 km/h on the German autobahns (in a car that could handle it) and I could tell I was driving at the edge or slightly beyond my vision and reaction time. It was freaking scary. I don't know if every driver out there could tell when they were hitting that limit. The golf cart analogy doesn't apply here IMO.

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

#173

Post by [deleted] »

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.

[deleted]

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

#174

Post by myrandomcomment »

So my current car tops out at 163MPH (not a Tesla). Being in the Bay Area (a large parking lot is how I would describe the freeways) the chance of every going that fast is zero. It is possible (no admission of guilt) that I may have hit 120MPH once or twice very late at night on the I280. That being said, this limit bugs my libertarian views. The issue is of course all the people in a car that can hit a stupid level of speed (100MPH+), that lack the correct breaks, tires, handling for that stupid level of speed. Drive down the 17. It is a wreakfest of people that drive too fast on winding road without understanding that just because your engine can push does not mean the rest of the important car parts function at that level. The engine tech level in the standard consumer car has hit a possible speed level without effort that is not matched by the other parts of the vehicle. Pair that with someone that thinks, well it can go that fast so it must be okay...

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

#175

Post by unstatusthequo »

Shorel wrote: post #74

I would love if all cars had a cruise speed mode where I could say, I want the top speed to be 60, and it never goes faster. The difference here is that I would choose this speed, instead of it being set only by the manufacturer. It is also OK if the car had both limits, a manufacturer max and a lower max speed configurable by the driver.

What happens when accelerating above that is the only way to avoid a situation nearby? If braking will cause you to be in that bad situation, why not have another option available?

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

#176

Post by tiernano »

arcticfox wrote: post #168
013a wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not comfortable driving faster than that. Of course you're not comfortable driving faster than that in a Honda Fit. That's like saying you're not comfortable going faster than 30 in a golf cart. In the right car and on the right roads, hitting 120 is as simple and easy as hitting 70 in typical econoboxes. And actually, I'm not even talking about a Porsche 911; more like, every German car, especially Audi/BMW/Me…

> But the big problem is the roads and the culture around speed. America doesn't have either of those things, and probably never will. A culture of safety is not a "big problem" IMO. The "big problem" is that a vehicle at 120mph requires an insane stopping distance. On dry asphalt: * 60mph: 172 ft * 120mph: 688 ft [1] http://forensicdynamics.com/stopping-braking-distance-calcul...

Doesn't this stopping distance depend on the car? Said German cars have bigger breaks and bigger tyre surface and have been proven to stop quicker. Top Gear showed this often (Australian trip with the m6, Bentley and gtr) all stopping in less than half the Highway Code distance...)

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

#177

Post by yeahboats »

jandrese wrote: post #152
yeahboats wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this what cruise control is? Or do you want this to be a hidden limit, say for one's kids' cars?

Cruise control won't hit the brakes if you are going downhill and exceed your set speed. I think he's looking for the latter. Setting it to 60 is probably too low though unless the OP only ever drives in the city. I'm hoping he's not one of those people who immediately shove their way over to the far left lane of the interstate and never move until they suddenly jump across three lanes of traffic at the last second t…

Oh, this makes more sense. I do agree that 60 is too low, there are definitely scenarios where you'd want to accelerate above 60 for passing situations.

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

#178

Post by DKnoll »

chris_mc wrote: post #162
DKnoll wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Going fast is dangerous to other people Depends on where you are. If you're on private property or a track (lots of them open to the public), you're only a danger to yourself. OP didn't say he was on a public roadway when he hit the limiter.

>I don't care what situation you pull from your ass to give a counterexample Very few people are in that position and I don't give a crap about their "needs" on the track.

I'm not pulling it from my ass. There are a lot of people who take their cars out on the track, I know quite a few that have. Just because it happens outside your bubble doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

You're being unnecessarily rude and confrontational, which isn't justified despite you thinking you have the moral high ground.

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

#179

Post by zaroth »

julianz wrote: post #126
lawlessone wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>that range is only 43% of my analog speedometer. I don't know why electronic display isn't more of a thing. My 13 year old Toyota displays the number using LED lights, it's far easier to read.

Many studies show that's not really true, it takes you longer to read and process the number than an analog dial. You don't notice the time it takes though.

I was just thinking about these purported studies this weekend.

My wife’s car has an analog speedometer in the left and a center digital display between the speedometer and the tach which can show many things, one of which is a nice big digital speed indicator.

When the digital display is showing something else it takes me 2x-3x as much time to ascertain the current speed from the speedometer.

I think the studies are possibly being influenced by people’s familiarity with speedometers in cars. If you asked someone to tell you the temperature in the room and gave them an analog gauge and a digital display, which one would be faster?

Once you acclimate to the digital display I’ve found I can read it faster and more precisely.

It may be possible to see “under 60” on the gauge faster than read “57” on the display, but I doubt even that. And when I’m trying to check or set my speed to be exactly 9 over the limit, the digital is much, much faster.

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

#180

Post by vel0city »

jandrese wrote: post #152
yeahboats wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this what cruise control is? Or do you want this to be a hidden limit, say for one's kids' cars?

Cruise control won't hit the brakes if you are going downhill and exceed your set speed. I think he's looking for the latter. Setting it to 60 is probably too low though unless the OP only ever drives in the city. I'm hoping he's not one of those people who immediately shove their way over to the far left lane of the interstate and never move until they suddenly jump across three lanes of traffic at the last second t…

Recent cars I've owned with computer-controlled manual (or "manumatic") transmissions (Ford SelectShift/PowerShift, Hyundai Shiftronic, etc.) will change gears and do engine braking to keep it in the right speed. Even in my ancient Honda Accord, throttle control is usually enough to keep it within a few MPH of my chosen speed once going 60mph+ on most highways I tend to drive on.
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