Crazy speedo top speed

[Uncle_Ken]

Hi all,
Got int the company car today (a Holden Astra AH ) (yes I know) and was driving along being careful of my speed (school zones are back).

What began to drive me crazy was the top speed on the speedo, wait for it

260 !!!

Now it might be a fast car but 260. With such crazy numbers it makes it hard and annoying to read quickly your speed around the now common 40, 50 and 60 mark.

With speed cameras pulling drivers at lower tolerances, wouldn't it be great if manufactures would be sensible speed settings on an analog display.

If I'm 2 or 3 k's over the speed limit I want to be able to see if quick and easy. Not stop and read my speed with a microscope.

(and don't' ask about the tacho, it goes up to 8,000 (must be a rotary engine)

Uncle Ken

[Bundy]

no no you missed the point... thats the holden subliminal advertising machine at work

[LethalLeigh]

It's a valid point, maybe a mandated digital speed readout on the dash in conjunction would help. Makes me pity the guy trying to keep his Veyron at 25kph through a school zone - almost...

[UNR8D]

Diesel versions can and will sit on 240km/h, got to remember these cars are built and designed in Europe where they have a more commonsense approach to 'driving'.

[john3136]

I'd have paid a few $$ to have had the speedo on my Territory only go to say 120.
It really is stupid to have 1/2 the speedo never used, and the 1/2 you do want such that 1 needle width is the difference between getting a fine or not.

[Uncle_Ken]

Originally Posted by john3136

I'd have paid a few $$ to have had the speedo on my Territory only go to say 120.
It really is stupid to have 1/2 the speedo never used, and the 1/2 you do want such that 1 needle width is the difference between getting a fine or not.

Thats kind of the angle I am coming from.
I know that the main issue is it an analog display (digital would have no problems at all.)

Got any pics of your display?

UK

[mrbaxr6t]

cluster in a LV focus XR5T - speedo goes to 280 kmh and tach goes to 8krpm and no I dont have a problem reading it, maybe the holden one is just crap - with any dial type gage the outer diameter or "ring" size is critical when you want to put lots of graduations on it maybe the astra one not only goes to 260 but is very small radius as well on the ring with the speed lines. Or maybe the focus one is just a better design maybe when the astra is due for retirement work will get a focus?

[RedHotGT]

Originally Posted by mrbaxr6t

cluster in a LV focus XR5T - speedo goes to 280 kmh and tach goes to 8krpm and no I dont have a problem reading it, maybe the holden one is just crap - with any dial type gage the outer diameter or "ring" size is critical when you want to put lots of graduations on it maybe the astra one not only goes to 260 but is very small radius as well on the ring with the speed lines. Or maybe the focus one is just a better design maybe when the astra is due for retirement work will get a focus?

Doesn't really make sense that any cars that are to be sold here as new (that pass Australian Standards, ANCAP, etc etc) have a speedometer that reads that high...

Realistically anyone with an astra, xr5, or XR8 for that matter, are VERY unlikely to have the needle even get CLOSE to the top speed...
They'll most likely never drive at that speed...
And if they were driving at that speed, I'm tipping that the last thing that you'll be looking at is the speedo (things come at you quick at 200km/h)...

Maybe its all too hard for manufacturers to re-cal the speedo...

I had a VZ Commo wagon that had digital display on the speedo as well as analogue, and I became so dependant on those 2 (and sometimes 3) numbers, that I really struggled reading the needle in my other cars...

Something to think about...

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by UNR8D

Diesel versions can and will sit on 240km/h, got to remember these cars are built and designed in Europe where they have a more commonsense approach to 'driving'.

True, but the same car will have subtle differences to cater for the country and market they are sold in. But then you can also say that a person who chooses to race their car on a private track will want that speedo.

I agree however, for most drivers here a speedo that goes that high is useless, even if the car has the ability to reach such speeds.

[Ducati888]

Originally Posted by UNR8D

Diesel versions can and will sit on 240km/h, got to remember these cars are built and designed in Europe where they have a more commonsense approach to 'driving'.

Most cars sold in Australia are designed and built for other, mostly LHD, markets first. It doesn't stop them re-engineering to put the steering wheel on the other side, but for some reason does stop them putting convex mirrors on the other side.

My point is, if it were legislated that speedo's only read to, say 140kph (but the max speed of the car is not interfered with), so that if you go over 140, you don't know how fast you are going, and are therefore probably less likely to want to do it) then all cars sold in Australia would then only read to 140.

I bet that if that were legislated, the car makers would pretty quickly be able to modify the clusters to accommodate. It wouldn't be more than a $5 job per vehicle.

I reckon that simple and inexpensive step could have a major impact on speeding, and save the punters heaps in camera fines (and that's no doubt why such a simple piece of legislation will never occur).

Another easy way to deal with it would be a 'dual speed' speedo needle, where it has large graduations on the first half of the dial 0 - 100, and then small graduations on the other half of the dial 100 - 280. The drive ratio on the speedo would change from 100 onwards and 'slow the needle down'.

[outback_ute]

Originally Posted by Ducati888

Another easy way to deal with it would be a 'dual speed' speedo needle, where it has large graduations on the first half of the dial 0 - 100, and then small graduations on the other half of the dial 100 - 280. The drive ratio on the speedo would change from 100 onwards and 'slow the needle down'.

Some cars have this already. Note I doubt there are any cable-driven speedos any more, so it is just a matter of electronics.

[Ducati888]

Originally Posted by outback_ute

Some cars have this already. Note I doubt there are any cable-driven speedos any more, so it is just a matter of electronics.

Yep, that would be true. Electronic componentry is also amongst the cheapest and easiest things to do on a car as well, from a manufacturer's point of view, and one of the best money spinners as well because they charge the earth to plug in options to the existing loom for it.

[Chopped]

The sooner they get with the times and plonk a LCD screen with fully customizable speedo, tacho, oil pressure etc..the better.
(would probably be cheaper as well)

[Matty4]

Originally Posted by Ducati888

...My point is, if it were legislated that speedo's only read to, say 140kph (but the max speed of the car is not interfered with), so that if you go over 140, you don't know how fast you are going, and are therefore probably less likely to want to do it) then all cars sold in Australia would then only read to 140....

Maybe they need to take a leaf out of the Japanese car building book.
All JDM vehicles (regardless of make) have a speedo that only goes up to 180km/h.
Even my 206kw twin turbo Legacy B4 (JDM) still only has a 180km/h speedo, yet when Subaru imported them here (ADM) they specified a 240km/h speedo, go figure!!!

I fully agree with the above statement..

[220]

Originally Posted by Ducati888

Another easy way to deal with it would be a 'dual speed' speedo needle, where it has large graduations on the first half of the dial 0 - 100, and then small graduations on the other half of the dial 100 - 280. The drive ratio on the speedo would change from 100 onwards and 'slow the needle down'.

Can't be to hard to do, Had an early 90's suzuki 4 wheel bike that had exactly this setup. Speedo went to 90kph with 25kph at 12 o'clock

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by Uncle_Ken

Hi all,
What began to drive me crazy was the top speed on the speedo, wait for it

260 !!!

wow, even my xr8 only goes to 260 (but at least it could actually do it )

i guess it is pretty silly for australia to be making cars that can do 1 1/2 times the speed limit. either the cars or the speed limits need to change :togo:

oh yeah, dash pic

[geckoGT]

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

wow, even my xr8 only goes to 260 (but at least it could actually do it )

Can't actually, speed limited electronically to 235 km/h, so therefore even an XR8 does not need a speedo to 260. Maybe Ford are just as guilty for putting big numbers as brag factor when the car is not capable of that speed.

[Jondalar]

Bundy has it right, if you went to Holden and their car speedo went to 260 and then Ford and the equivalent car speedo only went to 120, most would assume the Holden was faster, sad but true.

[UNR8D]

Just because your Speedo goes to 260 doesn’t automatically mean people will try and reach that, but agreed with Speedo’s in some models being hard to read or too cluttered especially when you have morons like VICTORIA with 3k and you’re done for being a menace to society crap.

I always found the XR series from BA onwards a pain in the ....... to read at a glance but the one in my IS300 extremely easy to read, Aurion's are the hardest to gauge whats going on with out taking a full assessment and eyes off the road completely, something I think manufactures take form over function on to easily.

[UNR8D]

^^ why dont we all just drive a golf TDI or prius on that premus then?

[RedHotGT]

Originally Posted by UNR8D

^^ why dont we all just drive a golf TDI or prius on that premus then?

Do they have speedo's that only go to 140km/h??

[UNR8D]

Originally Posted by loftie

Do they have speedo's that only go to 140km/h??

No but by your theory we aren’t allowed to accelerate hard, try and push our vehicles, or enjoy a good exhaust note above a mouse squeak so why bother even having a car that excites?

point Im making is that on the track the car may well reach 200+, an XR5 with boost upgrade more than likely would so applying the same theory, if its not allowed on the road, we may as well make race tracks redundant, and just all drive something that is about as exiting as my kelvinator.

:

[balthazarr]

What's wrong with a speedo indicating the maximum speed that a car will travel (or even slightly above)?

Sure, the speed limit is 110km/h on public roads - who says the car is always driven on public roads?

Also, FPVs (at least from FG) have graduated speedos - below 140km/h each 'tick' on the speedo indicates 5km/h - above this speed, each tick represents 10km/h

[Ducati888]

Originally Posted by UNR8D

No but by your theory we aren’t allowed to accelerate hard, try and push our vehicles, or enjoy a good exhaust note above a mouse squeak so why bother even having a car that excites?

point Im making is that on the track the car may well reach 200+, an XR5 with boost upgrade more than likely would so applying the same theory, if its not allowed on the road, we may as well make race tracks redundant, and just all drive something that is about as exiting as my kelvinator.

:

C'mon. Very VERY few people take their cars to the track. This line of reasoning for the very small minority goes nowhere. Accelleration and 'pushing the vehicle hard' rarely mean reaching 280kph,even on a track, and more to the point if you spend too much time worrying about your speedo on the track, you are either going to end up in the kitty litter or up someone's **** real quick.

If you can modify a track car in every way possible, why couldn't you modify a speedo as well to indicate true speed, for track purposes? More to the point - if you are into serious track work you've probably got a lap timer that tells you everything you need to know as well.

[RedHotGT]

Originally Posted by UNR8D

No but by your theory we aren’t allowed to accelerate hard, try and push our vehicles, or enjoy a good exhaust note above a mouse squeak so why bother even having a car that excites?

point Im making is that on the track the car may well reach 200+, an XR5 with boost upgrade more than likely would so applying the same theory, if its not allowed on the road, we may as well make race tracks redundant, and just all drive something that is about as exiting as my kelvinator.

:

Wow... you really didn't read what I wrote did you???

Since when has acceleration had ANYTHING to do with this conversation??? I'm pretty sure that acceleration has NOTHING to do with TOP SPEED...
Never said anything about exhausts sounding pretty (I thought people got exhausts for the performance aspect, not just for 'the noise' but anyway) nor did I say anything about pushing cars to limits...
If you want to go and drive 200km/h on a public road - go for it... I hope you get caught and don't wipe out anyone innocent in the process...

I'll give you a hot tip UNR8D... did you know that a car without a SPEEDO actually can still drive at a speed?? It is not the Speedo that determines how fast the car goes...
Even if the dial of the speedometer only read 140km/h - nobody has even suggested that we speed limit the cars to that speed (not in this thread anyways)...

So - you get your (insert car name here) that is capable of WELL over 140km/h... thats fine... on the track it will still go faster than the 140km/h... just won't tell you that on the dial... So when you do drive it on the street, you can tell when you are over the limit... Instead of needing a microscope to check if you are doing 60 or 65...

Anyone here who actually races cars would tell you that RPM and what gear you are in is way more helpful than an actual Speedometer... and you race by feel...

When you're coming into an apex of a corner, you do it by feel and not by what the needle on the speedo is saying... the dash is the last place i'm looking when i'm on the thin edge of traction....

:yourself...

[mik]

if you can`t see the 40 mark easily get some white double sided tape cut a triangle out and fix it to the spot on the speedo needed .........$2.00 no drama.

[XRSEX]

Always wondered what the deal is there lol. Dads Holden Combo goes up to 200 I think.

Come on, it's a bloody COMBO lol

[myxr6]

I saw this in a camero years ago in Hawaii and thought it looked interesting.

[RedHotGT]

Originally Posted by myxr6

I saw this in a camero years ago in Hawaii and thought it looked interesting.

Whats a Camero??

Camaro....?? Oh... I get it...

[Uncle_Ken]

Wow great comments guys.
I have been thinking more and more about a good heads up display (HUD) for my AU.
HUDS for me make it quick and easy to read/see what speed/revs you are doing but still have your eyes on the road.
Lets face it since HUDS have used in fighter planes since WWII, they must be the best way to do two things at the one time (and no I don't mean the twins on the Playboy Mansion)


UK