neal@weitek.UUCP (Neal Bedard) (12/28/85)
In what began as my grumbling about one of Reagan's broken promises (to remove the 55 mph speed limit) I made some sarcastic (but not really vitriolic) comments on Chris Rosebrugh's piece, which in turn prompted Chris to post a flaming followup. Here I will answer Chris' flame not with counter-flame, but with clarification, in an open-letter format. Legend: > > > = Chris > > = me > = Chris again In article <275@bunny.UUCP>, cpr0@bunny.UUCP (C. Rosebrugh) writes: > > > ... > > > also - my 325e's speedo goes to 140+. > > > > 140+? Wishful thinking, perhaps. :-) > Actually, speedo goes to 150. No, not really wishful thinking - had it > at 125 on the Mass. Pike Eastbound yesterday, along with a 5-series > Bimmer. That's about where the old "Eta" engines stops, though. The question is why do the automakers choose these high numbers for speedometers? Your 325e can't bury its speedo, nor come within 24 mph of doing so (by your own admission.) BMW is not the only automaker guilty if this - for example, the Toyota Corolla GTS is equipped with 140 mph speedo. The answer, of course, is in marketing psychology. Even if the car in question can't bury its speedo, just being able to *imagine* doing so at some hyperspeed adds to that car's performance image, and thus its desirability to a performance-minded buyer. > (The only sensible part of the response was here.) > > > Also, if a rip the stopper pin out of a speedometer (the pin the needle > > > hits at max mph), is the needle movement still "linear" (given that the > > > actual motion is circular)? > > Gee, Chris, why not just use your tach instead? If in my car 2500 rpm = > > 55 mph in fifth gear, then redline = 143 mph. Weeeeeee!!!!! > Brilliant, but how many cars have a tach?!! Weeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!! > And, how many engines have the high end torque to follow your formula > of top speed!!! Weeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!! > Weee!!! - do you leave your > car out of gear while you pour on the gas in the same way you leave > your brain out of gear while you pour on the words?!! I'm glad you thought my suggestion `brilliant'. I thought it merely clever. :-) 1. Most cars that carry the moniker of `sports model', including yours, probably have a tach. In these cars the presence of the 85 mph speedo is most irksome, not only to their owners, but to the auto marketeers as well. [Even my old Toyota truck had a tach.] 2. My `formula' wasn't for calculating top speed, but a method for determining speed beyond the range of the speedometer (85, 130, whatever.) Redline - 6500 rpm in the example - was just that: an example. 3. A cute non-sequitur, but you'll notice that I never actually stated that I went 143 mph in my car - the only thing one could really infer from my statement is that I noted the rpm while driving 55 mph. On the other hand, *we* all know how fast *you've* driven. > > I realize that the bulk of this article was non-technical. May I suggest > > that further discussion on this topic be taken up in net.auto. > What's not technical about the gearing and the pinning of a speedometer?! I gave you the benefit of the doubt about being earnest in the `technicalness' of the question. However, when the de facto topic of the posting is a Valley Guy sort of satire on the top speed vs the speedo limit of Chrysler cars, slipping in the fact that *your* car (a BMW 325e, lest there be any mistake about it) has a 140+ speedo, the followup discussion generated would tend to fall out the realm of net.auto.tech. I hope I needn't write `Bedtime for Shark Hunt'. This whole discussion has generated more heat than light, and I'm sure the Net is bored with it. -Neal -- 55. It's a law we can do away with. UUCP: {turtlevax, resonex, cae780}!weitek!neal
ems@amdahl.UUCP (ems) (12/30/85)
> The question is why do the automakers choose these high numbers for > speedometers? Your 325e can't bury its speedo, nor come within 24 mph of > doing so (by your own admission.)f Why, they do it for when you are going downhill with a 50mph tailwind, of course!!! (My old slug VM bus wouldn't do over 60 on the flat, but give me a hill and tail wind - Weeeeeee 85!!!) -- E. Michael Smith ...!{hplabs,ihnp4,amd,nsc}!amdahl!ems This is the obligatory disclaimer of everything.
jens@moscom.UUCP (Jens Fiederer) (01/03/86)
I got a Toyota Corolla GT-S (despite the stupid "GT-S Twin Cam 16" stenciled on the sides!). I imagine the reason the speedometer goes to 140 is that this is about where the car would red-line in 5th gear. If this ever happens to me (I have never found conditions that tempted me to go beyond 110) I will know it is time to put the transmission in neutral and let the external jet engines take over altogether. Azhrarn