"area man" (hurrburgring)
03/14/2015 at 16:54 • Filed to: None
3
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"area man" (hurrburgring)
03/14/2015 at 16:54 • Filed to: None | 3
| 14 |
This afternoon I rented a 2014 Nissan Sentra for an extended jaunt through the Bronx. It is a fine little car - nice peppy 1.8 liter, decent steering and suspension - but the first thing that caught my eye when I hopped in was the big glaring 1-6-0 at the far end of the speedo.
Now, because I am not an idiot I know the Sentra cannot reach that speed, at least not without strapping a rocket to the trunk. And I know that a). in-dash speedometers are notoriously unreliable and b.) most non sports cars can't reach the top speed you see on the gauge. But I looked it up, and Car and Driver pegs the drag-limited top speed of the 2014 Sentra at 118 mph. That's a 42 mph difference. Seems... excessive.
This bothers me for two reasons. First, I am obsessed with the efficient use of space, and wasting a full quarter of the gauge and however many square inches in the overall display area on numbers that will never be reached is basically the exact opposite of that. But more importantly, these false promises encourage some people to push their mediocre econoboxes and driving skills to and past the limit.
I hear two counterarguments from the peanut gallery. One is that it's all just a stupid marketing tactic - manufacturers put these far-fetched numbers on the end of the dial to move more units in speed-and-power-obsessed America. The other is that it's simply a cost-cutting move, as manufacturers can swap the higher-limit speedos between more models. If the end result of that is making your average NASCAR fan feel a little less bad that all he can afford is a Sentra, what's the harm?
The potential harm, I believe, is aptly demonstrated !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! of morons trying to max out their Sentras on public roads, only to watch the needle stick around 110mph/180kph. The comments are filled with anecdotes from other morons about their trials and tribulations north of the 110 line. 95% of people who buy this car will see "160" and chuckle. It's the other 5% I'm worried about, the people who will see it as a dare. It only takes one of them to cause some problems.
Some of you may feel like speedometer layout is strictly the manufacturer's decision, and it's not fair to blame them for the recklessness of a few individuals. If the Sentra was actually capable of reaching 160 mph, I would feel a little differently. There are many sensible arguments against making a cheap econobox that can go that fast, but I'm on the other side of all of them. It's a free country, make whatever the hell you want. But the Sentra's speedometer is writing a check the rest of the car can't cash, in the process setting up someone somewhere for a colossal failure. Think about it - not only is the engine barely keeping up at 118 mph, but the suspension, steering and tires are also running on the ragged edge of their designs.
People are always going to speed, I get that. Hell, I embrace it! What I don't believe is that we should be encouraging people to test the limits in an econobox with what is essentially a fake speedometer.
Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
> area man
03/14/2015 at 16:57 |
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My Panda speedo goes to 120mph. Even if it could do that it'd be the scariest 120mph ever.
Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
> area man
03/14/2015 at 16:57 |
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What bothers me is the fact that they chose 160 to have 80 at top center. No Nissan Sentra ever cruises along at 80. They're always going about 7mph below the speed limits.
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area man
> Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
03/14/2015 at 17:00 |
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Pravda, pravda. Which makes no sense, because that thing hits 80 preeeeetty easily.
PanchoVilleneuve ST
> area man
03/14/2015 at 17:08 |
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My Focus speedo is the most reasonable I've seen. The car tops out at 154, and the speedo ends at 160, so they just rounded it up to the nearest 10.
TheD0k_2many toys 2little time
> area man
03/14/2015 at 17:12 |
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I may or may not know that the parking brake works very well on those cars...
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area man
> TheD0k_2many toys 2little time
03/14/2015 at 17:17 |
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I may or may not have found the same thing today!
Telumektar
> area man
03/14/2015 at 17:20 |
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Like the time we rented a 2004 FIAT Uno (it was cheap), the speedo would reach up to 110 mph or 180 Kmh. I asked my mum, who was driving it, if going at such speed was even possible, being that we were doing 110kph/65 mph and the car didn't seem to like it at all... "NO WAY" she replied "this thing will destroy itself if we tried to do that!"
Many years later (up to January, this year) I got to drive a FIAT Fiorino as a work truck/van. This model's engine has a few more torques and it's all based on the same platform... it will do 50 mph without a problem and up to 65 mph if you have patience, to go faster from that it only takes balls, BAWLS OF STEEOL!
I drove it many times on various routes and, even though I was confident in its mechanical simplicity, my dedication to its care and my driving approach, I still wouldn't do over 75 mph for more than a minute, for passing big trucks and the like only. Pushing it to 80 mph was just asking for something bad to happen. This kind of economic automobiles just aren't designed with great speeds in mind, their dynamics just don't adjust easily or at all.
DasWauto
> area man
03/14/2015 at 17:25 |
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My Golf is equally optimistic with its gauges. It goes to 260km/h (161mph) but is limited to 130mph, electronically, though it's probably capable of 140mph or so. It does something neat though, the first 60 km/h is in larger increments than the higher speeds, which is handy for driving around town. It throws you off at first (it did for me at least) but you get used to it and it turns out to be pretty handy and uses the space of the gauges better as you realistically use a larger portion of it.
jkm7680
> area man
03/14/2015 at 17:29 |
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It probably tops out at 110 or so.
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TheD0k_2many toys 2little time
> area man
03/14/2015 at 17:30 |
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hehehehe. doriftooooo
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area man
> DasWauto
03/14/2015 at 18:10 |
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that's pretty clever
VonBelmont
> area man
03/14/2015 at 18:50 |
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We need more Toronado-style speedometers
Manny05x
> area man
03/14/2015 at 19:34 |
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Bronx oppo!!! Same here.
Vimto
> area man
03/15/2015 at 12:31 |
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My Panther's only went to 120, I would assume its capable of significantly more than that. I was warned not to do more than 90 mph because apparently there driveshaft is a major weak point above that speed.
