Your Car’s Speedometer’s Top Speed Often Exceeds Reality

Take a look at the speedometer in your car, what does the top end of it read? 120, 140, 160? It is most likely not what your vehicle's top speed can accomplish. For example, the speedometer on the Toyota Yaris says that the 106-horsepower car can reach a speed of 140 mph, in actuality, the subcompact with an automatic transmission would likely reach a top speed of 109 mph.Not to single out the Toyota Yaris, many car manufactures are increasing what the top speed of their speedometers read. You might be asking what is the point of doing this? It's all in the perception of the marketing of a vehicle. Cars with higher speedometer readings appear to be sportier, and buyers favor them.

Cars with high-horsepower engines can come close to those top end speeds on your speedometer, however, most are limited by engine control computers. that's because the tires can overheat and fail at higher speeds. Tires that are common on mainstream cars often fail above 130 mph.

So, if you get pulled over for speeding, you might want to explain that your car can't go as fast as the speedometer says! Good luck with that one!