It's official...

[tristessa]

The speedometer in my Westy reads 6MPH fast at freeway speeds. I was driving home from work yesterday and got popped by the Clackamas County Sheriff on I-205 near my house, he clocked me at 74MPH when my speedometer was showing 80 .. in a 55 zone. Thankfully the guy was cool and only wrote me up for 63 in a 55 .. which still hurts but not as bad as it could have been.

Guess I need to watch my speed .. and maybe get the speedo recalibrated.

[hambone]

The benefits of 57 HP, 74 would melt the engine...
74! slow down pops.
Every VW I've ever owned, the speedo is off about 2-3 mph, displays faster than actual. It's consistent, I'm sure it's intentional...

[tristessa]

It was a mostly-empty freeway, I wanted to get home where the beer is. Bad enough I have to work Sundays to begin with...

[Westy78]

For me it's exponentially faster the higher the speed. I think it's intentional. Hell, even the BMW reads three percent high at all speeds. Fun math to do while driving.

[aopisa]

My speedometer reads 5 mph faster than actual speed. It seems to check out with all of the radar speed signs in work zones and the mobile units the State Police set up in various towns around where I live.

[Amskeptic]

The benefits of 57 HP, 74 would melt the engine...
74! slow down pops.
Every VW I've ever owned, the speedo is off about 2-3 mph, displays faster than actual. It's consistent, I'm sure it's intentional...

They were sold pretty accurate.

The clock spring under the speedometer needle gets tired.

Yeah, slow down, pops, beer can wait a few minutes.
I remind myself that the difference between 65 and 75 mph over the span of an hour is only about seven minutes, but the engine is more thrashed in the 75 mph car.
Colin

[ruckman101]

Based on highway mile markers, eleven miles on my odometer is really only ten. That was with a different set of tires though.

And yes, based on the numbers flashing at me from those machines in angry neighborhoods and construction zones, my speedo lies, too. Like Hal, the higher numbers turn out to be not actually that high. Tons of math possibilities, for those inclined. Drum us up some numbers for speedometer inaccuracies through the gears based on an odometer clocking eleven miles for every ten.

So my seventy is really only 65? Eh, people drive too fast anyway. Confessed right lane habitué. Wow, auto correct threw in the thingy over the e in habitué. That feature obliterated prior complaints about auto spell check correct annoyances.

Don't get me wrong, I can whip through the freeway system around Seattle at a brisk 67 or so, and, well there is the congestion issue with traffic flow.

Where was I? Speedometer and odometer discrepancies.

I guess the only option would be to recalibrate the thing at what cost for what purpose exactly.


neal

[Amskeptic]

I guess the only option would be to recalibrate the thing at what cost for what purpose exactly.
neal

Exactly, exactitudinalarity, that's why exactly.
Exactitude has a place.

viewtopic.php?f=58&t=8945

[ruckman101]

I'm not at that exact place yet in my overall gestalt. Other concerns and investments at the moment.

neal