Why do cars have a max speed potential which is double the speed limit?

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Boudicca	Speed Kills as we all know...but it is true to say most speeds can kill if the vehicle concerned is not handled with competence, care and skill. So the speed a car can attained is irrelevant really it's how that speed is controlled given the road and driving conditions. You will always get morons who speed without due care and consideration for other road or predestrians users. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

wvparanormal	The main reason is to sell cars. There really is no reason they can't limit the speed on any car made today. With the computer technology in today's cars they could all be limmited. However the guy that's out for gas milage is always going to buy a small low horse power car. The guy that just wants to go fast is always going to buy a high horse power car. If all cars were limitted to 80 MPH, the American car manufacturers would go out of business very quickly. Everyone knows that the quality in a Japanese made car that will do 100 MPH is much better than an American made car that will only do 100mph. Just as the quality and performance of a European sports car, far exedes anything made in America. Bottom line is it's all about the allmighty dollar, not safety or performance or anything else. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

lai-lai-thekgeeee	i have asked my my self this many times. my thinking is since the cars are already outhere, why not make a device that will stoping from reaching tha speed taking that the cops think speed is No longer good. my this device compulsary i hope i make sense Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Scott Bull	I agree, I can't see any point. In some country's, there are no speed limits, (for example, on German motorways, any speeds are legal), but in my opinion, despite this, cars should not be given a top speed of 100mph, or even better yet, be limited per country, based on the maximum speed limit, (plus a percentage, in case the driver needs to accelerate to avoid a collision). The only vehicles I should believe to be an exception to this are fire/rescue and paramedics, I believe police cars should be limited, though not as stricktly, (police cars cause 3x more RTA's whilst at speed than all of the other emergency services combined), also, in many cases, a speeding police car aggrivates the person they're persueing, and causes them to be even more reckless, thus increasing the chance of causing more fatalies on the road. The problem is though, that any person could take the components out of an existing car and render the speed limiter helpless on any new vehicle, also, my father is a HGV driver, (lorry), and they are given a speed limit of 55mph, however, he has been able to jerry-rig the limiter and be able to break it, without the vehicles logs even showing this, (it will still show 55mph). Because of these 2 reasons, I dubt a speed limiiter would be efficient or productive. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

stew_redhill	I totally agree with you. It is stupidity!! Here's another though; Car manufacturers have over recent years seem to be hell bent on creating gas guzzling 4X4's with the target market being those that live in urban areas with absolutely no requirement for such a vehicle. It is simply pathetic. When is the communist government we have in this country going to step in and ban any private car above, say, 1300cc from within our cities (which will also naturally implement a limit on speed)? Small engined cars can be made to look good. Read this for some great insight: http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/ Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

DR.Chemical	Perhaps that is the only way to reduce the population of human beings on this planet! We seem to be doing a lot of damage to our natural environment and so we should have faster cars and bigger planes so that killing people is a bit easier on an industrial scale!! That is what Al Gore is suggesting!! Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

SecretSam	1. Some cars do have limiters, eg BMWs are limited to 155mph even though some (note, only SOME) autobahns are unrestricted 2. Acceleration not outright speed is the issue, quicker accelerating cars allow drivers to overtake more quickly, eg lorries, learners, bikes, slow old people, people who worry about car maximum speeds 3. Rates of death on German (unrestricted) autobahns per mile travelled are no higher than in UK, it's down to driver skills, training, weather condition, etc. 4. Faster cars tend to have better brakes to slow them from high velocities, therefore when driven at 'normal' UK speeds, they actually stop quicker. They also handle better so are less likely to be involved in an accident at 'normal' speeds 5. Yes I do have speeding convictions, yes I do have kids and no I don't drive a fast car (although I have owned them) 6. But yes, there is a macho thing here too. Note that manufacturers are not allowed to advertise top speeds in the UK. 7. What happens in the event of an emergency, eg a crash next to you on the motorway, and you want to accelerate away from it to avoid being hit? If speed's restricted...you can't 8. I do see your point Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Natalie B	I think it has something to do with that much power supposedly being 'impressive' Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

eidos	Good question my friend it would make sens that sports cars reach their Top speed of 80mph(not more) faster then economical cars. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

bikerbear	cos its fun ! and laws are made to busted he he some bikes can do 3 times !!! whoooooo hoooo ! Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

garth6271	i am a professional lorry driver and am therefor used to driving a restricted vehicle. (56mph). Therefor if i am driving on a motorway and come across a vehicle driving at 52mph I have to make a decision. Do I slow down to match the speed of the vehicle in front or block the centre lane of the motorway for the next mile and a half whilst i safely overtake, thus slowing all other road users in the process. Also consider how you would feel if like me you regularly get stuck behind a slow moving vehicle ( sometimes as slow as 25mph) on an A road with no place to overtake safely only to watch them accelerate to 60mph as soon as the road straightens out or a duel carriageway appears. If your car had the same restriction in performance as the next vehicle then you too could spend an eternity behind the mindless selfish few. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Fred L	First of all, if you are going by the numbers inscribed on your speedometer, not all cars will reach their top speed. Secondly, if you are speaking from experience, then you already know the thrill of travelling at speed. Finally, sometimes we need more power to avoid trouble on the highway or to tow a trailer, etc. By supplying a motor with that extra, necessary power, the manufacturers have given us a vehicle that can reach speeds in excess of the posted limits. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Sweet ♥	Driving slowly increases the risk of accidents because it is so boring that you easily lose concentration and nearly fall asleep. Driving fast (for relatively short periods) gets the adrenaline going and sharpens concentration. I drive a Porsche Boxster S and frequently find myself losing concentration, yawning and making silly little driving errors when driving slowly, however open road fast driving focuses my attention. Over most of continental Europe they drive fast, and the death/injury rates are not significantly higher than Britains, because they are all driving in the same manner. What I find causes accidents is BAD driving, often associated with drivers going TOO SLOWLY, not concentrating on their driving and not being aware of other cars around them. Increase the speed limit on open roads, reduce it further in heavily built up areas, near schools, shops etc, and police it properly. Nick drivers who are going too slowly as well as too fast, prosecute people for middle lane hugging, not indicating correctly, bad lane discipline at roundabouts - these are the people that CAUSE the accidents!! Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

bungee	people buy them not because they can drive that fast. just read these boards and you see it all the time someone wanting more h.p., bigger tires, more and bigger louder speakers, we have been brainwashed into never being satisfied with anything Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

achrimsdale	If your car only had a speed limit of 70 then on a motorway you would be pushing the engine flat out. With double the speed limit the engine will only be working at half power and so will last longer because of less wear. Also you need some power in reserve to accelerate away from trouble or danger when necessary. . Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

undercover elephant	A car's ability to break the speed limit is necessary. Suppose you need to climb a long steep hill. If the car is underpowered you may as well walk up the hill! Suppose you need to tow a trailer or a caravan, you need a lot of power to do this. If the car was only capable of doing the speed limit and no more, you would have a lot of frustrated drivers behind you, standing starts for example. It would take a long time to go from stopped to get up to speed with traffic, and this could lead to more accidents, as impatient drivers lose their nerve. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Old Fart	Power gives flexibility, safety, comfort, and far less stress on the vehicle and driver. You have seen on the motorway one lorry trying to overtake another on a hill, they take an age and take up road space forcing other vehicles to stack up behind them. This is caused by one vehicle with not enough speed to overtake quickly, and safely and be out of the way of faster traffic. If you are driving on a motorway and the vehicle in front is driving at 65mph and you wish to overtake, then you would find that your vehicle with a top speed of 80mph would be hard pushed to overtake quickly, safely and have power in reserve, you would then realise that your car with a TOP speed of 80mph would only have been designed as a runabout. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Shademaster	160mph would be nice, My Mazda RX8 is flat out at 150mph Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

racyragtop	Surely, rather than trying to reduce the top speed of all cars to the current speed limit, it would be much easier to simply paint a "1" in front of every speed restriction sign. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Paul H	Which speed limit? Don't assume that the speed limits where you are are international. There are autobahn's in Germany which have no speed limit - and, if I recall correctly, there are roads in Australia without speed limits. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

philipscown	Most accidents happen near the home, at much lower speeds than the maximum. Where there are high speed accidents there are also other issues like tiredness or drugs / alcohol. or poor skill that are more influential. Add to that, that for safety reasons, it is necessary to be able to use acceleration to be able to get out of situations (not necessarily of your own making) and you have part of the answer. In, say, a 50 limit then a car must be able to do 70, to give a safety margin - slowing down isn't always the right response. Once it is recognised that you have to have cars with more capability that is legally allowed then you get a free-market arms race: yours must be "better" to sell. Speed is easily quantifiable, comfort and safety less so. Finally, as other have said, there are some roads with higher limits, and some with no limits. Actually, that wasn't the last thing. There is a principle in safety management called "risk maintenance". This is a psychological principle that each individual will have there own level of acceptable risk. If you make things safer in one way then driver behaviour will alter to bring the risk back up again. So, put ABS on cars and the drivers will go faster. If we force cars to go slower then the risk maintenance principle will mean that drivers will alter their driving to raise the risk again. This could mean more dangerous overtaking, driving too close, etc. It is necessary to find a balance. One reason to bring more traffic police onto the roads is not to get people speeding, but to catch people who drive badly. It's bad driving that does the most damage, and the statistics show that most of that is well below the national speed limit. I accept that bad driving at speed will cause more bad driving that is slower - but the risk maintenance principle means that accidents wont go away. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

eriverpipe	So you can take it to Germany (or anywhere else that doesn't have a speed limit which was founded on car technology as it was in the 1960s) and enjoy driving. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Click Simple	If they are designed to handle well and go and STOP from 140 it makes them that much safer at 70. No reason why they don't fit limiters here. They do in Japan(112 mph) Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

srracvuee	same car/ different country/ different speed restrictions and whatsmore if you have a car that does that speed it has a powerful enough engine to get you out of trouble Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

Rich M	Its a good question. But from the beginning of time guys have been racing horses and or cars and trucks etc. Cars are all governed to a limit of MPH like in my 06 Dodge Magnum SRT 8 it cuts off at 166 or something. But ur right the only cars that should be allowed to go over 80 is like police cars and or govt cars. However everyone who bought a car would always take that limit out and make it so there car would go faster than 80 MPH. Just look at the billion dollar industry with after market parts. I know I would want my car to be able to go faster than 80. If I didn't care then I would of bought a cheep *** Honda and not a 425 hp Hemi. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

taylor p	because not every country has an 80mph speed limit in Germany on the autobahn there is no speed limit. Also its difficult to develop the acceleration speed of a car if it only goes up to 80 Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

L D	Sometimes its necessary to accelerate to get out of a road problem and then the more acceleration the better.Such occasions are rare but real.Another problem is that it is not possible for all vehicles to travel at 70.0000 mph: speedometers are not that accurate,if only because tyres are not exactly at the same pressure.The effect on a motorway caterpillaring ;traffic over a few miles is bunched up in some places and the road a mile or so upfront and behind is relatively free;the squeeze moves up and down the column. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

aim4perfection18	To run from the cops! :) Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

gixer rider	im afraid your missing the facts and speed limiters wont work. most accidents happen in built up areas, not on the motorways so there for restricting speed wont work. also less then 4% of accidents are attributed to speed and in most cases it cant actually be proven. on motorways one of the biggest causes is those that are not keeping up with the flow of traffic but decide they want to then move out to a lane where the traffic is faster. there has been research into them all ready and its been proven they dont work. it wont stop you from speeding in a 40 and thats the kind of road most happen. a major factor in accidents is poor observation and poor training. how many of you do shoulder checks to see whats sat in ur blind spot. bikes are very fast ( quicker then any car u can buy)but have less accidents , why becuase bike training is harder and bikers are more aware. what needs to be done is clamp down on those that use phones while driving. teach drivers how to use lanes and signals on roundabouts and junctions. AWARENESS is the key Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

futuretopgun101	Car engines are most efficent, work easier and last longer if they are designed to cruise in the middle of their power range. So designing a car that can do 160 will not be redlining at 80, whereas a car designed for an absolute maximum speed of 80 will be doing 7000rpm in 5th. That will trash the engine very quickly. As you get faster, acceleration also suffers, with a car designed to do just 80 it might take more then a minute to get to 80 and you dont want that when you are trying to join a motorway on short slip road. A more sensible option is to introduce electronic limiters on current engine standards to limit speed to 80 with no loss in acceleration or no excessive engine wear from high revs. This limiter could possibly have an option of being able to be disabled for track days or something so that if you buy a performance car, it doesnt affect you enjoying it in a safe environment. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No

enzuigiriuk	For a car to have 'performance' it has to have room at the top. This means that a car with a top speed of 150 will perform far better at 70 than a car with a top speed of 80. There is no point in limiting cars because then you are paying for engine you dont use and making smaller engines will be less fuel economical as they will have to rev harder / wear out quicker to produce the upper speeds. As others have said speed limits vary also. Most of the accidents around happen in towns and cities with idiots driving at 60 in 30 zones .. more focus should be put on this as relatively few accidents happen on the long motorway stretches. Was this answer helpful to you? Yes / No