Why do most cars have speedometers that go up to at least 130 mph when you legally can't go that fast?

Jack The Ripper	Well who said we always do things legally? I remember for awhile when most cars speedometers went only to 85,even on cars that would go much faster like in a 79 Caprice I once owned. As for me my speedometer only goes to 150,and the car has been clocked at a higher speed than that,thankfully that was on a track. I would hate to have a cop clock me that fast on any road,pretty sure they put you under the jail for that. AD

The Mr. Pine	Its an industry standard.

blahblahblah	the speedometers on every cars are not determined by how fast you can legally go; it is determined by how fast they can potentially go. new cars nowadays have the potential to go such speed because of improved engineering. eventhough a lot of cars can go really fast, we all assume the responsibilities, not only from speeding, but also traffic violations and drinking and driving, etc. if such law would be passed, almost everyone would object to that proposal, especially drivers who uses their cars for track racing.

Steven H	Well first you would have to make the cars go slower not just the speedometers. and 60mph? Are you crazy? Most Highways in the states are 65mph so you wont get a ticket for going 71mph or below. Some highways are 80mph. And than in some countries they dont even have speed limits. My spedo goes up to 160mph anyway. And once in a while I take it up to 135mph.

south of france	I think the Government does not want to maintain the roads. The slower you go the less you notice the bumps.

dodge man	because that's what people want to buy,they want to see the high speed on the speedometer,even if the car wont do it,which now some of them will ,they still want to know they can go fast if they want to,its what sells cars now days,good luck on it.

Al Mac Wheel	I do not know what nation you live in Mister, but automobiles are sold for people in many nations, and states within nations, where the rules are different. Germany has autobahns where you can do 200 mph or higher, if your auto is capable of it. Brazil has speed limits way higher than those in USA. Canada has a few that are a little higher than USA. Inside USA, the different states have rules under the guidelines of the US federal system, with one exception. Oklahoma has refused to accept any federal funds for its highways and thus is not bound by the federal strings attached, so they have speed limits of 80 and above on some highways. Most of the USA has 65 mph top speed on major highways, 55 on minor ones. The issue is not what the speedometer goes up to, but what the car is capable of going up to. Let's suppose it was like you said ... buy a car whose speedometer goes up to 60 mph. A person could still drive the car at 100 mph. The speedometer woulld go up to 60 then hang there, stuck as high as it can go, while the car actually much faster. Once upon a time I was in a hiway warriers situation where I was the chicken trying to get away from people who were attacking other drivers with their cars. I put car in reverse to try to get away from them ... at one point I was driving, I would estimate 40 mph backwards. I noticed that the odometer did not move backwards or forwards, and the speedometer read zero. I don't know if this would be true for all cars. My point is that the speedometer is not a governor that says you can't go over the limit shown on the guage, it is just a system for measuring what you are doing. It can be inaccurate, and it has limitations.

Maggie R	Because many highways have speed limits of all the way to 90, or at least in Texas they do. Also, the car needs to go fast in case it is running from something, like a tornado. And they want you to know how fast you're going so you know if you can go faster... i think.

tricky	Autobahn Germany no speed limits.On most of it.

Silverstang	Believe it or not, there are places in this world that you can go over...say...60mph. Thats why.

mellowg7	Then how would they make money ? And would you drive a car with a top speed of 60mph ? And some people do take their cars to race tracks to drive fast legally .

Ding Bat	Well just because it gives the feelin' of .. oh cool I can run 130 if I have to! ... omg al that sounds like you was in a road warrior or mad max movie there! ... see if al could have got turned around and went forward he could have punched it up ta 130mph and got away quicker babe! anyways I think it's montana that has an unlimited speed limit on interstates during daylight hours .. but only as long as you are not bein' a danger to others .. like weavin' in n out of traffic and stuff .... I know a guy that drives over the road and he told me he sometimes makes up time in places like montana .. wyoming .. run his pete 85 - 90 mph! said most cops won't bother ya as long as yer not gettin' crazy out there. how bout the sport bike speedo's they go even higher! lol ; )