Why are the majority of cars able to drive nearly double the maximum speed limit of most countries?

Question

Why are the majority of cars able to drive nearly double the maximum speed limit of most countries?

In: 8

Answer 1

None of the answers here are correct. You can have a V12 700+ horsepower engine and still put an ECU limiter at 89 mph, same as the limiter on the cruise control systems every car has.

The reason manufactures don’t put it isn’t true either, they most certainly do. Here in California, most cars are ECU limited at 155mph and a few will reach 172mph. You can of course unlock these limits through ECU mods but that’s probably illegal.

Can manufacturer’s add ECU limits at 89mph like they do on cruise control systems? Yes.
Why don’t they? Because there is no law requiring it so if BMW implemented this they would just lose business to Mercedes.