Why do car speedometers get marked higher than their top speeds?

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To start, I know that cars can go faster than typical speed limits because if you went on a freeway at 100km/h with a car that had the same top speed, you would essentially be pushing it to the limit constantly, which is not really good for the car.

My question is why do cars have their speedometers marked way higher than they can actually go? For example, my dad’s 2017 Toyota Yaris marks up to 220km/h but it could probably go no more than 150km/h tops, so could they not just mark the speedometer up to 150km/h because it’s not really going to go above that?

EDIT: FYI I live in Australia

In: Engineering

10 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because the top speed is tested on a flat road with not much wind. With a tailwind going downhill a car can reach much higher speeds.

I got a fiat doblo 95hp to 190km/h indicated going downhill with strong tailwind. It’s a freaking fridge but with the help of gravity and wind it was at 5000rpm, while max power is at 4000. I think the papers say top speed is 165.

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