Why do we make consumer vehicles capable of going double the speed limit?

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(I’m in the US where the speed limit on most highways is usually 65 or 70 mph)

The speedometer on my car tops out at 140mph. Aside from getaway drivers, who would ever need to drive that fast? Is there something about engine design that makes it too hard to have a max speed of 90/100 without affecting the overall function?

In: Engineering

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s more about the power that a vehicle can deliver somewhere between its top speed and the speed limit. If you test drive a car that accelerates poorly from a merging interstate lane, you’re going to drop it pretty quick for a model that can jump to attention when you want it too. The fact that it can top out at a high speed isnt the design intent, rather a byproduct.

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