Artificially high speedo reading on new Audis??

Hi guys,
I got my new '04 S4 last March. I noticed that at speeds that I was
normally keeping up with traffic or going slightly faster in my old car, I
was now being passed quite regularly in my S4. So, I do the natural
response and speed up. I figured the speedo was reading about 5% high, so I
asked the service guy at the dealership. He said it's a new federal mandate
that speedos on cars 2004 and new must read 5-10% high. He didn't really
have an explanation and was not happy about it either because he has to tell
people that there's nothing he can do to fix it. The only thing he said was
that it was so that people will think they're going faster than they really
are so that if the speedo's reading 70, they'll really be going closer to
65. What a load of crap! Do the stupid politicians actually think people
won't figure it out? If not just by driving, but if they do get a ticket or
go by one of those speed readout boards, people will figure it out. Has
anybody heard about this?
Pete

On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 02:30:53 GMT, "Pete Stolz" >
wrote:

>I got my new '04 S4 last March. I noticed that at speeds that I was
>normally keeping up with traffic or going slightly faster in my old car, I
>was now being passed quite regularly in my S4. So, I do the natural
>response and speed up. I figured the speedo was reading about 5% high, so I
>asked the service guy at the dealership. He said it's a new federal mandate
>that speedos on cars 2004 and new must read 5-10% high.

<snip>

Interesting that you should say this. I bought an '02 A4 in April. I'm
in the UK. I've been wondering if my speedo was overreading as well.
Is it possible that it's been done worldwide?

Peter.

In article >,
Peter > wrote:
>On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 02:30:53 GMT, "Pete Stolz" >
>wrote:
>
>>I got my new '04 S4 last March. I noticed that at speeds that I was
>>normally keeping up with traffic or going slightly faster in my old car, I
>>was now being passed quite regularly in my S4. So, I do the natural
>>response and speed up. I figured the speedo was reading about 5% high, so I
>>asked the service guy at the dealership. He said it's a new federal mandate
>>that speedos on cars 2004 and new must read 5-10% high.
>
><snip>
>
>Interesting that you should say this. I bought an '02 A4 in April. I'm
>in the UK. I've been wondering if my speedo was overreading as well.
>Is it possible that it's been done worldwide?

Nothing has changed, nor is it unusual. Maybe the US has just caught up.

AIUI, legislation in the UK has required (for years now - maybe came
from a European regulation) that speedometers read between +1% and +11%
at 70mph. In other words, by law speedometers must never under-read.
It's an obvious safety provision, as well as protecting manufacturers
from frivolous claims by motorists who are being prosecuted for speeding
and want to blame somebody else.

It happens that my old A3 over-read by about 5mph at 70mph, but my new
A3 over-reads by about 1-2mph at 70mph. When I first got the car, I
double-checked the speedometer against the speed reading from a GPS. I
want to be confident about my actual speeds.

The reason that I'm anal about speedometers is because I bought a new VW
Golf in 1998 which did have an under-reading speedometer. Needless to
say, the dealer refused to believe me and tried hard to patronise me as
someone suffering from delusions. When I became insistent enough for
them to check, they were forced to replace it PDQ especially after I had
pointed out to them that they had sold me a car which was illegal to use
on a road. It was under-reading by about 10%, and it was obvious when
driving in traffic on a motorway.

If you carry out the same calibration yourself, you might also find it
very educational to watch how much other cars slow down for speed
cameras or around traffic cars, when you know they're already doing less
than the speed limit. A reduction of 11% at 70mph means they are
actually doing less than 63mph. It seems that many cars' speedometers
over-read by near to the maximum, if only the owners realised it.

Yes, I have had a traffic car tuck in behind me after I had sailed past
them and everyone else doing 65mph, only for them to leave me alone
after following me for a couple of miles. I like to think that it would
have been plain to them that I did know what speed I was doing, unlike
most others on the road it seems, but who knows?

--
David Nesbitt

N.B. Email sent to "nospam" will be rejected. Please use Reply-To address.

There is no such thing as an "accurate" speedometer that used engine speed
and gear ratios to calculate speed. Your indicated speed varies according to
amount of tyre wear and whether the tyre is over or under inflated.
You the driver would certainly sue the manufacturer if booked for speeding
when your speedometer indicated you were travelling within the speed limit.
For that reason all car makers have sold cars with over-reading
speedometers, long before any law made them do such a thing.
A GPS system is certainly much more accurate as it is not affected by things
like tyre condition. Obviously such a system cannot replace the cars
speedometer as it cannot work anywhere the satellites cannot be seen.
It would also help if some smart-alecs would shut-up instead of writing
bull**** on things they obviously know nothing about.

Oldun

On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 11:31:12 +0100, "Anthony R. Gold"
> wrote:

>The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, as amended,
>allows the use of speedometers that meet the requirements of EC Community
>Directive 75/443(97/39) or ECE Regulation 39. Both the EC Directive and
>the ECE Regulation lay down accuracy requirements to be applied at the
>time of vehicle approval for speedometers. These requirements are that the
>error in the indicated speed must not be more than 10 per cent of the true
>speed plus 4 km/h. The requirements are also that the indicated speed
>must never be less than the true speed.

Interesting, thanks.

Hmmm... haven't I seen you before somewhere... like yesterday on
uk.media.home-cinema? It's a small world!

Peter.

In article >,
Anthony R. Gold > wrote:
>On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 09:37:35 +0100, David Nesbitt
> wrote:
>
>> AIUI, legislation in the UK has required (for years now - maybe came
>> from a European regulation) that speedometers read between +1% and +11%
>> at 70mph.
>
>A law that they must always read at least 1% high? Rubbish!

Thank you for your correction.

--
David Nesbitt

N.B. Email sent to "nospam" will be rejected. Please use Reply-To address.

That makes sense, but then why does my 2002 Durango read right on the nuts
when I pass one of those speed boards they put by the side of the road? I
wonder if they calibrate those wrong too.
Pete

"Oldun" > wrote in message
...
> There is no such thing as an "accurate" speedometer that used engine speed
> and gear ratios to calculate speed. Your indicated speed varies according
> to
> amount of tyre wear and whether the tyre is over or under inflated.
> You the driver would certainly sue the manufacturer if booked for speeding
> when your speedometer indicated you were travelling within the speed
> limit.
> For that reason all car makers have sold cars with over-reading
> speedometers, long before any law made them do such a thing.
> A GPS system is certainly much more accurate as it is not affected by
> things
> like tyre condition. Obviously such a system cannot replace the cars
> speedometer as it cannot work anywhere the satellites cannot be seen.
> It would also help if some smart-alecs would shut-up instead of writing
> bull**** on things they obviously know nothing about.
>
> Oldun
>
>

On Sun, 18 Sep 2005, Pete Stolz wrote:

> That makes sense, but then why does my 2002 Durango read right on the nuts
> when I pass one of those speed boards they put by the side of the road? I
> wonder if they calibrate those wrong too.

I wondered that too. My 2002 A4 also reads exactly the same as those speed
boards at all kinds of different speeds. I tested the speedo by driving at
exactly 60mph between two mile markers and timing the run using a
stop-watch; time was within a tenth of 60 seconds. I repeated the test at
70mph and 80 mph. That also gave an accurate result. So, as long as the
mile markers are accurate, the speed boards and my speedo are within 1% of
the true speed. My '95 Passat was within 2%. Then again, I once used a
radar gun to clock an airplane hanger at Sebring at 57 mph :-)

Steve

Hurricanes can blow a person holding a radar gun at just about that speed.
Not much holding back the breeze at Sebring.


"Steve Thompson" > wrote in message
oft.com...
> On Sun, 18 Sep 2005, Pete Stolz wrote:
>
>> That makes sense, but then why does my 2002 Durango read right on the
>> nuts
>> when I pass one of those speed boards they put by the side of the road?
>> I
>> wonder if they calibrate those wrong too.
>
> I wondered that too. My 2002 A4 also reads exactly the same as those speed
> boards at all kinds of different speeds. I tested the speedo by driving at
> exactly 60mph between two mile markers and timing the run using a
> stop-watch; time was within a tenth of 60 seconds. I repeated the test at
> 70mph and 80 mph. That also gave an accurate result. So, as long as the
> mile markers are accurate, the speed boards and my speedo are within 1% of
> the true speed. My '95 Passat was within 2%. Then again, I once used a
> radar gun to clock an airplane hanger at Sebring at 57 mph :-)
>
> Steve

OK, you've had your fun, now can any of you find me a maker who guarantees
their cars speedometers are 100% accurate all of the time?

Maybe it would be wise to search Google before trying to redicule someones
statement first. Or as they say "engage brain before pressing keys".

Have a nice day.

Oldun