Cars you can take off the end of the speedo

[Stanky]

Inspired* by driving a trabant 601 in 'The Long Drive' on long downhill sections you can get it off the end of the 120kph speedo.

What shite can you get (in stock form) off the end of the speedometer?

I have owned all sorts of aold shit motors, but pretty much always the base, or nearly base spec models, so my life is neatly summarised by beign unable to get about 2/3rds of the way to the max readout on the dial flat out.

I think the closest I have ever managed was 140mph out of a (very highly tuned) Mk2 Scirocco with a 160mph speedometer about 8 years ago on a track.

[DaveDorson]

I used to regularly get my VW t3 caravelle round to M on the Speedo.

My old smart did an GPS indicated 86mph which is beyond the 80mph Speedo before shitting the exhaust valves on number three out the exhaust, but I might* have messed about with the rev limit and boost on the map before that happened.

 

*Yeah.. I did that... No regrets.  It was hilarious

[Talbot]

The only vehicle I've ever had "off the clock" was a Series IIB landrover, and that's only because it had a 70mph speedometer, and I managed to get it to about 72mph indicated.  It had been driving for a couple of hours, so all the oils were hot, it was a high-pressure day, I had no load on board and had a very long downhill section.  The Perkins 4.203 in it went well over it's maximum RPM, despite there being an overdrive fitted, and the steering went horribly light and even more vague than usual.  I immediately slowed back to 60 to stop shitting my pants.

Had a Fiat X1/9 show 122mph on a 140mph speedometer, and have had my old panel van showing 85mph on a 100mph speedometer, but other than that most things I've owned won't even get close to the top end of their speedometer

[SmokinWaffle]

My MX5 speedo only goes to 120MPH - but I had it past that. I imagine around 135 before I lost my nerve - with the diff ratio and gearbox it has it can apparantly do 166, but I'm not gonna try that!

 

Shame it just sticks at 120 instead of going into the nether. Being supercharged makes silly speeds very possible indeed.

[Stroller133]

A mk1 Polo Formel E. it only had a 100mph and I'd estimated I got to around an 106-108mph.  It was a 3+E and top speed was supposed to be achieved in 3rd. It was 18 year old me's party trick telling people my 1.1 polo would do over 90 in 3rd. Most said Bollocks, so it was "get in then".   I think it could see 95ish on the clock in 3rd, but downhill and with wind behind it would pull a bit more in E (4th).

The other one was another Polo, a Mk2 Coupe S. Again only 100mph in the clock. This was a 5speed and I could fairly easily see 105ish and I remember easily cruising at 95, 5 up.  One night I finished a shift sorting parcels in Atherstone and just wanted to get back to my student house in  Nottingham.  Along a stretch of the A42 the speedo was almost pointing at the floor! It must of been 115 if the numbers carried on. 

[Spiny Norman]

Bit blurry but this was me slipstreaming a Volvo estate in my mate's 2CV with the needle way past the 70mph mark.

[Jazoli]

My old 200SX back in 1999

It used to sit on the rev limiter at 157mph for fun

(sorry it wasn't stock standard it was modified a little and it wasn't shite either, but it was fun racing back from the casino)

[83C]

An Optare Solo with the Cummins ISB and a broken speed limiter will get to at least 95mph. 

The BMW 640i driver seemed quite surprised to see me overtaking him in a bus.

[Dan the van]

Mk2 Pinto engined Transits were good for this,had a couple well past 6 o'clock.Hideously inaccurate  speedo of course.

[outlaw118]

Renault 4 slipstreaming a big van on the downhill section of the M11 where it meets the M25. Speedo went to 80, was well past that, the noise was unbelievable.

[sierraman]

I used to work with a guy that had a Golf 1.4, surely the slowest thing this side of a life sentence, anyway he reckoned it would read 140 on the speedo. We used to take the piss out of him at work for being such a pathological liar. 

[sutty2006]

The Mercury I have in the for sale thread, I’ve had the needle touch the stop on the opposite side. But it does end at about 85mph 😂

[omegod]

My brothers old 928 S4 would hit past 170 on the speedo, not sure how far past as I was screaming in fear like a little girl in the passenger seat 

[rusty_vw_man]

Once in a bit of a rage (argument with the girlfriend) on a very long hill with a decent tailwind I took a VW beetle past the end of the speedo (indicated 90mph although I reckon real speed was much much less!). 

Terrifying, steering was very light, twitchy and the noise was something else, as was the smell of hot engine.  A couple of days later it shat a main crank bearing, it’s main oil seal and all its oil all over the M4 by Membury services - sure that was just a coincidence though......

[MrBiscuits]

Aged about 20 I managed to get a Mini 1000 past the '9' on the back to front 90 at the end of the big Smith's speedo. Gravity helped, and it wasn't quite standard but then I'd convinced myself it wasn't modified enough to bother the insurance company.

[Talbot]

3 hours ago, sutty2006 said:

it does end at about 85mph

Wasn't that a USA requirement for many years:  all vehicles had to have a speedo that went up on the 5's rather than the 10's (15/25/35 etc) and had to stop at 85.

[sutty2006]

5 minutes ago, Talbot said:

Wasn't that a USA requirement for many years:  all vehicles had to have a speedo that went up on the 5's rather than the 10's (15/25/35 etc) and had to stop at 85.

Yeah something like that. 15-25-35-55, and so on. Isn’t their main speed limit 55? Conveniently when overdrive drops in too. 

[Talbot]

I think it's more state specific now, with some states having 65 and 75mph limits. the 55 blanket speed limit was many years ago.

[dozeydustman]

Bedford/Va*xh*ll Rascal. 80mph speedo; took one of the staff Rascals around Brands Hatch up to 85ish.

It was scary.

[DaveDorson]

1 minute ago, dozeydustman said:

Bedford/Va*xh*ll Rascal. 80mph speedo; took one of the staff Rascals around Brands Hatch up to 85ish.

It was scary.

They're great for doing endos in though.

 

However I'd not recommend you do that with a fully loaded catering fridge in the back.   

 

[hairnet]

visa pointed at half past five

numbers ran out at half past four

[Cento16v]

I've had the S60 of the end of the clock quite a few times. 

Biggest thing to note is the fuel gauge moving down visibly 😂

Still pulling at a GPS 167 but I guess in due to mechanical sympathy!

Also took a ZX 1.9 estate to le mans several times and used cruise control (throttle stop) the entire way there and back without lifting on the motorway/autoroute and it didn't drop a beat. Cracking engine the XUD. Indicated 105 all the way there and back on veg oil 😂 

[Skut]

Fiat Panda 1000  reads up to 100 and on a long downhill straight you could get it to read 100 or slightly over.  Needed commitment and some sort of German premium product to chase.   

[Cavcraft]

Pains me to admit it, but a 1995 Iv*co 75E15 could quite easily go as far as the end of the tachograph. Allegedly.

[cobblers]

On 10/21/2020 at 11:04 PM, DaveDorson said:

I used to regularly get my VW t3 caravelle round to M on the Speedo.

 

I came here to post this too - both of my T3s used to comfortably go off the end of the 100mph speedo. In reality I reckon it wasn't much more than 90mph TBH because people would still be overtaking me.

My MK2 fiesta 1.4S had a 110MPH speedo and it'd go off the end without much bother especially when I was a 18 and a complete knobhead.

I sold it to a lad who put a heavily tuned RS turbo engine in it, and somewhere on an old hard drive in a box at my mums is a very early cameraphone video he sent me with the speedo needle back round against the stop at 10mph. It still had the standard 221mm unvented brakes on! Lad had a flipping death wish!

[Mrs6C]

Most Triumph Heralds, though more to do with the wayward workings of the speedometer than the actual speed of the vehicle...

[2MB]

My old 205 GT at the top of the clock. If you look closely you might be able to see how I did it

[BorniteIdentity]

Best thread in ages.  Some proper chortles here.  10/10

[Spurious]

My dad had a grey import Suzuki Sj413.  The Speedo ended at 140km/h.  Decided to see if would go past it on an empty Motorway on a quiet sunday morning on a new motorway in Ireland (downhill assisted).  It did, it felt very very twitchy though and the vague steering didn't help.

We both agreed later that it was a silly idea and there was nothing in it's bean tin structure that would have saved us if it rolled at that speed.  0/10 would not try again.

 

[Scruffy Bodger]

A series III SWB Land rover when I was 17/18. There's a steep hill locally that @catsinthewelder knows well. I was already pretty much flat out when I crested the top and thought it would be a good idea to knock into neutral to see if I could get a bit more out of it.