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Cars you can take off the end of the speedo


Stanky

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3 hours ago, Scruffy Bodger said:

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.

So that's how the Land Rover at the bottom of Hopton Bank got into the hedge.

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A Dyane and a V8 S2 Land Rover are the only things I’ve driven that would go off the end of the speedo.

I once had a rented Yaris that I desperately buried to show 3 digits on the digital speedo, never found out if it even had 3 digits. It wouldn’t go over 97, I tried slipstreaming a Cayenne  on the M40 to achieve that much, when the Porsche pulled over to let me pass the Yaris slowed to about 88!,
 

When I was 8 my Dad ,who was a Motorway Express driver for Midland Red, had some overtime testing and running in the old BMMO C6’s after refurbishment and being painted National white. He took me with him on some of these shakedowns. We left Bearwood Garage and got on the M5 , then he drove flat out to where the M50 goes off near Tewkesbury , the good ones would do 90 according to him from timing the mile posts, they all went off the end of the speedo. I, of course was standing next to him , nose pressed against the windscreen , or running up and down the aisle. Although the highlight for me was us getting a lift home from a night fitter in the Land Rover or Thruppenny bit pickup.

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30 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I don’t know I don’t go driving at 100mph anywhere! A speedo usually over reads by a certain percentage so it’s going to be more accurate at 30mph that 130mph. 

Most are pretty accurate over 100mph, I spent many years driving through Europe including Germany and the GPS on my nav was never more than a couple of (kmh) out at 200kmh+ so they are more accurate than you would believe, my E300 Merc would hit around 240kmh on the speedo and show 231 on the GPS so maybe 5mph difference at 130mph :)

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Modern speedos are a lot more accurate than the old cable driven jobs on '70s cars. I knew loads of people back in the day who  claimed they'd seen ridiculous speeds from decidedly pedantic cars. Fit a set of lo-pro tyres to your Capri 1600 and watch the clock wind up to 120...

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On 10/23/2020 at 6:40 AM, Skut said:

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.   

Cinquecentos have a 120 speedo and with long, downhill and wind at your back, will just about go off the clock. On the flat, their limit is about 100ish.

My modded one can go right off the clock until runs out of gearing and is just bouncing off the limiter (Around 130mph), but the driver runs out of bravery long before that point.

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As others have experienced, it’s not hard with a 602cc 2cv to get the speedo off the clock. A bit of gradient and/ or a suitable tow (aerodynamically speaking, though a tow rope would also work) adding to the drama of being off the clock are doors being prised away from the bodyshell and nervous glances at the rippling canvas above your head. Early aviators would probably feel at home.

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First car I ever got "off the clock" was an E reg Fiesta 1.4 Sport.  Clock only went up to 110 and it'd comfortably do more than that, helped by the fact there wasnt much of the metalwork left to weigh it down by the time I owned it

RIP E857HSL.

MK3 Cavaliers often have comedy speedos and it was my party trick to terrify passengers with the needle bouncing off 140mph when you were lucky if you were actually even doing the ton.

 

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In 2004, the Dyane was well past the 80 mark on the M1 when the bonnet catch gave up the struggle and I discovered the secondary use for the air vents.  @Stinkwheelwill vouch for the repaired car's continuing 'velocitability' on the way back from the 2CV World Meeting the following year.

The Blingo is only supposed to do 99mph Vmax but managed a GPS-measured 107 in eastern Germany.

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I certainly will Mr Chaseracer.
I was 3 up in a 2CV pulling a trailer tent downhill (so lots of weight/momentum) and was pegged off the edge of the small 2CV type speedo.
Chaseracer came past still quite happily.
I was a bit miffed if I’m honest


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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On 10/24/2020 at 9:08 AM, sierraman said:

Once you get over a hundred the speedo is wildly inaccurate anyway.

That Spanish Bastard I had did an indicated 140 but was only* 133 on the satnav - not too shabby 5 up ;-)

(Obviously days later it shat itself again)

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I can add another 998cc mini, a long down hill section of motorway saw the needle go where it had never gone before. 

I was 17 and particularly pleased with myself at the time.

The thread title misled me somewhat. I was expecting a thread about limited mileage insurance shenanigans and speedo disconnection. Take off the end?

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