Need for speed?
Asked by Graeme Wilson
I have a 1991 Nissan Pulsar N14 with five-speed manual transmission and 1.6-litre engine. My concern is with the accuracy of my speedo. I am a regular freeway user, travel at an indicated 100 km/h and appear to be the slowest car on the freeway. The speedo is the only indicator I have of road speed and I am reluctant to travel at the same speed as other vehicles as they appear to be exceeding the speed limit by some margin. My car is fitted with a five-speed manual transmission, has half-worn 185/60 x 14 tyres and the rev counter indicates just over 3200 rpm at an indicated 100 km/h. I have not had an opportunity to drive under a speed advisory radar so I have no idea if the speedo indication is within the bounds of reasonable accuracy. From the information above, would it appear that the speedo is reasonably accurate, or am I travelling well below the indicated 100 km/h?
Answered by CarsGuide
13 Feb 2004Australian Design Rules (ADRs) allow a speedometer to have a tolerance of plus or minus 10 per cent, which means at an indicated 100 km/h you could be doing anywhere between 90 and 110 km/h although they are generally much more accurate than that. It could be that yours is on the low side of the tolerance, but it needs to be remembered that the speedo is a guide to your speed, absolute accuracy is not guaranteed. My advice would be to ignore what other drivers are doing, the law doesn't say you must drive at the speed limit, it's quite permissible, and acceptable, to drive below the limit.
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