Told my dealer that the speedo reading was off by three or four mph.
After checking everything he said that everything was ok and VW has a
+ or – two to six mph spec. My car is still racking up miles faster
than it should and I really don’t know how fast I’m going, but that’s
ok because it’s within specs.
Bob Reardon
ca…@capital.net
Bob (ca…@capital.net) wrote:
: Told my dealer that the speedo reading was off by three or four mph.
: After checking everything he said that everything was ok and VW has a
: + or – two to six mph spec. My car is still racking up miles faster
: than it should and I really don’t know how fast I’m going, but that’s
: ok because it’s within specs.
My 95 Golf A3 Speedo is off as well (69mph indicated = 65mph actual). But
the odometer is nearly right-on. (100.0 miles indicated = 99.4 miles
actual). Don’t assume that the Speedo and Odometer are off by the same
amount.
–
Dave Franz <jdfr…@netcom.com>
Sacramento, California
P.S. it’s been 105 deg F (40 deg C) here the last two days. In spite of
heat, the Golf’s air conditioning blows out the vents at 34 deg F (1 deg
C) and keeps the entire passenger compartment nice and cool!
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
Dave Franz wrote:
> Bob (ca…@capital.net) wrote:
> : Told my dealer that the speedo reading was off by three or four mph.
> : After checking everything he said that everything was ok and VW has a
> : + or – two to six mph spec. My car is still racking up miles faster
> : than it should and I really don’t know how fast I’m going, but that’s
> : ok because it’s within specs.
> My 95 Golf A3 Speedo is off as well (69mph indicated = 65mph actual). But
> the odometer is nearly right-on. (100.0 miles indicated = 99.4 miles
> actual). Don’t assume that the Speedo and Odometer are off by the same
> amount.
> —
> Dave Franz <jdfr…@netcom.com>
> Sacramento, California
> P.S. it’s been 105 deg F (40 deg C) here the last two days. In spite of
> heat, the Golf’s air conditioning blows out the vents at 34 deg F (1 deg
> C) and keeps the entire passenger compartment nice and cool!
This way, VW saves it self from being sued by someone saying "The reason
I got a ticket is because the speedometer showed I was going slower then
I actually was." Though I think 6mph is too much to be over, maybe
2mph, not 6 though.
-Alden
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
> Alden Cates <aca…@hooked.net> writes:
> Dave Franz wrote:
> > Bob (ca…@capital.net) wrote:
> > : Told my dealer that the speedo reading was off by three or four mph.
> > : After checking everything he said that everything was ok and VW has a
> > : + or – two to six mph spec. My car is still racking up miles faster
> > : than it should and I really don’t know how fast I’m going, but that’s
> > : ok because it’s within specs.
> > My 95 Golf A3 Speedo is off as well (69mph indicated = 65mph actual). But
> > the odometer is nearly right-on. (100.0 miles indicated = 99.4 miles
> > actual). Don’t assume that the Speedo and Odometer are off by the same
> > amount.
> This way, VW saves it self from being sued by someone saying "The reason
> I got a ticket is because the speedometer showed I was going slower then
> I actually was." Though I think 6mph is too much to be over, maybe
> 2mph, not 6 though.
My speedometer is off by around 7mph in the optimum cruising range for the
backroads around here (55-70mph). I’ve checked it against other cars and
the MFA. The (correct) mileage count that the MFA gives is exactly the same
as the count that the odometer gives. I guess that the MFA and odometer both
operate independently of the faulty speedo….
Mike Barker
vwfr…@biddeford.com
http://www.biddeford.com/~vwfreak
’84 Rabbit Wolfsburg
’87 16v GTi
"Dust Thy Neighbor."
It’s illegal (for obvious reasons) to have a speedometer that shows lower
than actual speed. I assume it’s the same all across the US, but I know
it’s illegal in the state of Washington.
On Tuesday, June 04, 1996, Alden Cates wrote…
[snip]
: This way, VW saves it self from being sued by someone saying "The reason
: I got a ticket is because the speedometer showed I was going slower then
: I actually was." Though I think 6mph is too much to be over, maybe
: 2mph, not 6 though.
:
: -Alden
Peter Henriksen <pete…@microsoft.com> (A microserf, no less:)wrote:
>It’s illegal (for obvious reasons) to have a speedometer that shows lower
>than actual speed. I assume it’s the same all across the US, but I know
>it’s illegal in the state of Washington.
>: I actually was." Though I think 6mph is too much to be over, maybe
>: 2mph, not 6 though.
>: -Alden
In Britain I believe you have to be 10 percent over the speed limit to be
booked – due to variance in speedos, especially in older cars.
So if my car tells me I’m doing 70 down the motorway, but my real speed is
76, I can’t get booked. (Though considering the noise my ancientmobile
makes at 70 I could get done for breech of the peace
Paul
’80 Golf
–
psil…@mistral.co.uk
Silence to those who oppose freedom of speech!
>> My 95 Golf A3 Speedo is off as well (69mph indicated = 65mph actual). But
>> the odometer is nearly right-on. (100.0 miles indicated = 99.4 miles
>> actual). Don’t assume that the Speedo and Odometer are off by the same
>> amount.
My Cabby has a cable driven speedo, the odo runs from the same
cable… the question is: the only way the speed could be
off and the miles are correct is if the "zeor" is wrong on the
speedo, right?? The speed would stay a consistent 6MPH off
(or whatever), right?? If the gear itself was wrong, wouldn’t
the speed error increase with the speed, also racking up more
miles??? Which is it???>>
Speed Racer
In article <4p8fo8$…@ratty.wolfe.net>, nailh…@wolfenet.com (Speed Racer) writes:
|>
|> My Cabby has a cable driven speedo, the odo runs from the same
|> cable… the question is: the only way the speed could be
|> off and the miles are correct is if the "zeor" is wrong on the
|> speedo, right?? The speed would stay a consistent 6MPH off
|> (or whatever), right?? If the gear itself was wrong, wouldn’t
|> the speed error increase with the speed, also racking up more
|> miles??? Which is it???>>
|>
|> Speed Racer
The odometer can be designed to be pretty accurate because it is a
simple gear driven counter mechanism.
The same cannot be said for a speedo. A speedo (non-electronic) works
through a spinning magnet mechanism or some such contrivance. Picture
a magnet attached to your needle. The needle resists rotation by use
of a spring. A spinning magnet acts upon the needle-mounted magnet.
The faster the spinning magnet spins, the more force it transfers
to try to turn the needle, hence the farther it can push it against the
spring. Bingo — Speedometer!
The problem is, it is near impossible to design such a system for an
affordable price that will be completely linear and accurate over its
entire range. Remember, they make perhaps hundreds of thousands and
it would be cost prohibitive to insist on the tight tolerances required
for them all to be dead-on accurate. So, they err on the safe side,
i.e. they all read high, and we have to live with it.
So, even though they are driven off of the same cable, the odo has a
direct drive, and the speedo has this layer of "mush" built into it.
Hope this all makes sense.
Mike Kohlbrenner
<kohlb…@an.hp.com>