[Resolute Conservative]

Fast cars on public streets = stupid people

As much as I disdain big brother I have never seen the rational ( other than vanity ) for a car that will exceed much over the max speed limit.

130+mph when the average urban speed limit is under 55 is asinine. I have always said that they ( manufacturers ) can gear them to get sufficient torque with less top end speed and get better mileage.

Still big bro needs to stay home.

[CanaGuy]

I feel the need...for speed.

[IncPen]

I wonder how much CO2 gunpowder produces?

[doodad]

It is not the top speed that is fun, it’s the getting there.

[Clam Digger]

As much as I disdain big brother I have never seen the rational ( other than vanity ) for a car that will exceed much over the max speed limit.

What frickin free country should regulate what the hell people own? Do you want me to justify why I carry a .45 over a .22, when a .22 works? Why the hell should the government decide such things. Who's going to be the decider in suh cases. Giving in to this is one hell of a slippery slope. This is a FREE republic, ours to keep if we can.

P.S., i think you meant rationale)

[JamesP81]

130+mph when the average urban speed limit is under 55 is asinine. I have always said that they ( manufacturers ) can gear them to get sufficient torque with less top end speed and get better mileage.

You're running into too many practical concerns. My 1.6L, 115 horsepower Nissan Sentra can exceed the speed limit on any highway in the United States. Tell me, how much weaker do you want to make them?

You can't gear them to reduce top speed without reducing fuel economy. If you take any given engine, and gear it so that the final gear won't send the car above the speed limit at maximum RPM, you'd be in a situation where, to run at highway speed limit, you'd be running the engine at near max RPM. This is extremely bad for fuel economy, not to mention it increases wear on the components.

You could re tune the engines to generate maximum torque at low RPM and put an RPM limiter on it. However, even with the most extreme biasing towards torque at low RPMs, I think you'd still be turning too many rpms in the final gear to move at highway speeds.

There is a chance you might be able to do this with diesel engines, which naturally generate a lot of low end torque but don't have high redlines.

The only way to realistically do this is to either electronically limit the maximum speed of the car or produce cars with exceptionally weak engines.

The problem is that what you're talking about is somewhat mutually exclusive. A very tight gear ratio increases fuel economy, but that tight gear is what also allows the vehicle to reach very high speeds given enough time to accelerate and depending on torque generated by the engine.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

As much as I disdain big brother I have never seen the rational ( other than vanity ) for a car that will exceed much over the max speed limit.

Leave aside the fact that a number of us take our cars to the track on a regular basis and don't want to own two cars to do it - why should your inability to to see the reason for a powerful car affect me in any way? As long as I don't drive in an unsafe manner on public roads, I fail to see how my choice of vehicle is anyone else's business - and if you think banning under-the-hood performance is going to prevent or even slightly reduce the amount of unsafe driving in the world, you're badly mistaken.

[LukeL]

If you ever drive in the middle of the country you will find roads with a 75MPH speed limit and crusing at 85-90MPH seems like nothing.