Date:         Thu, 21 Mar 1996 14:53:00 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Maher, Steve (SD-MS)" <SMAHER@gi.com>
Subject:      Re: Baywindow tire size/speedo error


The V6anagon has deliberately oversized tires (215/75R14) that
I put on in an attempt to convert some of the engine's extra torque into
lower RPMs.I was sure the speedo would read low after doing so.
But when the CCCs came down for their impromptu Tijuana jaunt,
we found ourselves on a freeway next to a fancy new Caddy with
the hi-tech (read: one blown fuse and you're dead) digital dash. It
was so bright, you could read it from the next car.

Bradley took time off from removing my ash tray and sticking his
arm down into the innards of the dash, long enough to read the
Caddy's speedo, and we found that it matched the readings of the
V6anagon's, right down to the last mph. I don't know what it would have
read with normal-sized tires, but it's a good guess that it would have
read too high (say, 70 mph when the bus was actually going 65).

Either two completely different speedos were off by the same amount in
the same direction, or the V6anagon (and the Caddy) were both right
on the money.

It's common for auto manufacturers to err on the side of too-high this
way, rather than take a chance on putting out a lot of "ticket-getter"
speedos that indicate a lower speed than the car is actually going.

"But, officer, I'm sure I was only going 55-- the speedometer said so!"
"Yeah, sure, lady, that's what they all say, but you were going 65.
   Sign here."

With people suing each other over slipping on a wet sidewalk nowadays,
can you imagine the litigation that would descend on carmakers' heads
if speedos could be proven "defective and harmful (to the pocketbook)"
this way? Who can blame them for wanting to make speedos read too high
rather than too low?

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 Steve Maher   smaher@gi.com       '80 V6anagon w/Chevy 2800
                                   '66 Mustang Coupevertible, for sale

 Check out the cars at http://www.lookup.com/homepages/76242/home.html

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