Speedo measured by RAA

[mohaine]

Just for everyones' info, I had my 2007 2WD Kluger's speedo accuracy measured by the RAA and here are the results:

Indicated Speed, Actual Speed

25, 20.5

40, 35.1

50, 44.6

60, 54.5

70, 64.3

80, 73.8

90, 83.3

100, 92.8

110, 102.3

Design regulations or not, that's pretty poor I reckon.

[wilsact]

Just for everyones' info, I had my 2007 2WD Kluger's speedo accuracy measured by the RAA and here are the results:

Indicated Speed, Actual Speed

25, 20.5

40, 35.1

50, 44.6

60, 54.5

70, 64.3

80, 73.8

90, 83.3

100, 92.8

110, 102.3

Design regulations or not, that's pretty poor I reckon.

Alot of manufacturers started doing this, as it's a sneaky help with fuel economy. Alot of reviewers, magazines, governments offices etc were only going off the vehicles speedo when calculating economy figures.

i.e if they were checking highway fuel economy at 100km/h, since the vehicle was really only doing say 92 the economy appeared better then it was. Very sneaky;)

Hopefully they have now woken up to this, and start using gps to measure indicated speed when doing the economy figures!

Edited September 13, 2010 by wilsact

[DJKOR]

In all honesty though, yes I do agree that it is a little slack of them in a way considering technology should allow them to make more accurate speedos, but I also don't think it's much to get fussed about.

At the end of the day, the speedo in your car is not intended to be a precision measuring instrument. As long as it doesn't read over, then the reading it provides is not dangerous so to speak and is therefore not a problem to the manufacturer. As well as that, if you were to complain that it was out by 5-10%, you have to think... what is it that you gain from complaining about it? The fact that you are loosing a few minutes or so every hour of driving because you don't get to your destination when you could potentially do so? Realistically, any lost time in travelling a small amount under the limit will not have any big effect on your life.

Yes that is a bit of a rant, but I just like to look at it from the point of view that if your speedo was to read 99& accurate, then what do you really gain?

[Kenshin X]

Also saves u from getting pinged by the jacks if u accidently slip over the speed limit :P

[Guest]

and besides, if you are super concerned about having accurate speed, get a GPS.

[mohaine]

All that bothers me about this is fitting in with the flow of the traffic. If I naively think I'm doing 60 when I look at my speedo when I'm really trundling along at 54, it only results in tailgating and aggression. At the end of the day, I just drive around at 65 knowing that I'm really doing close to 60.

[Hiro]

All that bothers me about this is fitting in with the flow of the traffic. If I naively think I'm doing 60 when I look at my speedo when I'm really trundling along at 54, it only results in tailgating and aggression. At the end of the day, I just drive around at 65 knowing that I'm really doing close to 60.

It only results in problems if everyone elses speedo is super accurate...and they're not. All cars will read under, and 5-10% is not uncommon at all, so there's a decent chance that if you're doing an indicated 60km/h, that the other cars around you are probably doing about the same indicated speed too, even if you're all doing only 55 or so.

[ELEGNT]

thats common in every car mate

[DJKOR]

If I naively think I'm doing 60 when I look at my speedo when I'm really trundling along at 54, it only results in tailgating and aggression.

If you can't control your aggression etc when there are others on the road travelling under the speed limit, then you really have to take another look at yourself and question why you can't just take a step back and relax. Sure enough people travelling under the speed limit agitates me, but at the end of the day, they aren't in the wrong... I'm the one being a d***.

It's called a speed limit for a reason. Just because the sign says '60', it does not mean that you must travel on 60km/h. The speed limit defines "... the maximum speed in km/h that you may drive your vehicle on the road in good conditions."*. Sure it can be dangerous travelling too slow on the road and it is something you can get fined for as well, but within reason, 10% under isn't dangerous.

Plus added to the fact that your car isn't the only one on the road where the speedo is off like it is.

* Quoted from "Your Keys To Driving in Queensland", page 68. The definition is universal though.

[mohaine]

If you can't control your aggression etc when there are others on the road travelling under the speed limit, then you really have to take another look at yourself and question why you can't just take a step back and relax. Sure enough people travelling under the speed limit agitates me, but at the end of the day, they aren't in the wrong... I'm the one being a d***.

What I meant was that if I am driving at 54 kph, then I observe other drivers behind me tailgating me and getting aggressive.

[mohaine]

Prior to July 2006, speedos were allowed to be plus or minus 10% in their readings, meaning that on the whole, actual speeds were much more likely to be closer to reported speeds. Since July 2006, a speedo cannot read lower than the speed the car is actually doing. This means that newer cars (post 2006) are more likely to be going slower than older cars, even when everybody thinks they are doing the same speed according to their speedos.

This is definitely what I observe out on the road.

[Blackkluger]

So no one has mentioned this, if the speedo says 100kms per hour, and i do 100,000kms, when in fact the speedo is over stating it, then realisticly, the car has only really done 92,000kms approx, then it also means we are wasting $ on services as we are doing these 10% early too. and oh my god, my tyres which i thought lasted 10,000kms are really only lasting 9000kms.

I travel @ 103kms as i know it was showing slow, as i go past those speed checks and even at 103 it states 99 on the overhead ones, may not be 100% but closer than the speedo.

[idisc]

As others have stated, its quite common for cars to read more than the actual speed.

As you wear down your tyres, the speed difference also increases slightly.

I stick to the speed limits, but on highways, cars always seem to be whizing past me at a much greater speed.. so it got me curious to see how much the speedo was out on the Kluger.

I ran a comparison tonight against a GPS speed program on my phone and my car was over reading by 5-6kmh at 80kmh and 90kmh.. that is, at an indicated 80kmh, the GPS was showing 74-75kmh, and likewise, at an indicated 90kmh, the GPS was reading 84-85kmh.

This is a brand new Kluger, so the tyres are brand new too.

When its time to change the tyres, I may see what other profiles are available to increase the rolling diameter slightly and make the speedo a bit more accurate.

Edited September 19, 2010 by _kit_

[Kesawi]

I did complain to my dealer during a service about the speedo reading fast, but their response was that they tested it and it was within the ADR limits so they wouldn't do anything.

The following two threads have a long discussion on the Kluger speed errors and are worth reading:

Speedo Error Margin

Speedo error margin (Part II) some real data (OBD vs GPS speed)

Regarding ths issue of ODO reading for warranty, Taka did a test in the second thread which showed that the ECU reads closer to the correct speed. Hopefully the ODO takes its data from ECU and not the adjusted speed that the Speedo uses.

[Matty P]

I did complain to my dealer during a service about the speedo reading fast, but their response was that they tested it and it was within the ADR limits so they wouldn't do anything.

The following two threads have a long discussion on the Kluger speed errors and are worth reading:

Speedo Error Margin

Speedo error margin (Part II) some real data (OBD vs GPS speed)

Regarding ths issue of ODO reading for warranty, Taka did a test in the second thread which showed that the ECU reads closer to the correct speed. Hopefully the ODO takes its data from ECU and not the adjusted speed that the Speedo uses.

Exact response I got from the Dealer when I raised this issue.

[GKLUGER]

Also saves u from getting pinged by the jacks if u accidently slip over the speed limit :P

Absolutely, many times I driven past speed cameras and highway patrol when the speedo was reading over the speed limit and didn't get caught. Gives that extra peace of mind and margin. I have a TomTom and the difference is 5% across the board - meaning that if the speedo was doing 105, TomTom was reading 100 and it is linear.

Anyway, losing a few extras k's per hour is not going to kill anyone - better late than dead!

(this is my first post - great site).....

Cheers...

[ATE]

I just now double checked my speedo ( 2005 Kluger Grande) against gps speedo app in my phone.......

Guess what....... both the readings were pretty much same..... in 70 Km/h zone, put it on the Cruise control,

in 60 & 50 zones kept the car on the limit and in all cases, both readings were similar........

[450HP/tonne]

So no one has mentioned this, if the speedo says 100kms per hour, and i do 100,000kms, when in fact the speedo is over stating it, then realisticly, the car has only really done 92,000kms approx, then it also means we are wasting $ on services as we are doing these 10% early too. and oh my god, my tyres which i thought lasted 10,000kms are really only lasting 9000kms.

The odometer and speedometer are not directly linked. The electronic systems all know exactly how fast you are traveling. Your odometer will therefore be accurate, if your tyre pressures match the placard.

I have done the test with the Toyota scan tool, speedometer and 2 trusted GPS systems. The only one of the 4 that wasn't to the nearest km/h was the speedometer (as it's required to be).

Manufacturers also ensure that the speedometer meets ADR regulation with accessory wheels and tyres, hence the larger margin for error. All manufacturers are doing the same thing ...

Driving safely is more important than driving at the exact speed limit.