re: speed governing

[Bob Davis <bob@segNET.COM>]

>I would like your opininion regarding the fact that all Audis, BMWs and
>almost all Mercedeses are nowadays speed governed in the US. It makes me
>sick. Take the Audi A8 4.2 Q for example. I visited the European Audi site
>(www.audi.de) a few weeks ago and found out that it had a top speed of
>155mph. WOW! , I thought, what a great car. Imagine my suprise when I saw
>that the US version was governed to 130. 

Hate to tell you this, but a lot of the cars that you mentioned as having a
155 MPH speed maximum in Germany are also limited electronically -- to
155MPH (250kph, right?).  Many of the manufacturers in Germany were
concerned about the possibility of mandatory limits being set upon them by
the government (because of environmental concerns more than safety) as the
speeds attainable by their cars was rising, so they did it themselves.  

Believe me, an A8 should be able to WAY past 155MPH (300bhp, 3500 lbs,
slippery).  It's the brain that does it.  Take a look at the top speeds of
many of the newer German cars -- you'll see a lot of 250KPH.

Having seen speeds close to that in Germany in a couple "tuned" Audis and
VW's (an old friend owns a dealership outside Stuttgart) I can assure you
that any car with the spec sheet of an A8 (or an S4/6 or a tuned 200 for
that matter -- what's the gearing limit on the speed?) should get well
north of 155MPH.  I mean, come on...a new GTI VR6 will go about that fast
(in Germany -- limited to 130 in the States) with worse aero-dynamics, 125
fewer ponies (a lot less weight though), and pretty short gears.  
The 155 limit's got to be electronic.

Bob Davis		SEG Network Technologies, Inc.
bob@segNET.com	Suite 206/208, The Nugget Building
V: 603.643.5883	Hanover, NH 03755 USA
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