Now how bout that for honda's "high" quality control process.
I expect this from the big three. Honda has really let me down :P
One site said the SAE Standards are between -1 and +4%. Is this really true? I wouldn't want to be the guy driving 60 in a 50 and really be going 4% faster...
What are the SAE standards on odometers. My POS Ranger is out 5%, has been since new... Spring time this ranger is getting the boot, what with its 3.0L 5spd and 13MPG and all. Not sure what kind of brain wave i had when i acquired this thing.
Hm Didn't you know, all speedometers are inaccurate. Its noy Honda's fault not Fords not anyones. The tolerance is usually 10 % either 10 percent down or 10 percent up on real speed . Its to do with tyres, mechanical limitations etc. So when you get booked, you don't really know what speed you're doing, and neither do the speed camera people as they are not tested to national standards, although the law enforcement agencies will swear black and blue they do and its your problem, as they hand you the fine.
Only 13 mpg with that little motor and a 5-speed? Shoot, my Lincolns ('91 & '92) get 24-26 mpg with the 3.8L motors and auto trans. 13 mpg is almost as bad as my big Dodge Ram with the 318 V-8 and auto trans.
This is silly lawsuit. Who doesn't know odometers aren't 100% accurate? Maybe if an engine blew up at an indicated 36,800 miles and Honda refused to repair it, there would be a claim. My experience with Honda is that they do a very good job of honoring the spirit of their warranty and not just the letter. If you are leasing the vehicle, and the odometer accuracy bothers you, have it checked before you sign on the dotted line and have the accuracy figured into the deal.
I have always checked my cars odometers. Generally all the Fords I have owned have been 1% to 3% "slow," i.e. show a few less miles than actually traveled. The Toyota I owned was the other way, it showed about 3% more miles on the odometer than I actually traveled. My last GM car (a Vue) was about 1% fast. My Nissan's speedometer is about 3% optimistic (Indicated 70 is really 68) and the odometer is almost dead on (about 1 % slow - indicated 10 miles is really 9.9). I have never had a car off by more than 3% as long as the OE tires were installed.
+4% would indicate that you are going 57.6 mph when the speedometer indicated 60 mph. -1% would mean you were doing 60.6 at an indicated
No speedometer is perfect, so if you are trying to just avoid a ticket, give yourself a little margin.
Given the variation in tires, you are never going to get perfect results. I have read that in Germany, by law, speedometers have to be optimistic (show a higher speed than actual). THis makes sense to me.
We owned a bunch of Rangers (83, 86, 89, 92, 99) and none have been off my than 3% and in every case the odometer indicated fewer miles than actually traveled. Do you have the OE size tires installed?
Either your Ranger is messed up, or you drive like a wild man. Our '92 Ranger was a 3.0L Automatic (2WD) and averaged around 20 in normal day to day use (it is a farm vehicle and wasn't driven on the highway, but the regular driving wasn't stop and go either). The '99 is a 4L Automatic 4WD and gets the worst mileage of any Ranger we have owned, but is still a lot better than 13 (around 18).
Even when speedometer were mechanical, they did better than 10% accuracy, as long as the vehicle was relatively new and the tires were the correct size. The only vehicle I drove with a speedometer off by more than 3% was an old F100 farm truck with greatly oversize rear tires. At an indicated 55, you were doing 60 (a 9% error). With mechanical speedometers you could fix this by changing the drive gear (usually there were a number of gears available). Years ago in NC, the courts would usually let you off a speeding ticket if you could produce a calibration statement from a speedometer shop that showed you speedometer was enough to cause you to speed. They eventually closed this loophole because it was being abused. I had one college roommate who spent a couple of days changing his speedometer gears to get one that made his ticket go away. He went back to the same speedometer shop each time he changed gears. They knew exactly what he was doing, but didn't care.
The chances of the radar being off by more than 1% are slim to none. It is possible that they clocked the wrong "thing," but whatever they clocked was probably going the speed they reported.
Actually, it is your problem. On highways and local streets, law enforcement often sets up radar to tell you your speed. You should be able to compare your speed to the speed on the display, and see how your speedometer agrees.
You can also take your car to places to be calibrated.
If you're going at the posted limit on an interstate highway, and people aren't passing your right and left, you're speedometer is off.
Yes probably but we are talking about LEGAL measurement. Under certain circunstances RADAR or LASER are not and that is the rpoblem. They CAN be set up to produce speeds read in excess by greedy corporations. They wouldnt do that would they? YES they do. Problem is how do motorists prove them wrong or faulty? So NO governemnt accuracy department want to have anything to do with testing these. So private companies do. Not exactly legal but accepted by most judges anyway.
No one can test you speedometer legally. All they can do is say they comply with the manufacturers specifications. Wear on tyres, larger tyres smaller tyres wrong gearbox or diff gummed up speedo all create a situations whereby things are not what they seem. Note I said legally. In court close enough is not legal evidence. It must be legally accurate. RADAR can be set up to deceive and quite often its done to get a qouta of bookings so the operator can go home.
Close but no cigar. In PA for one being timed with radar, use only by the PSP, the speed must be more than 6 MPH over any posted speed limit. For ALL other timing devices, like VASCAR used by city and other local departments, the speed must be more than 10 MPH over the posted speed, but only 6 MPH more than the posted speed limit if it is 55 MPH or more. The exception is school zones, posted at 15 MPH, then there in no leeway. In reality police in PA do not issue citations unless one is clocked at more than 10 MPH over the posted limit and none of them use the vehicles speedometer.
A little know fact about PA, that as far as I know is not true in any other state. Painted road markings, in and by themselves, are NOT legal traffic control devices. I E One can pass on a double yellow line, if there are no signs denoting passing is prohibited, provided one can do so safely. Another is, it is not legal to DRIVE in the left lane in PA, except when overtaking another vehicle. The fine, with costs, is $136 ;)
Source; Pa Title #75, Motor Vehicle Code. SEC 3300
Wrong Radar can be set up at the wrong angle Can be interfered with by other transmissions The band is not guaranteed to be free of interference Transmitters of all kinds can interfere with the low level of signal employed by RADAR Reflections from 1) other cars 2)signs 3) Bigger vehicles 4) closer vehicles 5) multiple path reflections 6) Rain and wet vegetation giving incorrect readings. 8) Power lines running in line creating interference. The person using the camera may or may not even be aware of these. Also the RADAR gun can be set to retain speed readings, leading to multiple bookings to be made at same time. Trust them? Not likely. Would you trust them with your wife? No one would.
Wrong No one is certified to the scientific legal standards.
There your answer then. Youre slightly prejudiced, as I am having defended and dealt with a few speeding charges. Dont get it wrong. Technical devices cannot be trusted all the time. They are subject to many faults as we humans have. Unfortunately technical devices are hard to argue with. So are Policeman who swear by technical aids. Simply put, guns jam, cars breakdown, electronic devices do also. The problem I have with them is when an innocent person does get booked he has very little he can use to defend himself. In a electronic age we need to make sure "BIG Brother" is up to the job.
Radar works by measuring the rate of the returned signal and comparing it to the transmitted signal. Just as you can hear the doppler effect with a train whistle, the radar unit does the same thing with the micowave signal.
Unfortunately, it is indiscriminate, it measures the largest return signal it receives. If you have two vehicles traveling in the same direction and the second vehicle reflects more of the signal then it will be the second vehicle's speed which will be measured.
There are several factors which must be taken into consideration when challenging a radar ticket:
1) Operator training;
2) Calibration of the radar gun;
3) Site selection/presence of other vehicles, or devices which emit a signal in the microwave band.
Rain, fog, vegetation such as trees and bushes whose leaves contain water will increase the "clutter" that interferes with the signal.
***I was repairing/calibrating radar systems long before anyone ever built a unit that could be hand held, when the "computers" (such as they were) were tubes, gears and resistors. (AN/MPQ4-A Anti-Battery, Anti-Mortar and AN/TPS-25 Ground Surveillance Radars.)
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