Volvo to Impose 112 MPH Speed Limit on All New Cars from 2020

[PenGunn]

Curious how they determined that 112 was the magic number. It seems like... a person crashing at 112 vs 155 would still have an equal chance of dying

Kids these days. There is a rather huge difference between the two. My 69 Cutlass with a 502 crate motor and a tall rear end would go 160 but it was terrifying. About 140 was reasonable and she saw that many times. I could have put a small wedge on the trunk and a damn under the front and made that better but 140 is real fast.

tl:dr Force varies as the square of the velocity. Have a safe day.

 

[Nunu]

As long as this is Volvo's choice they can do whatever they want. Aren't they known for safety and soccer moms?

 

[matt167]

My little mini truck has no rev limiter, and no speed limiter or even a speed chime ( It's a JDM vehicle where they usually chime over 110kph ). It only has 660cc ( 0.6L ) does 55 mph pretty easy but not much faster unless really pushed. If I keep it longer than this summer I'm going to put the fuel injected, turbocharged variant of the engine in it and then it will be gearing limited around 70 MPH but get there much quicker

 

[motomonkey]

For companies that lock out the ECU. Could a 3rd party sell a physical custom ECU? Or maybe you send yours in, they wipe the factory tune out completely, then load their in-house un-locked tune?

it would be crazy expensive, if it's even legal in some places, new cars anti-theft defenses are all tied into the ECU, ignition keys, everything.

 

[Oldmodder]

Well be my guest Volvo.

Funny thing though. If you look past the German autobahns that in places have free for all speed, then i do think the fastest speeds in the different EU countries in general are 130 km/h on motorways, and then there are ample room up to the 112 MPH / 180 KMH
Personally i just do 110 KMH on the motorway cuz that's the lowest speed that are in place on some stretched of motorway, and not least if i floor the poor little 1.0 L motor in my car i might as well drill a .22 cal hole in the bottom of my gas tank.

So my common sense would have the Volvo capped lower at 140 km/h, that aside the the autobahn stretches i mentioned should cover most speed limits on the globe.

 

[PenGunn]

it would be crazy expensive, if it's even legal in some places, new cars anti-theft defenses are all tied into the ECU, ignition keys, everything.

A new Ford is about $4000 for the software subscription deal that allows control. That's why most people buy a chip from someone who has made that deal.

 

[motomonkey]

Kids these days. There is a rather huge difference between the two. My 69 Cutlass with a 502 crate motor and a tall rear end would go 160 but it was terrifying. About 140 was reasonable and she saw that many times. I could have put a small wedge on the trunk and a damn under the front and made that better but 140 is real fast.

tl:dr Force varies as the square of the velocity. Have a safe day.

How does the old saying go? "I'd rather drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow"

 

[travisty]

They should have limited it to 90 which is still high enough to pass easily with 75 mph speed limits

 

[tangoseal]

Spoken like a true safety nazi.

Actually just spoken like a Nazi.

 

[TonyZ]

Wake me up when we see mustangs, corvettes, porsches, ferraris, etc. limited to 112 or under. Until then so what if some snooze fest boring AF volvo has it enabled

And then we just unlimit them with a custom tune.

 

[SvenBent]

Curious how they determined that 112 was the magic number. It seems like... a person crashing at 112 vs 155 would still have an equal chance of dying

Curious how you determine that there is no different going 112 vs 155 in breaking distanc. impact energi, response time in lenght traveled etc
Now I know this is a surprise for many Born Americans. But very few countries use the imperial system. 112MPH = 180km/h

I've done the same and got out of it once it hit 140. Long stretch of road, nobody around, etc.. Really, the only way you have any business doing that in the first place. Minus race track.

You still had no business doing it there to begin with.
Go to a race track where proper protection for other are present


I've been pulled over going 120mph in a 75 zone. but im not putting up any apologies about.
Bless my luck the cop let me go.



Back on topic i dont thing speed limiters are OK. but then again... humans...

 

[motomonkey]

Curious how you determine that there is no different going 112 vs 155 in breaking distanc. impact energi, response time in lenght traveled etc
Now I know this is a surprise for many Born Americans. But very few countries use the imperial system. 112MPH = 180km/h



You still had no business doing it there to begin with.
Go to a race track where proper protection for other are present


I've been pulled over going 120mph in a 75 zone. but im not putting up any apologies about.
Bless my luck the cop let me go.



Back on topic i dont thing speed limiters are OK. but then again... humans...

Amazing, you managed to shit all over his post but at the end, speed limiters are not ok?

 

[LMT MFA]

Like any of you complainers drive even remotely close to this speed on a regular basis.

Fact of the matter is you can't know if the road is good enough for these speeds, maybe it was yesterday, doesn't mean it is today. And once you do lose control, all bets on your own and more importantly, other's safety are off. I say more importantly, because you've made your choice, they had no say in you being reckless.

I think anyone saying they want the choice to go this fast have, thankfully, never been in a position where shit's truly gone south, or seen it up close.

 

[bbvdd2]

The S60 is made in China now, not Sweden.. From what I remember.

New S60 is made in the USA in Charleston, SC.

 

[LMT MFA]

This is what a slight bump in the road does at 200mph:



Go to 1:20.

Google translate says something about the driver being prosecuted? It'd be amazing if anyone came out of that alive.

 

[elm669]

I feel like quite a few of you have never been out west of the Mississippi! There are ALOT of Texas, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado roads where you can run 100+ all day without issue. I-70 coming out of Colorado into Utah has a 80mph speed limit on it with people routinely running 110+, some even going faster than that. There are many stretches of highway out near the Permian basin with 75-80mph speeds with people frequently going 100+ Lets not forget about SH-130 running from San Antonio to Austin that frequently has people running there cars as fast as they will go, often 130+. I put my cruise control on 100 and watch the miles melt away quite often out here on these deserted highways, and if I'm strapped for time I'll run at the governor on my car which is 120mph just to shave some time off.

When I visit the east coast with 55-60mph speed limits it feels like i'm crawling and it takes an eternity to get anywhere despite things being so close together!

 

[Aireoth]

A car becomes the most fun at its limit of grip and speed, which is why you can have a ball with some smaller cars, particularly in urban environments!

this is also the problem with most hyper/super cars, that limit is so high you'll never really experience it.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Yeah I'm aware of that one lol, but that wasnt bought new and tracked, nor is it stock lol. I mean not that you can't, but there much better options if you want to go to the track on the weekend than a volvo, and really a used car you can setup properly is the best option.

I see what you are saying, but I am not sure I entirely agree.

Volvo has certainly never made am M3 or RS4 competitor, but they have had several models in the last 20 years that fall in the tier just below those, and would still be plenty fun to take to a track day.

Firstly, there is the R Line of cars, the most fun of which was probably the 2004-2007 S60R with its 300hp turbo 5 cylinder engine and AWD. (I'll always hold a sweet spot in my heart for the 1995 cream yellow 850 T5-R, and the 1998 - 2000 V70R with its 250hp turbo 5 cyl and all wheel drive.)

1995 Volvo 850 T5-R (also came in a sedan version, but the wagon is just damned cool)

1998-2000 Volvo V70R

2004-2007 S60R

After the R car models were retired, Volvo's top performance models were the in-house tuned Polestar models. I'm not going to list them all, but the twin-charged (super & turbocharged) I4 2017 Polestar V60 is up there with it's 362hp and 0-60 in 4.4s:

Volvo's performance models are by no means as common as the german's and U.S muscle cars, but they do exist, and can be very fun around a track

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Over about 100mph those stupid spoilers become very important. About 115 the physics make most cars drive like they weigh nothing. Lite crosswind can make you jump lanes without realizing it.

I think it depends on the car.

None of my 9-5 Aero's (i had a 2001 5 speed manual and a 2004 5 speed manual) had spoilers. I had both of them up above 115mph, the 2001 up to 168mph, and both behaved the same. They actually hunkered down, become lower, and felt very stable at speed.

My 2001 9-5 Aero 5-speed, with BSR stage 3 tune and rebuilt Mitsubishi TD04 Turbo:

(had a terrible camera at the time)

My 2004 Saab 9-5 Aero 5 Spd, with a Nordic Stage 3 tune:

 

[Riptide_NVN]

They should have limited it to 90 which is still high enough to pass easily with 75 mph speed limits

I've passed a line of traffic including a couple campers on a two lane highway and being able to get it up over 100 is much appreciated when you need to get around them and do so quickly to minimize exposure in the opposing lane. This is one thing I do like about my daily driver. It isn't fast at all but 250hp is enough to move out when you need to build speed quickly.

Like any of you complainers drive even remotely close to this speed on a regular basis.

Of course not. Now THAT would be truly wreckless.

Fact of the matter is you can't know if the road is good enough for these speeds, maybe it was yesterday, doesn't mean it is today. And once you do lose control, all bets on your own and more importantly, other's safety are off. I say more importantly, because you've made your choice, they had no say in you being reckless.

In the past when I've done datalogging I've always driven the length of the road first out of caution. I may be a bit more careful than some. I'm well aware of the risks. And if you've paid attention, nobody here has advocated speeding in traffic. If it's going to happen on a public road then it ought to be outside town on a nice straight stretch of road without oncoming cars. Sunday mornings are a good time for this sort of thing.

 

[joobjoob]

I think it depends on the car.

None of my 9-5 Aero's (i had a 2001 5 speed manual and a 2004 5 speed manual) had spoilers. I had both of them up above 115mph, the 2001 up to 168mph, and both behaved the same. They actually hunkered down, become lower, and felt very stable at speed.

My 2001 9-5 Aero 5-speed, with BSR stage 3 tune and rebuilt Mitsubishi TD04 Turbo:

View attachment 147100

(had a terrible camera at the time)

My 2004 Saab 9-5 Aero 5 Spd, with a Nordic Stage 3 tune:

View attachment 147101

Nice! Not surprised to hear a well designed vehicle like that could handle higher speeds better. I was driving a very unfancy dodge and Mazda during my adventures.

 

[joobjoob]

Also I once spent 2 nights trying to roll a gremlin in a parking lot and could not do it.

 

[M76]

Google translate says something about the driver being prosecuted? It'd be amazing if anyone came out of that alive.

They got lucky, they were pulled from the wreck before it burned to the ground.

 

[THRESHIN]

So they've made a speed limiter. A device that has been in cars, in some form or another, for many years now. And I'm sure nobody will figure out how to hack it!

 

[zehoo]

I imagine sales of Volvo in Germany just tanked (assuming anyone there even buys them).

 

[Laowai]

One time my family was in Mexico being chased by some guys in a truck with ak47's, they only escaped because their car had a higher speed limiter than the vehicle they were driving. If they were in a volvo they'd probably be dead

What the heck were they driving that was able to outrun bullets? If somebody is close enough to know what kind of weapon somebody else has....they are generally close enough to get fired upon by said weapon.
Or was your post some kind of pop culture thing that went over my head?

 

[darckhart]

limit to 112 mph? geofencing to automatically limit speeds? seems like we're going the opposite direction here. we need to teach people to be MORE responsible for their judgements, not take away their ability to exercise it at all....

 

[Laowai]

limit to 112 mph? geofencing to automatically limit speeds? seems like we're going the opposite direction here. we need to teach people to be MORE responsible for their judgements, not take away their ability to exercise it at all....

I don't disagree, but as another poster said....It's their car.
They could slap a 30mph limiter on all their cars if they like. And paint them plaid.

 

[blackacidevil]

 

[ND40oz]

180 kph is a common speed limit in Germany on the Autobahn, not many areas left where there is no limit due to congestion.

No it isn't. There is no "common speed limit" in Germany, there is either a limit posted or it's unlimited. There is a Richtgeschwindigkeit of 130 km/h which is the governments way of absolving them of responsibility should you do something stupid where there is no posted limit. There are still thousands of kilometers of autobahn that are unlimited, I just drove back from Switzerland on the A5 today and almost all of it was unlimited except for the areas right around Karlsruhe and Heidelberg.

 

[ncjoe]

companies have been doing this for years........ controlling how a vehicle responds
to speed, control... Many motorcycle companies also do this, honda, harley ..
You can get a custom ecu map made for about $300 ... of course the government
will try to make that illegal too. ... No tampering with exhaust, engine...

it's heading that way , slowly but surely

 

[MaZa]

That is fair. While Volvo has had some powerful performance models (old R series and now Polestars) none of their cars are really sports cars in class of BMW M serie or AMG Mercedes. And hell, even those are limiting their top speeds! German sports cars have a universal 250km/h speed limit to prevent competition on top speeds. You can have the limit removed but it requires some hurdles on your end. Since german sports cars are already doing it on their own accord (not a legal requirement, I think) I say having 180km/h is fair for a family car. Hell 180 is already stupid fast unless you have great suspension and tires!

 

[Nolan7689]

This pansy shit makes me sick. If the vehicle has enough power to do high speeds it doesnt take very long to get there. I have been over 200mph on public roads so many times that I think I went back in time.

And to the person that said a pothole at anything over 85 can cause fatality, eeeehhhhhhhh, unless there was a recent sinkhole or something a standard pothole will cause more problems at 55 than over 100.

Sounds like someone hasn’t driven Michigan roads.

Grand Blanc last year, the officer is 6’-5”

The rest of the roads aren’t much better, and the faster you’re going the less your wheels are touching the road.

 

[MyNameIsAlex]

They should have limited it to 90 which is still high enough to pass easily with 75 mph speed limits

There are situations where you have some idiot merging on the highway who decided he wants to crash into you, and you can't go switch lanes left because of traffic, and you need to floor it to get the fuck away from him.

99% of the time facing an accident, the correct course of action is... SLAM THE BREAKS!

But I still want the ability to decide for myself what to do.

I am sure if you commute to work for lets say 40 years, the average person will be in at least one encounter like that that is avoidable only by speeding momentarily.

 

[motomonkey]

No it isn't. There is no "common speed limit" in Germany, there is either a limit posted or it's unlimited. There is a Richtgeschwindigkeit of 130 km/h which is the governments way of absolving them of responsibility should you do something stupid where there is no posted limit. There are still thousands of kilometers of autobahn that are unlimited, I just drove back from Switzerland on the A5 today and almost all of it was unlimited except for the areas right around Karlsruhe and Heidelberg.

Perhaps it’s changed since I was there 30 years ago. But anytime I neared a major city posted limits would start at around 180kph, and go down depending on the area or for construction, and become unlimited again once outside of town. I’ve had many people I knew from over there talking about how the unlimited areas are much smaller now than they used to be.

 

[travisty]

There are situations where you have some idiot merging on the highway who decided he wants to crash into you, and you can't go switch lanes left because of traffic, and you need to floor it to get the fuck away from him.

99% of the time facing an accident, the correct course of action is... SLAM THE BREAKS!

But I still want the ability to decide for myself what to do.

I am sure if you commute to work for lets say 40 years, the average person will be in at least one encounter like that that is avoidable only by speeding momentarily.

Max speed and acceleration are two different things. EVs accelerate very fast. If you're going 75 there's still plenty of speed-range to accelerate in your case

 

[ND40oz]

Perhaps it’s changed since I was there 30 years ago. But anytime I neared a major city posted limits would start at around 180kph, and go down depending on the area or for construction, and become unlimited again once outside of town. I’ve had many people I knew from over there talking about how the unlimited areas are much smaller now than they used to be.

You're probably thinking about the 130 km/h limits, that's the fastest ones in use. They've never used a 180 km/h limit AFAIK.

 

[Hallucinator]

Why impose 112 mph on a Volvo capable of doing 150+ mph?

Why not make a Volvo 112 Sunday Edition for those who don't mind buying that?

 

[readeh]

New S60 is made in the USA in Charleston, SC.

Oh, well that's positive thing. I believe V90 and S90 is the only one made in Sweden now though.

 

[ND40oz]

Oh, well that's positive thing. I believe V90 and S90 is the only one made in Sweden now though.

Every SPA Volvo shipping to the US is coming out of Sweden. Only about 6 months worth of production XC60s were imported from China before the tariffs were put in place.