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> Why are cars designed to be capable of going much faster than the speed limit? German here. I don't understand the question.

xxs 3y ago
"Don’t tell me they’re made with the Autobahn in mind." A quote from the inquiry. Other than that the speed limit is not universal, and it's not 'the speed limit' as the limit is context based. There are many a situation where speeding up would help prevent an accident.
- starbugs 3y ago
  Thank you. Just wanted to find out if a little bit of joking is still allowed on HN.
  - RagnarD 3y ago
    As the percentage of humorless PC drones rises, that's going steadily down.
  - bayindirh 3y ago
    That's a hit and miss there. Sometimes a humorous bunch makes a mundane thing giggle worthy, sometimes a joke is taken too serious and you get accused of being manipulative. So, YMMV.
    - jaystraw 3y ago
      i see what you did there. and smiled :-)
    - orwin 3y ago
      'joking' is always a bit manipulative anyway (I bet asperger people understand that better than me, I've heard that it's how therapists teach them white lies). I guess the issue is when the joke isn't that funny and perceived as too manipulative, and anybody's threshold is different on both those.
      - bayindirh 3y ago
        I mean, I hate jokes belittling people or throwing them curveballs and hitting their self esteem. As a result, I never make these kinds of jokes. The jokes I labeled manipulative are about something else and built upon double meanings of words, in the context of the subject being discussed.
  - mynameisnoone 3y ago
    Absolutely verboten. You have the choice of the manner of your excommunication today.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
happymellon 3y ago
The question was: > Why are cars designed to be capable of going much faster than the speed limit? (Don’t tell me they’re made with the Autobahn in mind.) Since you didnt read the question, it was questioning whether the autobahn is a valid reason for the majority of cars and if there was a better reason.
- xxs 3y ago
  Outside Germany, there are places with 140km/h in Europe. Outside Europe there are cases with 160km/h. Even with 140km/h in mind, you'd not want to be the absolute upper limit as that would make it inefficient in different ways. If it's about having an artificial limit (say electronics) it could also be needed to temporary speed up over the max. Such a limit would stimulate over inflating the tyres to 'cheat' it.
  - happymellon 3y ago
    I was merely pointing out that the question was whether there were any benefits of having such a high speed on a lot of road vehicles. The dismissive nature of the gpp of the question because they didn't read it, was irritating. I would also show the relationship between top speed and engine power. I don't need to drive at 200mph, but I like that I can drive up a hill with 4 adults in the vehicle. My wife's car has a smaller engine, lower top speed and struggles with more than 2 adults, and 2 children when dealing with hilly countryside.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
deleted 3y ago
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Zetobal 3y ago
You know that most german manufactures limit the max speed of their cars right?
- diggan 3y ago
  What is that limit set to supposedly? Last summer I topped out at 210 km/h in my Audi A3 which was bought in Spain, and it seemed to be limited by the engine rather than a hardcoded limit (slowly approached 210 km/h instead of reaching it and then getting stuck there)
  - starbugs 3y ago
    250 km/h for most models that are limited. But not all are.
    - bloatlord69 3y ago
      Afaik those limits are there because the tires aren't rated for higher speeds
      - vetinari 3y ago
        Supposedly, the Bugatti Veyron tires last for 12-15 minutes at 400 km/h. Then you need a new set, for $42k.
        HPsquared 3y ago
        That's safe though, as the fuel tank also only lasts 12 minutes.
      - gambiting 3y ago
        Not really - my Mercedes AMG came with tyres rated for 300km/h(ZR rated Contis), and it was still limited to 255km/h electronically. For me it's just a way to make more money - Mercedes will happily take that limiter off for an extra £1200 when buying the car.
taylodl 3y ago
Well played sir! Well played!

xxs 3y ago

"Don’t tell me they’re made with the Autobahn in mind." A quote from the inquiry. Other than that the speed limit is not universal, and it's not 'the speed limit' as the limit is context based. There are many a situation where speeding up would help prevent an accident.

starbugs 3y ago
Thank you. Just wanted to find out if a little bit of joking is still allowed on HN.
- RagnarD 3y ago
  As the percentage of humorless PC drones rises, that's going steadily down.
- bayindirh 3y ago
  That's a hit and miss there. Sometimes a humorous bunch makes a mundane thing giggle worthy, sometimes a joke is taken too serious and you get accused of being manipulative. So, YMMV.
  - jaystraw 3y ago
    i see what you did there. and smiled :-)
  - orwin 3y ago
    'joking' is always a bit manipulative anyway (I bet asperger people understand that better than me, I've heard that it's how therapists teach them white lies). I guess the issue is when the joke isn't that funny and perceived as too manipulative, and anybody's threshold is different on both those.
    - bayindirh 3y ago
      I mean, I hate jokes belittling people or throwing them curveballs and hitting their self esteem. As a result, I never make these kinds of jokes. The jokes I labeled manipulative are about something else and built upon double meanings of words, in the context of the subject being discussed.
- mynameisnoone 3y ago
  Absolutely verboten. You have the choice of the manner of your excommunication today.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

happymellon 3y ago

The question was: > Why are cars designed to be capable of going much faster than the speed limit? (Don’t tell me they’re made with the Autobahn in mind.) Since you didnt read the question, it was questioning whether the autobahn is a valid reason for the majority of cars and if there was a better reason.

xxs 3y ago
Outside Germany, there are places with 140km/h in Europe. Outside Europe there are cases with 160km/h. Even with 140km/h in mind, you'd not want to be the absolute upper limit as that would make it inefficient in different ways. If it's about having an artificial limit (say electronics) it could also be needed to temporary speed up over the max. Such a limit would stimulate over inflating the tyres to 'cheat' it.
- happymellon 3y ago
  I was merely pointing out that the question was whether there were any benefits of having such a high speed on a lot of road vehicles. The dismissive nature of the gpp of the question because they didn't read it, was irritating. I would also show the relationship between top speed and engine power. I don't need to drive at 200mph, but I like that I can drive up a hill with 4 adults in the vehicle. My wife's car has a smaller engine, lower top speed and struggles with more than 2 adults, and 2 children when dealing with hilly countryside.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

Zetobal 3y ago

You know that most german manufactures limit the max speed of their cars right?

diggan 3y ago
What is that limit set to supposedly? Last summer I topped out at 210 km/h in my Audi A3 which was bought in Spain, and it seemed to be limited by the engine rather than a hardcoded limit (slowly approached 210 km/h instead of reaching it and then getting stuck there)
- starbugs 3y ago
  250 km/h for most models that are limited. But not all are.
  - bloatlord69 3y ago
    Afaik those limits are there because the tires aren't rated for higher speeds
    - vetinari 3y ago
      Supposedly, the Bugatti Veyron tires last for 12-15 minutes at 400 km/h. Then you need a new set, for $42k.
      - HPsquared 3y ago
        That's safe though, as the fuel tank also only lasts 12 minutes.
    - gambiting 3y ago
      Not really - my Mercedes AMG came with tyres rated for 300km/h(ZR rated Contis), and it was still limited to 255km/h electronically. For me it's just a way to make more money - Mercedes will happily take that limiter off for an extra £1200 when buying the car.

taylodl 3y ago

Well played sir! Well played!