TOP SPEEDS?

[Adammcf]

Havent had mine flat since the rebuild as the car is all over the road at speed. Need new track rod ends and bushes methinks.
Before the rebuild it stuggled badly after 130 but it definitely didnt have as much power as it does now.
I still reckon though it wont go over 135/140 tops though as the gearing is very low. It wont even hit 90 in 3rd.

My previous cars were like this:

Astra GSI - 1cm off the clock (this car pulled like a train in any gear)
Honda CRX - 147 (screaming like a bitch and felt like 400mph)
Corsa Sport 1.6 - 128 (took ages lol)

[BrAdZ]

hmmm my e30 will hit about 133 on the speedo and its only a 320 :S

[Widge]

Indicated 135 mph- then I had to back off as I was in fear of loosing my licance

From what I have read on here I can't decide if the speedos are accurate or not, I suppose if I set 120mph on the OBC I will find out.

[E30BeemerLad]

been in my car when it was owned by my mate who first got it and modded it up, went off the clock, was not a pleasant experience sitting in the back doing 140+ on the A64 on a Saturday afternoon and watching some plonker pull out from left to right hand lane in a Sierra a few hundred yards up the road! Brown marks for sure!

[rickk]

115 (real mph) in my old L-jet 320

130 (real mph) in my (rebuilt) 325i, 3.91 diff, felt like it was going to hit the limiter (that would be 135-ish) but ran into traffi ehh.. out of runway

160 (indicated) in an E36 M3 Evo

150 (indicated) in a Porker 911 (964 C2), damn thing felt like I was doing doing 100, it was only because I looked at the speedo I decided to back off (wasn't my car..)

[Karan]

144 on GPS>>>>>

but showing 155-160 on speedo...... this shows how much these overread

[astondg]

144 on GPS>>>>>

but showing 155-160 on speedo...... this shows how much these overread

Except mine which is underreading by the time it gets to 50mph and gets worse as I go faster.

Aston

[rickk]

Except mine which is underreading by the time it gets to 50mph and gets worse as I go faster.

Sounds expensive

[astondg]

Sounds expensive

I assume you mean speeding fines? Luckily I found out before I got any . Even with it underreading I still don't usually go any faster than the general traffic when I drive at 62mph (really doing about 67mph).

Aston

[rowemeister]

Astondg - can't you take the clock out and move the needle round a little.

I know it will sit back down onto the rest peg but all movements have a min and max point.

I have heard of this before after someone painted their needle and did not put it back properly and got inaccurate mph readings.

[astondg]

Astondg - can't you take the clock out and move the needle round a little.

I know it will sit back down onto the rest peg but all movements have a min and max point.

I have heard of this before after someone painted their needle and did not put it back properly and got inaccurate mph readings.

But wouldn't that make it read wrong all the time? Mine overreads below 50mph, is spot on at 50mph, and underreads above 50mph. Would moving the needle help that?

Aston

[Cotty]

Only 120mph, the E36 wouldnt get out of the way to max it out. It was pulling hard and had more to give.

[OllieB]

145mph indicated screaming up the ass of on E36 328i, probably only about 125-130mph real speed i reckon.....

[rickk]

But wouldn't that make it read wrong all the time? Mine overreads below 50mph, is spot on at 50mph, and underreads above 50mph. Would moving the needle help that?

Your problem is probably due to larger tires/wheels.

This would cause an error which is percentual to the speed, which is why it starts overreading (because the speedo is offset about 5mph from the factory) and ends up underreading (at 50mph the error cancels out the factory offset).

If you move the park position of the needle you'll have same effect, but on a different speed.

No real fix except fitting the right tire size or recalibrating the speedo (probably not easy without the right tools).

- Rick

[astondg]

Your problem is probably due to larger tires/wheels.

This would cause an error which is percentual to the speed, which is why it starts overreading (because the speedo is offset about 5mph from the factory) and ends up underreading (at 50mph the error cancels out the factory offset).

If you move the park position of the needle you'll have same effect, but on a different speed.

No real fix except fitting the right tire size or recalibrating the speedo (probably not easy without the right tools).

- Rick

Ok thanks. That makes sense. I didn't think my wheels were that big though, 205/50/16 should be just a fraction taller than the 205/55/15 that came on my car. Although I think that the 15s were a dealer fit option and my car actually came with 195/65/14 or something.

Anyway, sorry to take this off topic. Thanks for everyones help but there'll be no more of that from me .

On topic: I just set a new top speed record! 30mph down this longish hill on the way home and I was only about 1/3 maximum rpm in top gear so theres still more in it! On my mountain bike of course. Even then it's a bit slow, there aren't any big hills around.

Aston

[johnono]

180... about 115, and i could still go some more if i wanted, but i dont want to huet the old girl

[Adammcf]

Nah she loves it! Keep the foot flat to the mat!

[Jason-E30]

Had between 125 & 130 on the clock,needle was bouncy around a bit though lol,fastest was in my series 2 RS Turbo 145 mph,but that had sh+tloads done to it.

[325_E30Tony]

managed to get 100 out of the semi hightop long wheelbase refrigerated sprinter van.