With today's electronics it would be easy for the factory and/or tuner market to place a timer that only allowed a burst of speed beyond the governed 97 mph for 5-10-or 15 seconds. Instead of an unlimited top end (Lt tires are not made for this). This would allow one to continue to overtake the slower vehicle accelerating as the vehicle feels to have plenty of power at the same rate. An alarm (visual or audio) could go off at 97 MPH so you know you are reaching the vehicles limits (usually the tires limits that are set for continuous speed ) then you know you have 5-10 seconds of acceleration left.

This would allow one to judge timing, spacing and such to complete the pass. Instant shut offs are very dangerous, just like your break booster suddenly going out, or the power steering pump failing at speed or any other unsuspecting problem while driving. Some of the limiters will hold the governed speed. Others will slow the vehicle down 5-10 mph. I recommend my idea to the vehicle manufactures. It is much safer than the current planned failure method as it is unknown to most. As when most find out their vehicle has a governed top end is that OH ****! moment when the governor/fuel shut off kicks in and you are passing an 18 wheeler on a two lane.

 

Is it better to have 5-10 seconds above the limiter, be 99% past what you're trying to pass, and then have the limiter kick in? I think that's far worse. Plus, if the vehicle is limited by driveshaft speed, this isn't practical. You cannot exceed the critical speed of the driveshaft for anywhere near 5 seconds or it will fail, rather spectacularly.

 

^^^^^^^ THIS......Excessive driveshaft RPM will kill you.......rather abruptly!


And it is way better to drive accordingly, knowing the limiter is going to kick in. The best is to get one’s **** out of bed a little earlier and not be in such a damn hurry. I know, I am not popular.....so what!

 

You have my vote!

 

that's exactly what i say to myself everytime a car is tailgating me then goes speeding around me.

 

To add to this, almost all of today's vehicles are equipped with transmissions that have two or more overdrive ratios on the top gears. This means the driveshaft is spinning FASTER than the engine's RPMs when moving at highway speeds. To paint a better picture, with the engine spinning at 2000 RPMs, in top gear if the ratio is 0.67:1, that means the driveshaft is spinning at 3000 RPMs. Let that sink in. If that's not enough, think about the load that the shaft itself, along with the u-joints are being subjected to while accelerating at those speeds versus cruising and I think it paints a clearer picture of how quickly bad things can happen.

 

and that is why my car goes 140 and the ODO indicates it goes 140 and the tires are rated for it..

 

Great point. I never would want to experience going anywhere near that fast in my truck let alone have a horrific driveline failure, tire failure or having to make a sudden move which could cause the truck to roll. Those suspensions are not meant for high speed maneuvers.