Speedometer Accuracy?

[YarisPete]

Originally Posted by Bella

Nah it's a pretty common issue - Toyota confirmed to me that the YR is out by about 6% .. But mine is out between 6.5-8% depending on the GPS I use.



Odd safety feature, considering if you sit on the speed limit per the speedo you're more inclined to be tailgated, which increases instances of road rage! I think there is something in the new design rules for Australia re: speedo errors. Though so many people use GPS these days it's easy to pick up where there is a discrepancy.

You got the tailgating thing and the Road Rage right! I've been driving faster now that I see the difference.

[Echostatic]

Originally Posted by Buddy Fan

I had the misfortune of renting a Dodge Caliber and it was spot on accurate for what it's worth!

Yep - the Caliber reports its 0mph very accurately! I had the misfortune of passenger-ing in my brother's rented one. 0-65 in about a month or so; the National Car of Florida!

[metalshark]

2007, 15" steelies /w stock meats. Dead on in flat terrain with cruise control engaged.

[Wowzers78]

Both Wheel and tire size can definately affect the speedometer.

I've got 18" Wheels with 215 35 18 tires on them...thought at first that the car seemed like it was going faster cause it was lowered and the ride was more severe...flipped on the GPS and was going 6 MPH faster than I thought I was(speedometer is normally over the speed limit anyways)

I've adjusted that since, lol

[TLyttle]

I used to repair speedos. The game is to find a calibrated mile (some jurisdictions have one outside of town), and run over it to find out how far out the odo is. If it is accurate, then drag out the ol' stopwatch, run 5 miles at EXACTLY 60mph, then do the math.

If the numbers are out, go to the dealer, and in moments, they can re-calibrate the speedo through the computer.

[bkrownd]

I checked my speedometer against my GPS and a police radar and amazingly it's within 1MPH. I guess the speedometer offset is a thing of the past. They must be made differently these days.

[jpmck03]

Went on a long road trip this weekend.

I set the cruise control for, from my viewing angle of the speedo, 66mph. Checked the GPS and it read 65mph. Asked my wife what the speedo read, and she said it was about 64mph. I'm guessing that looking straight on the speedo would be dead on.

I'd say that with stock 15" steelies, that speedo is awfully close to accurate.

[severous01]

it will always be low for insurance purposes. my camaro was about 7% low, and my jeep was way low until i put bigger tires on it....and then it was perfect. until i put even bigger tires on it then it was over. factory tires for a jeep were 26", i put 29's on it until i lifted it...and put 31's on it. it was about 7% over when i put 31's on it. so...it was about 14% low when i put on factory tires.

[NinjaPirate]

yep mine's out by 4km's usually. Higher speed gets worse of course.
My Scanguage says 60kmh, speedo (digital display) says 64.
It's all stock, and owned from new.
If I do "60" everyone passes me.

[Yaris Hilton]

Yes, the speedometer's made for straight on viewing. I set mine about 1 MPH high from my seat position when the needle's straight up and it's right on when looked at straight.

[Yarisduder]

In my car the speedometer is set at an angle so that it's pretty much straight on from the drivers seat, I'm sure all of yours are the same. Against the GPS it reads about 6% fast, which is almost the thickness of the needle, so put the slow edge of the needle on the increment marker and it's good.

[Yaris Hilton]

In our 2007 S model sedan and two 2009 base model sedans, the speedo is set exactly straight facing the center of the back window. No tilt whatsoever. In the 2002 Echo it was angled toward the driver.

[Bluevitz-rs]

The speedo NEEDLE will have a +- variance of approx. 5%. It's the ODD you should be measuring. And chances are it too will be off.

A few years ago I drove in a convoy across Canada from Edmonton AB to Toronto ON. I was driving a brand new '06 Tacoma, and my co-worker was driving a brand new '06 Tundra. At every gas station I had about 10-15 more kms on my trip meter than the Tundra did. That was only over a 250km range.

There's nothing anyone can do to correct it other than you changing your tire sizes to accommodate the difference.

[Yaris Hilton]

Originally Posted by Yarisduder

In my car the speedometer is set at an angle so that it's pretty much straight on from the drivers seat, I'm sure all of yours are the same.

You're absolutely right. The cowling around the speedometer cluster is straight, but the cluster in the back is slightly angled toward the driver. Not quite straight on, but it's tilted that way a little. I'd never noticed, thanks! There's still a little parallax, and I find mine's about right when the low side of the needle is on the speed increment marker as you said.

[yaris2010RS]

okay, so i only went through the first few posts so if it was said already im sorry.


GPS are a good guidline but are no where near accurate. yes they are close but for a test like this not close enough. take for example my GPS, i own a tomtom710. i have had times it is saying higher then my spedo and other times saying lower. GPS are only accurate to a distance allowance. some may be two inches, others may be 2 meters, that will make a huge difference.

a public fact is almost every car says ur going atleast 2km/h faster then u really are, the exact reason im not too sure of but there are most likely many.

really it comes down to so many factors are involved its close enough.

and those stupid digital side of the road speed indicators are the worst!

[birdman]

People pass my Yaris then slow down. It's a ego thing I guess.

[birdman]

Speedometer errors of 5 mph where once required by law to fool the driver into driving slower. Safety regulations of the time. I don't know if this is still in effect today though.

[sleey0]

Old thread, yes BUT mine does the same with my ecometer. Says it's about 4mph off.

I don't really care though.