The data shown on the panel has a slight variation in relation to reality for the safety of the driver, it is not a defect
Have you ever noticed the radars that show the speed it never matches that of the speedometer? Your car is not defective, this mistake is deliberate. Vehicles with 100% accuracy in this meter are rare.
The car’s speedometer showing a higher than actual speed is a safety measure. Brazilian legislation prohibits the opposite, which displays a value lower than the real with a margin above 2%.
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The speedometer error in a new car is usually no more than 10%, but on average it is between 5 and 7%. In this way, the driver has a safety margin when passing speed cameras, for example.
This error present in the speedometer is independent of whether it is analog or digital. From the 90s onwards, the dashboard of cars started to receive electronic speed data, they no longer use cable as they used to. The margin of safety is part of the program.
One of the most common modifications in Brazil, even in new cars, is to change the car’s wheels. When doing this, it is necessary to calculate the measurement of the used tire well, so as not to change the total diameter of the set.
The speed of the car is measured by a sensor located in the gearbox, which measures the rotation of an axle. It is calibrated according to the diameter of the original wheel/tire assembly, when there are changes the measurement becomes wrong.
If the diameter increases the car will mark a lower speed than the real one, if the diameter is smaller the opposite occurs. Changes are noticeable if they are greater than 3% in relation to the total diameter.
In addition to changing the speedometer measurement, changing the total diameter of the wheel/tire assembly by more than 3% yields a fine for being considered a modification. It is a serious infraction, adding 5 points to the CNH, a fine of R$ 195.23 and retention of the vehicle for regularization.
If your car is having problems with the speedometer or without the instrument panel, it is best to solve it as soon as possible. In addition to not having vital information, which is speed, this is illegal.
Article 230 of the Brazilian Traffic Code (CTB) points out that it is illegal to drive “with an unalterable instantaneous speed and time recorder that is vitiated or defective, when there is a requirement for this device”.
The error outside the original margin is also illegal, as it is considered a vice and also because it is caused by the change in the diameter of the tires. All of this is typified as a serious infraction, adding 5 points to the CNH, a fine of R$ 195.23 and retention of the vehicle for regularization
Major browser apps, such as Google Maps and Waze, have the option to show a speedometer. It is usually more accurate than the dashboard and aligned with radars, but it is not recommended to rely on it alone.
This measurement of applications can be delayed or lose accuracy depending on a variety of factors. Even the location where the phone is can affect the accuracy of the speed shown in the browser.
It can be a fix-bit in cars where the speedometer is defective. But as we have already seen, running like this will result in a fine.
There are devices to measure speed using GPS signal for greater accuracy, which are used to measure the performance of cars. But they are dedicated to this function and have specific calibration.
The speedometer error has already been used as a resource in the early days of the Brazilian automotive industry to promote a car. DKW-Vemag sold a family of small cars, with the Belcar and Vemaguete, and used its resources to create a more luxurious model.
It called the Italian studio Fissore to design a more sophisticated sedan, which would come to compete with the Aero-Willys, the Simca Chambord and the FNM JK. The platform was the same as the Belcar, as well as the 1.0-liter two-stroke engine.
The car was named DKW Fissore, in honor of the Italian studio. The elegant sedan was larger and heavier than the Belcar, resulting in worse performance even with a more powerful 6 hp engine.
To disguise that the top-of-the-line model was slower than the entry-level one, DKW-Vemag increased the speedometer error. As a result, the buyer who paid more walked the streets thinking he was in a faster car.
