Can I Really Go THAT Fast?

The other day I was cruising through town and happened to look down at my 2007 Blazer’s speedometer and saw the top speed was 120.

Wait a minute -- 120 mph?

I guess I’ve seen speedometers like that before but didn’t give it much thought at the time.

Actually, car makers have been installing those “are-you-kidding-me” speedos for some years now, and newer cars sometimes have speedometers going up to 160 or even 180 mph.

Now, given the fact that NO state allows one to drive 180 mph or anything near that, I wondered why a vehicle would have that on its speedometer.

Currently in the U.S., 85 mph is the highest legal speed in the land. Yes, sections of highways in west Texas do allow cars and light trucks to fly down the road at 85 mph without worrying about a ticket from the Texas State Patrol.

Several states now post maximum speed signs of 80 mph, including Montana, Oklahoma, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and South Dakota.

My home state of Colorado has a 75 mph top legal speed, along with Washington, Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico and North Dakota.

The remaining states have top highway driving speeds of 55 to 70 mph.

So in light of this, why do car speedometers feature top speeds of 120 to 180 mph?

A 2017 article on businessinsider.com highlights a couple reasons:

1. Some car makers use the sky-high speedos to economically fit a wide range of their vehicles, but virtually none of them are designed to go that fast (in fact, most have built-in governors in their engines that prevent them going much over 100 mph).

2. And according to the article, higher gauges can “make dull cars seem sporty” and is another tactic used by automakers to inspire sales to would-be Indy 500 drivers.

In 1974, a national speed limit of 55 mph was adopted, and in 1979 the National Highway Safety Administration enacted a rule prohibiting vehicle speed gauges from going above 85 mph.

But in 1981, the Reagan administration overturned the NHSA rule and car makers quickly got back into making 120 the top speed on most vehicles while many states enacted maximum speeds above 55.

That brings me back to the present and me tootling down the road in my not-so-blazing Blazer.

Personally, I have no desire whatsoever to drive faster than 80 for any reason.

Not in that car anyway. But maybe -- just maybe -- if I owned a Lamborghini….hmmmmmm.