E.R.

In a previous posting, charlieg@ic.sunysb.edu (Charlie
Giannetto) had the audacity to say:

:The lack of a
:speed limiter isn't really an issue since the speed (even at 155)
:is still well beyond any legally acceptable level on any public road
:in the US.

True, but then so is 95 mph! :}

:155 is something that the European community has agreed
n I believe

I understand it's just a gentleman's agreement between certain
German mfrs. Porsche is not coöperating! :}

--
E.R. aka SJG aka Ricardo
present location: vancouver bc canada
refugee from the european union's evil bureaucracy

Frank Kemper

E.R. <red_starinfrench@email.kom> haute in die Tasten:

> I understand it's just a gentleman's agreement between certain
> German mfrs. Porsche is not coöperating! :}
>

Exactly. The german manufacturers BMW, Mercedes and VW Group agreed upon
making cars not faster than 155 mph. Maybe also other manufacturers took
part, but they currently do not sell such fast cars in Germany. The reason
for that was avoiding a state law (which would probably have limited the
cars at a lower level) and avoiding a reckless speed race. They also wanted
to avoid the need for use of expensive and uncomfortable high performance
tires. When the agreeent was imposed some years ago, it was not regarded
likely that the manufacturers would make sedans with 500 HP

Currently it seems that the manufacturers seek ways out of this agreement
to serve the needs of the speed-addicts. So Mercedes limits only the cars
sold under the brand name Mercedes, while the Mercedes-AMG models can go
faster (up to 200 mph). BMW offers higher speed limits for their M-cars
under certain condition (M3 CSL with 175 mph for buyers who can show a race
drivers license). IMHO the marketing problem for the company is to sell the
top of the line cars, when they are not faster than the cheaper models of
the line.

Frank

--
please replace spam-muelleimer with fk-newsgroups for e-mail contact

Citroen - Made in Trance

Frank Kemper

E.R. <red_starinfrench@email.kom> haute in die Tasten:

> I understand it's just a gentleman's agreement between certain
> German mfrs. Porsche is not coöperating! :}
>

Exactly. The german manufacturers BMW, Mercedes and VW Group agreed upon
making cars not faster than 155 mph. Maybe also other manufacturers took
part, but they currently do not sell such fast cars in Germany. The reason
for that was avoiding a state law (which would probably have limited the
cars at a lower level) and avoiding a reckless speed race. They also wanted
to avoid the need for use of expensive and uncomfortable high performance
tires. When the agreeent was imposed some years ago, it was not regarded
likely that the manufacturers would make sedans with 500 HP

Currently it seems that the manufacturers seek ways out of this agreement
to serve the needs of the speed-addicts. So Mercedes limits only the cars
sold under the brand name Mercedes, while the Mercedes-AMG models can go
faster (up to 200 mph). BMW offers higher speed limits for their M-cars
under certain condition (M3 CSL with 175 mph for buyers who can show a race
drivers license). IMHO the marketing problem for the company is to sell the
top of the line cars, when they are not faster than the cheaper models of
the line.

Frank

--
please replace spam-muelleimer with fk-newsgroups for e-mail contact

Citroen - Made in Trance

Frank Kemper

E.R. <red_starinfrench@email.kom> haute in die Tasten:

> I understand it's just a gentleman's agreement between certain
> German mfrs. Porsche is not coöperating! :}
>

Exactly. The german manufacturers BMW, Mercedes and VW Group agreed upon
making cars not faster than 155 mph. Maybe also other manufacturers took
part, but they currently do not sell such fast cars in Germany. The reason
for that was avoiding a state law (which would probably have limited the
cars at a lower level) and avoiding a reckless speed race. They also wanted
to avoid the need for use of expensive and uncomfortable high performance
tires. When the agreeent was imposed some years ago, it was not regarded
likely that the manufacturers would make sedans with 500 HP

Currently it seems that the manufacturers seek ways out of this agreement
to serve the needs of the speed-addicts. So Mercedes limits only the cars
sold under the brand name Mercedes, while the Mercedes-AMG models can go
faster (up to 200 mph). BMW offers higher speed limits for their M-cars
under certain condition (M3 CSL with 175 mph for buyers who can show a race
drivers license). IMHO the marketing problem for the company is to sell the
top of the line cars, when they are not faster than the cheaper models of
the line.

Frank

--
please replace spam-muelleimer with fk-newsgroups for e-mail contact

Citroen - Made in Trance

Peter Bell

In message <Xns95BA5F6371325eldosampleman@130.133.1.4>
Frank Kemper <spam-muelleimer@gmx.de> wrote:

[Snip]

> Currently it seems that the manufacturers seek ways out of this
> agreement to serve the needs of the speed-addicts. So Mercedes limits
> only the cars sold under the brand name Mercedes, while the
> Mercedes-AMG models can go faster (up to 200 mph). BMW offers higher
> speed limits for their M-cars under certain condition (M3 CSL with
> 175 mph for buyers who can show a race drivers license).

.... and Audi (or, rather, quattro gmbh) fudge the issue by saying that
their cars are limited to 155mph (or, to be precise, 250kph), but then
describing this as a 'soft' limit. It is quite clear that the RS4 and
RS6 models are capable of comfortably exceeding 250kph (not that I've
been brave enough to prove this in our land of 70mph limits).

--
Peter Bell (Note Spamtrap - To reply, replace 'invalid' with 'bellfamily')

Peter Bell

In message <Xns95BA5F6371325eldosampleman@130.133.1.4>
Frank Kemper <spam-muelleimer@gmx.de> wrote:

[Snip]

> Currently it seems that the manufacturers seek ways out of this
> agreement to serve the needs of the speed-addicts. So Mercedes limits
> only the cars sold under the brand name Mercedes, while the
> Mercedes-AMG models can go faster (up to 200 mph). BMW offers higher
> speed limits for their M-cars under certain condition (M3 CSL with
> 175 mph for buyers who can show a race drivers license).

.... and Audi (or, rather, quattro gmbh) fudge the issue by saying that
their cars are limited to 155mph (or, to be precise, 250kph), but then
describing this as a 'soft' limit. It is quite clear that the RS4 and
RS6 models are capable of comfortably exceeding 250kph (not that I've
been brave enough to prove this in our land of 70mph limits).

--
Peter Bell (Note Spamtrap - To reply, replace 'invalid' with 'bellfamily')

Peter Bell

In message <Xns95BA5F6371325eldosampleman@130.133.1.4>
Frank Kemper <spam-muelleimer@gmx.de> wrote:

[Snip]

> Currently it seems that the manufacturers seek ways out of this
> agreement to serve the needs of the speed-addicts. So Mercedes limits
> only the cars sold under the brand name Mercedes, while the
> Mercedes-AMG models can go faster (up to 200 mph). BMW offers higher
> speed limits for their M-cars under certain condition (M3 CSL with
> 175 mph for buyers who can show a race drivers license).

.... and Audi (or, rather, quattro gmbh) fudge the issue by saying that
their cars are limited to 155mph (or, to be precise, 250kph), but then
describing this as a 'soft' limit. It is quite clear that the RS4 and
RS6 models are capable of comfortably exceeding 250kph (not that I've
been brave enough to prove this in our land of 70mph limits).

--
Peter Bell (Note Spamtrap - To reply, replace 'invalid' with 'bellfamily')

Ramone Cila

"Frank Kemper" <spam-muelleimer@gmx.de> wrote in message
news:Xns95BA5F6371325eldosampleman@130.133.1.4...

> IMHO the marketing problem for the company is to sell the
> top of the line cars, when they are not faster than the cheaper models of
> the line.

An interesting thing (at least to me anyway :^) came to mind while reading
this. It seems that for Europeans, when speaking about a "fast" car...it is
top speed that comes to mind, while generally for Americans it is
acceleration. Of course this has to do with speed limits I suppose, and
maybe motorsports, but even for me when someone talks about how fast a car
is I immediately think of acceleration 0-60 or 0-100, rather than *top*
speed.

Ramone Cila

"Frank Kemper" <spam-muelleimer@gmx.de> wrote in message
news:Xns95BA5F6371325eldosampleman@130.133.1.4...

> IMHO the marketing problem for the company is to sell the
> top of the line cars, when they are not faster than the cheaper models of
> the line.

An interesting thing (at least to me anyway :^) came to mind while reading
this. It seems that for Europeans, when speaking about a "fast" car...it is
top speed that comes to mind, while generally for Americans it is
acceleration. Of course this has to do with speed limits I suppose, and
maybe motorsports, but even for me when someone talks about how fast a car
is I immediately think of acceleration 0-60 or 0-100, rather than *top*
speed.

Ramone Cila

"Frank Kemper" <spam-muelleimer@gmx.de> wrote in message
news:Xns95BA5F6371325eldosampleman@130.133.1.4...

> IMHO the marketing problem for the company is to sell the
> top of the line cars, when they are not faster than the cheaper models of
> the line.

An interesting thing (at least to me anyway :^) came to mind while reading
this. It seems that for Europeans, when speaking about a "fast" car...it is
top speed that comes to mind, while generally for Americans it is
acceleration. Of course this has to do with speed limits I suppose, and
maybe motorsports, but even for me when someone talks about how fast a car
is I immediately think of acceleration 0-60 or 0-100, rather than *top*
speed.