bad top speed

Jordan537

ok so my car is said to have a top speed of 101mph....

I cannot get anymore than 80mph out of it no matter how hard i try.

why is this?

Its a 1.2, 1998.

Marcin_diy

Jordan537 wrote: »

ok so my car is said to have a top speed of 101mph....

I cannot get anymore than 80mph out of it no matter how hard i try.

why is this?

Its a 1.2, 1998.

You have replied to your question at the bottom of your post - because it is 1.2

You will almost never get to the top speed that is written on the dashboard unless you have very powerful car.

speedometers must be scaled in some way and manufacturers always put extra few km on the scale.

mine is 2l, 155bhp and max speed is 225km/h, but scale is up to 260. ..

Saab Ed

Jordan537 wrote: »

ok so my car is said to have a top speed of 101mph....

I cannot get anymore than 80mph out of it no matter how hard i try.

why is this?

Its a 1.2, 1998.

Its a 12 year old car. Just like us cars get tired too. Claimed top speeds are usually just that, a claim. Lots of cars I've owned over the years could exceed their claimed top speed.

A friend of mine once had an original Mini that was owned by an older lady for all its life before he got his hands on it. It refused to pass 65 mph and that was in third. It actually dropped back to 55 in fourth. Our solution; we drained half of its oil out, thrashed it down the M-Way to Kildare in third gear for an hour, brought it home and gave it an engine flush and service and bingo, problem solved. One week later and that little Mini was up for a ton

That said your car might actually be sick rather than bunged up, have a mechanic check it out first before you go try maxing it again.

Marcin_diy

Saab Ed wrote: »

Its a 12 year old car.

knock knock
it is 2012 year ( almost 2013 )

Jordan537

i know it's an old car but its been serviced well and no real reason for it top drop in power. Only done 40k.

anyway, 80 is plenty fast enough!!!

Alanstrainor

Jordan537 wrote: »

i know it's an old car but its been serviced well and no real reason for it top drop in power. Only done 40k.

anyway, 80 is plenty fast enough!!!

So....eh....what car is it?

Are you revving it to the redline before changing up to the next gear? Id imagine you'd really have to thrash it to get anywhere near top speed!

corktina

what sort of car is it?

Marcin_diy

corktina wrote: »

what sort of car is it?

I bet on Corsa.

Jordan537

its a corsa. 1998. I don't know what im revving it too, rev counter isn't working

awec

This post has been deleted.

MugMugs

Have you tried pushing for max speed downhill?

Jordan537

lol, reached 95 on a downhill bit on the motorway.

Alanstrainor

It'll be 15 years old in a couple of weeks. I wouldn't be too concerned if its not reaching "top speed". I wouldn't want to go that fast in one of those either!

Mech1

The technical term for over 80 in a 98 corsa 1.2 is:

"Touching the road in spots"

Supergurrier

Am i the only one who finds the Idea of a 98 corsa on tiny wheels flying along at 95mph terrifying ?

CiniO

Jordan537 wrote: »

its a corsa. 1998. I don't know what im revving it too, rev counter isn't working

Did you try on 4th gear?
As far as I remember Corsa was reaching it's top speed on 4th gear instead of 5th.

CiniO

I've driven older cars, and never encountered problems reaching manufacturers declared top speed. At least accodring to speedometer.
Say manufacturer declares top speed at 100MPH. So while in fact when speedo shows 100MPH in reality it would be probably 90MPH, but all the cars I remember were able to do it.

As I said to OP - try on 4th gear.

djimi

I would have said that anyone looking to do upwards of 100mph in a 15 year old Corsa has a serious death wish to be honest, but each to their own and all that...!

So while in fact when speedo shows 100MPH in reality it would be probably 90MPH

10mph seems a really large discrepancy to be fair...

kirving

Depending on the wheels and tires you have, the speedo can be off by a couple of percent. Add to that the fact that it's nearly 15, and that will explain the drop in top speed. Check the speed using GPS instead to be sure.

Jordan537

i never said i wanted to do 100+ mph. the reason being is when im on the motorway im having to floor it constantly to reach 70-80mph which means it has reached its top speed, i was wanting to know why does it only have a top speed of 80mph. It probably is down to it being a 98.

CiniO

djimi wrote: »

I would have said that anyone looking to do upwards of 100mph in a 15 year old Corsa has a serious death wish to be honest, but each to their own and all that...!

If car is in good order, I can't see a difference between doing 100MPH in 15 year old corsa comaring to brand new BMW.

10mph seems a really large discrepancy to be fair...

Usually discrepancy is between 5% and 10%.
10MPH in this case is 10%.

CiniO

CiniO wrote: »

If car is in good order, I can't see a difference between doing 100MPH in 15 year old corsa comaring to brand new BMW.



.

... Better suspension, brakes, roadholding etc etc don't appeal?

Jordan537

CiniO wrote: »

If car is in good order.

Kind of answers your question.

mathepac

I hope OP is not breaking the road traffic laws / speed limits on a road near me.

I'm a bit disappointed that other posters seem to want to encourage that dangerous & illegal behaviour in a 15 yo car (15 yo driver and 15 yo posters?)

15 year olds on high horses too :pac:

Chris_Heilong

15 years is not old for a car

mathepac

RoverJames wrote: »

15 year olds on high horses too :pac:

Predictable childishness.

dgt

Supergurrier wrote: »

Am i the only one who finds the Idea of a 98 corsa on tiny wheels flying along at 95mph terrifying ?

The thoughts of that give me the shivers. 150ish kms on 155 section tyres? :eek:

Although the last time I drove a steaming pile of piss corsa it was barely able to do half that speed. Got it towed home, I was fed up of it!

MugMugs

mathepac wrote: »

I hope OP is not breaking the road traffic laws / speed limits on a road near me.

I'm a bit disappointed that other posters seem to want to encourage that dangerous & illegal behaviour in a 15 yo car (15 yo driver and 15 yo posters?)

Nobody is encouraging the OP to break the law. I assumed the OP had his own private circuit to do this......

mathepac

mathepac wrote: »

Predictable childishness.

Don't fall gaybo

corktina

1.2 Corsa wouldn't do 100mph off the Cliffs of Moher....

markas

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

15 years is not old for a car

depends on the driver, esp. when he is about the same age...

CiniO

I just checked in spec
There were 2 versions of 1.2 corsa
45BHP and 65BHP.
Top speed of 45BHP is 145km/h (=90MPH)
Top speed of 65BHP is 163km/h (=101MPH).

OP possibly have 45BHP version.
Also as I said - those corsas were most likely to do it's top speed on 4th gear instead of 5th.

keithclancy

CiniO wrote: »

If car is in good order, I can't see a difference between doing 100MPH in 15 year old corsa comaring to brand new BMW.



Usually discrepancy is between 5% and 10%.
10MPH in this case is 10%.

Ah Jaysus come on ...

Jordan537

it is 4 cylinder and its the 65BHP version.

AugustusMinimus

corktina wrote: »

1.2 Corsa wouldn't do 100mph off the Cliffs of Moher....

I think the OP needs to confirm same.

CiniO

keithclancy wrote: »

Ah Jaysus come on ...

???

I used to do high speeds in small cars.
You won't win with physics - speed is the main factor.

Surely high class car should have better suspension, better brakes, as mentioned above, so you are more likely to be able to do high speed on special-stage like bendy road in better car, but on a straight motorway it's no difference.

If you hit something at 160km/h you will be the same dead no matter if you've driven corsa or brand new audi Q7.
If you get a tyre blow-out it might be even easier to control smaller car.
Braking is similar, as it depends on fraction between surface and tyres mostly so even the most advanced braking system won't give much difference.

CiniO

CiniO wrote: »

............

You won't win with physics - speed is the main factor.

.......... but on a straight motorway it's no difference..........

Larger cars would be to an extent designed for cruising at high speeds (the design would be inherently mindful of actual physics)
Small cars wouldn't, they'd be designed for pootling around town mainly.

To argue that there's no difference between a corsa doing 5000/6000rpm in 4th or 5th to hit 100mph and a large cc car such unstressed at 3500prm or less doing the same speed is a difficult point to make.

The smaller car will without doubt feel less stable at higher speeds even in a straight line, due to size, weight, vibration, centre of gravity and any number of other attributes.

Duckjob

Ha ha, reminds me of one of my first cars - 1L - had a 4-speed gearbox and I got a 5-speed box put into it. I somehow thought it would transform it into a supercar. Feckin thing used to slow down when you went into 5th with any sort of headwind

keithclancy

CiniO wrote: »

???

I used to do high speeds in small cars.
You won't win with physics - speed is the main factor.

Surely high class car should have better suspension, better brakes, as mentioned above, so you are more likely to be able to do high speed on special-stage like bendy road in better car, but on a straight motorway it's no difference.

If you hit something at 160km/h you will be the same dead no matter if you've driven corsa or brand new audi Q7.
If you get a tyre blow-out it might be even easier to control smaller car.
Braking is similar, as it depends on fraction between surface and tyres mostly so even the most advanced braking system won't give much difference.

I'm talking about comfort, 160km/h in a small engined car is just uncomfortable, your driving close to the maximum top speed of the car.

I don't know if you were in some sort of Magic Corsa but if I had to drive a corsa to work every day, I wouldn't drive to work every day

Duckjob

corktina wrote: »

1.2 Corsa wouldn't do 100mph off the Cliffs of Moher....

Back in the day, aforementioned 1.0L managed an indicated 105mph down the M50 . Must have been a rare windy day...

awec

This post has been deleted.

Yawns

Jordan537 wrote: »

i know it's an old car but its been serviced well and no real reason for it top drop in power. Only done 40k.

anyway, 80 is plenty fast enough!!!

When you say it's been serviced well please tell me it wasn't serviced just when the mileage required it to be.

dgt

awec wrote: »

I'd say a 98 car is old.

How come?

awec

This post has been deleted.

CiniO

keithclancy wrote: »

I'm talking about comfort, 160km/h in a small engined car is just uncomfortable, your driving close to the maximum top speed of the car.

I don't know if you were in some sort of Magic Corsa but if I had to drive a corsa to work every day, I wouldn't drive to work every day

If you are talking about comfort - that yes - definitely.
Surely it won't be comfortable to travel at 160km/h in a corsa.
But I was rather talking about road handling.

CianRyan

How much crap do you have in the car, are you fat? Full tank of fuel?

What I'm saying is, a lot of weight will slow the car down. Especially something that weak.

CianRyan

awec wrote: »

It'll probably still work just as well, but 15 years is old IMO. If someone said to me "I drive an old Corsa" then I'd be assuming something in and around that age.

Especially if you take it relative to other cars on the road, you see very few with 90's regs about.

I see loads of 90's cars about, maybe I'm not living right area. Us scrubbers in Tallaght.

awec

This post has been deleted.

djimi

I would be quite happy to do 100mph in my soon to be 14 year old car, but there is a world of difference between a well maintained Integra and a 1.2 Corsa in fairness.

I learned to drive in a mid 90s Punto which was maybe 8-10 years old at the time, and this was at the time when we still had a national speed limit of 60mph. Anything at or slightly over that speed felt fast in that car, and anything approaching 70-80mph on a motorway felt excessive. The one time I tried to push it on beyond that speed I just felt plain unsafe; the car was twitchy, like it was very much on the edge and it was plain uncomfortable.

Small cars like that are not designed for those kind of speeds, even newer ones, let alone one that is nearly 15 years old.

Also, if you asked anyone would they sooner have a high speed crash in a Corsa or a BMW I doubt you will find many (if any) who would say that there is no difference...

dgt

awec wrote: »

It'll probably still work just as well, but 15 years is old IMO. If someone said to me "I drive an old Corsa" then I'd be assuming something in and around that age.

Especially if you take it relative to other cars on the road, you see very few with 90's regs about.

Fair enough, not a lot of 90s cars left on the roads. To me, 20+ years is getting long on the tooth. 15 years, still plenty serviceable, spare parts are still being manufactured etc.