Why is it acceptable that our cars are capable of driving so fast?

I can’t envision any justification other than thrills.

It’s not about the car’s top speed, all to do with the ratio of 0–60 against the theoretical top performance.
The more powerful the car the faster it gets away from a standing start

Men’s egos.

One day, our highway speed limits might change to faster.

Apparently Texas already has a new highway with 85mph limit

Poland has one at 87mph. The world is moving faster. Will the car you purchase today be able to keep up tomorrow? Nobody wants to drive at the red line limit. Better for an engine to cruise comfortably lower than the ultimate top speed it can achieve.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies The one in Texas is a gimmick to get people to use the toll road. The roads were losing money. They hired a private Spanish company, Cintra, to construct and manage them and evidently the company was not getting the return on its investment that they thought they should.
There are also discussions about making the toll road prices vary depending upon the traffic levels on non-toll roads; in other words they are banking on people being willing to pay more on days when traffic is heavy but not so much on light traffic days. They are also have adjusted traffic signals on the adjacent non-toll roads to insure that you will be stopped at as many intersections as possible. Not sure whether this is company policy and implementation or whether the cities involved are complicit in making sure the private companies get more for their buck.

Another fun fact, evidently not only do you have to contend with high speed traffic on that road but now you also have to dodge feral hogs

I guess I never thought of that, but this is a really good question.

Considering that some people born without arms are capable of living fulfilling lives with legs and feet only, to serve the purposes that most people’s hands can serve, and considering also the mischief that many people get into by using their hands and arms for “bad purposes”, would you also suggest that we should be born without arms, or that they should be amputated at birth, because they are clearly redundant and get some people in trouble?

As @ucme has correctly noted, the higher the power available to the vehicle’s engine, the faster it can accelerate and (though he didn’t note it) the longer it will last in service at lower “normal” power output. An engine that tops out at 65 mph, for example, at its extreme high end, will be working itself to death every time you move onto the interstate. That vehicle simply wouldn’t last long enough to be economically viable to most consumers.

In addition, the car’s manufacturer does not pigeonhole every driver as to the roads he will use or the conditions under which he will operate. Some people – gasp! – race their cars. (I’m not condoning those who race on public thoroughfares, but a large number of people race, quite legally, on private tracks.)

Some people use their vehicles to tow trailers. The power that could make the car “run like the wind” can also be geared down through the drive train to provide the power needed to pull the heavier load.

Not all cars are destined to spend their entire useful lives on the roads of the market where they were sold.

Finally, even though the speedometer on most cars runs upward of 140 mph, which is faster than most people could drive even if they tried it, it’s unlikely that the as-delivered vehicle itself will be capable of such speed. Have you ever tried to top out the vehicle that you drive, for example? Most consumer-grade tires are not rated much over 90 mph. (Which still provides some measure of safety; it’s not as if your tires will all blow out when you hit 95 mph.) Even if the tires hold up, the vehicle itself may not actually achieve the speed that the speedometer shows as a maximum; the engine may simply not have as much power as you believe it does (to warrant a speedometer that shows a 140 mph top end), or the various systems and vibration of the vehicle would simply not be able to maintain that speed.

@CWOTUS: “would you also suggest that we should be born without arms”

Yes. I would recommend the removal of fetus’ arms prior to birth.

@marinelife ‘s answer is apt, but not for the reason @marinelife thinks.

Such a sexist and ignorant motorist mentality is far greater a hazard than a driver that happens to be traveling faster than a posted limit. conditions depending of course.

The OP uses the word “acceptable”. Do you fear your car, doubt your piloting ability? Is going 76 in a 75 mile an hour zone really that terrifying?

The motoring public makes the mistake of assuming that being in possession of a license and an off the rack Camry makes them experts.

A car’s potential isn’t the problem. I posit that YOU are the problem. The frustrated petty hacks I’m surrounded by daily are the problem. You know who you are. With your underinflated, cheap as possible tires and your dreamcatcher hanging from the centerview mirror. Your precious latte and your unsecured yippy little dog resting between you and your airbag, your stupid fuzzy steering wheel cover or your 2.5 ton, body on frame monster with a nicer finish and a Lincoln badge. Your goddamn Emails…

All you miserable twats that tolerate driving but would rather be riding your living room down the highway.

Car ownership and a valid license does not grant you any credibility in my eyes.

I might own a camera but that doesn’t make me a photographer.

Ego you say. Nope, rather pride. Pride in making flawless shifts. Pride in not making a single unnecessary motion on that trip to the store. Pride in perfectly gearing down as to not need to touch the brakes before the light ahead turns green…

@CWOTUS has pretty much taken care of the serious, hardware based answer to the question.

^ I think you posted this in the wrong thread.

^ No, the theme of that OP is more relative to the law and personal politics.

I won’t disappoint there either.

For the haters:

Is your Civic’s engine handbuilt?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc8_BxXcifs

Speedometer shows Kilometers per hour.

Stomping on the brakes isn’t always the best answer. Sometimes you need to stomp on the gas to get out of trouble faster than you got into it.

This question presumes that every driver in the world is either in the US or someplace with closely similar laws. Some places have no speed limits, so any mention of law is irrelevant.

It also implies that we don’t need motorized vehicles at all since speed does not matter. I’ll try to remember that next time I am late for something because I walked (at ~3 mph) instead of drove.

@marinelife It may surprise to to know that women also drive fast. In NASCAR, the #10 is driven by a woman. In Germany, women are allowed to drive on the Autobahn. In Massachusetts, they left females drive within 50 miles of Boston. I might agree if the conversation were about lift kits on pickups, but in this context, it’s just ignorance with a side order of man-hating.

@CWOTUS There are also sanctioned grassroots racers that take (mostly) stock cars and race them on tracks that are legally considered “offroad”. Some classes of autocross are nothing more than someone in a helmet running their daily driver around the course, and 24 Hours of Lemons is a series that mandates that your vehicle cost $500 or less (though safety equipment like the mandatory roll cage do not count towards that limit) which gives only limited room for performance enhancement. It’s not just private race tracks.

@kritiper Quite true. I know because there have been multiple occasions where my car (and possibly my life) have been saved by rapid acceleration. After all, brakes only stop the wheels from turning; they have no direct effect on your speed, and may alter your direction in bad ways.

“Cars have speedometers that go over 100 MPH. Other than emergency vehicles, what possible justification is there for having cars that can go this fast?”

Did anyone answer this?

@marinelife. Never mess with a man and his car.~

I don’t think they’ve answered it, but it’s a good question.

@jerv I don’t hate men or you or anyone, really. It was just a fact.

I had to look back on why Jerv & Co. were calling you a “hater” @marinelife…And I was surprised at the reason. I agree with you. It’s probably men’s egos, more than any other factor. They all have to be Bigger, Faster, Stronger than ANYBODY ELSE. It seems to be a built in trait, which was useful in the days we were wild animals. It has a use today, too, in different ways. It’s not something that can be turned on and off, I don’t think. It is not always an insult, either.

^^ Flamebait.

@ibstubro I’m bored enough that I’ll bite.

@Dutchess_III Not quite. For many of us, merely being able to go wherever we want whenever we want to there is power enough. Sure, there are some who are insecure enough to need to prove their superiority (or embarrass themselves trying) and a fair number that just like to compete for entertainment, but there are women who do the same thing. Not all athletes are male, and men are not the only ones who try establishing a pecking order. Gender is irrelevant; those behaviors are simply human nature.

Also bear in mind that a lot of men rely on their car to get them to work, which is too far to walk and often not near any feasible mass transit. Craftspeople have their tools, musicians have their instruments, and they are just as loyal to the things that allow them to make a living as a man who drives 30–150 miles to earn a paycheck is to his car. Interfering with one’s ability to provide for themselves and their loved ones will make anyone a little uppity.

The same applies to driving enthusiasts and car buffs who feel their leisure-time activities are under attack. Nobody likes being told they can’t enjoy their lives. We all have hobbies. The only difference is that a lot of men enjoy motorized things with wheels. But I’ve known a few female VW mechanics (my mother was one), some female bikers (with their own bikes), and a lot of guys who couldn’t care less about cars so long as their car runs that I think it safe to say that not all gearheads are men and not all men are gearheads.

In the end, the “man and his car” thing is merely men doing the same things non-male humans do, only displaying the behavior differently.

My husband suggested that The Autobahn was the reason for it. For example, our Jetta is made in Germany. I don’t think it would be cost effective to build a different kind of car for every country.

Sounds most logical to me, though who would want to drive 160 mph (the top the speedometer in the Jetta) on a public highway, even one with no speed limit, is beyond me.

Different vehicles are made for nearly every country, @Dutchess_III. That has next to nothing to do with it.

I sat in a 66 Plymouth Barracuda once that had a stock speedo that went to 160 MPH. Like mag wheels, probably to feed the male ego.

OK. Thanks @CWOTUS.

Oh @kritiper! How dast you say such a thing!

@jerv It doesn’t always have to do with insecurity. It’s just the way males of most species are wired. As I said, it’s not always an insult. Insecurity can cause it to be taken to ridiculous extremes, though.
Your last sentence explained it succinctly “In the end, the “man and his car” thing is merely men doing the same things non-male humans do, only displaying the behavior differently.”

Has anyone here with a vehicle that has a speedometer that says “140 mph” at the far end … actually driven that fast? In a street-legal machine without special modifications?

If I put a speedometer in your car that had an upper set point of, oh, 700 mph – and did nothing else to the vehicle – would you assume that you had a car that was potentially capable of setting land speed records? “Well, look at the upper end of the speedometer!!!” The numbers on the speedometer don’t mean diddly unless the vehicle can achieve those speeds. Very few non-customized vehicles (and I mean highly technical customizations that are beyond the affordability of the average driver) can do that, despite what you may believe from looking at a speedometer.

Marketing wins again, I guess.

I’m pretty sure I’ve taken cars to the speedometer limit, but I don’t think I’ve had a car with a limit over 120.
Every car I’ve owned I’ve driven over 100.
I’d just as soon the speedometer topped out at 90. Instead of it being a challenge to test the limit, I’d be afraid to push past it.

So. I still don’t think any one has actually given the question – not why but why is it acceptable – a good answer.

We sort of have to demonstrate that it’s possible first, though, don’t we? Otherwise it’s simply a philosophical discussion akin to the rationality and justice behind, say, 100-year prison sentences. Or we could just as rationally discuss the acceptability of my example of installing a 700 mph speedometer. Which is to say “not very”.

The speedometer of a 1984 Monte Carlo topped out at 85 MPH.

Everyone that responded to this question should read that article.

“Eighty per cent plus of the cars on the road are not designed for and will not go over 110 mph.”

I had a 1969 Chevy pick-up that had a stock speedo that went to 100, and that 100 was at about the 4:30 position on the dial. (The 350 engine was not stock, had headers and a cam, 3:08 differential gears, turbo 400 with a shift kit. At full throttle, the transmission shifted @ 5000 RPM @90 MPH going into third gear.) One night I was trying to catch a Camaro that almost ran me off the freeway and get a plate number. When I finally backed out of it, the speedometer was pointing straight down. I can only assume that I had been doing 130 MPH and the engine was still coming on strong when I quit the chase. (No, I didn’t catch the Camaro, which had a major head start on me.)

@Dutchess_III I overheard a woman talking about men and cars and girls one day. She said the fancy wheels meant nothing to the girls, only that the guy having a car was important. (I realize this may not apply to all women, but was a very interesting POV.)

“Eighty per cent plus of the cars on the road are not designed for and will not go over 110 mph.” Oh dear. I see a challange! The Jetta speedometer tops out at 160….now I’m dying to see if it will really do that! “Dying.” Ha ha.

I agree with her statement. Also, that “flash” does have it’s place, @kritiper. It suggests success, to some degree. Look at the stereotype of the popular jocks in HS getting all the girls. Being a pro athlete assures a male of the same thing, and it obviously something women are attracted to….bigger, stronger, faster, successful. As I said, discussing men’s egos is not always an insult.
I read somewhere that one of the first things a woman checks out on a man are his shoes….