With today's technology.....

[osprey]

why haven't cars got a gadget that wouldn't allow them to do any more than 80mph? There is no reason why vehicles in this country have to do more than that legally, so what is the reason that they are able to do so?

[NORMANTHEDOG]

there are limiters available,quite a lot of lorries,coaches etc have them fitted,but not cars,would you buy a sports car if it could only do 70 or 80 mph,i dont think so

[funkymoped]

if you drive some of the rural roads in Britain you will know that there are, at times, a need to overtake slower moving vehicles.
lorries, caravans and people who just dont want to drive as fast as you do.
can you inagine sticking your foot down and not having the speed or power to pass ??? (within the limits of the law)
i know you mention 80mph and most rural roads are 60mph max speed.
im not a speed merchant and have no desire to travel above 80mph, but i do want the power there if i ever need it.

removing the power/speed would have to be done by limiting revs. this would limit every gear and make some driving conditions very dangerous.

[Gary-ET]

You are one of the annoying drivers that does 60 in the middle lane of the M4 aint you...

God, its the pedal on the right,

Some people like the feeling of power and acceleration, like myself, you should stick to your push bike mate. AND STAY ON THE PAVEMENT!!!

[Ethel]

Many people drive their cars abroad and in some countries there is no maximum speed limit on certain roads.

[osprey]

In reply to those who have answered:-
1. Under what circumstances is there any need to drive in excess of 80mph in this country? As funkymoped mentions, there are occasions when you need to overtake slower moving vehicles but he does restrict this to Britain's rural roads which are not in the main condusive to speeds over 80mph. He(?) mentions that in order to limit the speed it would necessitate limiting the revs which would affect every gear - I didn't realise this.
2. If I wanted to buy a sports car then indeed 80mph might seem a little slow, but where in this country could you really enjoy the speed that such cars allow?
3. Gary -ET - I am NOT one of those annoying drivers that you mention and they irritate me as well. Why doesn't everyone realise that you ARE allowed to travel at 70mph on the inside lane as well as the others? I see no reason to insult people that you have no knowledge of and don't want to comment on your remarks further, save to say that you don't appear to know the Highway Code very well as you suggest I should stick to my pushbike and STAY ON THE PAVEMENT which is against the law as you should well know.

[Jay70]

A friends CLK compressor Merc has a variable speed limiter which you can set to for example 70mph for motorway driving and some high powered cars are limited to 155mph top end. So some cars do have a gadget but its normally on higher spec luxury cars but this will probably filter down eventually like ABS etc.

[pagey]

yes, if you couldn't speed where would the camera revenue come from?!

limiting speed does not mean limiting revs.

[richard1982]

You don't limit the rev's the ecu is programmed to abide by a set speed the new BMW5 has top speeds of excess of 180mph but to sell in uk this is cut to 154mph as per high way codes act, Also after having an accident ( mate did) at work and requireing A&E i shot down M5 to A&E at well over 110 and got pulled over by pc, After relising what was going on he then went in front two's and blue's and we continued at over 110, it was speed or dead mate?? Not difficult speed to f**k with the law with someones life

[williaid]

it tends to be German cars which are limited to 155 mph, and this is a voluntary agreement. there are plenty of cars sold in this country that exceed that speed

[Maaartahn]

osprey have you ever thought of the fact that if you drive between European countries, there are different speed limits i.e Germany's autobahn.
Also if electronic speed limiters would be enforced I know that at least half the UK population will opose it and the Government will be driven to despair.
Unless you have a Bugatti Veyron where the speed is limited to a flimsy 252mph, any higher and I'm sure the car would start flying!