[MSC]

I was driving and the speedo seemed fast. So I slowed down to the speed limit and people started passing me. In California getting passed when doing the speed limit is normal, but here in Idaho lots of people do the speed limt and slower. So my wife drove the Focus while I paced it with my mustang and the Focus showed 50 when the mustang was doing 45. The mustang is correct within 1 mph according to my many speeding tickets. I took it to the dealer and they said that up to +6 mph reading is within Ford's normal range. I just bought the car new a month ago and it is still stock, so I know it is not my wheel and tire combo. Anyone else have this problem?

 

[WD40]

I took it to the dealer and they said that up to +6 mph reading is within Ford's normal range.
Unfortunately, that's a correct statement.
Most new cars do read faster on the speedo than actual speed, though +6mph is a bit out of the norm.
+2 to +3mph is much more common.

 

[MSC]

Thanks for the info. Yes +2 to +3 would be O.K. My wife drives it the most and she doesn't mind, but it just annoys me when I drive. I guess I will have to learn to live with it.

 

[arrestmespi]

did you get new tires or something. consider an sct flash tuner that allows you to calibrate the speedo plus other neat stuf.



Plus put that speedo back on man we don't want to see that shit yo

 

[svt_gEEk]

Make sure your tires are the right size. I know you said you bought it new...but stranger things have happend.....other than that...a flash tuner would fix it...not sure what else to do.

 

[06ZXW]

I have an '06 and with my stock tires (Crappy Goodyears) the Speedo was dead-on (confirmed with radar speed sign and my GPS).

I upsized tires to 195/65/15 Kumho's and even at 70MPH it reads on 2-3 mph slower based on GPS.

I would think with a 6mph diff, something is wrong.

 

[sonicsvtf]

i have an 02 svt and i believe my speedo is off as well, kinda the same deal as you have, started driving the speed limit to try to save on gas(which is working, just got 26.5mpg) and noticed that people were either riding my butt or passing me. I do work at a dealership and have re-programmed pcms to accomodate for larger tires on trucks but havent tried it on a focus. Ill check it out next week and get back to you but it should be possible, you may have just had a lazy tech.

 

[MSC]

I will check and make sure Ford put the right size tire on from the factory. The factory does make mistakes some times. I do have to take the car in for the windshield surround. It is lifting along the top of the windshield. I think I will harass them some more about the speedo.

 

[scrammer]

go into DTC mode with your odometer, this is done by holding the reset button, and then starting the car. hold the button until it reads all 0's then release. go down the road and keep pushing the button until a number pops up resembling your speed or something close to it. this will be you actual speed you are going. compare it to your speedo. from here, you have 2 options. deal with it. or you can take out the cluster, remove the clear shield, remove the speedo needle, then go down the road doing the same thing with the odometer. and once you hit the cruise, stick the needle back on the post in the appropriate postition. this will be waaaay cheaper than buying a flash tuner. hope this helps ya out[thumb]

now someone can correct me if the 05+ does not have the option to do this with the odometer.

 

[scrammer]

and btw, mine reads 2-3 mph faster than actual speed.

 

[liquid01]

There is a calibration act in place that reads you( the manufacturer) can be within +/- 3 mph on the speedo. If its realy above or below that take it to the neariest HP station and have it checked. Get a certified police copy of your speedo reading and then go back to the dealer and tell them to fix it. This can be done. I have contested many a ticket this way and have won over the radar/lasar guns.

 

[liquid01]

BTW Honda has been the most accurate for many years within +/- 1 mph.

 

[MSC]

scrammer I did what you said about the odometer and found the mph which shows tenths without the decimal. It was tricky to find when the dash says 30 mph and the display says 281. It seems to be farther off the faster I go. Thanks to everyone for the help and advice. I will get it fixed.

 

[penguin]

"There is a calibration act in place that reads you( the manufacturer) can be within +/- 3 mph on the speedo."

My understanding is that this legal requirement went out at the same time as the "85 MPH Max" speedometer regulation.

I have searched and searched and never been able to find a Federal regulation or law that listed a requirement for accuracy of non-commercial passenger vehicles. If anyone has a reference to such a law or requirement, please post it.

 

[Andy04180]

Mines off by around 2.5 or so.. Of course that's running 215/40/17's on it. I figure anywhere around 3 is good enough. Should keep me from getting a ticket Lol.. atleast for the moment.

 

[stefcio007]

I have Torque installed on my centre display showing the screen read from the OBD, when I set cruise to 54 km/h it shows that I'm actually doing 50km/h.
Seems like a big difference for such a low speed...

The OBD reading is the correct reading yes?

 

[sailor]

"Correct" reading is from GPS or more crudely an average over timed distance.

We use 60 MPH because it's a mile per minute for easy figuring, 1.66666666 km/minute at 100 kph is a lot harder to measure. .833333333 km/minute at 50 kph isn't any better.

How do you set the 54 kph on yours? Press button when the speedo reads out at that?

 

[stefcio007]

When setting cruise it shows the speed that it is set to on the small driver display.
I set it using the steering wheel controls, not Torque, if that is what's confusing you?

 

[sailor]

It IS a thread from '06, so little info. here would apply.

I was actually unsure of buttons/readouts avail. for a MkIII model in Australia, and didn't want to guess at the procedure you were using.

Noticed elsewhere that you have the android setup for an in dash tablet arrangement, initially was thinking of a different plug in OBD reading device.

Knowing that the dash readout for speed can be programmed for different tire sizes, what I'm actually unsure of is what readout you get by OBD. I've got a feeling that you are seeing a std. conversion in the android software from the actual speed sensor data instead of a corrected output.

Knowing which is closer to reality might answer that question.

 

[stefcio007]

When I do the speed my speedo shows me often people overtake me...so it must be out by some degree. Might have to take a trip down to Geelong again and see what the overhead camera tells me.

Should I ditch using my Android setup for speed reading and go back to relying on the cluster speedo?