Wow...I never thought of things that way...that's crazy....THEY ARE SCAMMING US!

 

The analog speedometer could be 3 mph off, and this inaccuracy could be totally independent of the odometer accuracy.

IIRC, the diagnostic mode includes speed as one of it's outputs and it's pretty dang close to the speed reported by a GPS. This probably means that the odometer is pretty accurate too.

 

You know turbo, you bring up a very good point. When I go through Milwaukee's speed traps, I've always noticed that the speedo calibration is always 2-3 miles off. Now I don't feel so bad about turning 48k miles now...lol

 

Put slightly taller size tires on your car and regain some of the lost miles!

OOPS......sorry.....disregard......I don't have an svtf......sorry!

 

My sister-in-law has a 2006 Honda Civic and was notified by Honda that her warranty had been extended using a formula simular to what turbo posted. Honda got sued for false mileage claims and lost so they agreed to extend the warranty by how much the speedo was off.

 

^Interesting.

 

You are correct. It is a rip-off. My speedo is about 3-4 mph too high. I did a mileage study by checking it with interstate mile markers on 3 different roads. The mileaged displayed on my odometer was the same percentage off on the high side as my speedometer. The bottm line is that my 36k bumper to bumper warranty actually ran out around 33K, and my 100k powertrain will actually be up at around 93-94k.

 

I run my GPS int he Current Trip/ Speed Setting so I have a more accurate Reading of my speed. At 45 I'ts dead on at 65 its 2mph slow at 85 its 4 mph slow at um yeah its almost 7 miles slow

 

WOW. So there is some legitimacy to this claim? I wonder if this is something that Ford should be notified of? I could easily pull in another 500 bucks on the sale of my car if it had 63,000 instead of closer to 70,000. Now i'm pissed!

 

i hear putting on bigger tires will trick the odometer. ????

 

I just replaced the stock wheels with another set of 17s but with a shorter (40 series) sidewall. Now my speedo is off by 6 mph. Blah.

 

Mine is pretty accurate when I go through the speed traps. I'm sure it's not every car.

 

So maybe it's with the 03s and 04s only.

 

Maybe it is only some cars. But still, if it's more than an isolated incidence it definitely has some merit. On top of all of this, it could also mean that the SVTF isn't getting quite as good of gas mileage as we might think.

 

This issue usually comes up in the MkV GTI forums I frequent. In those cars the difference is 7%, so obviously a lot of people are worried about it. The good news is that it has nothing to do with the odometer. When I connect my diagnostics cable it reads dead on, I think there's also a way to have your accurate MPHs in the radio display for those with dual zone A/C. The other good news is that the computer calculates the MPG average based on the odometer.

So don't freak out, this is normal with almost every manufacturer. BMW's and VW's readings are notoriously high; Honda seems to be closer to actuality from my experience. I don't drive multiplying by 0.07 all the time, but I do know that 85ish is 80mph, and 150 is actually 140mph. But your passenger don't need to know this.

 

Check the digital speedo.

1) Start with the key in off position
2) Press the temp odometer reset button and hold, turn key to on position (or start the car, doesn't matter, as long as the key ends up in the on position)
3) When the digital odometer screen flashes test, release the button.

There are a few displays in test mode, including DTC codes, digital tach, digital speedo, egt etc... you switch between the displays by pressing the button. The only way to return to ODO mode is to turn the key to off.

Now start driving and press through the displays until you find the speed... don't hit a mailbox while you have your head buried in the dash.

On mine the digital speedo is right on w/ the radar & gps. Yes, my analog needle is off by about 5mph @ 65, but to be honest I think this is by design. Since the digital speedo is right, my mileage is right.

To further explain the "I think it's by design" part... There's no reason for everybody's needle to be off, across different model years. That equipment is accurate enough... There's not a chance in hell that it's not a known issue. My guess is that the SVT interior team put a few extra mph on the gauge faceplate... It's one of those little things you notice when you hop in a new car, how high the speedo goes. It also has the added benefit of giving the illusion that one is going faster than they actually are, and the discrepancy is proportional as the speed increases which would make sense if just a few extra mph were squeezed on the faceplate... and with that benefit in mind it is something that nobody seemed to have any interest in correcting...

 

Awesome information. Thanks.

 

most cars are a few mph fast, no big deal

 

It's a federal mandate for cars to never ever underreport their speed. That makes sense. Cheaper cars tend to overshoot because it's easier to be off by more.

 

Yeah well, being baffled by how much my speedometer is actually off cost me a $168 dollar ticket in Wisconsin over this past weekend for being 14 Mph over the limit. My speedo was reading 9 over with the cruise control on so...I dunno.

 

Well, either way, you were speeding. That said, a Kia that says 90mph when it's only going 70mph is just flat out bad.

 

^ I wasn't aware of that thanks.

 

It's your choice. 9 over or 14 over.

 

The point Kimbo is that I failed to adjust my cruise control setting after going down hill, so I'm the only one to blame. Playing second hand officer isn't helping any. Back to the point I guess that I'm going to have to invest in a GPS system to get a more accurate reading since I can't recalibrate my speedometer using my Predator.