Originally Posted by
Lance B
I have calculated the gear ratio, final drive, tyre circumference and engine rpm, and get - from memory - about 49km/h per 1000rpm, which tallies quite closely to the speedo.
The speedo in the Passat is about 5-6% out, not 10% as far as I know.
I would say that road side speed indicators are not so accurate.
As for calculating the speed by measuring the distance and then dividing by the time taken, this will be more accurate as the speedo needle requires a certain amount of "slippage" in order to show speed. It has to "slip", otherwise it would wind off the clock. The odometer is different in that it is "hard wired" to the gearbox in that there is a sensor that counts revolutions - no "slippage" - and then calculates distance by using the tyre diameter x revolutions.
I therefore find it strange that your speedo would indicate 124kmh at 3,000rpm when my Passat, with the same gearbox and theoretically the same final drive, indicates at around the 100kmh mark and 2,000rpm! If I was indicating 3,000rpm in my Passat, I would be travelling at an indicated 150kmh, which *maybe* about 141kmh if you take into account the "error".