Leopaul's Heaven and Hell: YOU CAN'T MEASURE A JAPANESE CAR'S TOP SPEED, SPEEDO BOY!

2013 Toyota Auris' speedo

One of the things that drives me up the wall is when everytime who wants to shop for a new Japanese-made car, they're always asking what is the top speed of a certain new Japanese car. I'm sorry what? Top speed? I'm very sorry but Japanese cars don't measure top speeds. YOU CAN'T MEASURE A JAPANESE CAR'S TOP SPEED YOU SPEEDO BOY!!! Look at their speedos, it reads up to 180kph. Even your old Supra, RX-7, Fairlady Z, or any other JDM tuners of the 90's. Their speedos always have the same limit. 180kph! Why would you bother convert it to something higher than 180kph? That's illegal, you know. There was a saying in Top Gear that goes "ownership of a rev counter is theft". Perhaps I should modify this line. Ahem...ownership of either a rev counter or a speedometer is theft! Or something like conversion of speedometers is theft. Why would the people who love to modify cars want to convert speedos like that? Is it because they want to break laws even more? Gosh I hate street racers...

Why would Japanese-made cars sold in Japan have speedos read up to 180kph while exported ones read up to either 240 or 260kph? To be efficient? Afraid not. Because of such health and safety concerns in the past, regarding the whole bosozoku trend that is proven to be a nuisance in Japanese roads, all Japanese carmakers like Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and other Japanese carmakers agreed that there is no need for passenger cars in Japan to travel faster than 180 km/h, and therefore most Japanese-made passenger cars are equipped with speedometers that only go up to 180 km/h.

Here's an excerpt found from the Toyota global website;

Why do speedometers go up to 180 km/h when the maximum speed limit on Japanese roads is only 100 km/h?

The maximum speed limit in Japan is 100 km/h; however cars need to be able to go faster in order to maintain their speed so as not to block traffic while going up hills or when carrying heavy loads or lots of people. In addition, sometimes it's necessary to go beyond the speed limit to avoid danger. That's why we make cars that are capable of traveling faster than the speed limit.

For example, it's necessary to have some flexibility in speed when cars are going uphill or carrying heavy loads or many passengers so that they can go beyond the speed limit when necessary to avoid danger.

After taking various issues into consideration, it was determined that there is no need for passenger cars in Japan to travel faster than 180 km/h, and therefore most Toyota passenger cars are equipped with speedometers that only go up to 180 km/h. The speedometers of cars used for circuit racing go up to 200 km/h. Additionally, because the speed limit varies among the various countries and regions of the world, speedometers for cars that are also sold in other countries sometimes go up higher than 200 km/h. However, even these cars are equipped with a device called a speed limiter that prevents them from going faster than 180 km/h.

Furthermore, even if we make our cars incapable of going faster than 100 km/h, it would still be dangerous for any car to go faster than the lower speed limits set for many roads.

The most important thing is for people to obey traffic rules.

Source: http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/kids/faq/entry/6193.php

Everyday JDM cars, especially luxury minivans such as the Toyota Alphard, Honda Odyssey, and Nissan Elgrand, medium sedans such as the Nissan Sylphy (coming December), Toyota Premio, and Honda Accord, and compacts such as the Toyota Vitz, Nissan Note, and Suzuki Swift, they all have the 180kph speedo and no matter how much power you'll put it in especially the 3.5L V6-powered Mark X, 4.6L V8-powered Crown Majesta, or the 3.7L V6-powered Nissan Fuga, it always remain the same. The same 180kph feeling that all Japanese cars had.

However, there are some Japanese cars that are somewhat "exception to the rule", meaning JDM cars sold in Japan have speedos that can exceed the 180kph rule that most Japanese cars have. The Lexus IS for instance, in the past this has a speedo that reads up to 180kph but when it was facelifted several years ago, 2010 to be precise, the speedo now reads up to 260kph! There's another case with the Lexus GS...

2013 Lexus GS350 F Sport

Back when it was launched in 2005 with a hybrid the following year, you'll notice that the previous GS' speedometer reads up to 180kph. Remember the Aristo? The Toyota Aristo? It's the executive saloon from the 90's that we all like because of the JZ engine on it. It has a speedo reads up to 180kph! Get it? You just really don't get it. Anyway, onto that new model that was launched in January 2012, wanna guess how much kph its speedo reads?180kph? Nope! It's 260kph! 

Other Japanese cars sold in Japan that were "exempted to the rule" such as the Mitsubishi Mirage (200kph speedo), Nissan GT-R (340kph), Lexus LFA, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, Subaru WRX STi GRB/GVB, Mazda Roadster (speedo that reads up to 200kph), Toyota 86, Subaru BRZ, Lexus LS, Lexus RX (facelifted model now reads up to 240kph, more than the outgoing model's 180kph speedo), latest Suzuki Swift Sport, Mazdaspeed Axela, and that's about it.

Those Japanese cars, 180kph or not, they're not made to measure top speeds, and that means you Speedo Boy, because the JAMA means it. If something that worries you, remember the Yatabe? Yeah, it's the max speed oval test course that was made to measure top speeds but sadly it's gone a few years ago when their test course was relocated at Shirosato. Sadly, Shirosato, which is somewhere in Tsukuba, was made to measure a car's fuel economy as well as safety features, not top speeds.

Guess this ends here right now and if you're asking for a Japanese car's top speed. Just a reminder though...

YOU CAN'T MEASURE A JAPANESE CAR'S TOP SPEED, SPEEDO BOY!

That's an order.