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Can the BMW 118i reach 235 km/h?This is a discussion on Can the BMW 118i reach 235 km/h? within the 1 Series forums, part of the BMW category; I've done 235km/h on the speedo with my 120i. According to BMW, the topspeed is 225km/h. A speedo never know ... |
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05-04-2009, 01:39 PM
| #11 |
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  | I've done 235km/h on the speedo with my 120i. According to BMW, the topspeed is 225km/h. A speedo never know show exact speed. Cut 10-15km/h from the topspeed and you get closer to the "real" speed.
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05-04-2009, 02:43 PM
| #12 | |
| The Photo Phanatic  Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Munich, Germany Garage: '08 BMW 118i
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05-04-2009, 02:47 PM
| #13 |
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| Some great info coming my way here. I will definitely try and find someone to come along and time the mile markers for me. Nevetheless, I find it odd if the car has a supposed top speed of 210 km/h that the needle will go all the way to 235 km/h. If the cars top speed is 210 km/h and the needle shows 215 km/h, that's more or less understandable. But 235 km/h?!
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05-04-2009, 06:33 PM
| #14 |
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05-04-2009, 08:36 PM
| #15 |
| The Photo Phanatic Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Munich, Germany Garage: '08 BMW 118i
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| From MX793 Yes, it was an overoptimistic speedometer. If the car doesn't have enough power to physically reach that speed, a tall gear ratio won't help you get there nor allow you to go faster (in fact, it could result in a lower top speed). I read an article just yesterday where the car being tested was a BMW M5 with a 155 mph limiter. The tester said that the speedometer showed 165 mph when they hit the limiter. Their independant test equipment (either a radar/laser speed gun or perhaps some kind of 5th wheel device) indicated 157 mph. That's an 8 mph (13 km/h) difference between what the speedometer said and the actual speed of the vehicle. There are three limits to a vehicle's top speed. 1) Artificial limit (e.g. an electronic governor). The manufacturer programs the car to cut off the fuel once a certain speed is reach. These cars can be made to go faster by reprogramming the computer to remove or raise the limiter. 2) Redline, or Gearing Limited. Some cars are able to hit redline in top gear, which prevents them from going any faster. With a redline limited car, you can get more speed by changing to taller gears. This is the only case where a taller gear will allow the car to go faster. 3) Drag, or Power, limited. When a car is drag limited, it means that its top speed occurs when the force of the aerodynamic drag equals the force that the engine can put to the road in top gear. There are only two ways to get more speed in a drag limited car. First, you can add more engine power. Second, and this is conditional, if the gearing is too tall, the car may not be able to take full advantage of all of its power in top gear. A shorter gear can sometimes result in a little more speed. In fact, there are many cars that reach their maximum speed in their second highest gear rather than their top gear. A Corvette, for instance, reaches top speed in 5th gear, not 6th. What I'm talking about with these cars is the theoretical maximum drag limited top speed. The theoretical maximum drag limited top speed is the speed at which the power of the wind resistance (wind drag multiplied by vehicle speed) equals the maximum power of the engine measured at the wheels. This tells you how fast the car could ever possibly go if given ideal gearing to take full advantage of the power the engine is making. When real world gearing is taken into account, more often than not the real drag limited speed of the vehicle is less than it's theoretical maximum drag limited speed.
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05-05-2009, 05:54 AM
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| You should also take into account the manufacturing process, and the induced fabrication tolerances: no two blocks are exactly the same. After that you have the break-in process, rendered necessary by these manufacturing tolerances (greatly reduced by modern manufacturing, hence the reduced need of breaking-in). These two factors can make your car slightly more or slightly less powerful than another car withe the same engine. No car has the exact power claimed by the manufacturer. This is why Nissan builds its GTR-gearboxes specifically for each engine (even if it's mainly a marketing gimmick). So you car may be slightly more powerful than the technical data says. GPS systems usually have a precision of around 20m, so they're not totally accurate either.
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05-06-2009, 05:53 AM
| #17 |
| The Photo Phanatic Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Munich, Germany Garage: '08 BMW 118i
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| I still find it odd that a speedometer can be so far off the truth if this is all true. Like I said before if the car is doing 210 km/h and the speedometer shows 215-217 km/h, I can live with that. But if the 118i is truly maxed out at 210 km/h and the speedometer shows 235 km/h then that is a serious issue in my opinion in regards to the car being honest with its driver! 
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05-06-2009, 06:30 AM
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05-06-2009, 08:46 AM
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05-06-2009, 08:49 AM
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