Upping the speed limiter

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coval

***
Joined
Nov 9, 2019
Messages
9
Location
Sacramento, CA
New to the family, very excited to be here :) Will be posting more soon.

I bought a 2019 e-Golf about a month ago and realized that the speed limiter is at 85 mph not 93 mph like the European version :( Disappointing! Clearly this is electronically governed and should be easy to change if you have the knowledge and equipment.

Has anybody succeeded at upping the speed limiter? Maybe using VCDS or getting a shop to do it? 93mph would be perfect! 85 mph, not so much...

And for reference, here's a video of an eGolf going >90 mph
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJgu5ztCV_U
 
Where in CA can you legally drive 93 mph on public roads?

That is probably a German autobahn certified car that VW sets up for 150 kph max. Possibly not DOT approved, or insurable. And, being german, VDO sets up the speedo is set to indicate 2 to 3 mph faster than what GPS shows you are really doing over land.
 
coval said:
Has anybody succeeded at upping the speed limiter? Maybe using VCDS or getting a shop to do it? 93mph would be perfect! 85 mph, not so much...
Also interested. Surprised it hasn't been figured out yet.
 
JoulesThief said:
Where in CA can you legally drive 93 mph on public roads?
I don't know and I don't care, to be honest. But let me give you that - I was taking a drive today (Saturday) in the morning and going with the traffic on the freeway. I was doing about 82 and I was just going with the traffic. That left me with about 3mph for emergency maneuvers like speeding up to let an emergency vehicle go or giving way to that tailgating-light-flashing-idiot-doing-95 behind me.

The eGolf is clearly capable of doing >90 mph - it handles great, has good brakes, is quiet inside and you can even set the speed-warning sound up to 130 mph :) Not to mention the euro version can do it - not only in Germany, there are pov videos from other countries too. 85 mph top speed feels like getting a superb meal on a plastic plate, whereas in Europe you get the same thing on a porcelain plate with proper cutlery. Is the food the same? Yes, but not quite...
 
coval said:
JoulesThief said:
Where in CA can you legally drive 93 mph on public roads?
I don't know and I don't care, to be honest. But let me give you that - I was taking a drive today (Saturday) in the morning and going with the traffic on the freeway. I was doing about 82 and I was just going with the traffic. That left me with about 3mph for emergency maneuvers like speeding up to let an emergency vehicle go or giving way to that tailgating-light-flashing-idiot-doing-95 behind me.

The eGolf is clearly capable of doing >90 mph - it handles great, has good brakes, is quiet inside and you can even set the speed-warning sound up to 130 mph :) Not to mention the euro version can do it - not only in Germany, there are pov videos from other countries too. 85 mph top speed feels like getting a superb meal on a plastic plate, whereas in Europe you get the same thing on a porcelain plate with proper cutlery. Is the food the same? Yes, but not quite...

Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't make it right. Honestly, there are no roads in CA engineered for going that fast.

Actually, it's one of the whole reasons I buy German cars. Everyone of them is capable of being driven at Autobahn speeds. That makes them exceptionally safe on american roads, with a greater margin of capabilities than would ever be needed, if you follow road signs put up for everyone's personal safety for speed limits.

I could understand if you want to modify your car to be capable on track days where it's closed course competition. But I lost a very good school buddy of mine on 70 south of Yuba City, where everyone was going too fast, didn't slow down, went in to tule fog, into a death pileup. The skid marks showed that John slowed down normally, but 6 people behind him went blind into the pea soup thick fog, saw brake lights too late, and skidded to slow down, too little, too late.

John never had to worry about the Paradise fire the next year. No one got to receive any body parts he may have been able to donate. All due to excessive speed.

YMMV, I don't mean to preach, but I have my reasons for my beliefs about safety on our public roads. No one is above the law.
 
My guess is that someone just chose a nice round number. Other EVs like the Opel Ampera-E are limited to 150 kph (93 mph) just like the Euro e-golf.

Also it is conceivable that the speed limit was reduced to 85 to reduce battery overheating in hot western states, heat which Europe rarely sees.

Given the regional differences (the kind that coding is meant to modify), I wouldn't be surprised if there is a hex value somewhere that corresponds to this.
 
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