PFCFNG Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Ok, I managed to get a ticket for doing 83 in a 70. But my speedometer read 70 cause I spotted the speed trap a quarter mile away and MADE SURE my speed was 70. What can cause this great of an error in the speedometer other than tire size? The tires on my Pathy are the stock size (according to the local tire shop anyhow). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 mini came with 215/60/15 tires.......... she now has 31's......... not ALL pathy's came factory with 31's......... does the speedo jump? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpawela Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 (edited) hmmm...this might be a reason for my recent ticket (77 in 70). I never connected it to the speedo because I assumed it couldn't be that far off. Edited July 13, 2008 by jpawela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 Contest it If it's a radar / ladar speed trap, those damn guns have clocked stationary objects doing 40+... they have, at minimum, a +/- 10 MPH variance. My mother was in training with our local police force before she finished her degree in music ed and became a music teacher. It's stupid how they use those radar guns if they are that terribly inaccurate. From what I recall, they alone are not now enough in court for a ticket to hold - the officer must have tagged you a second method, usually by following behind you for a while. As for checking the speedo - I'm not entirely sure how that'd be done. Wouldn't a stealership have to test that for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 if your truck had the smaller tires, (most XEs came with those) and upgrade to 31" then you can expect about 10-12% decrease in speed so your speedo would show 70mph at 77. to test your speedo, use GPS or drive a mile at 60 and use a stop watch. if it's not exactly one (1) minute then speedo is off one way or another. in my state, the radar gun speed stands on it's own unless you get the maintenance records for that particular gun and throw doubt at it's accuracy. (last time checked long time ago..) or you can get in-car camera film showing traffic which then you could argue that it wasn't you but perhaps another vehicle. also, if the cop or the prosecutor doesn't show, the case will be dropped. if it was in a small town, the cop WILL be there. pay up now or possibly, if you go to court, ask for leniency. judges around here tend to drop the speeds down so you may only get 2pts off your license instead of 4, if you're nice and they are in a good mood. if you don't have the money, definitely tell that to the judge and offer doing something else instead. community service is a common substitution. i got a rash of tickets, like 5y ago, and fought them all and didn't pay one. the one in a small town, which i was sure i'll lose, as the cop was the judges cuz, ended up getting dropped because the prosecutor from the county seat didn't make it in time. when i got in my car to leave, the prosecutor pulled up right next to me. i high tailed outta there.. the two town cops were still in the court. another time when i had no dough, the judge, and the chief of a tribe, dropped this white boy's fine to half of the original and told me to make $5/mo payment until i had it paid of. i sped on a reservation and it was out of state, so no points. hehe.. MI has this thing called "traveling ticket" or 'welcome tourists', if you pay w/o fighting, they won't notify your state nor your insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFCFNG Posted July 13, 2008 Author Share Posted July 13, 2008 mini came with 215/60/15 tires.......... she now has 31's......... not ALL pathy's came factory with 31's......... does the speedo jump? The Speedometer does not jump, I have some random off brand all terrains the PO put on, they are 31's. Which Pathy's came stock with 31's and how can I tell which kind my Pathy is? Most of the factory badges have been removed. I have an LSD (tested by gravel peel-out method), manual windows and locks, V6. The spare is inside the hatch, not on an exterior rack... Contest it If it's a radar / ladar speed trap, those damn guns have clocked stationary objects doing 40+... they have, at minimum, a +/- 10 MPH variance. My mother was in training with our local police force before she finished her degree in music ed and became a music teacher. It's stupid how they use those radar guns if they are that terribly inaccurate. From what I recall, they alone are not now enough in court for a ticket to hold - the officer must have tagged you a second method, usually by following behind you for a while. As for checking the speedo - I'm not entirely sure how that'd be done. Wouldn't a stealership have to test that for you? In Mi you can't exactly contest the radar, the judges get a little pissed if you waste their time trying as well. Plus this particular officer was "nice" enough to write the ticket as "impeding traffic" which is $50 more for the fine but doesn't have any points. I can't exactly fight it and don't really want to. But I would like my speedo fixed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted July 13, 2008 Share Posted July 13, 2008 It's most likely an XE, which means originally you would have had 235 75 r15's (i have these) or possibly 215 something r15's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFCFNG Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 2008 Does anyone know of a way to read/decode the VIN to determine for sure? Or where the SE and XE dealer option packages? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doughboy Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 you should have, inside your drivers side door, a little white tag that gives you your tire info. Open the door and look at the side edge of the door, what is covered up when you close it. otherwise, I have no clue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 or call the stealer with your vin and they'll tell you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkorahil Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Does anyone know of a way to read/decode the VIN to determine for sure? Or where the SE and XE dealer option packages? shoot me your VIN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkorahil Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I dont see how it can be the speedometer pinion from what you are describing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFCFNG Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 Let's add to the madness. I have a friend of mine who is a local police officer and he was bored the other evening. My speedo is spot on at 25mph (speed limit), and 45 mph (ran out of road). But at the same time I drove with a friend of mine on the freeway and at 70mph my speedo is off by about 13 (+/- ~2). Does this make sense to anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 yep...it makes sense to me...my 87 was decently accurate up until 55 (about 3mph off) when I swapped to 31's now at about 70 it was off about 8mph... if you were comparing you're speedo to your buddies...that means your calibration would be as good as his plus an error of you guys matching speeds... so if its a 10% difference...at 20 MPH your actually going 22 but at 70 your doing 77 as explained above...you changed the "gear ratio" by changing the OD of the tires...do a google search there are some converters out there or figure out the math... i know the gf's jetta came from the factory about 5mph off on the slow side though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 i'm with uncc........ in mini, the faster i went, the more my speedo was off. anywhere from 3-10mph...... when i installed the 31's from 215/60/15's (XE came factory on mine) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87pathy Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 get somebody with another rig, to go down the road at 70 mph, follow him.. see what your speedo reads. this will at least tell you if your speedo is correct or not. and i would contest it if your sure its right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 stopwatch and mile markers are way easier then having to involve another gas hogging party. it sure is the most reliable method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 it sure is the most reliable method. i THOUGHT gps WOULD HAVE BEEN? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NissanNut Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 shoot me your VIN. Did you send it to Rob? Or I can tell you if you have an xe or se. But by law you will have a sticker on the door. Mine is 5mph off now. Because my pathy did not come with 31s. I recently picked up a 31tire speedo for the tcase. one is 17teeth versus 19tooth. I used a GPS to calculate correct speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 i THOUGHT gps WOULD HAVE BEEN? hand held? not as accurate as a stopwatch and the distance already measured on the ground. the little blue markers/signs along the highways and byways are at 1/10 of a mile or sometimes at 1/2 or a mile, depending on the state and highway system. those aren't just put in the willy nilly. but, hand held is close enough. i doubt any gauge from the factory is nuts on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 blue? i thought they were all green? and counted up as you went north and down as you went south..until you cross state lines and then they reset to X distance...either way theres a margin of error...the gps' is the resolution and the mile markers are up to the DOT crew and you're timing at approach... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFCFNG Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 Ok, back on topic. The issue was the tires. I was comparing the tire size to the door sticker, which is for an SE same color and year as my rig. My VIN reads as an XE. So either just the sticker was replaced or that whole door was. Who knows. Thanks all for your help. (In michigan the signs are green) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteeevO Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 is the vin on the sticker the same as the one on the dash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFCFNG Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 Can't tell. The sticker has been torn up a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alkorahil Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Did you send it to Rob? Or I can tell you if you have an xe or se. Yeah he sent me a VIN. Has an XE With AM/FM Cassette! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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