looking at a zoomlens pic of the interior (# ...41.jpg on the link posted under thread "cleaing up my web site...") in the "pics" section of this forum i saw on the speedometer a reading of 300 kph (about 180 mph) on that sucker!! do you think they'd put it on the production car?? i know that it's a sales gimmick to put over-rated speedometers into cars, but THAT far?? i don't think the gears would let an RX-8 go that fast... right?? although it's very clean aerodynamically (as the RX's have been historically), there's just no way... is there??

 

It could make it into production my civic has a 140 speedometer, and it maxes out at 127. For a car that has nearly 150 more hp, IMO it would make sense to have a high speedometer. Then for the tuners a new speedo wouldn't have to be bought unless he/she plans on 200+ mph driving. Just my thoughts though...

 

The 2nd gen RX-7 speedometer goes to 160 & the 3rd gen goes to 180. Just because the speedometer says so doesn't make it true.

 

maybe a tuner would have a car that COULD go 300 kph (after they change the gears, or at least final drive ratio), but it still seems overkill on a passenger car... even for a dedicated track car, if it was in a stock sport class, it STILL wouldn't reach those kinds of speeds....
as a sales gimmick, it's silly, but what kind of influence do you think it would have on some (stupid) drivers?? especially kids (a little younger or my age) who'd be driving it?? encouraging them to step on it and see how far teh needle goes?? maybe it's not such a good idea... i mean a speedo that goes to 120 mph (about 200 kph) is still one that doubles the speed limit nearly everywhere in north america... wouldn't that be enough to satisfy the jaded sports car buyers of today??

 

so what?

My Impreza's speedo stops at 120. The car can do over 130 stock (the 2.5RS, older model).

My bike's speedo is to 150, yet it can't go over 132 (stock, with stock gearing).

I don't think it's an indication of anything at all. And of course, the RX-7 was a reported 158 or so... So only 20mph over the limit, that's not bad. I think the 8 will hold with the 7.