That WILL decrease your chances of being rear ended.

 

is there any way to defeat the limiter?

 

Wonder what is up with "81" mph. Wonder if it converts to something metric. My Ford plugin PHEV also has 81 mph as max in golf cart mode (EV motor only). Although then dead dinosaur and fern mode kicks in.

 

130kph

 

The E-Transit has the same 81mph limiter.

 

my '03 Sprinter had 81mph limiter. Odd that it's 81; which is 130.4kph. Maybe it's actually 130kph?
Anyway, I didn't hit the ceiling very often, because it's a 3 ton square box on wheels and shouldn't be driven that fast, but when I did there was a valid reason.

 

My 2008 sprinter had a speed limiter of 85MPH. Nice van but I hated the limiter.

 

NLA

 

I think its more of an emotional issue than a practical limitation. Gas mileage drops to about 10MPG or worse at 85 - ask me how I know lol.
However, its a massive black-eye for Ford, they really should have noted it in their marketing and specification materials.

 

I have seen discussions in this group that it is easy to remove the governor or speed limiter, but is this true? Easy fix if you don't want it??

 

EVs commonly have a speed limiter because they don't have a transmission and the motor would be running at high RPMs to reach higher speeds. thus based on gearing, max safe RPMs and efficiency curves some top speed is picked

 

All of the used fleet Transit's have speed limiters, It has been explained many times in past forum threads how to bypass the limiter.

Just a quick search, There may be better forum threads about this.

Factory set or factory option speed limiter

I know I am new here but I thought I would mention this issue because I was unable to get a straight answer to this question on the forums I visited or from the dealers. I purchased a used 350 that was used as commercial vehicle and had a factory option (listed on the window sticker) for speed...

www.fordtransitusaforum.com

 

The only question in removing the limiter is what effect it may have on the factory warranty especially if you have a engine failure. We don't know how Ford might treat changing the limiting feature.

 

I would guess that if something failed under warranty and Ford finds out you removed the 81MPH limiter that they would deny any warranty claims.

 

I would guess that if something failed under warranty and Ford finds out you removed the 81MPH limiter that they would deny any warranty claims.

The failure would have to be shown to be a result of the modification, there is no such thing as "voiding the warranty" under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

 

If Ford added the limiter because of concerns about high speed stability with the lift then I'd be more concerned about insurance and liability in an accident... removing the limiter might be considered to be removing a safety device? It's not quite the same thing as removing the limiter on a fleet / commercial van where the limiter was added for fuel efficiency.

 

To be clear, removing the lower 75MPH fleet limit is unlikely to be the same as removing the 81MPH limit built into some combination of BSM and ECU.
Ford added the obviously controversial 81MPH limit for a reason. They would know it would be controversial and were willing to take the heat for it, anyway.
I'd like to be wrong but will be very surprised if the 81MPH limit for Trails, could be removed or raised either through Forscan or by a dealer. Just as we found with speedometer recalibration for larger wheels. I would expect warranty and liability issues if it were removed.
FWIW insurance companies are not bound by the Magnuson-Moss Act and are motivated and skilled at finding ways to deny coverage.

 

I tried to get my dealer to remove with the FDRS software no joy. Would just be nice to know what there reasoning is. I had a MR before this that was lifted 2” and I passed at 85-90 sometimes. Not in high wind or other obvious conditions. I currently have a HR transit trail doesn’t feel any different than my 21’. I had to drive 1300miles home from the dealer I could find one at. And in Utah, Idaho and Oregon lots of 80mph speed limit sections🤷‍♂️

 

Not Oregon ... 65 statewide. But yes in Utah, Idaho, Montana, etc.

 

Great reminder that this was one of the reasons NOT to want the Trail. The biggest one, though, is the stupid seats.

Got the quote for the full Q-Lift plus shocks and struts and everything for the new van... about $6000. That's the main thing I wanted in the Trail. It'll be another $2K+ for the wheels and tires; but creeping up toward the $12K premium - albeit with superior suspension. 🤷‍♀️

 

Great reminder that this was one of the reasons NOT to want the Trail. The biggest one, though, is the stupid seats.

Got the quote for the full Q-Lift plus shocks and struts and everything for the new van... about $6000. That's the main thing I wanted in the Trail. It'll be another $2K+ for the wheels and tires; but creeping up toward the $12K premium - albeit with superior suspension. 🤷‍♀️

oooh, THATS good info. Thank you..

 

our dealer said that if we removed the limiter it would void the warranty. Might have been a quick answer to move us along but who knows. I know in the VW world that is heavily into modding their cars there has been a lot of talk on modding the ECU for performance and to remove the limiter on the GTi. The modification will void the warranty but only on affected parts. For example a Stage 1 tune won't have any effect on the warranty for any part of the car except the engine.

 

All of this talk is warranty is wrong. Lookup the magnussen warranty act. Federal law says a warranty can't be voided by modifications, unless they directly caused the failure.

 

This is all well and good, but that is exactly what Ford will say, that removing the limiter caused the failure , and they have more lawyers...................................

 

All consumer passenger and commercial vehicles should have this. Speed kills, and there's no reason for anyone to drive over 80.

If you are trying to pass someone and relying on going over 80 to survive, you did not have enough room to pass.

 

All consumer passenger and commercial vehicles should have this. Speed kills, and there's no reason for anyone to drive over 80.

If you are trying to pass someone and relying on going over 80 to survive, you did not have enough room to pass.

You can get killed at any speed and doing 80 around here is common. I've had mine over 100 and I had a good reason for it.

 

I remember the 1980s when we were all forced to drive 55 mph, Anything under 75 mph is good enough for me.

Everybody cries about the MPG and then they all want to drive over 80.

 

I remember the 1980s when we were all forced to drive 55 mph, Anything under 75 mph is good enough for me.

Everybody cries about the MPG and then they all want to drive over 80.

"I can't drive 55" - Sammy Hagar

 

It isn't about driving over 80mph. It's about being able to keep up with traffic, or avoiding other cars that going too slow. And there are several places in the US where the speed limit is 80+ mph so if you don't have the ability to go that fast, you become the hazard. I have no desire to drive over 75mph, but I would like the ability if needed. People say speed kills, but it can also be your friend

 

Company trucks, I always ran 20 miles over the speed limit. In a semi truck. But more often then not that was just under 80, Because over 80 mph truck tires fly apart.

 

Speed doesn't kill, irresponsible Drivers kill !!!!!

 

Well sarcastically it’s rapid deceleration that kill. But seriously there are studies that show that differential in speeds among vehicles is a significant factor not just average speed. So, sensible speed limits that are strictly enforced might make the most sense. I suppose we are not far away from that being done via technology. Of course the freedom at any cost to society crowd will be “up in arms”. Seems to me that the tough nut to crack is that sensible speed may be quite different for passenger vehicles vs heavy trucks so that would favor the lowest common denominator for the limit. Here is a safety study of roads that have differential speed limits in place.

The Safety Impacts of Differential Speed Limits on Rural Interstate Highways - FHWA-HRT-04-156

www.fhwa.dot.gov

.

 

... Of course the freedom at any cost to society crowd will be “up in arms”. ...

The current dilemma we have in the US is that this crowd is at odds with the my idea of what's right for society at any cost to freedom crowd.

edit: my point is that neither way is good for all

 

Also on the safety vs speed issue; it's reaction time and distracted driving that compound the accident and subsequent injury/death rates to climb exponentially as speed climb above 50mph. The newer safety features like lane keeping, auto-braking, smart cruise control, etc. will help with that, but fully autonomous driving vehicles in the near future will drastically reduce accidents, especially at speed on the highway. A hive-mind of cars communicating their intentions to each other would enable almost bumper-to-bumper 90mph+ driving. This sounds dangerous to old people, but keep in mind technology has actually improved exponentially over the last 100 years and some things that were considered "unsafe", like being in an aeroplane, we don't even give a second thought about anymore.

 

A hive-mind of cars communicating their intentions to each other would enable almost bumper-to-bumper 90mph+ driving

Eventually traffic signals signs will be obsolete. I suppose maybe some sort of HMI for pedestrians would be needed … or a wearable device. I suppose the same for cyclists. Maybe just implant a chip at birth. 😳

 

I hit 100mph on the speedo when driving mine back from MO, despite people saying it has 95mph limiter.

 

I've seen it hit 100mph... but just the whole downhill / tail-wind thing. Which is better than the Sprinter - that was like it threw out an anchor when the limiter hit. But if I put my foot to the floor on a long, straight highway, it stabilizes somewhere around 95-ish. Maybe yours doesn't have that limit either?