Modern Cars are Too Darn Fast

Volvo accidentally makes a great point while doing something utterly pointless. 

The car world has been a bit outraged lately, because of something that Volvo has pledged to do: From 2020 onwards, all cars sold by Volvo would be electronically limited to 112 miles per hour, or 180 km/h as its top speed. This is all part of their "Vision 2020" principle, as they aim to cut the number of deaths in a Volvo car to zero.

Go on Twitter, and you'd see all kinds of car people chirping Volvo about it. The automotive press had a field day on this subject. Chris Harris, the God himself, has pledged not to buy a Volvo V70 as he originally planned to. Which is a bit of a shame of course, because the V70 looks like such a good car.

You also see all kinds of predictable arguments against Volvo as well -- how are they going to sell any cars in Germany, where the autobahn is a thing? Other German automakers are probably snickering as Volvo commits themselves to a PR disaster.

And you know what? I don't really care. For the reasons I am about to state below.

A) It's an empty gesture that really changes nothing
How many people actually die in a high speed collision -- in a Volvo? Most Volvo drivers I know are old enough to recount their days in the Hundred Years War, and they definitely won't be hooning it in a Volvo S80, doing 150 mph on the I-5, while blasting music on the stereo.

Look, I applaud Volvo for its commitment to safety. But the fact is, the advancement in automotive technology pretty much means that you don't see too many automotive-related deaths as before (unless you count alcohol-related incidents or people who don't bother with a seatbelt). If anything, pedestrian-related deaths are becoming increasingly important, as cars get bigger, heavier, and faster -- a point which I will touch on below.

Distracted driving is also on the rise too, so maybe it helps not to have a gigantic touchscreen TV stapled to the dashboard? But that issue isn't sexy to talk about. Speed though? Speed bad. So 112 mph it is.

Most of the crash tests, like the ones conducted by NHTSA, are conducted with vehicles travelling at 35 mph, or about 55 km/h. There are many reasons for this, but mostly because that is the speed that most accidents record at. Any more than that, then you'd start having some speed-related injuries. Knowing this, wouldn't it make more sense for Volvo to limit their cars to a 35 mph top speed? Surely, no one will die in their cars in that speed.

This just shows the utter emptiness of this gesture. No one is going that fast in a Volvo anyway, and I doubt they will see any dramatic changes to the amount of deaths in a Volvo (how will they record that anyway?) as a lot of people will still be driving their cars on a highway, which typically requires just a bit more speed.

Also, as most German automakers can tell you, the aftermarket is going to take care of that anyway.

B) You know what? Modern cars are too fast anyway. 

I think Volvo accidentally made a good point about a problem with modern cars:

Modern cars focus too much on actual speed rather than the sensation of speed. Who actually does 112 mph unless you live in Germany or regularly track your car? And yet, manufacturers are mindlessly chasing after horsepower to the point that they are just unusable and not fun.

Modern cars have become bloated and heavy, and they are using power to offset that equation. As a result of that, we have a 300hp Camry. Who on earth buys a Camry for performance?

Image: Car and Driver.

Just over 10 years ago we were impressed if a sports car has over 400hp. Now? 600 please. Anything lower than 500 horses and we will seriously question whether you want to win the space race or not.

So now you have performance cars going so fast that it just becomes pointless to drive them on public roads. And because they are so darn fast, manufacturers slap them with all manners of traction control and stability control systems to hone them in, which makes them extremely inert to drive anyway. Sure, some people turn them off to experience that split second of fun, but that's also probably before they powerslide into a tree.

The fact of the matter is, it’s better to drive a slow car fast rather than a fast car slow. I wish more manufacturers would remember that when (the ones that still bother) they design a enthusiast car. I want less weight and less infotainment. I want more engagement. Not more power and useless speed. Good driving dynamics doesn’t require speed.

Image: carsales.com.au

Do I like that Volvo is doing a speed limiter in all their cars? No. It’s an ultimately meaningless gesture and I’d be surprised if they don’t quietly scrap it in a couple years. Am I worked up about it though? No. New cars are too fast, and it’s no longer fun driving them.

I don’t even bother watching super car reviews anymore because all of them are so similar - insanely fast but incredibly boring. Modern performance cars bore the living hell outta me.

Most importantly, do you know who else famously limited their cars to a 112 miles per hour top speed? All Japanese manufacturers until the 2000s, thanks to their longstanding "gentlemen's agreement" on governing their own cars.



They even went beyond that, and limited all production cars to a 280 horsepower limit... Okay fine, we all know that everyone probably under-reported, but my point still stands. No one ever complained that the R34 GT-R was lacking in power. No one ever said that the Lancer Evolution was gutless. They all had 280 horsepower and limited to the 112 miles per hour.

They were simply just fun to drive, and speed had nothing to do with it.