According to several news agencies, automakers continue to produce vehicles that come with speedometers with top speeds that usually exceed reality.

Reports show that the Toyota Yaris, for an instance, says the vehicle can go 140 miles per hour, which is beyond the vehicle’s capacity. The subcompact is equipped with a 106-horsepower engine that is incapable of pushing the vehicle any faster than 109. This issue has been prompted many to ask why the automaker decided to add the top speed limits to the speedometer that do not meet the vehicle’s standards.

Some believe that this question is easy to answer: the reason behind the unrealistic speedometer has deep roots in the American fast-driving culture.

According to the reports, executives at marketing departments hope to make people feel like they are capable of driving their family car at high speeds that would even rival a NASCAR racer. Reports show that another reason for the use of the overly optimistic speedometer is due to the fact most automakers use the same device in several vehicle models and tend to avoid having new ones manufactured and designed differently for vehicles that are not capable to reach high speeds.

Some critics believe that to save money, companies are putting the lives of consumers at risk by providing them with misleading information concerning their vehicles. According to these critics, daring drivers may want to push past freeway speed limits and end up being involved in accidents as a result. Some critics even say that the fact that about eighty percent of vehicles with speedometers showing high speed rates are incapable of going over 110 mph is ridiculous and poses a threat.

The new Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Malibu versions come with speedometers that showed 160 mph rates, which was an increase from the previous models that came with 120 and 140 mph rates. The new Honda Accord comes with a speedometer that tops out at 160 mph. Most midsize family vehicles, which are also the most popular models in the U.S., have top speeds that rarely exceed 120 mph.

The new Yaris has a speedometer that gives the driver the same top readings as the first Chevrolet Corvette sports car produced in 1953. According to the reports, the new Nissan Sentra also comes with a speedometer with a reading that reaches 160 mph.

For more details on this story and how several new and compact vehicles come with speedometers that do not read realistic speed capabilities, click here for the full article.