I have a 1999 Blazer 4x4. I recall reading that this vehicle has an electronic governor that kicks in at 95 MPH...but I could be wrong.

It would help me a lot if anyone could point me to authoritative information on whether this Blazer is top-speed governed or not.

Email is welcomed....thanks in advance.

 

Your governor will be a bit below the maximum recommended speed rating of the original tire installed from the factory. For most light trucks, the factory speed rating is R which is rated for 106mph. A governor at 95mph seems within reason. You can bet it won't be above the speed rating of the tire for safety and liability reasons on the manufacturers part.

Pretty much any vehicle sold has a computer controlled speed limiter. Most defuel and retard timing to limit the power once the preset speed has been attained. My Bonneville came with 235/55VR17s rated to 149mph, but is governor'd to 128mph and gets there DAMN quick! My old Intrepid came with a T rated tire (124mph) and was governor'd at 114mph.

The maximum speed rating is the highest safe speed the tire can be run at before it will literally shread itself and you. If you override the limiter, you better make sure you have tires that can handle the speed before doing so. Not doing so could result in lose of life and not just your own.

 

That makes perfect sense. I'll check the rating on the factory tires - they and the rating should be on record somewhere.

Actually, I'm HOPING that the speed is governed to 95 -the reason is that I got a speeding ticket for 97, when I know for a fact that I was only going mid-80's when passing some problem traffic (and one of those guys who speeds up when you're trying to pass) in a 75 zone on Interstate 25. I'm trying to assemble evidence to argue my case. This is a situation in which the citation was incorrect, and I'm trying to find ways to prove it.

I've done a lot of web searching but haven't found any definitive information yet. If anyone knows links that might have that info, I'd be glad to hear about it.

 

Well, hate to break your case, but speedometers in US vehicles are only required to be within +/- 5% (IIRC). So at 60mph you could be going as slow as 57mph and as fast as 63mph. At a speedo reading of 85mph, you could be going as slow as 81mph or as fast as 89mph. As a percentage of the actual ground speed, the range of speeds increases with increasing ground speed. Even if you didn't notice that you hit 90mph, your actual gound speed could have reached in excess of 95mph.

You must also check the sticker on the door inside the door jam area (just open your door and have a look) to see what the factory installed tire size was. If you or any previous owner had increased the tire size, that will throw your speedo off even more.

Now this is completely hypothetical, but by just moving from a factory installed 235/70R15 to a 235/75R15 adds 3.3% more speed ground speed to a perfectly calibrated speedo. Add that to the possibility of as high as a 5% tollerance on the speedo itself and you get 8.3% difference so (if you have larger these tires) at a speedo reading of 85mph your ground speed could be 92mph.

Also, the rate at which you were accelerating has a lot to do with how fast you actually can get to. I was able to hit 120mph on the speedo in my Intrepid, but at 114, the fuel started to cut out. The car was accellerating fast enough that even without full power it was able to hit 6mph faster than the limiter. My Bonneville has seen 135mph on my digital headsup display even though I know full well that it cuts out at 128mph. If you accelerate slowly, you will not go any faster than the limiter, but at full tilt, it is possible to exceed it only to slow down that much more afterwords.

My advice would be to plead it down, possibly try the "My truck can't go that fast" speech, but don't get all pissed off if it doesn't work. Chances are it won't and if you had of just pleaded down from the beginning, it would have ended up better for you in the long run. My best results of a ticket were when I didn't say a word. Believe me, I have more than a few fist fulls of speeding tickets in my teenage years (and the suspensions and revolcations to go along with them). Try not to make excuses for why you were going that fast in the first place and admit your wrong doing. It goes a LONG way in the eyes of pretty much any judge. You may have to pay more $$$ but that is cheap when compared with what your insurance will do to you once they get wind of the offense if you get the full extent of the law thrown at you!

Good luck and remember to ALWAYS be kind and respectful to any police/sheriff officer and especially to the judge that you go before.

 

My 2000 Blazer cuts out just before 100. Which sux for me b/c im in Germany where there is not limit on the autobahn. But i dont know how to over-ride the govener, which is probably a good thing b/c it gets "floaty" at 90 or so. I cant really imagine going any faster in a blazer, scary.