[freserf]

Hello to my fellow 986er's. I accidentally read about the Speedometer showing too fast in the Boxster ... mine is the 1997 version. At first glance it did not seem to be a big deal until I started digging in ... with 5/32nd tread left on my rear tires (255/40ZR17), my speedometer at 70mph GPS, shows about 74-75mph. The only times in the past that I have done a basic check is when I pass one of the convenient watch your speed displays on the side of the road. Almost every time in different vehicles, my speedometer seemed to match what was displayed. Not so with my project 986. So I read a little more on different forums and was a little relieved to learn that even though the speedometer was off, the odometer was apparently true.

Being the curious, detailed person I can be sometimes, I tested this theory by driving 80 miles on the interstate at a steady 70mph using my handheld GPS for accurate MPH. After 80 miles my odometer showed 2 miles over actual travel distance ... so roughly 1 mile too much every 40 miles. With 86000 miles on the project when I purchased it ... that would add up to about 2,150 miles too many on the vehicle over its life.

So lastly I computed in tire wear over time on an average mph loss due to wear and came up with about 663 miles too many if the speedometer was dead on at 70mph at the same 86,000 miles as delivered ... roughly 69.5mph average due to wear.

Rhetorically speaking, how did German engineers get away with such lack of detail? Did they eventually stop programming this error into the Speedometer in successive generations?