Speedometer Calibration

[Gunny_2009]

I have a 2003 Subaru Outback that has a 4 mph error on the speedometer. It
is constant and I have verified it with radar, stopwatch, and a gps, so I
know it's not my imagination. I could deal with 1 or 2 mph, but 4 is
getting annoying.

I'm hoping at least one of you Subaru guys knows how or even if I can adjust
the speedometer to read correctly.

Thanks.

 

[S.Hansen]

I have a 2003 Subaru Outback that has a 4 mph error on the speedometer. It
is constant and I have verified it with radar, stopwatch, and a gps, so I
know it's not my imagination. I could deal with 1 or 2 mph, but 4 is
getting annoying.

I'm hoping at least one of you Subaru guys knows how or even if I can
adjust
the speedometer to read correctly.

Thanks.

There is nothing I have heard of to correct speedo errors. I'm in Subaru
next week, I'll ask the instructor.
Steve

 

[nobody >]

I have a 2003 Subaru Outback that has a 4 mph error on the speedometer. It
is constant and I have verified it with radar, stopwatch, and a gps, so I
know it's not my imagination. I could deal with 1 or 2 mph, but 4 is
getting annoying.

I'm hoping at least one of you Subaru guys knows how or even if I can adjust
the speedometer to read correctly.

Thanks.

Questions:
Are you running the original tire size and wheel diameter? If your 2003
OB is the same as my 2000 OB, it's 225/60R16. I don't know which year
they bumped up to 17" rims on the OB. Over or under sized tires/rims
will cause speedometer error.

Is it +4 MPH or -4 MPH, and at what speed did you check it? I'm guessing
you checked it at an indicated 60MPH as the seconds directly translate
to MPH at 60.

I'm not familiar with the exact type of speedo the 2003 uses. I'm not
sure of the small details, but the 2000-2004 Outbacks are almost
identical. My descriptions are not Subaru-specific, they are generic
automotive.

There's the classic "dial pointer" style that's driven mechanically by a
rotating speedometer cable from either a wheel hub or the transmission.
This one is almost always accompanied by a "rolling dials" odometer.
I doubt that this is what you have.

The next version looks like a "dial pointer" style but is actually an
electronic meter that's driven by the vehicle computer/ECU. The odometer
is almost always a separate digital display. This is what my 2000 has.

The last is a fully digital electronic display for both speedometer and
odometer, driven by the computer/ECU.


None of these are even remotely easy to recalibrate by an owner.

Most vehicles with electronic speedos driven by the ECU can be
recalibrated with special software by a dealer shop. They do the
adjustment by measuring the wheel/tire outside diameter and plugging
that number into the software to reprogram the ECU. This may take more
than one try to get acceptable accuracy as the only way to check the
work is to repeat the same tests you have made by driving. Most dealers
usually farm this out to specialty speedometer shops as speedo work is a
PITA this way (it's uncommon, so the mechanic usually has to spend some
"re-education" time with the manuals).

Speedometer specialty shops use dynamometer-style huge rolling drums to
accurately simulate road speed and then proceed quite quickly through
the recalibration since they are very familiar with this work and can
verify their work on the spot there on the dyno rollers.

There's a small snag here. AWD vehicles (like ours) can only be done at
shops with two sets of dyno rollers, for front and back wheels. Some
shops still have only one set of rollers for 2WD vehicles. Definitely
stress "Subaru" and "AWD" when you contact them.

Look for "Speedometer Service" in the Yellow pages or Google
"Speedometer Service"+(your city).

 

[Blair Baucom]

Same here, 2005 Forester XS, 72 mph indicated, 68 mph actual speed. Service
writer at my dealer said nothing they could do. Mine has been off since day
one. I drive a different rental car each week with my gps, and most new cars
are dead on with their speedometers. Seems Japanese cars are the most off. I
think they have issues with kilometer to miles conversions, or a problem
with using different tire sizes in their domestic market vs. the U.S. as the
2005 Forester had 17" rims in Japan vs. 16" in the U.S.

Blair Baucom
2005 Forester XS

 

[weelliott]

All cars, I repeat ALL cars have an error built in. It is intentional.
There are codes that cars are built to. Ever notice that your gas tank
indicates full before it is full. It practicaly has to. If it is full,
ir has to indicate full. If it indicates under full, then people might
try to put more in and spill gas. (at least that was the reasoning.
auto shut-off nozzles, and jsut the manner in which people fill their
tanks pretty much negate the regulation, but it stands.)

Along the same line a speedometer can not indicate that you are going
slower than your actual speed. Because of manufacturing variance, the
speedometer will be designed to indicate high so that the outliers
that indicate lower than designed are still indicating higher than
actual speed. The standard deviation for the error might be .5mph at
70mph, so very very few speedometers will actually be far enough off
to get a car company in trouble if they are designed to indicate 4 or
5 mph high.

A few years ago some news organization tried to blow it all out of
proportion. At the time BMW had about 10mph error at 70mph. They were
very very optimistic. The media tried to paint them as cheating the
customer. Maybe that is a little too much safety margin built in. I
don't know.

Fact is your car is normal, and if this is the first time it has
bothered you, maybe knowing that your other cars were probably about
as far off despite you never catching on hopefully will make you feel
better.

If you know it is there, and the error works in your favor as far as
speeding tickets, I dont' see why it should bother you. But then again
my 2 year old gets bothered when she is missing one of her markers in
her marker tray. Different people obsess over different things.

 

[Gunny_2009]

I have a 2003 Subaru Outback that has a 4 mph error on the speedometer. It
is constant and I have verified it with radar, stopwatch, and a gps, so I
know it's not my imagination. I could deal with 1 or 2 mph, but 4 is
getting annoying.

I'm hoping at least one of you Subaru guys knows how or even if I can adjust
the speedometer to read correctly.

Thanks.

The speedometer is a needle and dial. The odometer is digital. I have
timed it out on the highway with a stopwatch using the cruise control on
flat straight highway. The speedometer consistently reads 4 mph higher than
the true speed. For example, with the cruise control set steady on 75 mph,
the stopwatch and the gps confirm I am truly doing only 71. I realize no
gauge is going to be 100% accurate, but everything else in this car is very
high quality and quite satisfactory, so I am surprised by this amount of
discrepancy. Other cars I have owned have had 1 or 2 mph errors, but 4 is a
bit high. Sure would be nice if there was a way to adjust it. I suppose
I could open the face of the speedometer and bend the needle 4 mph to the
left. LOL

 

[Steve Daniels]

The speedometer consistently reads 4 mph higher than
the true speed.

When it's time for new tires, get taller ones.

 

[Gunny_2009]

When it's time for new tires, get taller ones.

Yeppers, that's the plan. Lot's of tread left on these so it will be a
while.

 

[Chico]

I have a 2003 Subaru Outback that has a 4 mph error on the speedometer.  It
is constant and I have verified it with radar, stopwatch, and a gps, so I
know it's not my imagination.  I could deal with 1 or 2 mph, but 4 is
getting annoying.

I'm hoping at least one of you Subaru guys knows how or even if I can adjust
the speedometer to read correctly.

Thanks.

Mine is also off by about 4 or 5% Has always been. It's a 2003 OBS.
It's canadian, so I don't think it's a miles-kms conversion issue. My
Honda was the same way. I agree with the poster who said it was
deliberate to ensure stupid drivers don't get themselves into trouble.

 

[Blair Baucom]

Well that does not explain why 95%+ of the rental cars I drive are dead on.
The last two were a 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt and a 2009 Honda Civic which had a
digital speedometer. Both indicated dead on against the gps and radar. My
Subaru has been the worse I have seen since buying my first gps two years
ago, and I drive a different car every week.

Blair Baucom
2005 Forester XS

 

[weelliott]

Well that does not explain why 95%+ of the rental cars I drive are dead on.

That is a good point. Maybe Honda is confident that their standard
deviation on error is so low that designing them to be dead-on is
safe. This reminds me of something I was told about eight or ten years
ago, which would actually work against my argument. But I'll share
anyways.

Years ago I used to buy used tires for my cars. I asked the owner how
it was that he would wind up with perfectly good tires that still had
the nubbies on them. He claimed that rental car companies would bring
in their new cars and trade the tires out for worn or lower profile
tires so that the odometers would spin faster and they could charge
more for mileage.

If your recent rentals had this done, they'd be off. Although, I doubt
any rental company would do this any more considering most of them
have unlimited mileage, and spinning the tires more also translates
into more wear on the rest of the drivetrain.

 

[Ingo Menger]

Mine is also off by about 4 or 5%  Has always been.  It's a 2003 OBS.
It's canadian, so I don't think it's a miles-kms conversion issue.  My
Honda was the same way.  I agree with the poster who said it was
deliberate to ensure stupid drivers don't get themselves into trouble.

Sure, almost everybody in the world JUST KNOWS that you can pass a 50
km/h speed trap with the needle on 60! Then you have really 56, take
off the tolerance and the trap will do nothing.
BTW, is it really that hard to subtract 4 from a number?

 

[Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B]

Sure, almost everybody in the world JUST KNOWS that you can pass a 50
km/h speed trap with the needle on 60! Then you have really 56, take
off the tolerance and the trap will do nothing.
BTW, is it really that hard to subtract 4 from a number?

You'd be surprised...

 

[Gunny_2009]

Mine is also off by about 4 or 5% Has always been. It's a 2003 OBS.
It's canadian, so I don't think it's a miles-kms conversion issue. My
Honda was the same way. I agree with the poster who said it was
deliberate to ensure stupid drivers don't get themselves into trouble.

Sure, almost everybody in the world JUST KNOWS that you can pass a 50
km/h speed trap with the needle on 60! Then you have really 56, take
off the tolerance and the trap will do nothing.
BTW, is it really that hard to subtract 4 from a number?

No, but you shouldn't have to. That's the point. They don't intentionally
mislabel the channels on your TV and tell you to add or subtract to get the
real channel and they don't intentionally put the wrong price on a menu and
tell you to subtract a given amount. Things are so high-tech in cars these
days there ought to be a way of syncing up the gauges occasionally so that
they read true.

 

[Ingo Menger]

 Things are so high-tech in cars these
days there ought to be a way of syncing up the gauges occasionally so that
they read true.

Sorry, I have to disagree.
To me, it doesn't matter whether - say - the motor coolant has a
temperature of 85.354°C or 87.831°C. It's enough to know that it's not
too hot. Likewise, why should I care whether my speed is 70 or 74? You
better look at the street, weather conditions, traffic conditions and
choose your appropriate speed based on that data without even looking
at the speedometer. (If you can't do that, then you probably should
not drive.)
Having done that, a (short) look at the speedometer tells you with
sufficient accuracy whether you are in accordance with existing speed
limits.
Sure it would be technically possible to have a speedometer that gives
you the speed with any accuracy you want - but not only is this more
or less useless (for the reasons above), it also would make the car
more expensive. I am pretty sure the majority of drivers is not
willing to pay extra money for this kind of perfectionism.

 

[Gunny_2009]

Things are so high-tech in cars these
days there ought to be a way of syncing up the gauges occasionally so that
they read true.

Sorry, I have to disagree.
To me, it doesn't matter whether - say - the motor coolant has a
temperature of 85.354°C or 87.831°C. It's enough to know that it's not
too hot. Likewise, why should I care whether my speed is 70 or 74? You
better look at the street, weather conditions, traffic conditions and
choose your appropriate speed based on that data without even looking
at the speedometer. (If you can't do that, then you probably should
not drive.)
Having done that, a (short) look at the speedometer tells you with
sufficient accuracy whether you are in accordance with existing speed
limits.
Sure it would be technically possible to have a speedometer that gives
you the speed with any accuracy you want - but not only is this more
or less useless (for the reasons above), it also would make the car
more expensive. I am pretty sure the majority of drivers is not
willing to pay extra money for this kind of perfectionism.

You make several personal value judgements in your posting. That is fine.
They are your personal preferences, no more valid or less valid than mine.
That doesn't mean either of us is wrong. We just have different
standards. Just out of curiousity, at what point would you no longer be
satisfied? 4 mph doesn't bother you. What about 5? How about 6,7,8, 10,
or 15? You see my point. All of your comments about road conditions,
weather conditions, etc are irrelevant. We are discussing only how much
inaccuracy in your instruments should you have to tolerate. Some of us
personally prefer the instruments to be "more" accurate (no perfection). As
far as cost, I don't think it would be all that expensive. With all of the
computerization incorporated in the modern cars I don't think it would cost
hardly anything for a technician to enter a +4 or a -4 into a menu field
while he has the car in for periodic diagnostics if the speedometer function
is currently or some day controlled by one of the onboard computers. In
that case, if you are tolerant of the noted inaccuracy, say nothing to the
tech. If not, you just tell him,"By the way, while you have it hooked up,
add/subtract X mph to the speedometer please." My original question was
based on me wondering if that technical procedure is currently available. I
know it isn't directly available to the driver, but I wondered if it could
be done when it is in for service. I can live with the situation, but if I
don't have to, I won't.

 

[Ingo Menger]

You make several personal value judgements in your posting.  That is fine.
They are your personal preferences, no more valid or less valid than mine..
Right.

 That doesn't mean either of us is wrong.  We just have different
standards.   Just out of curiousity, at what point would you no longer be
satisfied?  4 mph doesn't bother you.  What about 5?  How about 6,7,8, 10,
or 15?  You see my point.  

Sure I do. But it was told here in the thread that up to 5% is
absolutely usual in most cars, and this is in agreement with my own
experience.

All of your comments about road conditions,
weather conditions, etc are irrelevant.  

As are your comparisions with discrete values, such as channel number
on TV or price of a menu.

 My original question was
based on me wondering if that technical procedure is currently available. I
know it isn't directly available to the driver, but I wondered if it could
be done when it is in for service.  I can live with the situation, but if I
don't have to, I won't.

I understand. But have you considered that this is may be more a legal
problem rather than a technical one. It is entirely possible that car
makers make sure that the speedometer does not get past to save
themselves troubles with speed trap victims.
Moreover, check your local laws: here in germany it is the law that
the speed displayed must not be lower than the real value. I guess
this will not be much different in other countries. (Otherwise, speed
trap victims could argue that it is not his or her fault ...)

 

[weelliott]

Just out of curiousity, at what point would you no longer be
satisfied?  4 mph doesn't bother you.  What about 5?  How about 6,7,8, 10,
or 15?  You see my point.

I see your point, but I counter your point with a similar question.
There must be a tolerance since it can never be absolutely accurate.
What error is acceptable to you if not 5mph? 0.5 mph? 0.05 mph?
0.005 mph? 0.0005 mph? 0.00005 mph? See my point? All of these
accuracies I listed are achievable, but at what cost? Slippery slopes
work in both directions. As we slide down your slope the consumer
accepts lower accuracy. As we slide down my slope the manufacturer
goes bankrupt trying to produce a car to Aerospace-program-like
standards, and for what reason? Apparently the car companies(or at
least subaru) has decided that they are satisifed with 5 mph. And
since car companies have been doing this for a long time, I'm sure
someone at one time or another has said,"I bet the consumer will never
know the difference." and for most of us, they are right. I know my
speedometer error above 20 is about 2mph +1/15 of indicated speed. I'm
anal enough and curious enough that I figured it out from several
different experiences with the "Your speed is" signs and by timing it
on the highway. However, it is a matter of curiosity for me. I'm an
engineer, and mildly OC. I like numbers. I don't let it bother me
though. Not that I am saying that you are wrong to let it bother you.

 

[Ingo Menger]

I have a 2003 Subaru Outback that has a 4 mph error on the speedometer.  It
is constant and I have verified it with radar, stopwatch, and a gps, so I
know it's not my imagination.  I could deal with 1 or 2 mph, but 4 is
getting annoying.

I'm hoping at least one of you Subaru guys knows how or even if I can adjust
the speedometer to read correctly.

If you have GPS navigation option, invoke the "Navigation Set Up", go
to the 2nd page and touch the symbol labelled "Vehicle Signal".
There you get the speed as computed from the GPS data, which should be
quite accurate. I checked yesterday in my 08 Outback, and it shows a
speed 6 to 10 km/h lower than that of the speedometer.

I appeqars that the speedometer is calibrated to exaggerate the speed
a bit, in order to comply with (almost) world wide regulation.

 

[Steve Daniels]

I appeqars that the speedometer is calibrated to exaggerate the speed
a bit, in order to comply with (almost) world wide regulation.

I checked the speedometer in my Audi against a Tom Tom, and it
looks like it's pretty much dead nuts on, just like the rest of
the car.