Speedo in kph - Is that allowed?

Hi people

I'm looking round at imported Supras and I've come across one that ticks all my boxes, except for one thing. It's a 96 facelift auto TT, it was imported about a year ago and is UK registered with 1 previous owner, so presumably all the necessary UK conversions have happened (I will check import paperwork and MoT when I view the car), but the current owner says the speedo still reads in kph, not mph.

I thought that converting the speedo to mph was one of the mandatory changes on importing to the UK (in fact, apart from adding a rear fog light, I thought converting to mph was the only other change).

I'm worried there's something dodgy going on. Should I be worried? Or are there loads of perfectly legal Supras still reading speed in kph?

Thanks in advance

GJD

there are loads of imports still in kph i wouldn't worry about it.

my mates R32 GTR and his last car a GT legacy are both still kph

depends how good your 1.6 times table is ?

I'd be worried driving a car that over read by so much. As for legal requirements I have to confess I thought speedos had to be in mph but can't be certain. Is he definitely talking about the speedometer rather than the odometer.

Mike

I got used to mine in no time, and the mot didnt care

I think this a slightly funny one. For a car to be put onto the road in the UK, the law requires that the speedometer must read in MPH. See here in section 2.6.

HOWEVER, I do not believe that the speedometer is actually checked as part of an MOT test, so it will not fail......

yeah it's not too hard to get used too... just remember two numbers really 50kph=30mph and 100kph=60mph job done (waits to be corrected..)

(i didn't realise it was illeagal tho.. ^^)

If you find a particularly thorough and anal MoT tester, either get a speedo converter fitted (or buy one and DIY fit) OR - easy option, buy/make a cheapo sticker that has the equivalent mph readings in the approprite places and put that on at MOT time. A clear, static-fix material would be ideal.

BTW if the speedo hasn't been converted, chances are it's still limited as the speedo needle has nowhere to go after 180kph (112mph).

mines an import and still in kph but i have a 'head up' display (displays speed in digital on windscreen) i think these are quite cheap too!

Wow!! Fantastically fast response. Thanks :-)

It is both the speedo and the odometer that's in kph. I chatted to the guy for a while and amde sure he was clear. I had already guessed that the 112mph speed limiter would still apply, and that I'd need to do lots of multiplying by 1.6 in my head, but I think i can cope with that.

The legal conundrum is interesting, but if there are plenty of you out there surviving then I expect I would survive too.

Next conundrum is what exact model spec it is. It's advertised as 1996 N-reg. From the pictures I can see it's definitely a facelift, and the plate is N-reg. Inside, it has the grey five dial dashboard and, I think (and the ad says) a passenger airbag.

My confusion is that the excellent model differentiation chart on the front page of this site gives the impression that facelift imports didn't start until 1997 and have VVTi engine. This car is a TT auto import so I guess that makes it RZ-S, but which spec on the chart should I be checking against? Are there facelift imports without the VVTi engine?

Thanks again

GJD

Yes you can get facelift TT's without the VVTi engine. Mine is, it's a '97 TT Auto P-reg.

Dont count on the Speed limit being intact....

Took mine for a drive not long after i got it and watched happly as the speedo needle sailed past the 180kph mark and carried on going round till i bottled it..........

Private roads are great.............

96 - facelift revision

98 - VVT-i introduced

I would get the chasis number and check that, that will tell you the exact model, colour etc, good way to also check if anything has changed on the car over the years....

yeah it's not too hard to get used too... just remember two numbers really 50kph=30mph and 100kph=60mph job done (waits to be corrected..)

 

(i didn't realise it was illeagal tho.. ^^)

Not wishing to correct anyone but i drove for years in Germany with a UK speedo, we were taught by the Army to drop the zero and multiply by 6..... ie 50kph=5 x 6 or 30mph

60kph=6 x 6 or 36mph

120kph=12 x 6 or 72mph

i think the biggest error is 2 mph using this method, never had a ticket anyway so either the Germans didn't care or we were not speeding. Oh and my Supes still in kph, same as all the bloody furriners over here with wrong side drive, nobody gives a S**t about them.

Ps.. if you convert from kph to mph dont forget to use the imperial 6, the Metric 6 is for Mph to Kph only:innocent:

Speedos reading in KPH will not fail an MOT as they just check the operation not the reading scale.Where you may have a problem is with the 'boys in blue' as the law says your speedo must display in MPH or both and most people just cover the 'K' with an 'M' or cover the whole KPH with MPH. As 30 mph is 50 kph and 50 mph is 80kph you will never get done for speeding but maybe for going too slow:eyebrows: could always fit a converter to change from reading in Kilometres to miles and just change the letters on the speedo face

could always fit a converter to change from reading in Kilometres to miles and just change the letters on the speedo face

That's something the dealer says they can do, and I would quite like it done if I buy the car. But that then leaves the issue of the current odometer reading being in km and everything added afterwards being in miles, so you have to do a bit of arithmetic all the time to know the total mileage the car has done. I get the impression plenty of Supras are in that position. I'm sure I could live with it, but it would offend my eye a bit in my pride and joy

I've seen some imports that had the odometer wound back at the same time as the kph to mph conversion, so e.g. 50,000 (km) gets set back to 30,000 (miles). Obviously this amounts to a genuine and legitimate version of clocking the car, so I wonder if only special people are allowed to do it, and only in certain circumstances. The dealer for the car I'm looking at wouldn't be able to do it apparently.

I'd quite like the full monty: speed in mph and odo reset to miles. Does anyone know if that full conversion is a service that's available to the average bloke on the street?

Thanks

GJD

Just watch out for speed cameras lol