TreeHugger asks: Why Do Speedometers Go To 160MPH?
A great way to get all the testosterone soaked hard core engineers who hate whining environmentalists wound up is to say something nice about Jimmy Carter, but here is another eminently sensible thing he did: He capped the maximum speed on speedometers in cars at 85 MPH.
Tom Vanderbilt thinks it affects the way we drive. "even knowing that these numbers bear little relationship to reality, we’re affected by the visual display. No matter how fast we drive, the needle is always less than halfway up the dial, indicating there’s still plenty of room for acceleration. That remaining space may even goad us into testing the limits by going faster."
In these times of limited resources and soaring fuel prices (current temporary dip excepted) Having the gauges go this high is promoting irresponsibility. I’m not advocating that the automakers do anything in particular as the first one to drop their numbers would be at a disadvantage. Having numbers this large is just too tempting for some folks and I must say that the ~120 on my first car did get me thinking racy thoughts on more than a few occasions, although common sense did take over before I did something stupid.
In the few weeks that I have been a Civic Hybrid Owner I' used my heater one time. Those who know me personally know I make some quirky decisions on how and when I choose to reduce the energy footprint of my cars. One of the areas I found I could reduce waste in my car was from the heater core. In a hybrid the engine works less than a conventional car, and they have smaller engines, which means that the car has to work harder to stay at operation temperature and still satisfy the driver's demand for heat. 
