Motorcycles soon to be limited to 180 km/h?
The turn of the motorcycles for the clamping of speeds? After Volvo, Renault will restrict all its cars to 180 km/h
Should we worry about the future performance of our motorcycles?
This week, the Renault group has just presented its new environmental strategy and announced various measures which would make it possible to accelerate its ecological transition and not only by producing new electric models. The brand also focuses on improving the safety of its customers and for this it has taken a radical measure: limiting the maximum speed of its cars.
In addition to adorning its vehicles with assistance of all kinds, such as with an automatic regulation speed adjustment system on the Megane-E, the brand will therefore restrict all its vehicles, both Renault and Dacia. No more excessive speeding since the group will only offer cars traveling at less than 180 km/h, regardless of the engine (if it is capable of reaching that point of course). And all of this will come into effect next year.
The measure is significant, but the group does not however go to the end of things since the sporty Alpine will escape the rule.
Should we be concerned to see similar choices being made in the motorcycle sector? Only one thing is certain, we must not swear to anything. Renault is not the first to present such a strategy. Volvo already did it a year ago and the German manufacturers have also been using it for years even if the limitation is still high for us with a 250 km/h restriction. Except that in the automobile, the choice of a vehicle is essentially about price, design and consumption.
In the two-wheeler sector, the approach is quite different. If the scooter can be chosen in the same way because utility, the motorcycle is not in itself a rational choice, but a passionate one. Who really needs a bike capable of exceeding 300 km/h?
When we see that motorcycle manufacturers are always vying to come out with even more powerful engines than the competitor's (we're still talking about series machines weighing less than 200 kg that deliver more than 200 horsepower), it's hard to imagine that they impose such short-term restraints on medium and large displacement machines, even less on sports ones.
But who knows, they may not have a choice if the regulations decide to interfere as was the case for years with the 100 horsepower limit or as it still is on limited mopeds at 45 km/h.
