Golf Cart World
 

Last Dec. I purchased a brand new 2014 Club Car from GCW. Traded in my old 2004 Club Car that I purchased used in 2010. Imagine my surprise when the NEW cart didn't go any faster than the old one! The new one goes 19.2 MPH. It's my own fault that I didn't ask up front what the speed was, but I never even considered that the new cart wouldn't go the legal speed limit of 20 MPH. I'm aggravated every time I drive it, which isn't very often. I finally wrote a letter to the owner stating all of the above. What I received in return was a patronizing, condescending reply from the GCW owner lecturing me on the legal speed, safety & how I shouldn't tamper with the controller. ALL I want is for the darned thing to go 20 MPH. If a motor can be calibrated to a specific speed of 19.2, I can't imagine why it can't be calibrated to 20.0! The letter concluded by admonishing me to have GCW service the cart. I don't think so! Very poor business practice imho. :(

if you go more than 20mph you open yourself up to a lot of tickets .

How do you know the max speed is correct your seeing on the speedometer? I would think there plus or minis calibration range. I doubt any speed device on carts are exact.

by law will not adjust the cart over 20 mph? 19.2 IMO does not make difference compared to arrival time. So you get there few seconds or minute later. Usually waiting at stop sign for traffic will over ride two or three mph higher speed anyway.

IMO the problem is cart speeders, makes you feel you have to go faster. The AHs that tailgate you when you going the speed limit the problem

Did the OP miss the article a couple of weeks ago where the Sumter County Sherrif sent letters to Golf cart dealers reminding them it is against the law to sell a golf cart that exceeds 20 mph?

Is the cart gas or electric? We have both and the max speed can be more precisely set on the gas cart. The electric's cart speed is influnced by many factors such as tire size, battery strength, wind speed, etc. I am not sure one could set an electric cart to go exactly 20 mph.

Seriously, what is the hurry? Are you being chased by coyotes? Alligators?

Why would you think that it would go any faster? 20 mph is the maximin speed for a non street legal golf cart. Dealers can be fined for making adjustments that allow cart to go faster than 20 mph.

I'm surprised that you were surprised.

Did anyone READ what I wrote? I don't WANT to go faster than 20, but I DO want the cart to go 20. And yes, the speed is correct according to the Sheriff's electronic sign. I'm not in a hurry. It's the principle of the thing! I hold up everyone & I'm unhappy about it.

OP, I agree with you. The proper response from Cart World would have been "bring your Cart in and we will make sure the speed in set at 20 mph". Customer service is almost non existent today.

I am sure it was their letter that pss.. You off and I don't blame you after spending lots of $$$$ with them. I am always amazed at people in business today.

Mine varies between 19.2 to 21 depending on incline. It is gasoline powered. The sheriff's dept said they don't ticket under 25 mph, I believe.

Which Sheriff's Dept said that? I have a neighbor who got a very expensive ticket and several years probation for going not much over 20 MPH.

We took our cart to Villages Golf Cart in Brownwood yesterday for an annual checkup. First business addressed is they check the speed and explain if it goes over 20, they recalibrate. We agreed and signed acknowledging this. Cart tested at 19.2. We don't have a speedometer so this is great for us. We don't have to think about it. As an aside, fabulous service. Didn't try to talk you into anything.

Probably depends on the specific officer. Like drinking in your cart, next to one of the town squares...............whoops, wrong thread.

Interesting dbussone. I'm assuming your neighbor got his ticket on a public road?
How fast was he going when he got the expensive ticket? How did the cop clock his speed, radar?
I've seen some motorcycle cops pulled off to the side of the road on BV.
They looked like they were clocking speeds on the MM trails.

Golf Cart World
 

He was on a public road, going downhill. I believe he said the officer told him he was going 23 MPH.

I have also seen a patrol car pull over cart on Pinellas Place recently. This one had to be radar since the cart and patrol car were going in opposite directions.

We borrowed a friend's cart which was fitted with a speedometer. It obviously can go more than 20mph. It was extremely difficult to stick to 20mph even with a speedo. Our own cart goes 19.2 with foot flat down, but it is a more stress free ride!!

Have you read the other post? Is the cart gas or electric? I am not sure you can adjust an electric cart to do "x" mph. Do you have 10 inch tires? If not, they will allow you to pickup one or two mph.

That's a good question. Here's an invention. How hard could it be to invent cruise control for a golf cart? Set it at 20 and forget it.
At the very least an audible or blinking light could go on at 20 mph.

Yep,electric can be adjusted. At least, that's what Gordon's garage told me.

Seriously? 8/10 of a mile per hour is what's upsetting you? Wow. Buy yourself a 10mm wrench at Ace Hdwe., Lowe's or Home Depot, pull up a you-tube video on how to increase the speed and DIY. DIY seems to be almost non-existent in TV. For less than $7 you can turn the speed up to your hearts content and then turn it back down after you get antsy some day and pass someone then get nailed for speeding. I really sometimes miss working road patrol but I sure wouldn't want to be the guy that stops you that day.

As a former shop teacher I hope you are wrong with our age group. I'll give the kids a pass because people our age let shop classes go by the wayside.

I concur, Tom. Even when our son and daughter were growing up, Home EC and Shop were gone.

Funny post....8 tenth of 1 MPH....wow, what a difference that will make.

Leave Headquarters 8 seconds earlier for each mile you will travel and you will be alright at 19.2 mph. Razorbackfan you are on the money. By the way how long will you be visiting earth Fisher? Did you see the person who dies the other day in a Golf Cart accident? Get a hold of yourself. Calm down. Life is precious not a few minutes delay on your travels.

In response to the OP opening post the least of your problems with golf Cart World is the pre-set speed. Golf Cart World and I parted company over their refusal to honor their warranty agreement on batteries. I vowed never to use them again.

I recently purchased a new gas cart and here is what I learned. A cart set above 20mph is not as important because in normal use and from a practical manner an owner will hardly need to exceed that limit. The appreciable difference and the benefit I found between a gas cart and electric cart amounts to "average speed per miles" An electric cart once the new batteries are no longer new cannot maintain the same average speed as a gas cart.

I will have to agree with the original post on one point.

I purchased a new 2014 gas Club Car from Cart World. When it was delivered it would hardly go over 17 ( we have a speedometer.

I took it to Gordon's Garage for an annual checkup and they adjusted it to go 20, but the cart still is very sluggish in getting up to full speed. Any slight incline will pull it back to 16-17 and it never seems to rev up to full power until a long distance on a straightaway.

I'm with you, if you can feel, tell, know the difference between going 19.2 and 20.0 then you're good. I have a Yamaha gas cart that is just over 4 years old, it will do 25 mph. I know that's not legal but so is going over 70 mph on I-75, and everybody does it. My point is, if I didn't have a speedometer I would know how fast I was going. I can't tell the difference between 22 and 25, or 19 and 22, it all feels about the same. I believe my Yamaha runs best at 22, the engine sounds better, the ride is smoother and I get there in a decent amount of time. I think the law is doing a disservice in requiring gas Yamaha carts to operate at less than 22 mph. Sorry for hijacking this thread, but we are talking about golf carts top speeds.

Sumter County. What do you mean by not much over 20? Maybe he was in Lady Lake jurisdiction.

I was told by a salesman at the villages golf cart that the new club cars can be adjusted, both gas and electric. But they are computer controlled, so you have to have special dealer equipment to do it. The Yamaha gas cart speed,on the other hand, is controlled by a mechanical device that can be adjusted by the owner. Yamaha electrics are computer controlled and also require dealer adjustment of speed.

Golf Cart World
 

I'm not sure of his exact location where he was stopped but it was in Sumter County. His hearing was in Bushnell and my understanding is that he was going 23 on the radar gun.

62 y/o; grew up on a farm; built cotton gins and grain elevators, repaired equipment continually. Pretty much everything that needs done, I do it (except messing with electricity; that stuff will kill you quickly).

Not hard at all. However, all the engineers are still busy on the self cancelling turn signals. So this one will have to wait.

BTW, my Club Car has a speedometer that always shows between 19 and 20. It used to go 25 when it was an LSV, but had to have it dialed back. I believe the controller has only three settings, 14 <20 and >20. They can't dial in a specific speed.

I unfortunately just bought a cart from CW. When I first got it, it rattled so bad that I called them on it. Come to find out, they did not set the RPM's correctly and it exceeded 20mph. That's when they informed me that it had to be set at 19.2 even though the speed limit is 20! If I would've known this prior to the purchase, I would've NEVER bought a cart from them. I know am poking along, holding up traffic, being flipped off and yelled at on the golf cart path only because I cannot go the speed limit! I too am very unhappy with cart world ~ and the cart still rattles!!! I too am not asking to go over 20 but I do want to go at 20! I agree, not happy at all and not enjoying my 1 month old cart that is brand new and unfortunately was not cheap! and most of the time it will only get to 18...

If your cart has the capacity to go over 20mph you can & will be ticketed, regardless of whether you actually were going over the limit.

Please explain how you will be ticketed if you never exceed the speed limit.

If you drive 10 miles in a golf cart (which is a pretty long ride for most of us) at a speed of 19.2 MPH rather than 20 MPH, and your speed never varies from start to finish of your trip, you will arrive at your destination in approximately one minute and 12 seconds slower. That's probably about the time it took me to type this reply.

It's safer for all of us. It's legal. It uses less gas or electricity, thus saves you money. And the difference it makes in life is very small. Notice I did not say trivial, or menial, or insignificant because those words are judgmental, and the OP has to decide what he or she wants in life, but is that really worth the anguish?