Ford Transit - Speed Limiter - PX-230A
I'm asking this purely out of genuine interest.

We have a fleet of new automatic Ford Transits at work. They're unreliable as hell, but that's a different story. Anyway, they are limited to 62 MPH from factory (there's a Ford sticker in the windscreen) and the sat nav confirms 62 MPH when flat out on a motorway.

When going downhill, the vans still maintain 62 MPH. How is this done? I don't ever feel the brakes come on. You'd think going downhill the speed would creep up a bit.

Cruise control in my car sometimes can't maintain the speed going downhill. Can anyone explain how Ford's limiter works? Like I say, I'm asking out of genuine interest (because I'm a geek!).

We previously had Sprinters, and they were exactly the same with regards to sticking exactly to 62 MPH.

Thank you :)

Edited by PX-230A on 07/06/2025 at 18:17

Ford Transit - Speed Limiter - RT

It's probably that the frontal area and wind resistance is enough to prevent speeding up off-throttle on all except the steepest gradients

Ford Transit - Speed Limiter - FiestaOwner
When going downhill, the vans still maintain 62 MPH. How is this done? I don't ever feel the brakes come on. You'd think going downhill the speed would creep up a bit. Cruise control in my car sometimes can't maintain the speed going downhill. Can anyone explain how Ford's limiter works?

My dad's VW Golf has Adaptive Cruise Control. When I drive this, with the Cruise Control on, the car won't go over the set speed. Going downhill it feels like engine braking, but it actually applies the vehicle brakes lightly to stop the car exceeding the set speed. My car has standard cruise control, and like your car will exceed the set speed, when going downhill.

Although the van may not have (Adaptive) Cruise Control, it will be using the same technology to prevent it from exceeding 62MPH.

Ford Transit - Speed Limiter - mcb100
I think your company has specced them with an optional speed limiter.

The E-Transit Custom I’ve been driving for the past few weeks is supposed to be limited to 72mph, but it exceeds that quite comfortably. Useful when the car you’re overtaking on the motorway accelerates while you’re alongside.

I’d agree that it’s the same technology that enables adaptive cruise control to hold a steady speed downhill that’s stopping it running over 62mph.
Ford Transit - Speed Limiter - PX-230A
Thanks for the replies! So it appears the speed limiting may involve some automatic gentle braking.