Speed stat vs. Speed class

[Szei]

I've played wipeout for ~3 years now and it bothers me that I still don't know the benefit of the 'speed' stat. If speed classes cap top speed, then why do different speeds for different ships matter?

[MrSmadSmartAlex]

Each 1 speed stat = 3kph, which means that a 10 top speed stat is at the speed cap for each speed class, and each 1 below 10 is 3kph less than the cap, e.g. at Phantom, Piranha's 10 speed stat is 793kph and Feisar's 7 is 784kph.
Barrel rolls and turbos can go above these caps. Also, if you pitch the nose down (by pressing up on the dpad), you get a speed increase, and can go a little above the caps. ;)

[Albino Ace]

So basically, except in TT or weapons-off races where every nook and cranny counts, speed is arguably the least significant stat. :P

[Szei]

Ah. I see. Thanks for your responses. I thought that speed might work like that in Phantom class, but felt that it would be a little strange in the lower speed classes. I mean, why would a ship capable of going faster be capped earlier than the speed class cap? But I suppose if all the ships were allowed to go at their full potential, it would be 'unfair' for ships with higher speed stats at lower speed classes since all the ships would be going at the speed class max.