20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
9. The Novel Tries To Explain The Time And Distance Issue...Badly
Of the plot issues in Star Trek V, one fairly glaring problem is that the galaxy seems to shrink in a matter of minutes when compared to what had been shown in both the Original Series (bar one episode) and the Next Generation. The planet at the centre of the galaxy is reached in mere hours by the Enterprise-A, despite the vast distances the ship would have had to travel.
In Where No Man Has Gone Before, the original Enterprise warps to the edge of the galaxy. When the barrier is seen again, it is thanks to the tinkering, by the Kelvans, on the engines. This was Star Trek's own subtle retcon of that earlier gaff. The novelisation for Star Trek V attempts to explain the Enterprise-A's enormous burst of speed.
Sybok is able to tune the nacelles and shields so that the ship is able to reach Sha Ka Ree relatively easy, and a lot faster than intended. If one allows for the suspension of disbelief, then that's fine and the story can continue.
So, how did the Klingons get there, without any damage from the barrier, in the same time frame?