Revcounters - who uses them?
Discussion
pinchmeimdreamin said:
Dr Jekyll said:
But what if you don't want to take a hand off the wheel at that point? EG You're partway through an overtake on a narrow poorly surfaced road. It can be useful to know whether to stop accelerating or whether you've got a few hundred RPM left
So you need your "Tachometer" to let you know if it's safe to overtake 
Dr Jekyll said:
No. The point is that in a situation where I would prefer not to take a hand off the wheel during the next few seconds, knowing whether or not I can accelerate a bit more without changing gear is useful information.
Over-analysing ? You probably wouldn't really be cutting it that fine, non?
Caterham BEC - use the gear indicator and shiftlights all the time. Usually wear earplugs so it can be hard to tell what is going on !
Skoda Citigo - needs to be revved to do anything but pootle (and it pootles very well), so used quite often for tricky stuff like slight inclines and overtaking vicars on pushbikes.
Honda CRV - automatic. It probably has a rev counter. The only time I look at it when the box kicks down and it revs quite high, surprises me every time. "Blimey is that the red line on this". Which isn't that often. Child/Dogs/OrganicRevLimiter disapprove.
Skoda Citigo - needs to be revved to do anything but pootle (and it pootles very well), so used quite often for tricky stuff like slight inclines and overtaking vicars on pushbikes.
Honda CRV - automatic. It probably has a rev counter. The only time I look at it when the box kicks down and it revs quite high, surprises me every time. "Blimey is that the red line on this". Which isn't that often. Child/Dogs/OrganicRevLimiter disapprove.
Rev counter - depends on the type of car doesn't it?
Landcruiser - not really needed. Auto.
Volvo - not really needed. Auto.
Merc S Class - not really needed. Auto
GTR - look at it all the time, especially when ragging it through the gears in manual. More for mechanical sympathy and worrying I'll do some damage..
Landcruiser - not really needed. Auto.
Volvo - not really needed. Auto.
Merc S Class - not really needed. Auto
GTR - look at it all the time, especially when ragging it through the gears in manual. More for mechanical sympathy and worrying I'll do some damage..
MC Bodge said:
Dr Jekyll said:
No. The point is that in a situation where I would prefer not to take a hand off the wheel during the next few seconds, knowing whether or not I can accelerate a bit more without changing gear is useful information.
Over-analysing ? You probably wouldn't really be cutting it that fine, non?
Dr Jekyll said:
It isn't a question of cutting it fine, it's a question of not changing gear unless I have nothing better to do. If I'm halfway round a busy roundabout I'd rather keep both hands on the wheel. Sometimes, especially in an unfamiliar car, the engine seems to be saying 'that's enough change up' but a glance at the tachometer shows I'm well short of the redline.
You actually referred directly to overtaking earlier.I know what you are saying, and more
People may well glance at the rev counter (tachometer...) needle without even realising it, but I still think that you are possibly over-analysing it.
Taking one hand off the wheel isn't quite the work of the devil, either.
phil4 said:
Definately.
In my old MR2 it was the thing I'd watch for gear changes.
Currently with 2 autos, no... don't care. In the other fun car, nah, the change up lights are more visible, and can genuinely say have never seen the rev counter while accelerating hard... too busy looking ahead (hence the lights).
Ditto.In my old MR2 it was the thing I'd watch for gear changes.
Currently with 2 autos, no... don't care. In the other fun car, nah, the change up lights are more visible, and can genuinely say have never seen the rev counter while accelerating hard... too busy looking ahead (hence the lights).
No with the autos, Deffo with the Alfa. Love the sound when it revs to the red-line but since I don't know if it has a limiter I keep one eye on it.
MC Bodge said:
You actually referred directly to overtaking earlier.
I know what you are saying, and more
People may well glance at the rev counter (tachometer...) needle without even realising it, but I still think that you are possibly over-analysing it.
Taking one hand off the wheel isn't quite the work of the devil, either.
I only referred to overtaking as an example. There are places where overtaking is perfectly reasonable but I would be reluctant to take a hand off the wheel during an overtake there if I didn't need to.I know what you are saying, and more
People may well glance at the rev counter (tachometer...) needle without even realising it, but I still think that you are possibly over-analysing it.
Taking one hand off the wheel isn't quite the work of the devil, either.
On the Esprit i have an oil pressure gauge,boost gauge,temp gauge,fuel gauge,speedo and rev counter.I do use all the instruments but more for a monitoring type of thing(apart from speedo) for the general 'health' of the car,all these gauges can tell you an awfull lot about what is going on under the bonnet.
DJP said:
Depends on the vehicle.
I used to use the rev counter constantly when I had manual cars and sportsbikes.
Nowadays it's less relevant since my car's an automatic and my bike's built for mid-range torque rather than top-end BHP.
This is perhaps the correct answer.I used to use the rev counter constantly when I had manual cars and sportsbikes.
Nowadays it's less relevant since my car's an automatic and my bike's built for mid-range torque rather than top-end BHP.
If you are driving something mundane that runs out of puff before the red-line and you can judge accurately by feel (very sceptical about most that say this BTW) the revs the engine is doing then not much point.
If you have a noisy automatic and don't use the option of manually changing - same as above. Hence I use it rarely on the daily car.
If you have a decent smooth revving engine, mechanical sympathy, care about economy or a power-band then it becomes more useful.
I use it quite a bit on the Jaguar as I change gear manually sometimes and the engine is quiet at idle.
In the Alfa with its power delivery coming in strong at 3K it is more vital to get in the correct gear to overtake, overtaking at less than that is risky (especially if some numpty decides that want to speed up as I am passing as seems more and more common these days). It also will rev into the red quite eagerly and is not something I wish to do. It is red for a reason after all!
I wonder what is the OP intention with this thread, clearly in the minority but arguing against the use of?
MC Bodge said:
Dr Jekyll said:
It isn't a question of cutting it fine, it's a question of not changing gear unless I have nothing better to do. If I'm halfway round a busy roundabout I'd rather keep both hands on the wheel. Sometimes, especially in an unfamiliar car, the engine seems to be saying 'that's enough change up' but a glance at the tachometer shows I'm well short of the redline.
You actually referred directly to overtaking earlier.I know what you are saying, and more
People may well glance at the rev counter (tachometer...) needle without even realising it, but I still think that you are possibly over-analysing it.
Taking one hand off the wheel isn't quite the work of the devil, either.
After a long period of owning the car, especially if you frequently track it or drive aggressively in general, I find you get a really good feel for where the redline is by noise/knowledge of timings anyway.
That being said I use it a lot in my daily driver to make sure the auto box has the right gear and that downshifts are correct for power band, etc. In my fun car I use it to get used to the rev range and where to change as the car is new to me.
That being said I use it a lot in my daily driver to make sure the auto box has the right gear and that downshifts are correct for power band, etc. In my fun car I use it to get used to the rev range and where to change as the car is new to me.
waremark said:
The use of the rev counter in relation to an overtake is during the preparation phase to choose a gear which has enough go for the overtake but also enough 'headroom' to expect to be able to complete the overtake without having to change up. As a side benefit of an appropriate gear, there is likely to be enough engine braking to allow you to drop back smoothly without using the brakes if the overtake is not on.
I understand what is being said and of course you want to have torque and rpm to accelerate, rather than start at the redline. Outside the world of "Advanced Driving", though, changing gear during overtaking isn't a problem and not really indicative of whether an overtake is on or not.
Edited by MC Bodge on Tuesday 4th November 08:34
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