Revcounters - who uses them?
Discussion
luckystrike said:
It's a useful diagnostic tool more than anything - gives me an idea of when the modern car is off the warm-up circuit when idling, and helps diagnose bad running or carb setup on the old one.
I agree - it's useful to know revs when setting up an engine or in diagnosis - the disadvantage is that the guage is in the car - if I had the choice I would fit it in the engine bay.I tend to use mine a lot as the speedo sits right in the middle of it but...
Urban Sports said:
Is this some kind of joke thread?
I've religiously used the rev counter in every car I've driven that has one whether it has a 9000 rpm red line or a 5000.
...what's so outrageous about people not using them? I wouldn't say they are essential for day to day driving.I've religiously used the rev counter in every car I've driven that has one whether it has a 9000 rpm red line or a 5000.
Urban Sports said:
Most of my cars are listed in my profile, I've used the rev counter every trip in every car, I'm not sure why you wouldn't?
I've never felt the need - if I'm accelerating hard I can feel when the power starts to drop, if I'm decelerating I know when to change down to avoid overrevving - I don't need the revcounter to tell me when to change gear.I use it all the time,possibly more than my speedo!
When driving hard, it's all I go by! Also, my car has the gear you're in on the screen with a dot if you're in the correct gear, and an up or down arrow if it wants you to change, which I find interesting, to know what revs the car likes sitting at! (I've just realised how sad that sounds!)
ALSO, I have a 'thing' that I like to sit at below 3000 RPM, on the motorway, as in my mind it keeps the MPG half decent. Probably a load of crap though!!
When driving hard, it's all I go by! Also, my car has the gear you're in on the screen with a dot if you're in the correct gear, and an up or down arrow if it wants you to change, which I find interesting, to know what revs the car likes sitting at! (I've just realised how sad that sounds!)
ALSO, I have a 'thing' that I like to sit at below 3000 RPM, on the motorway, as in my mind it keeps the MPG half decent. Probably a load of crap though!!
jhonn said:
Urban Sports said:
Most of my cars are listed in my profile, I've used the rev counter every trip in every car, I'm not sure why you wouldn't?
I've never felt the need - if I'm accelerating hard I can feel when the power starts to drop, if I'm decelerating I know when to change down to avoid overrevving - I don't need the revcounter to tell me when to change gear.
It's vital - manage the revs (ie keep them down) when engine is cold plus really need to keep an eye on it when accelerating hard in 2nd as the Boxster doesn't tail off as it approaches the rev limiter, I never look at the speedo at all - it's all about the rev counter and the digital speed reading in the centre of the rev counter.
I'm assuming all the people here that think that you absolutly have to have a rev-counter have only been driving for the last twenty years or so: when I were a lad, very few "normal" cars had a rev-counter as standard. They were reserved for the "sporty" models from the volume manufactures, otherwise you had to buy a Jag or an Aston Martin to get one as standard. I remember retro-fitting my 105E Anglia with one, and how much faster it was with a rev-counter 
Does Joe Average need a rev-counter in his white-goods turbo-diesel, which rarely revs over 2500 - 3000 rpm? I think not, especially if it's automatic, but the manufacturers and the modern drivers seem to think otherwise.
Even poverty-spec compact s
t-boxes like the UP! I drove last week have them, as if it needs one with a 60bhp 3-cylinder! I tried giving it the beans ( don't be gentle, it's a rental ), but it sounded so strangled at higher rpm that I changed up long before the red line anyway.
The sound reminded me of a 3-cylinder Laverda I used to own, the performance less so...
what an awful little car 
Does Joe Average need a rev-counter in his white-goods turbo-diesel, which rarely revs over 2500 - 3000 rpm? I think not, especially if it's automatic, but the manufacturers and the modern drivers seem to think otherwise.
Even poverty-spec compact s
t-boxes like the UP! I drove last week have them, as if it needs one with a 60bhp 3-cylinder! I tried giving it the beans ( don't be gentle, it's a rental ), but it sounded so strangled at higher rpm that I changed up long before the red line anyway.The sound reminded me of a 3-cylinder Laverda I used to own, the performance less so...
what an awful little car Urban Sports said:
I used to watch the one on my wife's old 1.6 Astra to see how ridiculously slow it moved round the dial!
They can be entertaining, and tell you a lot about a cars engine characteristics, particularly if it's a car that you don't normally drive; or if you're a passenger.Randy Winkman said:
I must be in a tiny minority then as I literally never look at mine. But then I do drive a Vectra (petrol).
The lotus has a shift light and little in the way of silencing. I tend not to need the rev counter much.Most of the time in the family tank I don't even know what gear I'm in.
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