Revcounters - who uses them?

[Urban Sports]

Matthen said:

J4CKO said:

think "I am doing 5000 rpm, I best back off", again, my ears pick up the engine is going fairly quickly.

I use mine as a deterrent for cruising at high speed. If I glance down and its over 3.5k rpm in top, I know I need to back off or risk points. And that fact that the car stops sipping diesel and starts chugging it means i'm going to get hit in the wallet either way.

Note sounds sweet enough till 4.2k - the last 800 rpm add very little to the current speed, and god it sounds awful

I think you'd be better off looking at the speedometer.

[Xaero]

A few bottom of the barrel cars don't come with them at all.

I look at mine fairly often, usually simultaneously with the speedo. It's easier to figure out the gear I'm in by looking at the instrument panel then it is to turn my head too look at the gear stick (and thus diverting my attention from the road). Also good for either economic or fun driving to get an idea of when to shift, especially if you're new to a car, rather than one you've lived with for many years.

[glazbagun]

Any time I wring the engine out. Admittedly that usually means in second gear joining dual carriageways/exiting roundabouts rather than Welsh B-roads, but any time I'm in the upper rev range it's more important than a couple of MPH here or there. On a trackday I'd imagine they'd be especially helpful.

Edited by glazbagun on Tuesday 28th October 23:22

[J4CKO]

Matthen said:

J4CKO said:

think "I am doing 5000 rpm, I best back off", again, my ears pick up the engine is going fairly quickly.

I use mine as a deterrent for cruising at high speed. If I glance down and its over 3.5k rpm in top, I know I need to back off or risk points. And that fact that the car stops sipping diesel and starts chugging it means i'm going to get hit in the wallet either way.

Note sounds sweet enough till 4.2k - the last 800 rpm add very little to the current speed, and god it sounds awful

Engine going slower it uses less fuel, engine goes faster, it uses more fuel is by and large how it works, the rev counter in most cars could be way out and nobody would really be any the wiser, the speedo generally under reads by ten percent and that is the one we are meant to use to observe speed limits, even then that is generally governed by many factors like other traffic, common sense and feel as well as the actual number on the dial.

[Huff]

Yes; I do; essential tool...

[MarkRSi]

jhonn said:

luckystrike said:

... non-rev counter golfs even had a little red dot on the speedo showing the 'safe' shift point for each gear:

Good post - that little red dot was the analogue version of the digital shift light.

Good idea that, don't think I've seen it on anything else?


I find the rev counter useful for the following

Knowing when the shift up when giving it the beans, particularly on cars which the power doesn't drop much before the readline/limiter (Civic FN2, Megane 265 etc)
Keeping the revs below 3000rpm until the engine oil is up to temperature (cos I'm an anal bd)
It can be helpful to know how quickly the revs decay/rise when changing gear - though eventually I'll be able to shift smoothly without looking at the dial.

It's not essential but certainly nice to have.

[Baz Tench]

I use mine all the time in the car.

It's pointless in the van though, I must admit.

[Rude-boy]

Urban Sports said:

A rev counter is as useful whether it's a 4500 diesel VAG effort or a free revving S2000 at 9000, why wouldn't it be?

Driven both daily and used rev counter all the time.

Have owned cars without and far prefer red line to rev limiters.

[Marvib]

I have a bad habit of sitting in 2nd in 30 zones, I generally realise when I spot 2.5k rpm.

[Stedman]

Never.

[PomBstard]

Many times during every journey - just part of the regular instrument check. The kids check it for me when we're on a couple of selected roads - "Take it past 7 again!!" "Can it go to 8 this time??"

Used to own cars without one, and with some of the engines sounding strained at about 2000rpm, a rev counter would've been quite useful - things like the old Ford OHV 1300, Simca 1300, 2.0 Pinto - all sounded like buckets of nails when idling, none of this smooth BMW I6 lark.

I'm sure the red dot thingy on old VW speedos was also on others, but I'm still trying to remember what...

[BritishRacinGrin]

luckystrike said:

I will say it's a little surprising how many people are coming across as being glued to it religiously.

I like having one as a point of reference and I will glance occasionally, but surely I'm not alone in being able to select an appropriate gear purely from throttle response, engine note and a vague idea of what speed you're going roughly?

You're not alone, I do not need a clock to tell me which gear I'm in or should be in. I just remember where I left the stick and do the rest by 'feel'. This is particularly the case when driving in a 'spirited' fashion, I'd rather be looking out of the windscreen… As other posters have said, you don’t need to be anywhere near the rev limiter to make good progress and in some cars (about half of the ones I’ve driven, mostly two valve engines) there is absolutely no benefit to wringing them out to the redline, in fact it can be slower as well as worse from an engine wear perspective. This was even the case for my race car.

Okay there is a learning period with an unfamiliar car but this does not take long.

I do like having a tachometer though, and would miss it if I didn’t have it- just for those occasions when I idly glance at it when cruising in between gears to decide if it can pull the next gear up, or for marveling at the way the needle accelerates around the dial when VANOS kicks in, yo. It also tends to help me behave on the motorway as 70mph is 3,000rpm, above which fuel economy drops off quite a bit… So for me, it’s more of a fuel efficiency tool.

[HannsG]

Constantly on my M3

[John D.]

topless360 said:

Not sure if serious

I regularly look at the rev counter, how else do you know when to shift if driving on track/spiritedly?

My ears

[jamieduff1981]

I use them very frequently.

[Randy Winkman]

Stedman said:

Never.

Same here. I'm never anywhere near the redline so it's just not needed.

[Monty Python]

Hardly ever use it (having an auto).

Edited by Monty Python on Wednesday 29th October 10:04

[scubadude]

Baz Tench said:

I use mine all the time in the car.

It's pointless in the van though, I must admit.

Ditto- didn't know you could drive "properly" without one! ;-)

As for the Van, mine doesn't have one and I wish it did. Its so loud above 50mph you can't really detect the rpm by sound level (the road, wind, exhaust are just too loud) so you have no idea how abusive you are really being, I tend to watch the mirror for black smoke or wait till acceleration begins to tail off, not a mature way to drive though.

[thatdude]

Yeah I look at it, on both my bike and my car.

I just like to know where abouts I am in the rpm range, particularly when the engine is cold. Also useful for checking smooth idling on my bike.

Edited by thatdude on Wednesday 29th October 11:34

[james_gt3rs]

My first car didn't have a rev counter so I learnt to drive without one. Now I still don't need it, but glance at it as I like knowing what the revs are...