Speedometers, Speedo, how many have them, useful?

[SeanM]

Speedos aren't really necessary, call you have to focus on is staying ahead of the competition, a tach and temp reading are good to have, we use an Alfano digital tach shows RPMs and engine temp clearly as well as lap time.

[Garlic]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by dhaidinger:
The driver is possibly the best feedback controller in your car. A light tells him that he is overheating. A gauge tells him by how much, how quickly he got there, how quickly he is getting back to a safe operating level, and exactly how much he needs to back off the throttle to stay there. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry but I couldn't disagree more. I don't agree with having extras in your car because your design isn't good. If your driver has to slow down just to ensure the car doesn't overheat, your cooling design sucks.

Your logic to me is the same as saying you need an oil pressure gauge so if the oil pan/sump is a bad design the driver can take left turns slower so he doesn't starve the engine of oil.

To me lights are there to say 'stop the car, something's wrong'. I understand that you can take the attitude of 'what if this happens in endurance' but you can take that a long way (too far). Just my opinion but if you have a logger (which you should) gauges don't have much use.

[gug]

you dont need a proper tach. we had two shift lights, next to the pneumatic shifter buttons. cant get any more brainless than that. if a light comes on, press the button next to it.

of course, we probably could have done without the downshift light. what do you drivers think, would a downshift light ever correct your driving?

[Patrick W. Crane]

If you can't doenshift without a light, you need a bit more seat time i think... you should pretty much know by looking at a track what gear you will be in and where. a tach is really useful for the learning/tuning stage, but once you have a good handle on the car, you probably won't belooking to dummy lights to tell you what to do.

I'd say that to many lights on the dash will take away from the obvious ness of Water/Oil warning lights.

[Sam Zimmerman]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by gug:
you dont need a proper tach. we had two shift lights, next to the pneumatic shifter buttons. cant get any more brainless than that. if a light comes on, press the button next to it.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I would hate to build a car for a year and then expect a driver to be brainless.

Serioulsy, I do understand that some people get into the car and forget to look at anything in the cockpit. I have seen people drive these cars while doing coolant system testing and never look at the temp gauge (they came back with the needle pegged.) That is a habit that can be broken, however.

If we agree that the driver doesn't need to know what the vehicle is doing during a race (which we don't, but that's ok ,) I can't count the number of times during testing, driver training, or on a dyno that a tach and/or water temp gauge became important.

To each his own, and this is purely opinion but I would never want to build my own racecar or drive someone elses on a regular basis without the basic instruments.