Why a tachometer

[Shadow]

Here is a beautiful (because of it's simplicity) gauge cluster in the 1997 Ford Escort Wagon I just purchased last week. This car will be driven much by my wife and daughter. They only look at the speedometer so it really needs no other gauges. I would like to hook a tachometer up to it only for a single run to see where it shifts with the pedal matted in first gear and to see what rpms are on the highway. After that I have no need for a tachometer in ir. And any Ford is better off without the factory oil "gauge" since it is a stupid deceptive worthless indicator that would be better replaced by a warning light.

No need to hook up a tach for your stated purposes. Simply connect an OBDII scan tool to the car and you'll be able to see the engine RPM in live time as you drive it. And if the scan tool has a recording function (even the cheap ones often do), you'll be able to play it back over and over again after you finish driving.

[Shadow]

If you're a data nut and you want as much info about your engine as possible, check out the Nissan GTR. Not only do you get a gauge cluster, but you also get all kinds of customizable info that can be displayed on the LCD screen:

[ClutchFork]

Wow, great idea with the scan tool. Hey the Nissan GTR is great. I do like all sorts of info but generally only for my personal vehicle, the other vehicles at my house just have to run.

[tankinbeans]

I saw my first GT-R in the wild the other day. It was kind of strange as Minnesota probably isn't very kind to cars like that.

[ClutchFork]

Maybe I can get one of these to do temporary read of rpms, if the tach is responsive enough:
Read more: http://www.carbibles.com/productreviews ... z2cH3AwpmL
http://www.carbibles.com/productreviews_scangauge.html

The review says "The correlation between the ScanGauge and the Honda for both speedometer and tachometer proved to be bang on."

[Rope-Pusher]

So I'm out at the Dream Cruise, looking at a WWII Jeep instrument cluster when they start up a 426 Max Wedge parked right next to it. The speedometer needle on the jeep starts jumping a little, as if the speedo was a tach and it was idling at 2 mph. Throttle on the max wedge gets blipped and the jeep speedo goes up to 4 mph. It behaved similarly, but somewhat muted, when the car two cars down did his part in the cackle-fest.

[AHTOXA]

I saw my first GT-R in the wild the other day. It was kind of strange as Minnesota probably isn't very kind to cars like that.

If I can afford to buy and maintain that car you bet your ass I can afford a second car to drive daily.

There is no way anyone owns the new gen GTR as the only car and a DD.

[mtheis]

The speedometer needle on the jeep starts jumping a little, as if the speedo was a tach and it was idling at 2 mph. Throttle on the max wedge gets blipped and the jeep speedo goes up to 4 mph. It behaved similarly, but somewhat muted, when the car two cars down did his part in the cackle-fest.

[AHTOXA]

I also use ScangaugeII and get all necessary readouts such as oil pressure, boost and AFR.

[watkins]

My car doesn't cooperate perfectly with the SG. I do still get the important coolant and intake air temp readings from it though.

[comingbackdown]

I enjoy having a tach. Actually, when the speedo crapped out I would've been f*cked without one. Believe me, they have their merits. Gear x at RPM y = speed z.
I like having all the gauges. Speedo, tach, odo, oil, volt, temp... Gimme all of 'em. I like to know what's going on with my vehicle at every moment as best I can.

[theholycow]

So I'm out at the Dream Cruise, looking at a WWII Jeep instrument cluster when they start up a 426 Max Wedge parked right next to it. The speedometer needle on the jeep starts jumping a little, as if the speedo was a tach and it was idling at 2 mph. Throttle on the max wedge gets blipped and the jeep speedo goes up to 4 mph. It behaved similarly, but somewhat muted, when the car two cars down did his part in the cackle-fest.

Would I be correct in guessing that the speedometer is magnetic on the inside, where the spinning cable head pulls on the needle's magnet more as the cable increases speed and a spring or counterweight balances that pull? Based on 50,000 miles of looking at my speedometer as it bounces when I go over bumps I've guessed that that's how the technology works but I haven't opened it up or even googled it.

[Rope-Pusher]

I'm thinking it was the rhythmic pulsing from the open exhausts of the max wedge cars that was creating sympathetic vibrations of the Jeep and that is what was causing the speedo needle to pulse up to a certain level, bouncing off the downstop at Zero mph.

[Boston Fit]

The tach is good for rev-matching, and for knowing when to shift when you can't hear the engine (due to noise from outside the car, or when you have the stereo cranked up, etc).

[bk7794]

I enjoy having a tach. Especially since my 91 never had one. However, when I First got my 2000 I kept watching it and I kept screwing up all of my shifts. Now I look at it every-so-often.