i just got a shift light from a friend and it has a simple three wire hook up. one ground one power and one to the coil. so ok i hooked them all up but should i dont know which side the coil should be on. i have aftermarket coils and one side has a extension for a butterfly clip and the other side is covered so i figured it went to that one. but when im driving the light flickers bad and long well before i have it set. so is it the ground wire or the wrong side of the coil, ohh another thing is that it does work when it is supposed to, like it will stay on at the right rpm, so im not sure if its a coil thing or what?

 

Um... Can't help you with the wiring problem, but I have a question: Why would you WANT a shift light? They're annoying!

 

I agree. Your car should have the shift buzzer in it already.

 

Buzzer is much better! BBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

 

Ever drive a quiet Turbo FB at the track, with a helmet on?

You don't hear the buzzer. Most shift lites have a cap on them too.

 

That's what the tacho is for. That, and just knowing your speed and the feel to change when it's neccessary.

Still, good luck with the light if you want it.

 

When you are drag racing, you're not looking at the stock tach. You should be looking straight ahead. The light tells you when to shift without having to look away, or get out of the powerband.

 

And so does the feel of the car.

 

On a stock port, yes.

On a big street port, or a bridge - No. The engines keep pulling in every gear the higher you go in the RPM range.
You could easily over-rev the engine when you have the tunnel vision going on at the track.

 

True to an extent, but we must drag and drive differently, because, I find it pretty easy to look down for 1/12th of a sec to see the revs. That, or just buy a new big monster tach, as a different option. As I said, each to their own, and good luck with the light.

 

What you need for racing is a 'heads up' display in the field of view ahead of you. this is standard on modern fighter planes. Donald campbell had heads up displays on his record-attempt cARS and boats back in, I believe, the 40s. A virtual image is projected onto a ground glass, perhaps in the windscreen itself. The image is focused at infinity to accomodate your eyes. If you focus in the plane of the ground glass the image is blurred.

B

 

lol....little bit over the top, comparing a FA/18 to an 1st gen rx7 HUD! but still yeah that would be cool. Even put in an artifical horizon on it?

 

My SEs redline buzzer must be fairly loud.. I was able to hear it with a fullfaced helmet and no visor on while on the road course with windows rolled down at 90+ MPH.

Not being particular to in-dash shiftlights myself, one of these helmet mounted ones would be cool though

http://www.spatechnique.com/product_images/h3.jpg

 

direct freak is right!Ported engines are easilly over-revved.I can rememeber when i went to a local 1/4 strip last year.First run,was taken easier,to see that everything is ok with the engine.The second run i wound it up to +-9500 ,and second to+- 9000.Which is way to high,but i was focusing on the road,and not the tacho

Adding a shift light is a great idea

Karis

 

I think Campbell did have a artificial horizon. When you're driving at 400 mph across the salt flats you don't want to look down.

B

 

I agree…shift light is very helpful when youre using a helmet. personally, it helps me a lot.

 

No, I think it's just you.

 

I've raced pretty successfully for the last 4 years without a shift light, but that doesn't stop me from disagreeing with you.

First, racing isn't just drag racing. I can tell you for a fact that there's been a couple of times where a shift light would have been handy. Sometimes even a 1/12 of a second would have been too long to take my eyes off the track/mirror/competitor. There's a big difference between drag racing and wheel-to-wheel road racing in this regard.

I just added a shift light and I think 95% of the time it's going to be useless. Normally I shift at the same point on the track, every lap. But that other 5% could make the difference between 1st and 2nd. I don't like finishing 2nd.

 

The instructions for my Autometer tach/shift light combo said to hook up to the negative side of the coil. Positive and negative shoud be marked on your coil, even if it is aftermarket.

 

Why would you need a light or that awful buzzer to tell you when to shift? You should be able to hear it & feel it from the engine. Why would you drag race an RX7? Try road racing for the real deal.

 

Hmmmmm, I'll have to ask Michael Schumacher why he doesn't shift by feel. He's probably just not any good. Yeah, that's it.