my electrical engineer and i are looking at offering an led tachometer like what is seen in supertouring cars. basically a range of leds in a line housed in a long rectangular plastic case. it will be made to wire in like a normal tach: hot, ground, and signal. the box is universal so mounting is up to you. normal mounting location would be on the top or bottom of the instrument cluster hood. the leds will start with a blue (on), green as you rise, two yellow before redline, and then a red at redline. we were also thinking of offering a redline buzzer option if so desired. there will be 3 slide switch units inside used to set the number of cylinders (yeh its for all cars), redline, and increments that the leds represent. this also means that this will only show rpms from say 4k to redline depending on your settings. but it is designed to help you keep your eyes on the road while racing so if your that low then you should have shifted and you lost anyway, lol. i thought i would present this here to see what you think, what you would pay (be reasonable please), and anything you might think you would like to see in the product.

 

Do you mean using LED's to indicate powerband?

I think it'd be great if you had a 3-4 color system, low color would indicate a low hp/tq situation (depending on rpm of engine) medium color would indicate the meat of the powerband, then finished off with a color to indicate when the rpms have exceeded the powerband.

 

$50



-Ted

 

it could be used in that sense. i am just trying to create a system that will allow you to watch your engine rpms easier while road racing and autoxing so your eyes stay were they should be, on the road. i thought the touring cars led system worked really good for that but haven't seen a commercially available product like it yet.

 

You mean like this?



Find them here:

http://www.t-sport.com/rev.html

I tested it on the Trans Am, it works great, except I'm not sure how well it'll show up on track, the LEDs might not be bright enough. I'll let you know next month.

PaulC

 

yep, like that. except mine was going to come on roughly 4k then to redline. optional redline buzzer.

 

Go for it! As long as you can come in around that price point, I'm sure people will buy it.

However, as a track guy, I can tell you for sure, I don't like buzzers while driving. Make sure the LEDs are bright (consider having a way to dim them for night driving)..

Additionally, coming on at 4K isn't really useful if I'm shifting at 8.. That would have to be adjustable for certain.

PaulC

 

it will be adjustable for increments down from redline. your choice.

 

This is the unit from T-Sport. It’s about US$80 shipped.



A mate of mine has one on his RX-2 (that's his testimonial on the website) and it's a great little unit. If yours is better and/or cheaper, I think you’ll have plenty of takers.

 

mine will have adjustable redline and adjustable increments down. it will also have brightness adjustment. the biggest problem right now is a housing for it.

 

bump

 

What are you trying to do?&nbsp Get more "business" by keeping it on top?

I know what it takes to build this circuit.&nbsp At bulk, it's maybe about $20 in parts - &#956p, filter components to keep it from blowing up, and a power regulator chip.&nbsp Making it adjustable is just a matter of installing the proper range pot into one of the &#956p input and programming to accept it as an adjuster.&nbsp The brightness adjustment can easily be controlled by another pot or photoresistor, if you want to get fancy - it's still $20 in parts.&nbsp Like I said before, it's only worth $50 to me.&nbsp The T-Sport unit is nicely housed and from a retail store for $80 - are you trying to match that price or even charge more for it?&nbsp I dunno why people bother with shift lights - the stock tach is prety damn good for what it does.&nbsp If you need a bunch of lights to tell you when to shift, then you need to relearn how to drive...

You still haven't mentioned what kinda price range you are shooting for?


-Ted

 

Heel boy!! Sit. Good RETed!

 

LOL! but ted is right... its completely unneccesary, but hey, half the **** we do to our cars is unneccesary.

 

upon a thorough search, check this out... http://www.3riversjunction.com/Auto/Tach/tachometer.htm

 

reted, whats your deal? i bumped to see if there was anyone that might not have seen it that would like to input. if you think i'm selling this just to forum members then think again. and why don't you go tell all the pro race car drivers that use this setup how they can't drive since you're obviously so damn good. yes for street use there isn't really much need. i designed for use in autox and racing, but many street cars will probably be seeing it as well. this is my test bed for the idea and to see what others think. thanks for telling me what all it needs as that was done a long time ago. i'm working on a cost effective case right now. anyway, thanks to those that have helped with input on what you would like to see etc. i'll repost once i get a case done and some pics.