Digital Tachometer
Race Car Gauges and Optimal Positioning
A typical race car has four main gauges to which you need to pay attention if you are a race driver or own a race car; the Tachometer, oil pressure, oil temperature, and water temperature. The positioning of this gauges are important for good display and optimized driving.
Tachometer: displays the speed at all times. A tachometer is an instrument that measures the rotation speed of a shaft or disk. The device usually displays the revolutions per minute (RPM) on a calibrated analogue dial, but digital displays are increasingly common. The signal for the tachometer is usually generated from an engine ECU.
Oil pressure: displays oil pressure,sufficient oil pressure ensures that the metal of the rotating shaft (journal) and the bearing shell can never touch, and wear is therefore confined to initial start-up and shutdown.Oil pressure is higher when the engine is cold due to the increased viscosity of the oil, and also increases with engine speed. Oil pressure is lowest under hot idling conditions, and the minimum pressure allowed by the manufacturer’s tolerances is usually given at this point
Oil temperature: the hotter the oil the more it loses viscosity, as a result keeping an eye on oil temperature might save the engine from damage as a result of wear.
Water temperature: keep an eye on water levels with this gauge. Driving at the limit for a race driver has to do mastering and control of a number of controls-the steering wheel, shifter, gauges, clutch pedal, brake pedal, throttle. Even the mirrors all aid the driver achieve a level of total control over the power under your control. According to Ross Bentley “Everything you do with these controls should be done smoothly, gently, and with finesse.”
It’s important that the gauges are mounted so that you can see them easily and read them at a glance. Often, it is best to mount the tachometer and other gauges rotated so the range that you must see the gauges in good view; the edline or ideal needle position should be at the 12 o’clock position. This way with a quick glance you know when to shift or whether the temperature or pressure are ok. Also make sure the gauges dont reflect sunlight into your eyes or have so much glare that you dont read them clearly.
A simple dashboard layout is best, with as few gauges as possible. but the use of A-pillar gauge set up is also very popular with race drivers, with the A-pillar setting the gauges are within your line of sight and makes checking up while driving easier.
Normally, race drivers only have to take a quick glance at the gauges, checking more for a change of position of a needle rather than the absolute number it is pointing at. Warning or idiot lights can prove very valuable. These are usually set to come on only if one of the critical engine functions reaches an unacceptable level such as if oil pressure drops below 40 pounds per square inch or the water temp. gets too high proving valuable as this will inform drivers of only serious changes.
For Enthusiastic home mechanics who want to install their gauge pods all by themselves i’ve put up a step-by-step video tutorial by Nathan Hilton that will help through the whole installation.
Visit http://gaugemechanics.yolasite.com
About the Author
The Author of this article Gerard V. is the Co-Author of an Automotive Blog You’ll also find at the above Address.
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