Tachometers ?? (muscle car, manual transmission, idle, fuel)

[JBrown]

I've had muscle cars from the 60's and 70" , sports cars , Austin Healy, TVR , Lotus,Corvetts etc.
So I get the the tac...shift points etc , especially with a manual transmission. But why on earth on do they put a Tac on my wife's grocery getter ( Kia Forte) or both of my Rav4's ?? The only thing I can thin of is strictly for dash board symmetry...ie strictly a styling thing...I'd prefer a voltmeter and oil pressure gauge instead of uninformative idiot lights. Your thoughts ?

[Me007gold]

Because its easier(i.e cheaper) to just make one gauge cluster through the entire model range.

[victimofGM]

They have a manual sport mode on the automatic transmission. My car has it and I’ve only used it once. The other use is fuel savings. The transmission shifts are so slight that you don’t hardly feel them. I accelerate to just beyond the speed I want until the transmission upshifts and then slow down and lock the cruise control at the speed. I can see the transmission shifts on the tach.

[SoHoVe]

Though it may SEEM pointless on an automatic, I like havinga tach just to reinforce that the feedback from the engine is falling within it's usual operation and I'm not imaging things.

I know where the idle should be...I know what the rpms should be holding steady at 70 mph. I know that if either were to change it could reflect the beginning of a problem.

[wellshii]

Help diagnose problems when cars acting up.
Idling high?
Low?
etc etc. Plus like another said,the same cluster is used across the line .Cost /profits.

[Cheesesteak Cravings]

My 5 speed Ranger does not have a tach and it drives me crazy. A lot of people have swapped out gauge clusters just to get the tach back.

[cdelena]

A tach only makes real sense on a car you can shift. A lot of it is a styling exercise just like speedometers that are best with a digital display but too often a dial is implemented.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by cdelena

A tach only makes real sense on a car you can shift.

100% false. Plus, you can shift pretty much any car, even with an auto.

[SVTLightning]

I like having a tach in any car. I can see the idle speed and know if something is up.


I don't get what the concern is about having one. I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it any day!

[bfrabel]

Do electric cars have tachs too? Maybe one for each motor, if it has multiple motors like I think some of them do?