Change up lights

Change up lights

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Discussion

kitcat7

Original Poster:

135 posts

252 months

Saturday 28th January 2023
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I has a set of these: https://ecliptech.com.au/shift-p2/ fitted to a Caterham I used to own and found them really useful. If you are really driving hard on a winding road, you need your attention on the road not the rev. counter, so having coloured lights in peripheral vision, probably on top of that hooded thing above the speedo/rev counter screen, seems to be a good idea.

Has anyone done this yet or would there be a good reason why it might not be a good idea?

tony993

358 posts

222 months

Saturday 28th January 2023
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If you drive in track mode the whole rev counter flashes when you're near the rev limit (it's easily seen in your peripheral vision) & you also get an audio warning (the same beeps that accompany the "put the handbrake on" message.

I could be wrong on this, but I think when you're in track mode, the traction control is off, so if you wanted some traction control as you tackle these B-roads with red line changes in track mode, you won't have it.

This whole sport button thing really annoys me. Just about every manufacturer does it: they give you one button that changes the car, & gives you two changes you want and two changes you don't want. It's one of the reasons modern cars are less fun than older cars. What we all want is a button for each different system, so you have a button that toggles between the different traction control modes, another button that toggles between the different dashboard displays, & so on. So for hardly any more cost, you'd have a much less annoying (ie more enjoyable) car. It seems so obvious to me; I don't understand why car manufacturers don't get it.

Caddyshack

11,829 posts

213 months

Saturday 28th January 2023
quotequote all
tony993 said:
If you drive in track mode the whole rev counter flashes when you're near the rev limit (it's easily seen in your peripheral vision) & you also get an audio warning (the same beeps that accompany the "put the handbrake on" message.

I could be wrong on this, but I think when you're in track mode, the traction control is off, so if you wanted some traction control as you tackle these B-roads with red line changes in track mode, you won't have it.

This whole sport button thing really annoys me. Just about every manufacturer does it: they give you one button that changes the car, & gives you two changes you want and two changes you don't want. It's one of the reasons modern cars are less fun than older cars. What we all want is a button for each different system, so you have a button that toggles between the different traction control modes, another button that toggles between the different dashboard displays, & so on. So for hardly any more cost, you'd have a much less annoying (ie more enjoyable) car. It seems so obvious to me; I don't understand why car manufacturers don't get it.
I would have thought an ecu mapping company could turn on and off any of the functions that are in there to suit other driving modes.

worldwidewebs

2,537 posts

257 months

Saturday 28th January 2023
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tony993 said:
I could be wrong on this, but I think when you're in track mode, the traction control is off, so if you wanted some traction control as you tackle these B-roads with red line changes in track mode, you won't have it.
The traction control in track mode is more relaxed but it's not totally off - you still need to press and hold the TC button to switch it off

kitcat7

Original Poster:

135 posts

252 months

Wednesday 1st February 2023
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Thanks Tony, I had noticed the red line across the whole of the display in track mode. I don't believe there is any warning in normal or sports mode though is there?

The thing about the Epiclip2 lights is that they are configurable so you can go from green, yellow, and red (from memory), so green can be lit up to, say 2,250, then yellow from there to 5,500, and red after that. That way you will be able to tell at a glance which part of the power band you are in.

tony993

358 posts

222 months

Thursday 2nd February 2023
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@www Yes - thanks for the reminder. I even posted about this myself after my Andrew Walsh airfield day (I haven't done any proper track days in my A110 yet).

@kitkat No, I don't think there are any warnings in normal/sport mode. Easy enough to find out. If I remember, I'll have a go at the weekend & let you know.

I don't know about your Epiclip lights. I guess it would be good to have the warning in sport & normal modes, but, really, if you're consistently driving up to the rev limit, you're likely to be in track mode, anyway. A light that came on every time I went through 2,250 revs would drive me absolutely mad. My Elise S2 had 3-stage shift lights; these came on at something like 1) 600 rpm below red line, 2) 300 below red line & 3) red line. These were useful.

On a similar theme, what I would also like, that I've never come across in any car, is an audible (that I can turn on/off) notification that the TC is doing some work, or at least a light that I can see easily in my peripheral vision. Usually, you can feel the TC (in some cars you can't miss it), but some of the modern systems are very smooth, & it's difficult to tell when they're interfering.

Aladoro69

109 posts

64 months

Friday 3rd February 2023
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Surely the standard dash change up notifications are accessible via OBD?
Therefore somebody will sell OBD shift lights out you could get a Bluetooth OBD dongle and configure an app like Torque to show a teen counter at least and set your mobile in a visible position