Myles Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Hi, I want a sequential shift light for my EU3 K-series Roadsport - I've hit the rev-limiter twice by accident and don't want to divert my gaze from the road when overtaking on narrowish lanes. Any recommendations - someone mentioned wiring up the single light built into the EU3 tacho - but I would prefer an adjustable, external jobby that won't be jettisoned if I choose to upgrade the engine/ECU later. REgds, Myles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 I use the OMEX system and no complaints so far but a lot of people use the ACES system, however what put me off that was 1. the costs 2. the control box is large rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Myles I designed my own shift light system for my 1.8K. It consists of a small box that sits on the scuttle which has 10 Hi-brightness LEDs plus a control knob to adjust the brightness and a small control box which sits under the dash. There are only 3 connections: +12v, ground and a simple tap into the tacho input. I have designed the circuit to switch on the the shift lights as follows: 4 green LEDs which cover 4000rpm to 5000rpm 3 amber LEDs which cover >5000 rpm to 6000rpm 3 red LEDs which cover >6000 rpm to 6500 rpm I can more or less set the LEDs however to cover any range or to have a specific rpm gap between them... it's just a calculation and a couple of component value changes. You never need to look at the tacho again, they are bright enough to be seen in peripheral vision even in broad daylight (hence the incorporated dimmer for night use). Colin Grundy uses my system so I suggest, if you're interested, that you contact him to get an unbiased opinion. Price is £99 - beats anything currently available on the market for performance and price. You can see a photo of the system on my website... just click below (picture 7). Picture 8 shows the shift lights mounted on the scuttle... that photo also shows my newly designed self-cancelling steering wheel (Q/R) mounted indicator switches. No more forgetting to turn your indicators off. Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Chris, The shift light set up looks very neat. How easy is it to adjust if you decide to change the trigger points ?? But totally changing the subject 😬, what switches did you use for the push button indicators ? And where did you get them from ? Are they sealed and what connectors have you used to still allow the wheel to be removable ? Sorry for the deluge of questions but I'm trying to sort out something like this myself right now. I have a push-button indicator unit but want to move the buttons onto the wheel. So far, however, I haven't found any satisfactory switches which are sealed but also not too deep such that they might get in the way of your hands when driving. Thx Nick PS sorry for the thread hi-jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bare Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Most people develop a sense of when to shift.. be it Audible, or simply a "seat of the Pants" feel. Respectfully suggest you drive yer Car enough to aquire this basic Skill.. rather than rely on some Dorky visual aid to tell you how to operate yer own Machine :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Bare I'm continually surprised by the fact that when my ear tells me to change gear due to the screaming of the engine, in reality I'm usually only around 5600rpm so still a way to go. Not using instruments to monitor your driving and the engine is a bit of a Luddite attitude. Have you removed your speedo by the way if you truly believe what you preach? Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Watson Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Chris, Am very interested in you shift light and would like one for my R reg 1.8k Super sport. It looks really good. I will e-mail you my mobil number or could you e-mail me your details and I will call you. Cheers, Barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Nick I have not made the rpm gap user adjustable as it overcomplicates the mechanics and the setting up for something that you do once typically. You can however set up the low rpm point OR the high rpm point by a simple tweeker inside the control box. So for example you rev to say 4000 and tweek the tweeker till the first LED just lights and that's it - it's set up. The circuit will then run in approx 300rpm gaps up to around 6700rpm. (10 LEDs = 9 gaps). I would need to calculate component values for any other gap but it can be done straightforwardly. Re the steering wheel switches.... I found some really nice sub-miniature sprung toggle switches from Maplin for which they also sell a miniature black rubber "boot" that screws over the switch giving a neat appearance and water protection. I wrapped the back-end of them in amalgamating tape which looks neat as it moulds to the shape so well and also acts a waterproof barrier. The switches are operated by pushing the relevant one outwards - they spring back automatically. Once for ON, once more for OFF or they self-cancel if left for a user-set time (25 secs in my case). Also if you need to do say a left followed by a quick right, then pushing the right switch once will cancel the left indicator, reset the timer and switch on the right and vice versa. Works perfectly. Since I made it, I haven't actually forgotten to switch off, so sometimes I leave it just to be able to see the time-out in action. Sad isn't it. I used toggle switches rather than push buttons as it's virtually impossible to accidentally switch the toggle switch whereas I felt there was a finite possibility of knocking a push button while carrying out a complex steering manoeuvre. The connection to the removable wheel is via a miniature telephone socket known as an RJ11 (an american plug not the larger BT plug). It's the connector often used to connect to modems. I have 4 wires coming from the wheel so one of these plugs is ideal The socket which fits on the back of the wheel to take the plug is also available (as is the plug) from Maplin. In fact what I did was to buy a socket from Maplin but use a "BT plug to RJ11 plug" cable I already had in my spares box. On the control box which sits under the dash, I used a BT socket to plug in the other end of this cable to the main circuit so the whole thing was very neat. The switches are Maplin part FF70M @ £1.49 each and the covers JR79L @ £1.49 each see maplin here cheers Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberts Wallet Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 I have the ACES sequential shift light set up and I think they're great They now do a slightly cheaper version with a smaller control unit and a single button setup, which I believe is similar to the R3,4 and 500's and the LED unit is very neat. They are expensive but are accurate when it comes to setting up as you don't have to rev the nuts off the engine to do it. Well worth the money IMHO Blue and Carbon Supersport No.28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Gareth - do not understand your comments about having to rev the nuts of it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DohNut Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 I believe that some shift light systems require you to rev the engine to the shift light value to show the system what limit you want to use. Some require you to rev to half the required value to set it. I dont envy having to rev the engine while stationary looking at the tacho (assuming that it is accurate) and setting the rev limit. But then again it does not need to be very accurate, simply give you a reminder that a new gear would be nice while you get on with looking at the road. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robmar Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 doh!nut - thanks for the explanation, I have only ever used the OMEX system and that didn't require that rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberts Wallet Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Nick, Couldn't have put it better myself Blue and Carbon Supersport No.28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 My system only requires you to rev to the lower limit (say 4000rpm) to set the first LED to be coming ON. The rest is automatically done. In reality, you don't have to rev at all because I set them up on the bench using an electronic pulse generator which simulates any engine revs you like, although most people like to see it for real and have a final tweek - human nature. Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Beaumont Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 My vote would be for the Webcon unit here, cos it's cheap and does the job. Optionally you can do what I did, which was to mount the LEDs on a separate bit of Veroboard, and painstakingly dremel holes in the dash to remote mount them, with the box of tricks stuck to the scuttle. I found there's just enough room to string the LEDs vertically between the tacho and speedo. Looks bloody good, though I say it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Luke The only issue with the Webcon unit is that it has a limited detection range which covers a range of 90% of max engine revs. So on a Roadsport 140hp which maxes out at 6750 rpm, the Webcon will cover only 6075 rpm to 6750 rpm. For the 160hp it will cover 6300rpm to 7000rpm. So although it has 5 LEDs, they are over a fairly restricted range. (around 170 rpm/LED). Of course this may be fine for some people, but most of the time we don't drive at peak rpm. It's a good price though at about £65 inc Vat & delivery. Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Grundy Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Hark , I hear my name being metioned in vain 😬 I do indeed have a Chris W enterprise shift light system and it looks the dogs whatsits and perform superbly. The beauty of the set up is that it can be adjusted to suit your personal preferences. I just love seeing those row of lights coming on. Great value too. Highly recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted June 12, 2003 Author Share Posted June 12, 2003 Interesting, interesting... That's three good-looking units... How much is an ACES Sureshift2? No prices on the website... I definitely want a solution - I'm missing out on revs at the top end (most of the time 😳) and the roads I drive where I currently most need it don't allow the luxury of an instrument check mid-overtake... Regds, Myles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick M Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberts Wallet Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Myles, sureshift 2 was about £220 when I bought it. Get in touch with to check. If you do order one ask them to include a bracket to mount it on the scuttle. Aslo they aslo have one called sureshift SB which may be cheaper because it doesn't store max rpm's Blue and Carbon Supersport No.28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted June 12, 2003 Author Share Posted June 12, 2003 Glup! That's twice the price of anything else I've seen. That might take some justification - I've only got an ickle roadsport and 100 quid makes a start towards a DVA or Supersport upgrade... Don't think I need max RPMs anyway. Nothing on their website about the 'SB' though... REgds, Myles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberts Wallet Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Myles, give them a ring. I currently have the sureshift2 but wanted to be able to adjust the brightness of the LEDs at night which can only be done form the control unit. I got in touch with them and they told me they do th SB version (single button) which has a SB to set the unit up and adjust the brightness as required. Blue and Carbon Supersport No.28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Beaumont Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Good point Chris, as it happens it suits me fine as I generally don't want to see the shift lights unless I need to. Thus when I'm in cruise mode and shifting up before 6000rpm, I don't know it's there. In fact having your system illuminate at me for a trifling 4000rpm would annoy me somewhat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris W Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Luke Actually there are some side benefits of the thing working at 4000rpm. After a while you really get to know instinctively what different combinations of lights mean in the various gears. So for example with my 140hp K engine and the 5 speed gearbox, if the first green light comes on in 5th, I know I am doing about 85mph and should just lift my right foot a nadges to extinguish it to stay below 80mph on motorways etc to avoid having to worry about our friends in blue. Similarly in other gears there is similarly useful info depending upon speed and gear at the time. eg: the first green light comes on at 70mph in 4th so again blatting along country roads you get to know your speed as well as your rpm without taking your eyes off the road. It's uncanny after a few days of getting used to it just how much information your brain is able to extract from some simple lights.... it becomes like a second language. Chris 1.8K SV 140hp see it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Beaumont Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 To each their own, I still don't think it would suit me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now