I've been playing around with my shiftlight for the past 5 days now and I really think this is a must have if you're serious about racing and NOT OVER-REVVING your motor. The shiftlight I've got is "Turbohawks" (Harlan) $35 homemade shiftlight. It's ultra tiny 1" X 3" and is internally programmable. I'll have pics on my website tonight of the light on and off (and also my custom heatshield for my HKS intake).

I've got mine set to light up at 5800 rpms which is an indicated 6100 rpms. By the time I shift, the indicated rpms are at 6300 rpms or so (motor is at 6000). 1st gear winds up so fast that I'm still shifting at an indicated 6500rpm which is good because you want shift out of 1st near redline anyways. I determined 5800 rpms was a good point start the shift because I reviewed a bunch of dyno graphs and hp/tg ratios vs gear of modded VQs and it looks as if the power falls off at around 5700 rpms. Technically you want to be shifting a couple hundred rpms past the hp peak. After doing this mod and adjusting my shift rpms accordingly, I strongly feel that my car is running quicker. I used to shift at an indicated 6400 rpms in 2nd and 3rd. Now I feel that those shift points were a bit to high because I was well past peak hp and my car was lugging too long in the gear. The shiftlight is great because now all I have to do is shift when the light comes on instead of having to concentrate on both the tach and road.

Dave

 

Can't wait to see the pictures of your shiftlight...

Do you have any pictures of your taillights? I am intersted to see exactly what you did as I am thinking about doing the same

 

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/sracing/

 

You should check out the Razo shiftlight then. Its a little box with two lights. Very small box. About 1x3x2. That little box contains the actual two lights. And that little box is connected to a bigger box that you use to adjust the RPMs that the two lights go off. Each light can be adjusted to go off at different RPMs. One light is green, the other is red. Nobody would notice you have it installed.

ZuM

 

To each his own.

I installed an aftermarket exhaust because I like to hear my pipes. I don't care who else hears them (with the exception of the local gendarmerie, of course) or whether they think I've got a hot rig.

As far as the shift light is concerned, I'd rather not have to take my eyes off the road when I'm accelerating to red line. I'd prefer to have a shift indicator in my field of view.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

I'm kind of an old f**t . . . you know, one of those mid-life crisis, baby boomer kind of guys. People look over at me when I'm driving my 2K SE 5-speed and think, "no way". They probably figure I'm driving my son's car.

 

Where can I get more info on the Razo Shift Light? Razo doesn't seem to have a web site unless maybe it's these guys:

http://206.184.159.217/razo/

 

Cool, I wanna be like you when I grow up!

 

How about this one?

http://www.racebreed.com/nismo1b2.htm

PS: Thanks, theblue. Keep up your passion for life and you've got a shot!

 

I'll have to ask my friend where he got his. He may have had it brought back from Hong Kong though. I'm not sure. For sure that such a light does exist though. I'll ask him.

ZuM

 

Let me know what you find out. Meanwhile I'll keep looking around.

 

x

 

Doug-

My shiftlight is very small and no one can tell I've got it. It blends right in with my black interior. I not big on huge shiftlights and tachs.

I take drag racing very seriously and I wanted the light to help me keep my eyes on the road and to keep my shifts very consistent. The idiot light also helps you know how much your stock tach is off (~300rpms high after 6000rpm).

Dave

 

My friend didn't get back to me on where he got his.. But I found a site that has it. Check it out guys.

<A HREF="http://www.eautoworks.com/ORD-Auto~Performance-RAZO~E~Series-no-1603-none.cfm"> Link to Razo Shift Light</A>

ZuM

 

I wasn't able to find any pics of your shift light on your home page. Could you re-post them? Also, how can I purchase one?

ZuM, thanks for the info on the Razo Shift Light. Looks like it doesn't use pills. That's cool.

 

No pills to buy.. You turn the ***** on the control unit for the proper RPM.. =)

ZuM

 

Or is this what the tac is for. I mean whats the point in spending any money on somthing like this, when you should be ablet o judge when to shift based on the sound and the revs?

 

The shiftlight keeps you consistant. And keeps your eyes on the road. Plus, the tach is off. On my friend's ITR. The 8200 pill for the Autometer shiftlight went off at a tach indicated 9000rpm.

ZuM

 

Y2KSE-
The pic of the shiftlight doesn't do it justice because I've got a crap scanner. Go to http://harlan.sketchy.net . There are some great pics of the shiftlight and it's also where you order them. For $40 it's a steal. All other shiftlights are big and bulky and cost ~$100-120. I've got my light set to go off at 5800 rpms (6100rpm indicated on tach). By the time I've completed the shift I'm at 6300 rpms. 1st gear wraps out so fast that I'm shifting around a indicated 6300-6400 rpms.

Nick-
Having the shiftlight will keep me more consistent on my shift and it will keep my eyes on the road. Looking at the tach is no good because there's too much going on. When you see the redlight in the corner of your eye then shift up. Now I know the best possible point to shift to keep my acceleration right at peak performance. Contrary to popular belief, a modded NA Max performs better if you shift it at an indicated 6100-6200 rpms vs redline. What happens is you're laboring in the gears too long and not accelerating near as fast.


Dave

 

 

Wow, thats pretty sweet! I just decided to take a look at the link anyways.. even though I have an auto. And 40 bucks really is a steal for that thing. It looks pretty nice. I like how the guy integrated it into his car. Is that light on a turbo V8?? Geez.

ZuM

 

Hey Dave, how hard is the install? I'm seriously thinking about getting one, but I'm no expert with electronics.. are there good instructions that come with it?

 

Install is a breeze. The shiftlight has 3 wires. A power, tach, and ground wire. The power was routed into the cigarette lighter fuse box, the ground was connected to the exposed metal steering rack brace, and the tach wire taps into PIN #1 (coil #1) on the ECU. This wire is red with a yellow stripe. I'm pretty sure the 98 Max has the same wiring as my 96 according to my manual. Install takes about 20 minutes.

Dave