i don't even look at the tach that much when I'm racing. The shift light is the best thing in the world. I pick it up in my peripheral vision perfectly.

 

My point was that if I remember correctly, don't the 2004 Maximas have nearly the same instrument cluster as the Z, except the speedometer is in the middle?

 

Flame away ...

You guys or gals gotta be kidding ... you need the tach to tell you when to change gears!

I find that alot of the time my arm is holding the steering wheel just such that I cannot see the middle gauge but the speedo is right there.

Besides I use the digital read out anyway....

go figure need a tach to shift ... man or should I say boy.

 

Sorry, don't know about the new generation Max. I have a '00.

 

On the other cars I've owned, I never needed the tach to tell when to shift. In the Z however, I find it much harder to feel when I'm getting near the redline. I think the two biggest reasons are the fairly flat torque curve and the way the engine sounds as the revs climb. The torque drops in the higher RPMs, but the engine still feels like it's pulling strong, so I never think I need to shift.

Also, to me, the Z doesn't sound like it needs to be shifted as it approaches redline. Many other cars start to get very thrashy and harsh, and while the Z is not very smooth, I don't notice any significant change near redline. If I don't think about shifting, I'll hit the rev limiter in 2nd easily, especially when accelerating from say 3K RPM in second, and occasionally in 3rd as well. I just forget how quickly the redline is reached.

My first day at Laguna Seca I was hitting the rev limiter in the same two spots practically every lap until I got my shift points memorized and didn't have to think any more.


I'm glad there is that little shift light.

-D'oh!

 

With my AT, I have to watch the tach when I'm using the manual mode. I rarely take it to redline in manual because full auto is faster. I'm playing in manual and if you don't shift when the revs are up, it bogs and slips into a higher gear. If you want a smooth manual shift, you have to keep your foot steady on the throttle or there isn't a smooth transition into that higher gear. It wants you to shift over 4000rpm when you are at certain throttle positions and I do it just to hear the exhaust.

At full throttle in full auto, it bellows, especially after the torque peak and theres not much aural info to warn you the redline is coming up. In manual mode, the sound changes right at 4800rpm and I can run into the rev limiter very easily not watching the tach. The AT is like Jekyl and Hyde, full auto at street speeds is boring because the manual mode sounds like an MT at low speeds, bellows like a bull at WOT, and makes great music at part throttle. So I watch the tach only in manual mode, obviously, but it is a lot of fun seeing if I can pull off the perfect shift in manual, just like an MT. Wonderful choices and a remarkable AT.

 

I drive both a 03 Max and a 350 and love the Max every bit as much as the 350,and with the 04 Max the speedo is in the center pod and the tach is on the right unlike the 350.