It's a VDO tach installed in a '91 DX B16a w/ S1 tranny. I have the redline set to 8200rpm. The car sits at 4K RPM's at 55mph. At 80mph, I'm at 6K. 5th gear redlines at 105mph. Many people have told me these RPM #'s are too high for the speed I'm going. I can feel the VTEC changeover at about 6,500RPMs. I have taken the car to 9K RPMs (thats what the tach read at least ) and did not hit the rev limiter.

My car is just not as fast as I was expecting. When shifting when the tach read 8200RPMs, I lost to my friends bone-stock '00 2.5RS about a month ago. Now, just this past weekend, I ran my other friends '00 Altima SE. It was basically dead even with him winning by a nose at 60mph. He has an intake, that's it.

This was kinda the last straw for me. I have not done a compression test, the motor does feel strong though. I may have a clogged cat, which will be replaced as soon as money allows.

I never really questioned the tach until today, I only went to 9K rpms once. Has anyone else experienced this? Are there ways to test it beyond buying a new tach? Where should the rev limiter kick in on the B16a?

Comments/suggestions welcome.

Cheers

 

Well everyone on VWVortex.com always complains about how much their VDO gauges suck.

 

not sure, but doest he tach have a 4 6 8 cylinder reading? If so, you may have the wrong one selected.

 

Yeah your tach is off Seabass.

I have experience this situation before with a cheap tachometer and when i put an autometer it was a world of difference. And yes i did have it set on 4 cylinders.

Off the top of my head, a way to test it would be going to an state inspection place and asking them for a quick favor? i remember after they hooked up something on their screen it displayed the rpms. just an idea.

fuel cut off i hear is at 8300rpms. redline is at 8200rpms they say.

 

Rev it til it hits the limiter if it's not a chipped ECU. That will tell you how much it's off. It should get faster and faster as it approaches redline. I'm gunna laugh if it's set on 6 cylinder and you're 1.5x more revs than you should be showing. 9k would be 6000 in that case.

Borrow someone elses Tach. I've got 2 laying around. I'm sure SOMEONE in your area has something, or just buy a Sunpro or some BS one, hook it up, and see what it shows, then return it and say it didn't fit where you thought it would. Simple as that.

 

Well well, I've never been so pleased/disappointed at the same time in my entire First off, my tach was reading incorrectly. I adjusted it but was unable to find the correct setting because it was revving too high, too low, or waaay too low. The closest setting I could find had me bouncing off the rev limiter at 7600-7800RPM's... which was kinda annoying because it was so close to 8300.

Then, of course, it dawned on me. I have an automatic ecu and automatic cams. FUUUUCK!! You see, I always thought I was fine because the tach showed it reving to 8000+RPMs, so I never even entertained the thought of auto ecu... It doesn't say AT anywhere on my ecu, it also doesn't say MT anywhere either

What do I do now? Change the ecu and get MT cams? I need to replace the valve springs at the same time? Ah, time to do some hardcore searching...


Modified by SeaBass at 1:12 AM 8/7/2003