Question about speedometers...

fergy1370

fergy1370

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Today before the race, my wife was asking me about what Benny said when Biffle was on pit road.....about not being able to figure out the speed limit for pit road. I told her that before the race, the pace laps are for the drivers to set their pit road speed and I went on to explain how they have to use the RPM's and remember what gear they are in, so they wouldn't exceed the speed limit on pit road....blah, blah, blah.

Then she hit me with it...


"Why don't they just put a speedometer in the cars?"


I couldn't even B.S. my way out of this one....so who has an answer for me?
 
I think it would scare them to death if they really knew how fast they were going. :lol:
 
I thought it had to do with the drivers psyche and attention. They as in car owners or crew chiefs did not want the distraction of a driver looking to see how fast they were going. It was recently said and I cannot remember who said it but one of the drivers was talking about a test session where they have the computer in the car and he could tell how fast he was going he kept looking over at it and admitted that it was a distraction.
 
Originally posted by bowtie@Oct 3 2004, 08:29 PM
I think it would scare them to death if they really knew how fast they were going. :lol:
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:lol:

If they gave Jr a speedometer that had a higher reading, would that make him go faster?
 
Originally posted by N2racin88@Oct 3 2004, 08:30 PM
I thought it had to do with the drivers psyche and attention. They as in car owners or crew chiefs did not want the distraction of a driver looking to see how fast they were going. It was recently said and I cannot remember who said it but one of the drivers was talking about a test session where they have the computer in the car and he could tell how fast he was going he kept looking over at it and admitted that it was a distraction.
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good answer. better than mine. :cheers:
 
Originally posted by N2racin88@Oct 3 2004, 08:30 PM
I thought it had to do with the drivers psyche and attention. They as in car owners or crew chiefs did not want the distraction of a driver looking to see how fast they were going. It was recently said and I cannot remember who said it but one of the drivers was talking about a test session where they have the computer in the car and he could tell how fast he was going he kept looking over at it and admitted that it was a distraction.
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I can see how it would be, I know I'd want to know how fast I was going....and I'm sure the driver would be bugging the spotters trying to find out what other drivers were saying about their speeds.
 
Originally posted by N2racin88@Oct 4 2004, 01:30 AM
I thought it had to do with the drivers psyche and attention. They as in car owners or crew chiefs did not want the distraction of a driver looking to see how fast they were going. It was recently said and I cannot remember who said it but one of the drivers was talking about a test session where they have the computer in the car and he could tell how fast he was going he kept looking over at it and admitted that it was a distraction.
Click to expand...
Good thought. But wouldn't it work the same way with the RPM 's you have to keep an eye on them. So you want blow something.
 
Would you want to see how fast you were going with 40 other cars all around you when you are in the nieghborhood of 200 mph? :D

But, really, I think it's more of a tradition to not have speedometers in a racing vehicle. Way back when I don't think they could build one that wound up that high..........and if they could, they weren't all that accurate. Plus it's one more machanical thing that could break and maybe cause an oil leak or bit of debris to fall off. And if a driver depends on his speedometer for pit road speeds and it becomes inaccurate then you get all those protests that the teams would put forth to try to get out of a penalty.

But with the technology we have today with GPS (plus other technologies) I think one could be put in a car and comfortably relied on. Probably some rule that must be changed before anyone can do it though. :)
 
I'm trying to recall if they had a speedometer in the NASCAR simulator. We were in a women's league there and man alive, it was bad enough looking in front of you and seeing one screen in front of you to be your "rearview mirror." Having to figure anything else out, would've crashed me.

They don't really care how fast they are driving until they close in on pit road. I would hope they want to focus in on the big picture of where they are not how fast they are going.
 
It's a good question, but how about the different gearings that are used. Speedometers usually run off the tranny and it's all programed as to the gears that are being used. Just a thought, but who wants to trust one of those things anyway. :)
 
Unless they changed rearend gears right before the race, depending on the pace car to get your pit road rpm speed sounds like leaving a lot to chance. They've had 3/4 days to figure that out and they wait for the warm up lap?

Someones scooter must have a speedometer. Follow that down pit road.
 
This question was asked to crew chief (can't remember which one now) recently. The simple answer was that it is not NECESSARY. The only time you need to know how fast you are going is on pit road and you can gauge that from the RPMs you are turning in a certain gear.

The gauges are there to relay NECESSARY information, speed can be determined otherwise needed and therefore a specific speed gauge isn't NECESSARY.
 
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