[Come on now, kids... it was just my feeble attempt at a little humor.]
Giant Tachs
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 159
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From: Quincy MA
Giant Tachs
Ok am I missing something or is there a reason that almost every old muscle car I see has those HUGE tachs from Autozone?? I have always associated those things with little ricers in their Honda Civic.
Any reason behind this?
Any reason behind this?
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 159
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From: Quincy MA
That may indeed be it. 
I just talked to a colleague of mine (he has a 72 GTO) and he said he reasoning was because it has the programmable shift light it lets him know exactly when to shift while he is at the track. Which I guess is reasonable any other thoughts on this?
Drifting
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,491
Likes: 2
From: North Royaton Ohio
Hit it right on the head there. My Camaro's a 4 speed, and i NEVER EVER look at the tach. I always shift by the pitch of the motor, or even the feel of the slight vibrations coming through the shifter.But I agree, there has to be some reasoning behind it. It certainly doesn't look good IMO.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 15,176
Likes: 87
From: State of Confusion
he could-be using the large-face tach to easily set his launch RPM by-eye.
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 10,674
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From: Millington Illinois
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
You must be fairly young to ask that question. I grew up in the 60's and 70's. Back in the day the big Sun Tach was banded to the steering column, mounted to the dash or otherwise attached in an easily seen spot. A lot of the cars we had didn't come with a tach so you bought one at the local speed shop and attached it to whatever you could where you could see it while banging gears. The big Sun Tach became part of the personality of those modified cars.
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Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 159
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From: Quincy MA
Yea, I'm 21, the only place I really noticed these were on imports, but then again I usually only went to import shows (used to drive a Hyundai) 
It does make sense now that you mention the lack of tachs on some cars. Thanks for all the responses guys.
It does make sense now that you mention the lack of tachs on some cars. Thanks for all the responses guys.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 5,202
Likes: 10
From: cincinnati ohio
St. Jude Donor '09
You must be fairly young to ask that question. I grew up in the 60's and 70's. Back in the day the big Sun Tach was banded to the steering column, mounted to the dash or otherwise attached in an easily seen spot. A lot of the cars we had didn't come with a tach so you bought one at the local speed shop and attached it to whatever you could where you could see it while banging gears. The big Sun Tach became part of the personality of those modified cars.
Any respectable hot rod had to have a Sun Super tach
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 6,247
Likes: 471
From: Glen Allen, VA
I'd say that a lot of people have them becuase the factory tachs aren't extremely accurate and the larger tach the better. I wouldn't put one in the Vette, I think they look out of place. Now, if I had a custom dash with all aftermarket gauges recessed in it, that's a different story. My 70 pickup does have a Sun Tach banded to the column.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 2,116
Likes: 156
From: Mid West
Cruise-In III Veteran
Anybody ever notice that our Vette TACH's are the same size as those "HUGE" tach's. I have one from AutoMeter in my drag car and it has the same size face (5" dia) as GM put in our cars.
Maybe GM knew that old people would be driving these cars and needed help seeing
Maybe GM knew that old people would be driving these cars and needed help seeing