When I did my test drives in the TL I really noticed it big time with the six speed. The tach is on the left side. WTF? How can you see the tach when it is under your left forearm? Are they still being produced this way?

From looking at the pics of the G35 dash, at least they got that correct and put in on the right side.

 

i drive a manual and never really looked down that much. but the steering wheel is not really in the way of the tach. i usually keep my hands near the voice command buttons so its not blocking at all.

 

My tach in my '00 Celica GT-S 6sp was also on the left... so what? Car layouts vary... learn to adapt and overcome.

 

jackal, my Mr2, Tacoma, and Silverado`s tachs are on the left... either learn to listen to the motor or lean to the right, it will be okay...

 

might be a stupid question, but what is a tach??

 

Tachometer. Measures engine RPM

See example below (note Vettes also have their tachs on the left as did my 5-0)
http://www.knology.net/~jwilson/IMAG...d%20speedo.JPG

As for tachs on the left...I've never seen a car with the tach on the right other than a MBZ and Lambos. Porsche, Ferrari, Vettes, my beater 5-0...all on the left.

 

Oh ok thanks for the info. My '96 Galant has the tach on the right... but personally I like it on the left better!

 

I think the europeans generally put it on the right side. my old vw had it on the ride side as well. for some reason, i think that makes more intuitive sense, since i'm shifting with my right hand.

 

95% of all cars have the tach on the left... I guess your last car was one of the 5% on the right. Welcome to "normal" life...

 

I'm still a fan of the RX-7s, which have the tach in the middle.

 

What a woman. Who complains about a tachometer? He's gotta be eating ice cream and pickles too

 

I was just thinking that. I love the tachs in the middle... :worship:

 

the correct location for the tach would be in the middle and the spedo off to the side

 

Go with a hood tach, as in the 1968-1971 GTO Judge

 

There are many car enthusiasts on this board that wanted the 6MT, but my guess is that >80% of the TLs sold will be 5AT. The tach in the middle or on the right would be more useful for the 6MT, but the _typical_ sedan driver is more concerned with their speed than their RPMs.

The weird thing is we read for left to right, so shouldn't we be looking left first? Or have we just been conditioned?

 

The reason to prefer having tach on the left is because you drive Manual by right hand and handle your steering wheel by left hand, in most of countries. This would prevent your left hand blocking the tach, as well as you intend to look right/middle while shifting.

I like fsttyms1's Ferrari's. In the middle it's the great setup.

 

If the car were a sports car, the tach would be in the middle. It is not, therefore the tach will be to the left or right, like most other cars that are not sports cars.

 

Correction.




BTW, 1SICKLEX is right.

 

The tach in the middle is a racing car thing. Essentially all other cars have it on the left by convention. If your arm blocks the view, you're driving ghetto style with the left hand at 12' (top). Your arms are supposed to be at 10' and 2'.

 

Vtech is correct. Left hand position on a performance car IS @ 10:00, not 12:00. At the appropriate position, the left hand/arm does not block the tach. .....Sure, the Ferrari would be nice but the 2G's in my pocket would be nicer. IMHO, center tach @ that price is "over rated".

 

Wow an 8500 RPM redline, I expected more from a Ferrari.




jk

 

I agree left hand at 1200 is not right and unsafe. But I thought some fatty hand at 1000 with improper steering wheel height adjustment would block the view of tach.

Wasn't this why ppl asked about?
:o