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F1 News & Discussions => F1 History => Topic started by: Dare on July 27, 2018, 10:27:12 PM

Title: 68 Lotus cockpit
Post by: Dare on July 27, 2018, 10:27:12 PM
Just a dumb question but why didn't they put
speedometers in these cars? Were they afraid if they
knew how fast they were going they'd quit ;)

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/4ms38p/the_beautiful_simplicity_of_the_1968_lotus_49/
Title: Re: 68 Lotus cockpit
Post by: John S on July 28, 2018, 11:20:14 AM
Unnecessary weight Dare, simple as that.  ;)

Good picture though Dare, thanks.  :good:

The starter button went the same way as the speedometer later.
Wouldn't it be cool to take F1 cars back to manual gear shift. :D
Title: Re: 68 Lotus cockpit
Post by: cosworth151 on July 28, 2018, 11:08:07 PM
Good find, Dare!  :good:

It truly was a different age. That Smiths dual oil pressure/water temperature gauge is the same one that's in my MG Midget.
Title: Re: 68 Lotus cockpit
Post by: jimclark on July 30, 2018, 07:43:22 PM
Just a dumb question but why didn't they put
speedometers in these cars? Were they afraid if they
knew how fast they were going they'd quit ;)

So, is it race cars, which never did (appropriately, of course), have them now???  :D



Title: Re: 68 Lotus cockpit
Post by: cosworth151 on July 30, 2018, 08:12:27 PM
Yes. The speed display is on the Halo bar.  ;)

(I like Gasly's speed in this pix)
Title: Re: 68 Lotus cockpit
Post by: John S on July 31, 2018, 09:50:34 AM
Just a dumb question but why didn't they put
speedometers in these cars? Were they afraid if they
knew how fast they were going they'd quit ;)

So, is it race cars, which never did (appropriately, of course), have them now???  :D

F1 and pretty much all race cars still don't have a speedometer, even among the info given on the steering wheel dash.

It's now considered unnecessary information even though there is no weight advantage to be gained since it could be easily added to dash readout

Drivers and teams concentrate on time rather than actual speed for either the complete lap or any given sector of the track. They also think a great deal about gears, i.e. which gear to take which corner, and traditionally consider revs as much more useful info to improve car performance than raw speed data in mph or kph. 
Title: Re: 68 Lotus cockpit
Post by: jimclark on August 27, 2020, 11:51:42 PM
Just a dumb question but why didn't they put speedometers in these cars?

'Only been a couple of years, but seriously......the more pertinent question would be "what for"?
John's answer is true........
F1 and pretty much all race cars still don't have a speedometer, even among the info given on the steering wheel dash.

It's now considered unnecessary information even though there is no weight advantage to be gained since it could be easily added to dash readout

Drivers and teams concentrate on time rather than actual speed for either the complete lap or any given sector of the track. They also think a great deal about gears, i.e. which gear to take which corner, and traditionally consider revs as much more useful info to improve car performance than raw speed data in mph or kph.
.........
But more so....
The tachometer reading in any particular gear is far more accurate; and more importantly, a must regarding the range of torque and rev limit of the engine. A speedometer serves no purpose(zero, zilch, nadda) in a race car.
There's no cop looking to give a ticket (yeah, I know, "what about pit lane?". The tach is still more accurate.)  :)
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