Did I miss something? A rev limiter won't keep the motor from over-revving
when improperly downshifted. Your motor will spin as fast as the wheels will
turn it. The only thing that the rev limiter does is limit the acceleration of
the motor by cutting spark.
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Murphy <solex675@hotmail.com>
Sent: Aug 3, 2004 12:46 PM
To: datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
Subject: Singing the praises of the rev limiter
Hey All,
A couple weekends back I took the roadster out and drove to one of my
favorite roads- Harbor Drive in Dana Point. It's a four lane road that runs
along the harbor and has some great sweeper turns on it. I like sweepers as
I find that balance point where I can hold the turn at a constant rate of
speed and test the grip of my yokos. Great fun.
On this trip I was doing a left hander at about 75 MPH and I was in the far
right lane. Up ahead I could see a car pulling out of the yacht club and
making the left that would put him in the same direction as me. Now as I was
in the right lane I assumed he was going to take the left lane as it was
open. He didn't. He was an elderly man driving a mercedes and he was going
so slowly that he was actually blocking both lanes by the time I had to make
my decision as to what to do.
I was in 5th and quickly downshifted to what I thought was fourth but I
missed it and put into second instead. I know- the 5 speed transmission is
self-centering and I should have just let the shifter find fourth but I was
a little panicked due to the looming collision so I pulled harder than I
normally would have. I hit second gear at about 65 mph.
Luckily for me, my MSD 6AL has a built in "Soft Touch" rev limiter that
kicks in at 6000 RPM. It reduces the intensity of the spark and also fires
every other cycle to ensure that fuel does not build up in the cylinder.
Worked like a charm. The thought of what might have happened if I did not
have it in place scares me. Well worth the money I paid for it considering
the price of a rebuilt head.
So for those of you considering a Gary Boone EI dizzy (great product), you
may also want to consider a MSD 6AL. It may just save your engine someday.
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