Winter Project #2 Shift Light Install

[waydui]

With lots of time on my hands during Winter, decided to put in a shift light system.

Selected Ecliptech SHIFT-i Progressive Shift I Light System (site: http://www.ecliptech.com.au/main_win_sep06.html)

Cost $148 delivered from Australia, great service and fast shipping!

Cory (cory1000) and I did a dual install at my place. One on my Elise and the other on his Exige S. Same procedure for both cars, no real difference other than he had some more plumbing to go around.

Simple to install as long as you take the time and have patience. Neither Cory nor I wanted exposed wires/cables, so we took the time to remove the necessary panels, seats, consoles, etc. to get a nice clean look. Cory is a wiring genius, so he made sure the wires were correctly spliced, oriented and routed through the car.

Quick Steps:
1. Get the MSD Tach Signal Pick Up so you don't have to cut into any wires. Costs about $35 and is well worth it. See pic.
2. I used shielded, 3-wire communications cable to do the wiring. Much easier than running 3 separate wires for each of the hook-ups. Cheap stuff, easy to find at Radio Shack, Lowe's or Home Depot.
3. Get a lot of cable ties to secure the cable as it travels through the chassis.
4. I encased the wires from the Shift-I unit in black heat-shrink tubing to give it a more finished look (see pic).
5. All connections were soldered, not just tied. Don't want any bogus electrical signals.
6. Entire install took about 3 hours, with 2 of us doing it. Cory was great at threading the cable under the dash and up to the light control panel where we spliced the wires in place.
7. Finished product works great. and is easy to detect in your peripheral vision. Easier than looking down at the tach.

Here are sequential shots of the install.

Happy to answer any questions.

Regards,
Wayne

[waydui]

Here are the rest of the install shots.

Regards,
Wayne

[carlover]

Nice post, but I'm not sure why it would be necessary. Not trying to be a jerk but the car already has a shift light, and I can only think of a couple of times the limiter caught me off guard in the last 23k, and I routinely wind the motor up.

Again, props on the diagrams though....

[waydui]

Originally Posted by carlover

Nice post, but I'm not sure why it would be necessary. Not trying to be a jerk but the car already has a shift light, and I can only think of a couple of times the limiter caught me off guard in the last 23k, and I routinely wind the motor up.

You make a good point and I thought the same thing until I started to AutoX the car.

The standard shift light in the car indicates the "end point" of the rev band when you need to shift. Given how easy this engine revs, by the time the shift light comes on, I can easily hit the rev limiter and the sudden drop in engine power is disconcerting when you are hustling through the cones.

With the Shift-I unit, I can program the lights to come on at specific rpm points, giving me an escalating warning that the shift point is coming up. I also avoid hitting the rev limiter as I set the shift point where I can change gear before I bump into the cut-off.

Also the standard shift light is below the optimal sight line when concentrating on the course. For whatever reason, I have trouble picking it up when it comes on unless I'm looking at the gauge cluster.

With the Shift-I, it is mounted on the same level as my line of sight, slightly off to the side where my peripheral vision can pick up the light progression. Much easier to time my gear changes.

For daily driving, it may not be all that practical. But for tracking and AutoX, I think it is a useful tool, particularly since you can program it for different shifting scenarios depending on where you want to keep the engine RPM range.

Regards,
Wayne

[Buz]

The standard tachometer is not very accurate and the shift light does not always seem to light at the optimum rpm, especially on a car with engine mods.

[xtn]

It looks like a great unit.

Personally I just know when it's almost time to shift based on the pitch of the engine noise. Has worked quite well for me on the track.

xtn