I think the way it's coded, the light comes on when the next gear offers more torque than the current gear. Even though the current gear has room for acceleration, the light shows that the next gear up has more effective torque to offer.

I'm not sure how realistic it is.. I don't know if real cars have this dynamic calculation.. I've always assumed it was just a "red line" marker. Since there's no engine damage to speak of at the moment, in LFS, a classic red line is a bit pointless.

Maybe that's why I've been a bit wary about it. I've been treating it like a "red line" marker. I'm still a bit dubious though as sometimes it feels like I'm "short-shifting" if I pay too much attention to the thing. It may just be that my impression of where the torque is, is different to where it really is. Unfortunately, thats just a limitation of any sim as in a real car you can simply feel it and there's no question about it.

Maybe I should get one of those seats that kicks you in the back and damages your spine or something. Nah, that's a terrible idea.

TBH I wait until the light is on to shift. I may lose a tiny little bit of accel but it takes away the pain of trying to watch the rev counter to see when it's going to be just before the red light comes on.

IF I wasn't switching between so many cars and setups during a week/day I could listen to the revvs but frankly I don't have the time to put in the effort when I could be concentrating on where my next brake/turn point is...

Quote from SamH :

I think the way it's coded, the light comes on when the next gear offers more torque than the current gear. Even though the current gear has room for acceleration, the light shows that the next gear up has more effective torque to offer.

I'm not sure how realistic it is.. I don't know if real cars have this dynamic calculation.. I've always assumed it was just a "red line" marker. Since there's no engine damage to speak of at the moment, in LFS, a classic red line is a bit pointless.

Well if you mean "effective torque" as in torque at the drive wheels then that's technically the way I see it, but an easier way to say that would just be power. I always thought the shift light came on the instant of the "crossover" moment, or when the power in the next gear at that speed would be greater than the power in the current gear.

I dunno what I mean!

Except that the light shows when the LFS client believes that it's the right time to change. Anything more technical, I'll have to just sit out