Tachometer

A tachometer (also called a revolution-counter, rev-counter, or RPM gauge) is an instrument that measures the rotation speed of a shaft or disk, as in a motor or other machine. The device usually displays the revolutions per minute (RPM) on a calibrated analog dial, but digital displays are increasingly common. The term comes from Greek Ταχος, tachos, "speed", and metron, "to measure".
Tachometers on automobiles, aircraft, and other vehicles show the rate of rotation of the engine's crankshaft, and typically have markings indicating a safe range of rotation speeds. This can assist the driver in selecting appropriate throttle and gear settings for the driving conditions. Prolonged use at high speeds may cause excessive wear and other damage to engines. This is more applicable to manual transmissions than to automatics.
On analog tachometers speeds above maximum safe operating speed are typically indicated by an area of the gauge marked in red, giving rise to the expression of "redlining" an engine—revving the engine up to the maximum safe limit. The red zone is superfluous on most modern cars, since their engines typically have a rev limiter which electronically limits engine speed to prevent damage. Diesel engines with traditional mechanical injector systems have an integral governor which prevents over-speeding the engine, so the tachometers in vehicles and machinery fitted with such engines sometimes lack a redline.
In vehicles such as tractors and trucks, the tachometer often has other markings, usually a green arc showing the speed range in which the engine produces maximum torque, which is of prime interest to operators of such vehicles. Tractors fitted with a power take off (PTO) system have tachometers showing the engine speed needed to rotate the PTO at the standardised speed required by most PTO-driven implements. In many countries, tractors are required to have a speedometer for use on a road.
To save fitting a second dial, the vehicle's tachometer is often marked with a second scale in units of speed. This scale is only accurate in a certain gear, but since many tractors only have one gear that is practical for use on-road, this is sufficient. Tractors with multiple 'road gears' often have tachometers with more than one speed scale. Aircraft tachometers have a green arc showing the engine's designed cruising speed range.