Stupid speedometer graduations

Gwynston

What is it with cars' speedos having ridiculously high top speeds at the expense of a sensibly spread out, readable dial in the everyday-usable part?

Case in point - this S-Max speedo:
http://cdn.eurekar.co.uk/uploads/images/large/smaxspeedo.jpg

260kph - are Ford taking the p!ss? :eek:

I mean, max speed of the car must be no more than 200 - what are the other 60 for? Realistically, in regular driving you're never going to use half of that dial, which means you lose resolution and clarity of the half you will be squinting to see.

And the whole 1cm needle length you're provided which gets nowhere near reaching the outside number gradualtions makes it even harder to see what speed you're actually doing!

I'm beginning to think that the French trend of just displaying a number - which I detest - might actually be better if dials are going to be made this hard to read.

bop1977

1 speedometer multiple cars. The focus st had a top speed of 154 mph or 248 kmph.

they should all just have a digital speedo. my car (09 Citroen C5) has one, so it's not exactly ground-breaking technology.

Foxhole Norman

That is a sensibly spread out and readable dial to me. I'm not sure about you but I only take a momentary glance at my Speedo from time to time, a lit/coloured needle, even a small one is enough to know exactly what speed I'm doing.

ironclaw

Value for money is even less in the GT-R. You'll have lost your license before you even pass 45% of it.

Special Circumstances

tossy

That little stubby needle in the ford would annoy me more than anything.

colm_mcm

There was a Toyota Verossa (basically a 2.5 turbo fast saloon) as linked in a thread here. People were laughing at its 180 kmph speedo (Japanese cars are limited to this speed)
That's the reason you have these ridiculous speedos. People like big numbers better than small numbers.

gctest50

bop1977 wrote: »

1 speedometer multiple cars. The focus st had a top speed of 154 mph or 248 kmph.

Standardise them all

Gwynston

I suppose on a lot of new cars now, there is a graphical display rather than physical dials with needles. So in theory, they should be customisable?

Although while I think some of these offer a couple of different layout designs, I'm a traditionalist and would like to see a rotary dial, but with the option of modifying the resolution. e.g. a graphical representation of that S-Max dial but with a max of 200kph, so I can more easily pick out what it's showing.

In practice, do any cars allow that sort of customisation?

CJhaughey

For me the best speedo's ever used were in Saab's , I guess it was a byproduct of their aerospace work, they were always legible, clear and made sense in their layout.
http://www.saabplanet.com/saab-9-5-just-11-of-speedometer-unused/

I like the setup where the needle sits at 12 o'clock when at 100kph it makes life simple.

Gwynston

The figures suggested in that linked article don't sound as bad as I would expect. I suspect they used the V-Max figure from the most powerful in the range in each case.

e.g. the Saab 9-5 is listed as 11% unused of the dial's indicated 260kph which would be 231kph! :eek:

So I suspect if you took the highest selling version of most of those more regular cars listed, the unused percentages would be a lot higher.

Unfortunately the original Car Magazine article linked to can't be found any more.

q85dw7osi4lebg

Deleted User wrote: »

they should all just have a digital speedo. my car (09 Citroen C5) has one, so it's not exactly ground-breaking technology.

My 04 S2000 has one, and they've had it since 1999. In a Honda :pac:

kirving

It's almost certainly down to standardisation across the entire model range. That would go for customisation of a digital dial too. Far easier to adjust the numbers around the outer face than apply a new correction factor on the angle of the digital needle.

There would also be an element of purposely leaving the gauge difficult to read to the exact kph figure. Better to leave a smaller scale and fatter needle so that the driver doesn't even try to get it bang on - as this would lead to distraction.

grogi

Gwynston wrote: »

What is it with cars' speedos having ridiculously high top speeds at the expense of a sensibly spread out, readable dial in the everyday-usable part?

Case in point - this S-Max speedo:
http://cdn.eurekar.co.uk/uploads/images/large/smaxspeedo.jpg

260kph - are Ford taking the p!ss? :eek:

I mean, max speed of the car must be no more than 200 - what are the other 60 for? Realistically, in regular driving you're never going to use half of that dial, which means you lose resolution and clarity of the half you will be squinting to see.

And the whole 1cm needle length you're provided which gets nowhere near reaching the outside number gradualtions makes it even harder to see what speed you're actually doing!

I'm beginning to think that the French trend of just displaying a number - which I detest - might actually be better if dials are going to be made this hard to read.

VAGs have non-linear scale, it's brilliant.

Cheensbo

Chaim Helpless Ankle wrote: »

My 04 S2000 has one, and they've had it since 1999. In a Honda :pac:

Sure loads of yokes in the 80s had them too, 1981 toyota soarer had them, think it may have been the first? It was the first of a lot of things actually iirc.

mik_da_man

Mine is non linear, great fun
It goes 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 160

Which makes you wonder why a digital speedo isn't on every car.

Cars cost a fortune, yet makers seem very resistant to updating the (generally easily accessible) technology within them.

I can buy a sat nav in Halfords for €50, but your average car won't have one, and if it does, it's generally an optional extra costing a grand (if not more) (I get that it's not as simple as having a sat nav, there's also slight reworking done on dashboard moulds, wiring, etc but nothing that should make having a nav as standard too much of an issue at a practically free price point).

Reverse parking sensors cost a pittance and are still an optional extra that can cost up to about €500 (think I seen that price on a Citroen in Drogheda before.. might've been VW but fairly confident it was on a Citreon).

Girl I know bought a 131 Focus recently. Doesn't have a USB slot. Nor even an Aux input socket (strangely, it does have hands-free calling).


That said, from certain brands, I can understand trying to upsell you on 'premium' add-ons and stuff. Selling you a sat nav or leather seats so you can feel like the bees knees driving about. But things like a digital speedo should just be the norm.

Gwynston

I don't think it's cost or technology migration holding back digital speedos. I think it's more to do with old-fashioned aesthetics.

I certainly prefer the look of a dial speedo over a static number display, notwithstanding the fact that I raised this thread ranting about them...

_Kaiser_

Audi FTW...



Analogue, digital, MPH and KM/H and still clear and logically laid out (and yes you can change the digital readouts to KM/H as well)

colm_mcm

LIGHTNING wrote: »

The Citroen GS had a rotating drum speedo which was around in the 70's which was a precursor to the digital dash.

The AM Lagonda had one in the 70s



(GS came out a few years earlier to be fair)

_Kaiser_

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Audi FTW...


Analogue, digital, MPH and KM/H and still clear and logically laid out (and yes you can change the digital readouts to KM/H as well)

Still prefer the Citroen C5 design to be honest




(and if you opt against the speedo, you can put other info in the box instead, or just leave it blank)

Leonard Hofstadter

I much prefer analogue speedos and rev counters. Digital instruments annoy me a lot, especially rev counters. I also don't like the more recent trend of non-linear speedos!

Sometimes, car manufacturers do things just for the sake of doing it. Some technology really isn't necessary, like digital instruments, electric parking brakes etc.

pa990

captainspeed wrote: »

I much prefer analogue speedos and rev counters. Digital instruments annoy me a lot, especially rev counters. I also don't like the more recent trend of non-linear speedos!

Sometimes, car manufacturers do things just for the sake of doing it. Some technology really isn't necessary, like digital instruments, electric parking brakes etc.

It's the ultimate challenge to make that needle go past the max speed... It'll never happen... But God loves a tryer

colm_mcm

I love the digital speedo in the civic.



Probably shouldn't be posting this on the phone.

Gwynston

Blimey - what Civic is that that's approaching a 4500 rpm red line at 150mph? Is it a diesel? :eek:

Even my 1.6 Civic VTi from 25 years ago didn't red line until 8000rpm :cool:

colm_mcm

i-DTEC just kicked in yo.