Why the center mounted gauge hate?

cvrefugee said:
Wow, lots of hate and misinformation in this thread. Believe it or not, your eyes take less time to refocus on the road with a center-mounted gauge cluster. By looking slightly to the right (or left for RHD) and a bit down you keep your peripheral vision on the road. With a traditional gauge cluster you have to take your eyes off the road almost completely to see it. Trust me, I've driven both types and the center-mounted style is the way to go for safety.

I don't see how putting that gauge lower down and in front of me will help me keep my eyes on the road. Science people, science!
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Well there are different types, some worse than others.

2007_Toyota_Yaris_hatchback_interior.jpg
 
http://img145.imageshack.**/img145/9265/30941bnistq0.jpg

The Primera. The central gauges are bad, but the "information centre" is even worse.
 
I drove my aunt's Mini a month ago, and while it did feel nice, it was too small for me. Though, my major complaint was the speedo. In my mind, it was horrendous. I don't know what the inspiration was for something like... that... I don't need the world to see it, just me. Heck, the speedo doesn't even work in my car, I just look at the tach.
mini_cooper_s_interior_17_08_06.jpg
 
It's not too bad in Civics, a decent compromise in the (euro) civic (not sure about the other model.

My accord euro just has massive old man dials
 
For the first new Mini, there was an upgrade pack called "chili", which put a smaller speedo on the steering column alongside the rev counter.

0b0e_3.jpg


For the new new Mini, it doesn't seem to be an option anymore. I probably could live with that center gauge because it is analogue and was put there out of tradition. If I had the choice however, I'd very much prefer the twin gauges on the steering column.
 
The interior looks weird, imo. The whole time-to-refocus thing is bullshit - even if its true we're talking about fractions of a second, tiny decimals. I honestly cant say that Ive ever wished my eyes would focus on the gauges quicker. Also, I cant think of a single car with center gauges that I would ever own.

edit - just thought of the mini... ok, Id consider buying one but I hate its interior
 
public said:
http://img145.imageshack.**/img145/9265/30941bnistq0.jpg

The Primera. The central gauges are bad, but the "information centre" is even worse.
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That screen looks like it came from an '80s PC. :lol:
 
Becuase you can floor it and still tell your gf you're doing 60!
 
Why is safety an issue anyway? Does anyone really do anything more than glance at their speedo? I think there are times when I take a ride and don't ever look at my speedo.

And if they're so concerned about safety, they should just add a heads up display which would be more effective anyway. None of these dashes look like they belong on a car without the traditional bubble n front of the driver... looks like you're riding some kind of golf kart with the instruments stuck in the middle.

Is it possible they do this to save money on LHD/RHD cars? I mean all they gotta do with these is switch the steering wheel. They only need to produce one type of dash.
 
cvrefugee said:
Wow, lots of hate and misinformation in this thread. Believe it or not, your eyes take less time to refocus on the road with a center-mounted gauge cluster. By looking slightly to the right (or left for RHD) and a bit down you keep your peripheral vision on the road. With a traditional gauge cluster you have to take your eyes off the road almost completely to see it. Trust me, I've driven both types and the center-mounted style is the way to go for safety.

https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2008/09/11/nav02.jpg

I don't see how putting that gauge lower down and in front of me will help me keep my eyes on the road. Science people, science!
Click to expand...

See, I like that setup there because the speedo is still somewhat on the driver's side, it's small enough to be unobtrusive, and it looks pretty good too.

The MINI's interior is horrible. To paraphrase Jeremy Clarkson, it's like the designers stuffed all the elements in their nose, sneezed it out, and said, "hey, that looks good!" (Or something.)
 
Shawn said:
Why is safety an issue anyway? Does anyone really do anything more than glance at their speedo? I think there are times when I take a ride and don't ever look at my speedo.
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Same here. The only time I look at the speedo is when there is little to no traffic. If there are cars around me, my speed is based on them, not the speedo (or speed limit for that matter).

Is it possible they do this to save money on LHD/RHD cars? I mean all they gotta do with these is switch the steering wheel. They only need to produce one type of dash.
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I always thought that was the case, and the safety bit was what they used to sell the concept to people buying the cars.
 
I don't care for most center-mounted gauge set ups. The only exception would be on really old or small cars, mostly like what was found in some 30s-40s cars.
 
Adunaphel said:
So my own personal experience is misinformed?
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Yes, because you said:

Adunaphel said:
...having to take your eyes even further off the road.
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That just isn't true. Humans have better horizontal peripheral vision than vertical. We see things in a "widescreen" perspective (almost 180 degrees).

LeVeL said:
The interior looks weird, imo. The whole time-to-refocus thing is bullshit - even if its true we're talking about fractions of a second, tiny decimals. I honestly cant say that Ive ever wished my eyes would focus on the gauges quicker. Also, I cant think of a single car with center gauges that I would ever own.

edit - just thought of the mini... ok, Id consider buying one but I hate its interior
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The time to refocus is not on the gauges but on the road.
 
I drive a Saturn Ion regularly for work and I HATE the center-mounted gauges. They're completely out of my line of sight, and I noticed today that they're impossible to see if the sun is shining straight through the windshield (though this may be limited to the Saturn setup?). With normal gauges all I have to do is quickly glance down to see what's going on than back to the road. With the centered gauges i actually have to turn my head to see them. Better? I don't think so.
 
I hate it because it's nothing more than a stupid cost cutting scheme. That is the only reason to have a central speedometer, it's saves money for the manufacturer.
 
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73GMCSprint said:
I drive a Saturn Ion regularly for work and I HATE the center-mounted gauges. They're completely out of my line of sight, and I noticed today that they're impossible to see if the sun is shining straight through the windshield (though this may be limited to the Saturn setup?). With normal gauges all I have to do is quickly glance down to see what's going on than back to the road. With the centered gauges i actually have to turn my head to see them. Better? I don't think so.
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Are you an owl? Your eyes can move left and right without moving your head.
 
Crazy Vega said:
I drove my aunt's Mini a month ago, and while it did feel nice, it was too small for me. Though, my major complaint was the speedo. In my mind, it was horrendous. I don't know what the inspiration was for something like... that... I don't need the world to see it, just me. Heck, the speedo doesn't even work in my car, I just look at the tach.
mini_cooper_s_interior_17_08_06.jpg
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I don't mind central dashboards hugely, but the Mini's bugs me, especially the mark 2 New Mini.

Why the hell is it so big? Why on earth do we need a gigantic plate-sized speedo in the middle of the car?

I mean, it's gotten bigger from New Mini 1 to New Mini 2. How obscenely large is the New Mini 3's speedo going to be?
 
^ It's that big so they can use the same housing when you get the GPS system. It sits in the middle of the speedo.

cvrefugee said:
Wow, lots of hate and misinformation in this thread. Believe it or not, your eyes take less time to refocus on the road with a center-mounted gauge cluster. By looking slightly to the right (or left for RHD) and a bit down you keep your peripheral vision on the road. With a traditional gauge cluster you have to take your eyes off the road almost completely to see it. Trust me, I've driven both types and the center-mounted style is the way to go for safety.

https://pic.armedcats.net/a/an/anonymous/2008/09/11/nav02.jpg

I don't see how putting that gauge lower down and in front of me will help me keep my eyes on the road. Science people, science!
Click to expand...

Actually, it has nothing to do with it being in the center, but rather farther away from your eyes.

honda_new_civic_interior_01_08_05.jpg


Not center mounted, but farther away than a standard display. I just don't like the center mounting because I have to turn to see it rather than just glancing down. Any time you turn your head you may be turning your vision away from some idiot who is going to do something stupid. This happened to me an hour ago, I glanced down at my speed just as a dickhead zipped over three lanes and almost took me out. Had I been facing away from the threat I would not have reacted in time - all I had was a flash in my peripheral vision.
 
I think the Mini's center speedo is fantastic.

Though I'd probably get the satnav and that would put it back under the wheel.

EDIT: center speedos aren't meant to be focused on. You just glance at it from out of the corner of your eye. I dunno I think it works better and I don't really prefer it, but I don't dislike it at all. It's just another thing that's different.
 
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