I've enjoyed staring at my RX-8's dashboard for years. One big tachometer and a white LCD readout of your speed. Doesn't get easier to read or much more useful than that.
God the techno IP's are fun! Just by coming into being they date themselves as RIGHT NOW! Which means "not so tomorrow". Fond memories of all the "talking" cars of the eighties that scolded that our door "was ajar" when it was simply open to accept or discharge it's human occupants- a vehicular Teddy Ruxpin or Furby. Or the LED displays (usually RED) that looked wrecked with one line or segment out, but required replacing an entire section of the IP to be replaced with an expensive, limited production replacement that is already yesterdays news. Such razzle dazzle is always novel and satisfying under warranty isn't it?
My 2001 Audi A6 Q "Moya" is a far superior piece of tech compared to my 1979 VW Dasher Wagon. But "the old woman" (AKA Dasher) has an IP that functions as new after 30 years, and any fixes to it will cost nothing to replace compared to even replacement TIRES.
Then again, it makes sense to have a large speedo and clock (backed by a small fuel level display) as your major instruments when your vehicular family member is relatively tepid in acceleration and so lacking in sound insulation that a tach would insult your hearing and attention span...
@justwilliam: Right. And the Dasher wagon was a great simple piece. It did what you needed well, it was fun to drive, held up pretty well, and didn't have much that you didn't need.
I have basically no tech in my dash except for a CD player, but that doesn't work (didn't get the wiring hooked up properly). The digital clock works though, so I'm roughly on par with a $20 Timex.
I'm ok with that, since I'm a bit of a Luddite, and don't like things that can break. I'm happy if there's some sort of musicy noise coming from the doors, and warm or cold air coming from the vents I want to be venting warm or cold air.
I don't want simple if it reduces information, so I like the GTR's cluster. It wins me over with the configurable display.
Oh, and side-view cameras have been common on high(er)-end motorcoaches for at least 5 years...probably more like 8.
I'm one of the few who would actually use transmission and diff temperatures for periodic reference.
If you want simplicity, yet still pretty comprehensive, the above is tough to beat. Sure, no tachometer, but when the 318 V-8 is all of six inches from your right butt cheek, you don't need no stinkin' tachometer.
1967 Dodge A-100, BTW. I was really, really tied to mine, at an almost soulful level.
Edited by that ain't the way to have fun, son at 10/09/09 10:37 PM
that ain't the way to have fun, son was starred
that ain't the way to have fun, son was unstarred
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1) VW. Simple, everything you need, logically laid out, without the pyrotechnics.
2) ?
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My 2001 Audi A6 Q "Moya" is a far superior piece of tech compared to my 1979 VW Dasher Wagon. But "the old woman" (AKA Dasher) has an IP that functions as new after 30 years, and any fixes to it will cost nothing to replace compared to even replacement TIRES.
Then again, it makes sense to have a large speedo and clock (backed by a small fuel level display) as your major instruments when your vehicular family member is relatively tepid in acceleration and so lacking in sound insulation that a tach would insult your hearing and attention span...
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I'm ok with that, since I'm a bit of a Luddite, and don't like things that can break. I'm happy if there's some sort of musicy noise coming from the doors, and warm or cold air coming from the vents I want to be venting warm or cold air.
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Oh, and side-view cameras have been common on high(er)-end motorcoaches for at least 5 years...probably more like 8.
I'm one of the few who would actually use transmission and diff temperatures for periodic reference.
If you want simplicity, yet still pretty comprehensive, the above is tough to beat. Sure, no tachometer, but when the 318 V-8 is all of six inches from your right butt cheek, you don't need no stinkin' tachometer.
1967 Dodge A-100, BTW. I was really, really tied to mine, at an almost soulful level.
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I prefer them simple. Like the one I look at every (nice) day...
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So you hold the ball still and rotate the universe around it? Seems moderately more difficult than the traditional setup.
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