this is the fucking dumbest design feature of a car i’ve ever seen.
probably not pit-worthy, but I needed to expel some rage in my title - didn’t think MPSIMS was cool with the profane titles.
fuck the designer of center speedometers with a glass shard-covered dildo.multiple times.in the ass.
I had to drive a Toyota Echo for a few years - not by choice, admittedly. And while I had my complaints about the car, the center speedometer wasn’t a real problem.
I just drove a rental Yaris with one. Biggest piece of shit speedometer ever.
I can imagine a lot of reasons to criticize a speedometer. Being centrally located is not one of them. Seriously, this is an issue for people?
I don’t get it either. I thought we were doing as much as possible to keep the driver’s eyes on the road (Holographic images & whatnot)? Making it so you have to divert your eyes down and to the right seems an odd choice.
Saves on tooling for dashboards if you don’t have to make different versions for left-drive and right-drive markets. Or so I assume.
not only that, the angle that you view the speedometer is rather severe - so you (can’t really describe this - basically like if you’re taking a reading from a thermometer when looking at it from the bottom instead of head on) don’t even get an accurate reading
It was angled toward the driver in the Echo. Not a big deal. I haven’t driven a Yaris as when the Echo was due to be replaced I was not really interested in any of the products of the Toyota corporation, manufacturers of boredom on wheels.
I wound up buying a 2011 Sonata, which has a speedometer where you expect it to be, and lots of other fun things besides.
I don’t get it. The car has a starting price of $12,955. The same price as a decent motorcycle (which also has a center mounted speedo). What do you expect?
What the hell is that instrument panel doing NOT in front of the driver?
ETA:
That’s a joke, right?
That whole glass shard dildo thing is lame and repulsive. I don’t care if you are not getting an accurate reading on your speedometer. Feel fortunate make adjustments and move on.
It’s the pit. Get over it (fifty-six, not the OP).
Holy shit, that’s awful. Will never buy.
It would be for me, as I would undoubtedly get a crink in my neck after awhile. Classic Ergonomics 101 failure here-can’t believe people are defending it.
Making it easier to tool the car for left and right side driving.
It’s the Dope. People will defend anything here, from handshakes as rape to hurling puppies off a bridge. You’ll get people here defending glass shard dildos if a pit thread started abut them. Two Dopers in a room, three opinions …
It’s also a great Mother-In-Law feature. Anybody in the car can read the speedometer.
I have one on the family Nissan Quest and don’t particularly like it.
But I got used to it and it does give shorter drivers (hey, soccer moms, minivans) a better view of the front bumper.
The vehicle itself is great for road trips and can haul some fairly big items so we’re putting up with the center mounted panel.
FWIW, I did a bit of searching, and found the following theories for the increasng prevalence of center-mount speedo.
*** Reduces cost of tooling for LHD and RHD cars.** However, some have found that such dashboards still aren’t symmetrical. Also, some cars made for just the US market (Saturn Ion) have center-mount speedos.
*** Offers a clearer view of the road.** Maybe, but it’ll be offset by veering your eyes away to see the instrument cluster.
*** Easier to mod the dashboard for aftermarket gauges, navigation, and so on.** Meh. Is any car designed with aftermarket modding in mind, aside from models popular with law enforcement or professional vehicle conversion?
*** Tribute to old Mini/British sports cars.** Why not go further and offer only an AM radio or a 20 horsepower engine while we’re at it? Iconic features that are copied in later models usually aren’t those that hurt the functionality of the vehicle.
My own theory: because it looks kewl, dood. :rolleyes:
Even the Mini has a mid speedometer.
http://www.miniusa.com/sections/gallery/image/Coop/1280x1024/Coop_int_1280_01.jpg