Are there any cars produced in which there is a trip odometer which can be set to count down? It seems to me that for navigation purposes, and with the online directions such as in Google maps with the lengths of each leg, a countdown trip odometer would be a very useful feature.
A countdown odometer would require some method of entering a number into it. Obviously not impossible but it would be more complicated and expensive than existing odometers and it’s probably not going to be a big enough selling point to justify the cost.
GPSs can do this.
Exactly! And an external GPS unit is not very expensive and can be moved between vehicles. If you have to rent a car you can take it with you and avoid getting ripped by the car rental company. There are no subscriptions charges.
For that matter, just use your smartphone. It will do the same thing but not quite as conveniently.
I recall my grandfather’s late 80s/early 90s Buick Riviera had a touchscreen computer built into the dashboard which, among other features, included a “trip computer,” essentially a programmable reverse odometer.
I used to have a Halda mechanical dual odometer back in the day when I participated in sports car rallys. It tee’d into the speedometer cable. Dual display and each could count up or down to the hundredth of a mile. Could correct for tire size too. I wonder if there’s any way to connect to the OBD port to get distance data?
I had an old Buick where you could turn the knob and move the trip odometer digits up or down. I don’t think that’s how it was supposed to work (I think it was supposed to be that you turned the knob until all three digits reset to zero) but it was a nice little defect that came in handy sometimes.
What’s supposed to happen when your count-down odometer reaches zero?
Armageddon!
I use my trip odometer frequently, but a countdown can only be so accurate. The count up serves the same purpose. If you want a countdown, you have to know a total to enter in to begin with. If you know the total anyway, why not just count up to it from zero?
Say you know to expect the trip to be 60 miles: you set your countdown odometer to 60 and watch with glee as the numbers count down “Oh boy! only 28 miles to go!”. But then you encounter a detour or didn’t calculate the distance with precision. Your countdown gets to zero and you’re still not there. Now what? Do you have a panic attack? Question the existense of God? Hop out of your car at the Circle K and demand “No! This is Grandma’s house now!!! My countdown odometer says so!!!”?
Alternately, you set your regular odometer to zero. When it gets to 32 you are still legally allowed to squeal with glee “Oh boy! only 28 miles to go!”. But if you have a detour or were not completely accurate in calculating the distance, then the odometer will let you know that it’s been 64 miles at the time you reach your destination- rather than suggesting that it’s been 9996 miles.
So, I don’t really see that a countdown odometer would be all that useful. Although, I do agree that countdowns are fun. This is why I prefer driving West on big road trips “Oooh! Mile marker 74! Only 74 miles of Missouri left to go!” instead of driving East “Hmmmm. Mile Marker 74. Errrm, how wide is Missouri again?”
Carmageddon!