What works better for you guys when driving?

[RedRooster]

How are you supposed the bury the needle with a digital speedo? You could be going any speed with those things, a needle tells you you're going as fast as the vehicle goes!!

 

[Apex]

Would that work with polarized sunglasses?

Depends on how stupid the manufacturer is.

If you're as dumb as a bag of rocks (BMW), you polarize your HUD 90 degrees from what sunglasses are, so that it becomes invisible to drivers wearing polarized sunglasses, unless they turn their head completely sideways.

If you lack this level of stupidity (pretty much everyone else), the HUD works just fine with polarized sunglasses.

 

[thomsbrain]

I used to think digital was dumb and would take longer to read when you glance down for your speed.

Now having owned both, I actually prefer a nice large digital readout over even a clean and legible analog speedo. And for poorly executed analog speedos (I'm looking at you, Nissan and Porsche), I'll prefer digital any day. I think it's pretty telling that the 350Z and most Porsches include a digital gauge in addition to the analog one. It's like even THEY know their analog gauges are shit.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Digital speedometers are a fix for something that's not broken. Digital makes sense for odometers or for multi-function displays where multiple types of information can be cycled through (e.g. miles to empty, outside temp, average mpg, etc), but not for dedicated gauges IMO.

ZV

 

[Howard]

Digital speedometers are a fix for something that's not broken. Digital makes sense for odometers or for multi-function displays where multiple types of information can be cycled through (e.g. miles to empty, outside temp, average mpg, etc), but not for dedicated gauges IMO.

ZV

No, not broken, but there's always room for improvement. A digital readout tells you your speed instantly, and if you add the analog dial to it, you can also tell how fast you're accelerating.

 

[Tristicus]

I like my gauge (old style), but I'm pretty good at judging my speed.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Yeah, all those F1 drivers and their silly digital speedos are dumb.

Um, there are no speedometers on an F1 car genius. There aren't even tachometers for that matter...only shift lights.

 

[Zenmervolt]

No, not broken, but there's always room for improvement. A digital readout tells you your speed instantly, and if you add the analog dial to it, you can also tell how fast you're accelerating.

I find that digital takes longer to read once a person has become familiar with the car. I know where the needle should be for a given speed without having to actually process the number. Plus, a digital catches the corner of my eye as oscillates during steady-state driving (+/- 1 or 2 mph as terrain changes) which I find distracting.

ZV

 

[Apex]

I find that digital takes longer to read once a person has become familiar with the car. I know where the needle should be for a given speed without having to actually process the number. Plus, a digital catches the corner of my eye as oscillates during steady-state driving (+/- 1 or 2 mph as terrain changes) which I find distracting.

ZV

To be fair, in HUD form, it actually works pretty well. I was rather surprised by it. You sort of miss it when it's gone.

It all comes down to application. Some are done rather well, others are done poorly.

I think the holy grail of digital info would be a hud display that is realtime (instead of laggy, like on a BMW), that allows you to adjust position, brightness, and info as needed (ie. approximate analog gauge, only show shift point, speedo, navigation arrows, etc).

 

[ShawnD1]

I much prefer the layout on my Fusion...Analog speedo with digital everything else...and it's still visible in full sunlight(as evidenced by this picture I took in full sun)

Looks like the setup my 2006 Civic had. I thought it was great. Regular analog tach in the middle, digital speed above that.

 

[TraumaRN]

Looks like the setup my 2006 Civic had. I thought it was great. Regular analog tach in the middle, digital speed above that.

Except mine just has the analog speedo in the middle. No digital speed anywhere which is fine by me, as I don't need redundant info

 

[NutBucket]

Digital speedometers are known to fail very frequently. Needle gauges can work forever. That's like saying you prefer a digital watch to an analogue one.

Good luck finding a car with a speedo cable these days. All those analog gauges have stepper motors behind them so it really is a moot point. That said, I'll bet a speedo cable is more prone to failure than a digital setup.