Speedometer Rant

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Does anyone else think car manufactures should change there Speedometer readouts. I was driving moms fusion yesterday and had a hard time seeing how fast I was going thru the city. Her Fusions speedo uses increments of 20 so if I had to go 35mph it was hard to see with a quick glance at the dash.
Whereas my trucks speedo uses increments of 10. Also you'd think they would number them to match the more commonly used speed limits....say 25,35 and 45. Thoughts !
 
Love the digital option on my cruze. A quick glance and it clear as day. I dont even look at the needle speedometer anymore on it. Maybe they will make it mandatory for digital ones in the future like how 2017 and newer cars now all require a back up camera.
 
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Different 'complaint' but it's about the speedometer....

I was breaking in new pads and rotors recently in my wife's Fusion and doing firm stops, the speedo was severely delayed in the value it was indicating. It's a digital speedometer but the graphic is an old-style 'dial', not numbers. I was nearly at a complete stop and the speedo was still pointing between 15-20 mph.
 
Many new vehicles have a center digital speed display in addition to a traditional speedometer to the right of it.
I think my VW is perfect.

 
Originally Posted By: Silverado12
My Challenger is like that so I use the digital display and don't bother even looking at the analog speedo.


Now that I think about it...the fusion may have both also. Hopefully I can remember that the next time I drive it.
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Most read 2 mph fast too.
It's interesting you say that. I've compared the speedo in my 2000 Grand Marquis to 3 different devices: a ScanGuage II, Blue Driver, and FORScan and they all tell me my speedo is reading exactly 2 MPH fast. Not that I mind...it helps keep me legal.
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If you don't know how fast your are driving to within 5 mph at any time...without looking at the dash, maybe it's time to hang up the keys. That would be for driving up to around 80 mph.

Never intend to own a car with digital speedo or navigation system. I like things simple and less untrackable.
 
Originally Posted By: Warstud
Does anyone else think car manufactures should change there Speedometer readouts. I was driving moms fusion yesterday and had a hard time seeing how fast I was going thru the city. Her Fusions speedo uses increments of 20 so if I had to go 35mph it was hard to see with a quick glance at the dash.
Whereas my trucks speedo uses increments of 10. Also you'd think they would number them to match the more commonly used speed limits....say 25,35 and 45. Thoughts !

Personally, I prefer increments of 20. Increments of 10 make the text look too cluttered, IMO, especially if the speedo is scaled to more than 100 or 120 mph. The bigger problem is that some manufacturers choose to use funky fonts that make reading the speedo more difficult.

as for commonly used speed limits, there are plenty of 40 and 50 mph speed limits where I live, so I guess that depends on locale.
 
I feel your pain OP, this is the cluster on my sable:

which becomes this at night....

and that is one of the reasons I love my scanguage.... which also came in handy on my recent trips into canada. just switch it's units to kilometers, and that little display shows me KPH, instead of MPH, and I don't have to stare at/try to read the little tiny numbers inside the dial. I just glance at the Digital display, and boom. know exactly how fast i'm going.
 
my 08 toyota Avalon is 2-3 mph fast at 45. as the local PD had a radar set up just by its self. then latter the local PD stopped me on the hiway. he said . how fast was you going? 80. i clocked you at 84. he didnt give me a ticked.
 
The HUD in my Mazda has almost eliminated the need to look down at the instrument panel. Everything I need to know is there. It’s one of the best features I’ve experienced.
 
I don't know what they have done with speedos in modern cars but the best things is they are now almost spot on accurate. By contrast my old bike has a very optimist speedo which at a real 55mph can read as high as 62.5 and still be within BMW's acceptable spec.
 
The certified speedometer in my 2013 police Tahoe is in 1 mph increments, with a digital display, and they are always spot on at any speed. The last 3 Camry's I've had have all been 3 mph fast, making fuel mileage look better than it is.
 
I don’t even look at the speedometer needle in my car, it also has a large digital readout.

The Jeep’s is pretty good. Here’s a blurry picture of it

Wow, I’ve only put 800 miles on it in 5 months...

 
That must have been one of the last vehicles to come with the "Joan Claybrook Edition" 85MPH speedometer. At one point there was a Federal regulation requiring 85MPH speedometers, due to the lobbying of the aforementioned airbag (She pushed for those, too).
 
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