I would tend to agree--Buick's digital mimicry of the analog gauge still has the speeds marked every 20 mph, which I'm not a fan of. But digital IPs should be configurable, so you can satisfy old-schoolers like MMarshall, and people who want something more modern as well.

 

I agree that 10-MPH increments are better. I don't know why most automakers (not just Buick) quit using them.

I'm not opposed to modern, back-lit, electro-luminescent gauges...in fact, I like them for their easy visibility. Lexus, of course, was arguably the first auto manufacturer to mass-produce them....on the original LS400. I'm just not a fan of the digital-stuff...give me at least a traditional analog format, which is quite easy to do with electronic gauges.

 

whats even better than 5/10/20 mph increments is just displaying a simple number for the speed and eliminate a space hogging speedometer gauge. A simple number is much faster to read than a gauge

 

I disagree....especially when that number-readout keeps flashing up and down quickly with the speed. The image actually can change quicker than the human eye and bran can process it.

 

If your speed is changing rapidly enough that you can't quickly look down and easily see what your speed is .... then you are accelerating too fast to be looking down to check your speed. If you are cruising down the highway, and varying between 65, 66, 67, 68 mph, for example, your brain can easily decipher how fast you are going; and if it can't, I question if that person should be driving at all.

 

whats faster to read an analog clock or a digital clock. Answer is obvious. Reading the number straight up is faster than trying to estimate the speed by reading a needle between increments on a gauge.

 

Yup.

Absurd, my car is configrable for numbers or fake needle / dial or both. I prefer numbers. I've never had a problem with 'flashing numbers' or processing them, and i like being to set cruise to an exact number for example.

 

Well, everyone's eyes, brain, and ability to process quick-scrolling information differs. I won't claim that you aren't able to do it. As an ex-pilot, I had to learn to cope with a certain amount of multi-tasking myself when in the air (and sometimes on the ground as well. But experience (and surveys) have shown that many people prefer analog for a reason.

Oh, and BTW....I am not disagreeing with you on the fake electronic needles (I thought I had made that clear in my earlier posts). My Lacrosse has several white electronic back-lit fake-needles, and I have no problem at all with them, as they are at least analog-style in design and layout.

 

Please, share with us these many surveys that say people prefer analog gauges.

While I personally do prefer an analog or analog style gauges, my wife is the exact opposite. She hates driving the Lexus because there is no digital readout for speed. These things are all fad/style based. Yes we’ve come off a period of 20 years or so where really analog gauges were the style used and preferred, but think about the 80s and early 90s when digital gauges were the thing and were almost everywhere, and were the upgrade gauge package from analog. Now these TFT virtual gauge clusters are in, and you see numeric digital speed readouts coming back.

Next will be head up displays and smaller and eventually nonexistent gauge clusters in the dash.

 

BMWs, of course, were loved by the auto-press for most of that period (almost to cult-like status), and stressed simple, easy-to-read gauges and faces. But that wasn't the only reason manufacturers went back to analog (or, at least, analog-style).

For your wife, are you referring to the LS? In a car with the features and cost of an LS, there is very likely (but not certain) a switch which will allow you to reconfigure the speedometer from analog to digital. Check the Owners' Manual. My Lacrosse has one, and it cost half of what an LS does. Even my Verano, at 25K, also did. Push a selector-switch, and it adds the digital-MPH readout inside of the analog gauge. That should satisfy her, if your vehicle has it. The way GM sets it up, you choose between the digital-MPH, tire-pressure, trip computer figures, oil-life monitor, and a few other functions.

What happened after that period was that you started to have the best of both worlds...(electronic and analog) combined into essentially what you see on a lot vehicles today...back-lit electroluminescent, but with an an analog/needle format, including an on/off switch for people like your wife who would prefer the digital speed-readout. I myself like the current electronic/analog system, and am not complaining about it at all.

I'm definitely not a fan of the heads-up stuff. Most vehicles that have it today, including top-line Lacrosse Premium models, have adjustment and/or cut-off switches for it. IMO, It has a better role in military fighter planes than street vehicles. But, each to his (or her) own.

 

Given the difference in tech between 80s style digital readouts and today, I understand why some old-schoolers are not embracing digital now. The 80s/90s digital dashes were harder to read at a glance, especially with the sun washing them out. It's just not the case anymore. My BMW has analog gauges but a digital screen between for clock, odo, temp, gas mileage, which is completely legible in all lighting conditions.

 

I remember that when my folks bought their 1989 Camry, a digital gauge cluster was optional. Being 13 at the time I was of course disappointed that they didn't opt for it...

 

My LS has no way to display a digital speedometer, trust me. I’m not an idiot.

 

Toyota Camry, by Atari lol. Check out that mileage reading though!!!

Another problem with those 1980's digital gauges is they tend to break/crap out over the years. At least all the ones in domestic cars did lol. Now days there are specialists who can restore/fix these things economically and they're easy to find via the internet. Back in the 90's/early 00's, oh your 1986 Corvette dash went out, that will be $3000 from the dealer.

 

sick mileage on that camry

wow didnt know they made digital gauge for a camry back then. I know they did for the corvette and grand am in the late 80s