Instrument Panels Ain't What They Used to Be (Another Rant from a Curmudgeon)

[Mad Mac]

My first driver's license was more than 60 years ago.
This JTR is my first vehicle with a digital instrument panel.
We have outsmarted ourselves.

Back in the bad old days
one brief glance at the dashboard
revealed the status of all critical systems.

If all the needles were pointed up
all systems were good.
Eyes back on the road in a fraction of a second.

Of course this picture of my 1998 Wrangler Sahara
was taken with the engine off
but you can see what I mean.

Fuel level, volt meter, oil pressure and engine temperature
the status of which is plain to see at a glance.

With the new and improved modern digital instrument panel
one must push thumb buttons on the steering wheel ad nauseam
to try and bring up the systems of interest
and then decipher the significance of the digital iconography revealed.
While running off the edge of the road in the process.

Sometimes, less really is more.

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[ScottBeach]

Only 40 years for me. But I agree. My 1982 trans am was similar. All facts in one glance.

 

[kevman65]

My first car was a 1963 Pontiac Catalina with 389 tri-power factory.

Yes, I miss the entire simplicity of that era.

 

[Figmo]

It is what it is, little brother.

Jeep did sort of address this with the "Offroad Pages" app. All the gauges on one screen. If only we could have that screen default to being on, I think you'd have one less thing to Kurmudgen about.

But if it helps, its only a couple touches away.

 

[Mr._Bill]

I keep the digital speedometer up on the center display. It's only one down arrow to bring up the info screen, and then the left arrow to scroll through them all, and one up arrow to put it back. I also have a shortcut on the screen for the Off Road Pages, but usually only bring that up when the engine is under a heavy load.

 

[Cansberry]

But the digital gauges give you more systems info. And the iconography is the exact same, it's just on a screen vice a physical needle moving.

Some of those old cars used to not even come with tachometers. I'll take a digital gauge with a reading on any sensor I please over that.

 

[ScottBeach]

It's the lack of 1 second review in today's car. Some things we don't miss but omnipresent dash readings should come back. Make them digital. I dont care. But put them on a screen that always displays just that data

 

[jav_eee]

Ok but honestly, how many people actually monitor running conditions? My guess is not that many. A while hell of a lot of people just get in and drive.

 

[NVjeff]

Ok but honestly, how many people actually monitor running conditions? My guess is not that many. A while hell of a lot of people just get in and drive.

Hence idiot lights to tell those people there's a problem with the vehicle.

I usually keep the oil pressure gauge up.
There is an arc over the digits that act like the needles on analog gauges, I can glance down and read the oil pressure, bump the gauge button once to read the next one, look back at the road while I bump the gauge button again then another glance down and I catch two more.

I would still prefer to have all the gauges on the instrument panel at once.

 

[Mojave2021]

I still have a 1977 Trans Am. It’s pretty quick to see if something’s wrong. I added 3 console gauges to see oil temp, fuel pressure and trans temp too.

However it doesn’t have a tire pressure display - which is what I tend to leave up most of the time as that’s what I’m usually most paranoid about when driving (although I know there are idiot lights for that too).

No gas mileage / range too. One thing I hate about the Trans Am is my fuel gauge changes drastically when cornering - that doesn’t happen on the modern gauges/cars.

So yes you’re just slightly being a curmudgeon but we all deserve to be a curmudgeon from time to time.

 

[Rusty PW]

Have friends with builds. When doing the build. They went with digital displays. Where you see numbers and a bar graph. Must are going back to the analog gauges. Because they start to worry when they see a 2lb or 2 psi difference. They say with the analog gauges. You don’t see the little fluxurations as you do with digital.

In my Nismo. My oil temp is digital because it's oem. My boost and A/F is digital. My oil pressure, water temp, diff temp, and fuel pressure is analog with needles.

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

I get that, for me I keep my oil pressure on in the center. My way of thinking is there is a dummy light for the battery, and temp, rpm’s, and fuel are always displayed, so oil pressure is the one that might tell me something before stuff hits the fan.

 

[DylanM]

I have to agree that somewhere along the way we lost sight of what makes for a good driver friendly and useful gauge cluster. Important gauges should all be located in the same area, not optional features found in the center of the dash on a few trims/packages, and should not be displayed singly via navigating a series of button pushes. Further, the digital displays can have a tendency to lack smoothing (I'm looking at you, oil pressure), which in and of itself can be distracting or take an extra moment or two to properly discern.

Personally, I also feel the what seems like mandatory inclusion of a tachometer on every vehicle over the past few decades for some inexplicable reason is a waste of cluster real estate that could be used for something actually useful in normal day to day driving. Replacing the tach with even something like a clock face makes more sense to me... but I guess that'd mean folks would have to know how to read analog time.

 

[Artsifrtsi]

Of course this picture of my 1998 Wrangler Sahara
was taken with the engine off
but you can see what I mean.

Fuel level, volt meter, oil pressure and engine temperature
the status of which is plain to see at a glance.

You, of course, do realize that the TJ dash is not as 'analog' as you are thinking it is, right? All those gauges are controlled by the ECU...

 

[Flyboy2109]

I hate multi control flat screens. Talk about a driving distraction: page through to climate while driving! Scroll to the temp or fan control? Scroll pages on your instrument screen? Might as well be placing call on your cell phone!

And that is if the system is working correctly.

Give me round dials with needles. a voltmeter that reads volts, An oil pressure that has a tube to a port on the engine oil passage, ect. Give me rotary switches for my climate and systems. Saving panel space? What? With an 11 inch screen? What else were you going to put on the panel but controls? I don't care if my truck is 1/2 pound lighter.

Keep the cheap fancy electronic crap in Mr. Musks garbage!

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