SPDFRK

I basically learned to drive with a digital speedo so I love them they are much easier to read when you just glance because I rarely pay attention to my speed that closely more of the pace of the traffic around me. Also all of the new sportbikes have digital mph/kph so I think the high performance asian market may follow with their cars. For you guys that don't like it buy an S2000, oh wait that has a digital speedo and tach that just happens to match the rc51. Coincidence I think not.

BlueAdept

What he said..... But I gotta say I prefer digital for speed, if not tacho

I have never actually owned a rotary, but I've always been facinated and to be honest, I thought there'd never be another one!

BlueAdept

You guys that want the analogue... tell me... discounting rate of change... at a steady pace do you actually think it's faster to read a dial??

I might be a special case as I was/am dyslexic and so probably use different mental processes to actually read symbols... but I can glance at a digital number for just about the same time as it takes to blink and look back at the road... it'll be a second or so before the speed arrives in my conciousness... but the time I actually had my eyes off the road was milliseconds.....

I can say that with an analogue dial, it takes me looking at the dial far longer for it to stick, and WAY longer to actually know what the speed is.

Rich

True, at a constant (or nearly) rate, digital is just as easy. When I test drove the S2000, I couldn't read the speedo from 4k to redline. The only way I could figure out how fast I was going was to slow down so the numbers weren't flying by. Besides, I don't need to look down on an analog speedo, I can usually see it out of the corner of my eye. It's tougher for me to do with a digital gauge. Also, the digital speedo and tach on the S2k washed out in direct sunlight. It's also not possible (or much harder) to replace a digital speedo than to replace an analog one if you want to customize your look. Last, I just plain prefer analog gauges in everything I do, except those places where there's a distinct reason for digital.

I'd imagine that a properly designed digital would be ok, but I've yet to see one that wasn't absolutely horrible.

R.Cade

You can still see the tach out of the corner of your eye, and it doesn't take that long to figure out that 3k rpm in 5th = 80mph.

As long as the tach is big, I like the digital speedo

Rich

Unless the tach is digital and washed out in the sunlight as well (as in the S2k). All of the problems with the digital speedometer applied to the tach, except you could see where it was regardless of how fast you were speeding up.

bolda48

I vote analog. It's what I'm used to. Either way, if I am really driving the car hard, my visual focus is on the road and what is coming at me. I get a lot of my feedback about the car from engine sound, wind sound, engine vibration, etc. However, if I want to glance at my guages, especially in a car I am familiar with, it seems to me it would be much easier with analog. If you know the car, you should know the scale on the guages, and a brief glance or with peripherial vision would be able to give you better information than having to focus on some rapidly flipping digital numbers. As an example, the difference between 60 and 80 on an analog gauge is much easier to see than 60 and 80 on a digital. Mazda, read this. Analog, please.

BlueAdept

You can get an approximate number very fast from an analogue dial, mabe within 10 MPH.... granted... But you can get that information from the seat of your pants without looking at anything... or from that Tacho...

When you really want to know the speed, you want to know it exactly... I'm perfectly happy with Digital, infact, so long as the Tacho is analogue I'd prefer digital speed.

Grimace

I don't think we'll have to worry about the digital speedo washing out for two reasons. One is the gauges are set very deep into the instrument pod (check out pictures of the dash) and they have a large hood overtop. The other is I still don't think the 8 will come with a sunroof, which when the sun is overhead, is quite effective at washing out any digital instruments.

RX - 8

y cant we have both...kinda like the old casio watches, that had both kinds of time....i think that would make everyone happy if they did it that way....just stick a digital one in the middle of the analog one

NOTA V6

I second that motion.

Sputnik

Dude, have some mercy with that "signature" of yours, it ain't a web page!

Because if you included both, then you wouldn't have room for gauges like water temperature and oil pressure.

Wouldja rather have an analog AND a digital speedo with idiot lights, or wouldja rather have one and some other secondary guages?

I don't know about you guys, but when my eyes are focused on the road ahead, I have never been able to see the gauges "out of the corner of my eye", I've always had to re-focus to see them. So, an analog setup won't gain me anything there.

---jps

Grimace

They might as well be idiot lights, based upon the pics of the gauges I've seen. Anyone with a Miata post 1995 will know what I mean.
The oil gauge basically tells you "yes, there is oil pressure" or "no, there is absolutely no oil pressure." Same goes for the temp gauge. Mazda has been using cheapo sending units and gauges in the Miata since 95 (many owners do a retrofit to a 90-94 oil gauge from the earlier cars). The gauges in the picture of the instrument pod are marked exactly the same as the current Miata - i.e. "L" and "H" instead of graduated numbers.

Mazda, please spend an extra $20 per car and give us a real set of gauges!

Sputnik

I was wondering if anyone would bring that up. I would still rather have that, because one would still be capable of making those gauges into working gauges. With my '99 Miata, all I have to do is replace the factory pressure sender with a real one, adjust the needle on the oil pressure gauge, and voila you have a working oil pressure guage. And with these guages, you don't need to have specific numbers, you just need to see if it's in the wrong spot.

If the factory doesn't even place "fake" gauges there, we would have to resort to A-pillar guages (*shudder*) or something.

Oh, and by the way, Mazda (and other manufacturers) don't use the "fake gauges" because of cheaper parts, it's because a lot of the general public doesn't know how to read a proper temperature and oil gauge, so they bring the car in all the time for warranty checks, thinking something is wrong. So instead of appeasing a few of us who aren't "nervous nellies", they appease the general public by installing idiot lights in the form of gauges.

---jps

fuz

Well, look at it this way--at least the digital speedo is better than the IS300 setup. :D

Grimace

Well, thats true actually (although the better sender is a little more expensive last I checked). People see the oil press. needle move a little when the engine is revved and get nervous... For those "in the know" its reassuring. The general public thinks everything is A-OK as long as
a) a multitude of warning lights are lit and chimes are sounding
b) the needles are rock steady and haven't moved... for several years...
c) the car is still moving under its own power. :D

Sputnik

Oh sure, they're saving a little money on parts while they're at it.

---jps

RX - 8

it was the same thing in the 3rd gens...all the guages sucked..the only one i pay attention to is the fuel..so i know when to fill up that

MyT13B

tach? speedo? what are those?? I drive my RX7 by the seat of my pants and the roar of the exhaust!!

Well I use the speedo to set the cruise control

AZ-ZBum

having two Z's right now, one with, one without, I can say that digital dashes suck. I can't read the digital dash when the sun is anywhere near it (like when the tops are off, etc). They are very prone to failure (I've already had to replace one power supply unit). They are just all around pains in the @$$. I can tell you that given the option, it's analog all the way.