Why do reviewers hate the digital speedo?
 

Personally after living with a car with a digital speedo it's as hard to go back to analog as it is to go back to wearing an analog watch after wearing a digital one for years - you have to stare at it carefully to figure out your speed, especially if it's a "compressed" 150-180 MPH speedo. Look at the speedo in the Boxster or M3 for an example of what I mean; the entire range of U.S. legal speeds are crammed in below about the 11:00 position on the dial. Granted the Boxster does have a digital speedo as well, but find 25 MPH at first glance on the 180 MPH M3 speedo; by the time you do you've probably gone through the radar trap at 40 MPH.

Compare to the RX-8 where the exceptionally bright and clear speedo tells you your speed instantly and it's even located where the Boxster used to place theirs - right in the middle of the tach where you can get all the information you need in one glance. Perfect engineering, IMHO.

Anyone else know why the reviewers seem to hate the digital speedo so much?

As an aside, I don't remember them complaining about the same feature in the "Ginza at night" dash on the S2000...

As I remember, most reviewers hate the speedometer on the Suzuki Aerio, which is similar to the S2000. They found it cool looking, but not easy to read and need some time get use to it.

I have a C5 Corvette with Heads Up Display. The dash has an anolog spedo but the Heads Up is a digital display. I love the digital and never look at the anolog anymore. The digital is so quick. I can just look and see the number in an instant but with the analog it takes a bit longer to locate the needle and visually interpret the speed from the guage. I have become very spoiled by the digital. I just purchased an 2001 Acura CL-S (260hp) and it only has an anolog. The guage is large enough and spread out (the numbers are not crammed together) but I am amazed at the shift of attention required and the extra "processing time" involved to see what my speed is as compated to the instant ability to see my speed on the digital without even thinking of it. I never realized this suble shift in focus of driver attention with the anolog until I have tried going back to anolog from digital, I am amazed.

Re: Why do reviewers hate the digital speedo?
 

They probably hate it because they are missing a cue: The rate the speed is increasing

this goes back to very old digi cars who's refresh rate on the digi was like 10 times per second and the digi would always stutter b/w mph so it drove ppl insane

Back in '85 a couple months after I got my RX-7, I was traveling down the highway at night and got radar zapped by a State Trooper coming the other way. He was admiring the car (and radar detector:p ) while writing [just a 'warning' ticket:smile] and said "What does the speedometer go to?" I meekly replied "140".

Should this scenario happen with the RX-8 my reply would be "999":eek: Digital just doesn't translate well in some instances;) And I think it will get some getting used to. I know at a glance of the needle on my RX-7 how fast I am going. With digital I will have to 'read' the numbers.

They always seem to moan about digital tacho / speedo's. The TVR Tucsan is the opposite - analogue speedo, with digital rev counter. The reviewers moaned about that too, but I think it's great. It comes with 3 gear-change lights that can be user set, and I just keep my foot planted til the red light shines.. :D


-andy-

I think if the digital speedo refreshes at 30fps+, people wouldn't have a problem with it. From what I have been seeing in RX8 videos, (from Japan and Laguna Seca) the speedo in the 8 refreshes quite slowly, so you get the number jumping effect that is quite irritating. I like the instrument panel on the RX8, the color cordination looks very 'sci-fi' but it might make your eyes tire on long trips. Anyhow, I would think the problem with speedo is refreshrate rather than the concept.

I've actually gone back to an analog watch... Digitals are nice, but with a glance, I can tell roughly what time it is without doing numeric calculations.. only spacial comparisons.


Example with Digital. The reading on the dash is 72. The speed is 65. You have to interpert 6-5 then 7-2 mph. then make the Math comparison in your head.

Is 72 greater than 65?

vs analog. You interpert 6-5. locate it on your dash (very fast and easy if you know your gauge layout) Then see "spacially" where the needle is

55 60 65 70 X 75


By a glance, I can tell that the X is above 65.

For me, and I would imagine many others, spacial comparisons are far easier than mathematical calculations and comparisons.

Plus, as the needle swings, the rate of acceleration can be seen, as well as felt. In digital, there is just a display that is updated far less often, and has no inclination of acceleration.

I agree with you. I guess with time you get used to the digital speedo. I only check my speed when I see a cop anyway.

this WAS the problem with old digi's. they refreshed too often and thus the speed would change between say 65 and 66 mph too often. Its a threshhold problem and depends on at what fraction of a mph you actually decide to increment or decrement the display.

hahahaha this topic slays me...
 

step back for a minute and realize that we are concerned with the split second it takes to do a little math in your head. :D

I'm with dan(?) on this one: "spacial comparisons are far easier than mathematical calculations and comparisons. Plus, as the needle swings, the rate of acceleration can be seen, as well as felt. In digital, there is just a display that is updated far less often, and has no inclination of acceleration."

But, since the RX-8 has a digital speedo, I'm willing to adjust. hahaha

I have never driven a car with a digital speedo, so I can't coment on that. I do have a digtal and analog watch (one for sport and one for looks). I find it easier to comprehend how much time I have until I have to leave. With the digital I have to think about how much time I have.

The point I am trying to make is that you may not get as accurate a time or speed with analog, but it gives you a better idea at what proximity your speed is to the speed limit. But hey, if the 8 is coming with digital then its not to big a deal for me.

I don't know. I think that it's a stylistic thing. I think that these guys are all accustomed to the old can style gauges in sports cars like the Jaegers in Alfas and Ferraris or the Smiths Gauges in Jags. I think that their objection is purely one of heritage; you know they are saying that this is a real sports car, and you can't have a real sports car without real gauges.

I drove a chevy blazer with the digi dash for a while, and as I recall it took me three days to get used to it, and I liked the refresh rate. When you stepped on it ( to limited is effect in a truck) but when you stepped on it the gauge would jump by twos giving that same sense as watching the analog gauge spin out.

Personally, however when I'm mashing that GO pedal, the last thing I care about is the speedo. I've got the tach inmy head looking for thered line, and I am glad that that's analog because I'm looking for the position of the needle and not the actual number.

What gets me though is the color scheme on the gauges. Red = night, white = day, blue = off. What the bleep is it the post 9/11 pro-America color scheme?

Haze

I had the same experience with the HUD in my Grand Prix. Especially shifting between two, sometimes three different cars, it was easier to get the speed digitally, then to re-orient myself with the layout of the analog.

As far as needing to see the "sweep" of an analog speedometer, when you are accelerating fast enough that it moves nice and quick, you need to be watching the road, not the speedo.

As far as being able to more quickly determine a reading by position on a dial instead of numbers, that is true. Studies have shown that people found it easier to read an analog watch than a digital. That's because a quick glance and you see that it's almost four o'clock, than to see that it is 3:57, and do the math (especially since there are 60, not 100 minutes in an hour). We do that math rather quickly, but we still do it.

This still holds true with an analog tach, water temp gauge, fuel gauge, etc. where the position of the needle means the same thing in all circumstances. For example, when the tach is at 6.5k in your Miata, at a certain position, it's time to shift.

But, this does not hold true with the speedometer. Different speed limits means that just seeing the speedo at 12 o'clock on the dial won't tell you good or bad, like on the tach. You have to mentally read it, then mentally compare to what speed you intend to be doing. The fact that the proper position of the needle changes on a speedo eliminates the benefit of quickly glancing and seeing a position. You can't just glance at the speedo, you have to closely read it. So, a digital speedo is just as good of a choice as analog, some think even better.

Some might have to get used to it, but at the same time, some will have to get used to that rotary engine too.

---jps

I've printed out and read probably over 100 reviews of the S2000 from around the world. All but 2 reviewers complained about the digital dashboard - these two mentioned it was based on the kind of dash you get in F1 cars.

Personally I prefer analog watches and speedos. I can roughly tell the time or speed by glancing at an analog display for about 0.1 secs (not precise but to within 2 mins or 5mph). With a digital display I need to look at it for almost half a sec to know the exact time or speed.

Also in a car when decelerating or accelerating hard a digital display will not indicate the rate of change of speed - you will see a blur of numbers or the number will suddenly jump in big increments every 0.5-1 secs. I prefer to see a needle smoothly curve round a dial. This is the reason why last week I bought a sound meter with an analog display instead of the digital one that was otherwise identical .

I like the digital because I feel like Michael Knight from Knight Rider driving KIT. Where is that turbo boost button anyway?

But other than that, I prefer the analog because it gives me a spatial feel for how fast I'm accelerating and visually how fast I'm going with respect to limits on the car.

A good guage has its limits showing. A digital temp guage would be useless. "90 degrees C" wouldn't tell you anything but a needle that is pegged at the top of an analog guage tells you a lot more.

I prefer analog.

-Mr. Wigggles

Reviews...
 

Don't forget, the original question was not 'do you like it?', it was 'why do reviewers tend to diss it?'
Reviewers, by definition, have seen many, many cars, and the ones with digital dashes probably date to the early '80s. Remember those awful Ford displays, or the attrocious Caddy efforts? Or even the earlier 'pseudo-electronic' crap, with little shutters over a backlit line of dashes in place of a speedo? (shudder)
You probably don't, but reviewers automatically do. Even when they worked, they looked like they where designed by gibbons.
And when they quit - "oooh, thats gonna cost yer, I ain't never seen nuthin like dat!"
So I can excuse a reviewer's knee-jerk reaction; his brain has been hard wired against that crap vs. a nice white Smiths where he expects it to be.....
S

I think it is going to be cool... like in "Back To The Future".... I can't wait to hit 88 mph. :D

The DeLorean had an analog speedo.

-Mr. Wigggles

Yes but it had a HUGE digi on the dash that went up to 88mph. At least thats all it ever got up to.

88 is plenty on most days. 15mph over on my way to work and it's a wreckless driving charge!

I can't wait to see 88!

LOL!
anyways, i think that one of the major reasons mazda incorporated a digi speedo is because the car is deisgned to be ahead of the curve as far as safety is concerned, and i think that they think that laws like speeding will begin to be enforced more and more stringently as time moves on, and while the analog will give you "an idea" of how fast youre going, the digi tells you EXACTLY how fast your going

As to why reviewers dont like it, i really have no idea, BUT, it is PROBABLY because when they are testing a vehicle on a closed track, or just racing on a closed track, they dont have to know EXACTLY how fast they are going, they just have to have AN IDEA.

As for the speed of accel and deccel, that can be programmed into the display, whether or not it is on ht 8 i dunno

Thanks for all the replies...
 

While I can understand the "rate of increase" issue, does anyone actually stare at their speedometer while accelerating rather than at the road? I would assume that most people except for beginning drivers accelerate until their innate sense of speed tells them to check the speedo, at which time a value should be locked in.

As far as the "math" angle, I think it would take me longer to find 75 on say an M3 speedo than it would to realize that "67" is a lower value...

Regardless, it should be interesting to see how nicely the digital speedo performs when the 8 gets here; the digital units in the S2000 and Boxster perform very well so I can't believe the 8's will do any worse. The only question will be if the digits are bright enough to be read in direct sunlight, something that can be an issue with the S2000 under the right lighting conditions...

Re: Thanks for all the replies...
 

i dont think it will be nearly as big a problem b/c the 8 isnt a convertible, but as long as there is enough contrast b/w the display and the surroundings it should be fine. Also look at the guage pod that holds the speedo, it has to be recessed about 4-5 inches. That should keep any light out at all but a rear angle to the sun, and that should be blocked by the driver