digital speed

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almost EVERY car i work on has a digital readout of actual speed.....

i work on domestics and imports.

~:~ MarshMonster ~sips his shroom juice~ ~:~

snipped-for-privacy@coolgroups.com wrote in news:72ab81c7-f191-4743-8003- snipped-for-privacy@s19g2000prg.googlegroups.com:

What reduces accidents is carefully heeding the dynamic requirements imposed by your surroundings and the car's behavior. Speed itself has little or nothing to do with it.

If you're relying on a number on a readout to decide if you're driving safely or not, you're either a politician or a very new driver.

Marsh Monster wrote in news:19e60b7d-be20-4ca2- snipped-for-privacy@b40g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

The mere presence of digits on a gauge does not mean the instrument is "digital".

It's not. It's actually much harder. Some car manufacturers tried this in the seventies and it was very difficult for drivers to deal with.

Look in a good introduction to human factors book on gauges and displays.

--scott

Having to 'read' something VS just glancing over to see that the line is still in the top center (where most sit for highway speed) would be a lot slower in my mind.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos:

Agreed. Same reason digital watches didn't take over the market- its quicker to look at an analog watch.

Also the same reason that even "glass cockpit" airplanes have many indicators on the flat panel screens that mimic analog gauges. Seeing that "all the needles are in the right zone" is much quicker than reading the exact inlet turbine temperature on all 4 engines and then mentally asking yourself if each is correct, reading the exact oil pressure, reading the exact propeller RPM, etc. In a quick scan, it would be easy enough to confuse "6800" with "8600", but it would be immediately obvious with analog gauges.

maybe he owns an 85 Vette and that's the only car he works on. ;)

Wife's car is a Beretta with a digital dash. My cars aren't. I _prefer_ regular gauges, but on the highway, it's nice to see your speed in big numbers. The tach is useless and the aux gauges are just bar graphs, so they're like mini analog gauges.

My $.02 - I think digital gauges would actually work fine if the mfr's made them useful instead of sexy. They would work fine for "static" type gauges such as speedo and volts, but they don't seem to work as good for rapidly changing ones like a tach. For example, your voltmeter moves from say 13.8 to 13.9 and back again while driving, but if you're racing and watching the tach, if you can make out the digits on a readout, your car is too slow.

It's mostly marketing why cars don't come with proper gauges in the first place. I look at 70's cars and laugh - the square speedo, a fuel gauge, and a row of idiot lights...

Ray

news wrote in news:Oc28j.3514$ox1.3293@pd7urf3no:

Or an '84 Dodge Daytona...

Remember those awful blue digital instruments? Tokyo at night, indeed.

An analog gauge with digital is harder to read at an instant and impossible to note rate of change. Very poor idea as a replacement for an analog gauge with pointer.

============ ============ snipped-for-privacy@coolgroups.com started an intellectual discussion on the dyanmics of the human brains capacity to process data with : . I was just wondering why most cars don't have a digital readout of your current speed as opposed to the gauge. . I think a readout would be easier for the brain to process, possibly reducing accidents. . ======== ======== MarshMonster stated with fact : . almost EVERY car i work on has a digital readout of actual speed.....

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Tegger countered with :

.

========== ========== Marsh now chunks a wrench across the shop at the new apprentice, and screams : .

WHERE IN THE HELL IN THE OP'S POST DO YOU SEE THE WORDS INSTRUMENT....OR....GAUGE !!! ??? . again......almost ALL....of the vehicles i'm work'n on...... have a digital readout....not my fault....you can't read it!!

:)

i read'm........allduhtime!!

:)

~:~ marsh ~takes a sip of his mushroom tea.....wonders if you wonder if he wonders if you wonder.....how that's possible~ ~:~

Marsh Monster wrote in news:bfcbaf1f-3b77-412f- snipped-for-privacy@e23g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

Well, he says "digital readout", so I guess I must be going out on a limb when I equate "readout" with "instrument" or "gauge".

Man/machine communication is generally effected using instruments or gauges of some sort as the "readout"...

Have you another definition?

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nope......my .............

scanner.........

:)

gives me a readout.

:)

~:~ marsh ~sips his shroom tea.....makes himself giggle~ ~:~

Marsh Monster wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@s12g2000prg.googlegroups.com:

Oh, so the OP is supposed to permanently hook up an OBD-II scanner to his DLC and refer to its "readout" as he drives in order to keep a "digital" eye on his speed?

Or are you making some sort of attempt at being ironically humorous?

What's with the new X-face? (good one)

The OP said "digital readout". If it has "digits" instead of a needle pointer, then it is "digital readout" regardless of whether the feed to it is digital or analog.

It can take a while to get used to it. I was several weeks, if not months before I really got used to it in my 95 Caprice but once used to it it was as good or better then any other speedometer I've relied on. For some things its far better. Some of the work I did required very tight control of speed and monitoring it with the digital was easier then with a needle gauge.

I note my rate of change by the acceleration my body feels, not be looking at my speedometer needle. I can only speak for myself, but once I got used to my Digital gauge it could read it just as quickly and easily as the old style analog.

The poster that mentioned tachometers made a good comparison... For speed, a well designed digital can be as good or better then analog due to the purpose you use the gauge for. But for engine RPM for max performance, an analog makes more sense, you really don't care what the "number" is, you just need to know when you are "there". Which is why some people also use a light that turns on when a predetermined rpm is reached... while driving they don't care what the "number" is, they just need to know they are at the shift point.

aarcuda69062 wrote in news:nonelson- snipped-for-privacy@news.chi.sbcglobal.net:

I was inspired to make it after recently reading an article on Barry Goldwater, whom I've always liked.

Maybe I'd better change it. The presence of this X-face may risk turning this group into a political garbage dump, like the Toyota one...