Electronic instrument cluster

History

Digital instrument cluster from a 1984 Dodge 600.

Electronic instrument cluster were an option in many motor vehicles manufactured in the 1980s and 1990s, and were standard on some luxury vehicles at times, including some models made by Cadillac and Lincoln. They included not only a speedometer with a digital readout, but also a trip computer that displayed factors like the outdoor temperature, travel direction, fuel economy and distance to empty (DTE). In 1980s Fiat Tipo DGT was the first European hatcback to have digital dashboard.Many vehicles made today have an analog speedometer paired with the latter in digital form.

Problems

Digital speedometers have limitations. For example, while an analog speedometer can theoretically display an infinite number of speeds, a digital speedometer can only display speeds in whole numbers.

Digital dashes were considered to be unpopular during the years when they were widely produced, and were heavily criticized by reviewers in automotive magazines. Some of the criticism they received was as follows:

They were hard to see in the strong sunlight or other bright light

They took away the sense of change in speed that is provided by an analog speedometer

They were expensive to repair in the event of a malfunction

As a result of these issues, digital instrument panels were phased out of vehicles throughout the 1990s, and have been replaced with traditional analog gauges in most vehicles, including those from luxury divisions. However, many vehicles are made today with a standard or optional trip computer located independently from the speedometer.

Digital dashes in the 2000s

A digital speedometer on a Citroen C3 . The instruments shows the fuel level and RPM indicator and manual adjuster dimmer.

In the 2000s, digital speedometers have been produced in some hybrid vehicles, including the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic .

Most digital speedometers have had green numbers displayed on a dark green or black background. The current model Honda Civic has an upper digital dashboard with white numbers against a blue screen, digital fuel and temperature gauges. The lower dashboard has an analog tachometer and digital odometer. Many modern motorcycles are now equipped with digital speedometers, most often these are sports bikes.

Toyota is using electronic instruments for showing the cars parameters for its Yaris/Vitz model , the car employs a VFDdisplay to indicate the speed , RPM , fuel level , odometer , etc.

The French manufacturer Citron, is using digital indicators as speedometer for many models in its range , including the C2, C3, C4 and C6.

References

^ “Fiat Tipo”. carsfromitaly.net. http://www.carsfromitaly.net/fiat/index.html. Retrieved 2009-12-25. 

^ “Refrigeration & air conditioning … – Google Books”. Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=eS_2UGJVA2EC&pg=PA311&dq=”digital+speedometer”&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html. Retrieved 2009-12-08. 

^ “The compact disc handbook – Google Books”. Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=GkIaGZ0HWcMC&pg=PA28&dq=”digital+speedometer”&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html. Retrieved 2009-12-08. 

^ “Popular Science – Google Books”. Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=3oRpYBVRP7wC&pg=PA96&dq=”digital+speedometer”&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html. Retrieved 2009-12-08. 

^ “Information technology for energy … – Google Books”. Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=F2XH3A-n2cEC&pg=PA176&dq=”digital+speedometer”&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html. Retrieved 2009-12-08. 

^ “3rd Generation Toyota Prius – 2010 Pictures and Photo Gallery”. Toyota.com. http://www.toyota.com/prius/interior.html. Retrieved 2009-12-08. 

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