2018 Ford Mustang Digital or Analog Gauges

[Norm Peterson]

I still can't believe the tach was optional on the '73-'79 C/Ks

A tach wasn't standard equipment on the 1979 Malibu either, not even when the available 4-barrel 305 with 4-speed manual and Positraction axle options were selected.


I find that it's only during easy driving that I'll look at the tach (or the speedometer or any other gauge, for that matter). When the driving enthusiasm gets dialed up I'm looking out the windshield for where I want to place the car and not paying the instrument panel any attention at all. During such times a digital IP could go completely dark and I probably wouldn't notice.


Norm

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[Sig556]

No doubt I am Old School. My philosophy was always "Less is More" Digital is really impressive but I just like the look and function of actual gauges something you can see and feel. If your battery fails you can still read water temp, oil pressure, boost , vacuum, fuel pressure, Rpm's You get the idea.

 

[millhouse]

A tach wasn't standard equipment on the 1979 Malibu either, not even when the available 4-barrel 305 with 4-speed manual and Positraction axle options were selected.


I find that it's only during easy driving that I'll look at the tach (or the speedometer or any other gauge, for that matter). When the driving enthusiasm gets dialed up I'm looking out the windshield for where I want to place the car and not paying the instrument panel any attention at all. During such times a digital IP could go completely dark and I probably wouldn't notice.


Norm

Haha, was thinking the same thing. During spirited driving, a shift light would however be convenient.

 

[2veloce]

No doubt I am Old School. My philosophy was always "Less is More" Digital is really impressive but I just like the look and function of actual gauges something you can see and feel. If your battery fails you can still read water temp, oil pressure, boost , vacuum, fuel pressure, Rpm's You get the idea.

Agree

 

[Jaggy]

I like the digital dash but I hope Ford extends it with more faces. Just as you can pick from loads of watch faces on an Apple iWatch there's no reason Ford can't give us a big selection of gauges, including retro fonts and styles. Best of both worlds.

 

[Norm Peterson]

↑↑↑ the way it should be.

If you're going to offer customers a choice in instrument panel display, it can't be that hard to add a few more. Three isn't enough. User-definable would really be nice, but I don't see that ever happening.


Norm

 

[Bravo]

The problem with allowing too much customization is that the situation could present itself where a user modified the digital display to the point where it becomes a safety hazard / distraction. It would be relatively easy to input video, remove gauges that NHTSA deems a requirement, etc. Heck - the Audi digital display showing a high-res satellite map has to be borderline distracting.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I suppose I should have specified "within legal/reasonable limits".

I wouldn't want any sort of navigation display in front of me like that, so that kind of customization just didn't occur to me. Wouldn't even want the radio frequency that's already there on some of the existing options, actually. On the radio itself is good enough.


Norm

 

[Norm Peterson]

Agreed, sort of. At some point it probably gets in everybody's way. I won't be playing any music tomorrow afternoon during my track sessions for exactly that reason.


Norm

 

[frank s]

Agreed, sort of. At some point it probably gets in everybody's way. I won't be playing any music tomorrow afternoon during my track sessions for exactly that reason.


Norm

I have a recording of the Racing Sounds From Grand Prix that I used to play on the grid, just to get the juices flowing.

With Regard To digital dash v. analog, I was missing the after-market head-up GPS-generated speedometer read-out projected on my previous car's windscreen, when i switched to the '18 GT Premium. Happily, I stumbled across the Digital Speedometer that was hidden behind something in the Choose-Your-Miles-per-Hour or Kilometers- function. It's a little too low to be as functional as the add-on that I was used to, and a little not-bright-enough for a polarized-sunglasses-wearer, but welcome anyway.

I know the GPS-derived display was sort of sluggish; the new one seems to keep up pretty well, and I wonder where it gets its information. Front wheel? Rear wheel? Transmission? Road as mouse-pad? Just curious.

Do we know how accurate the new digital one is? It doesn't agree very closely with the analog hand-on-face meter.

One more electronics observation: the '18 Cruise Control is much, much better than the '14; quick response and set-speed displayed.

(Doing my part in the draw-down of the world supply of hyphens.)

 

[WaltA]

One more electronics observation: the '18 Cruise Control is much, much better than the '14; quick response and set-speed displayed.

Regular (standard) cruise control, or adaptive cruise control? I ask because my limited experience with ACC, is that it has to also display the set-speed because current speed could be a lot less.

 

[spogshd]

Best feature on the digi display

 

[frank s]

Regular (standard) cruise control, or adaptive cruise control? I ask because my limited experience with ACC, is that it has to also display the set-speed because current speed could be a lot less.

I'm not clear as to how one might know if it's Adaptive or Standard. The set-speed display remains, whether or not the Ground Speed has changed.

Judging by the array of features mentioned in the Owners Manual that are not present on my car, it's likely Standard.

 

[TexasRebel]

Best feature on the digi display

That has nothing on the analogs suddenly turning bright red. Heck it took me a minute to figure out what that video shows.

 

[Kevin08]

That has nothing on the analogs suddenly turning bright red. Heck it took me a minute to figure out what that video shows.

I believe there are three different ways to configure the shift indicators on the digital cluster, some more noticeable than the others.

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