There is such a thing now! I actually have it and it is coming straight from the ecu... it works on most all cars with obd2. You can purchase a Bluetooth link called Kiwi. It's usually about $100. If you have android, I use the one called Torque Pro. There is a one time fee for the pro version... $5usd I think lifetime updates through the play store. This program also works resetting codes from the engine... check it out... one of the best thing s I got... it also has several customizable gauges, map tracking and also performance tracking that can be exportedWhen would you possibly need to see a digital display over the needle? If you are on a highway with a fair amount of traffic you still have plenty of time to check your speed (for whatever reason) or if you're on the straight at Willow Springs it's much easier to check the needle position vs. reading a display. As others have said, neither could be considered "precise" because they are both getting their input from the same place.
Also having the gear displayed on a manual?I agree with the others; hell, 90% of the time you don't even need to know what gear it is you are in, just go by feel.
I'd rather have the option to see where the torque is going through the diff, or any other bits of telemetry that might become available.
We just purchased a new Colorado P/U, it has the Digital Speedo between the Gauges along with several other info displays, but we (Wife + Myself) love leaving it on speedometer mode. Amazing how I never look at the analog version after having the Digital...
I'm not a manual driver, so I could be off base on this, but it would seem to me like it might be helpful to show if you're in 1st, 3rd, or 5th before you let off the clutch since they're all next to each other and it could be hard to tell which one you grabbed.
