12" LCD Digital Instrument Cluster Standard?

[Burnin' Rubber]

I admire the LCD gauge cluster and I really like that it can be configured to two big round circular dials with sweeping needles. At the same time I prefer the 3-D elements, depth, and lighting of the analog dial gauges which you lose with the LCD.

I don't mind the LCD gauge cluster on its own but the critic in me questions the choice of combining the LCD panel with the analog accessory gauges of the performance pack. It seems they don't belong together and I question the design choice.

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[Michael_vroomvroom]

I don't mind the LCD gauge cluster on its own but the critic in me questions the choice of combining the LCD panel with the analog accessory gauges of the performance pack. It seems they don't belong together and I question the design choice.

I think so too. It looks out of place between the digital dash and the digital sync3 screen. They should have made the PP-gauges digital in the same style as the digital dash, including "mycolor", and configurable from the digital display to show the gauge you wanted. Or given an option of analog dash and analog accessory gauges for those that want that.

The digital display allows you to configure gauges for display in the dash, which is nice for those that need it (when tracking perhaps), but makes the display too cluttered. PP-style gauges off to the side looks easier on the eyes (only seen it in pictures unfortunately), but would be better if they matched in style.

 

[Fishtales]

Good discussion here for sure - appreciate the healthy input. Pros and cons for either decision I guess and likely Ford was likely to take heat one way or the other. Given the two instrument clusters, I'm ok with the digital. I just want to get my taxes sorted and determine if I'm buying this year or next!

 

[Garfy]

The new digital cluster is gorgeous if you ask me, tremendous improvement More tech doesn't matter, new cars are riddled with tech everywhere. The possibilities of this digital cluster are impressive to say the least.

As long as it works and is long-term durable/reliable. The problem with digital displays is that when it fails, it usually affects the entire cluster rather than just one "gauge". Of course, to be realistic, they're used in much more "dangerous" vehicles; that is, most passenger jets today come out with multiple screens instead of analog and they need it to work much more seriously than our cars. Let's just hope the quality of these units are at least as reliable as those used on passenger aircraft.

 

[Atlas1]

As long as it works and is long-term durable/reliable. The problem with digital displays is that when it fails, it usually affects the entire cluster rather than just one "gauge". Of course, to be realistic, they're used in much more "dangerous" vehicles; that is, most passenger jets today come out with multiple screens instead of analog and they need it to work much more seriously than our cars. Let's just hope the quality of these units are at least as reliable as those used on passenger aircraft.

Sorry I’m going to need reliability a little better than what boeing has been putting out lately lol

 

[Spart]

I agree with this 100%. I think it is just more things to go wrong with the car, especially if you want to keep it long-term.

You'll be shocked to find that behind the "analog" gauges in other Mustangs is a big ol' circuit board that runs it's own software.

I can hook my laptop up to your "analog" gauge car, change a value, and calibrate your speedometer for a different tire size. The speedometer needle is just a servo connected to that circuit board. The servo does whatever the board tells it to do. If the board dies along with the center LCD screen, so does the speedometer needle.

And it's not like dead instrument clusters don't plague 20 and 30 year old cars even though they're "analog." For certain rare cars, they can be very expensive to replace despite not having an LCD at all.

The full LCD cluster actually represents less moving parts and doubtless will last a very long time. The LCD tech that's been slowly added to Ford gauges across the line over the years has aged well.

All that said, I prefer the "analog" gauges in my GT350 with the digital speedometer in the center.

 

[Garfy]

Sorry I’m going to need reliability a little better than what boeing has been putting out lately lol

Frankly, you're probably speaking of the MAX 8 which isn't a bad airplane. It's the implementation of the computer system that took control of the plane based on a single AOA sensor. Both of the crashes probably had the single AOA sensor because Boeing had it an "option" to get 2 AOA sensors installed, which is CRAZY! (That's what happens when you have bean counter CEOs instead the previous Boeing CEO who was focused on safety and quality.) That would be like our cars having only a single APP sensor instead of 2 and a single TPS sensor on the electronic throttle body instead of 2. When it fails, the computer knows nothing about it because it assumes the single sensor is correct, so your car could suddenly go WOT due to the faulty sensor. But our car mfgs were smart enough to have 2 so that if they didn't agree with each other, the PCM would ignore it, turn on the MIL and go into limp in mode. The single AOA equipped MAX 8 had no such thing, but of course it was probably the fault of the airlines for not training the pilots how to turn off the system as well. You'll notice that Southwest who currently has 34 of them NEVER had any issues with their MAX 8s because theirs had the 2 AOA sensors installed. Now the FAA has OK'd the return to flight of the MAX 8 once they have 2 AOA sensors, the modified software that will allow the computer to make corrections only once per event and the pilots having the training to know how to turn it off if they feel it has malfunctioned. I'm perfectly fine in flying on the MAX 8 once all of this has been completed. The LEAP engines are far quieter than the turbofans used on the 737-800 so I hope they'll use them on our routes. I look forward to flying on the MAX 8 later this year.

 

[ice445]

Food for thought for all the people who don’t like the digital gauges...

Both the digital and “analog” gauges are electronic gauges. However, on the “analog” gauges, there’s more pieces to fail, whereas the digital cluster just has 1 screen, not multiple pieces. So really, the digital cluster just means LESS electronic parts that can fail

On the flip side of that, if the screen fails you now have zero information. If a stepper motor for the speedo fails, you can still drive the car.

 

[jake_zx2]

On the flip side of that, if the screen fails you now have zero information. If a stepper motor for the speedo fails, you can still drive the car.

I mean, I could certainly drive my car without a cluster

 

[ice445]

I mean, I could certainly drive my car without a cluster

Sure you could, but its pretty annoying having no info at all. It's the difference between needing to fix it asap and being able to wait. Unless you want to manually track your miles so you know when you're about to run out of gas lol

 

[Jaymar]

On the flip side of that, if the screen fails you now have zero information. If a stepper motor for the speedo fails, you can still drive the car.

Unless it's one of the common components that fails on the IPC then you're right back in the same boat, there's a lot more there than the stepper motors. My old '85 F-150 had a flexible PCB that connected the entire gauge set together inside the cluster with an anti-slosh stability module built into it for the fuel gauge so this is nothing new. Reliability is really a draw between the two unless that screen has some horrible failure rate much higher than the other components which I doubt. I respect the difference in preference, if you like the analog gauges get them I wouldn't tell you any different. But this whole "OMG, it's all going to fail and you can't fix it" line sounds just like the move to fuel injection and computer control back in the 80's when everybody was crying that it was the end of hot rodding and fixing your own car. Now look at us, we have cars that come from the factory making more than twice what the best V8 did then and drive as smooth as a Honda Civic. If you told me that back then I would have thought you were full of it.

 

[Atlas1]

Frankly, you're probably speaking of the MAX 8 which isn't a bad airplane. It's the implementation of the computer system that took control of the plane based on a single AOA sensor. Both of the crashes probably had the single AOA sensor because Boeing had it an "option" to get 2 AOA sensors installed, which is CRAZY! (That's what happens when you have bean counter CEOs instead the previous Boeing CEO who was focused on safety and quality.) That would be like our cars having only a single APP sensor instead of 2 and a single TPS sensor on the electronic throttle body instead of 2. When it fails, the computer knows nothing about it because it assumes the single sensor is correct, so your car could suddenly go WOT due to the faulty sensor. But our car mfgs were smart enough to have 2 so that if they didn't agree with each other, the PCM would ignore it, turn on the MIL and go into limp in mode. The single AOA equipped MAX 8 had no such thing, but of course it was probably the fault of the airlines for not training the pilots how to turn off the system as well. You'll notice that Southwest who currently has 34 of them NEVER had any issues with their MAX 8s because theirs had the 2 AOA sensors installed. Now the FAA has OK'd the return to flight of the MAX 8 once they have 2 AOA sensors, the modified software that will allow the computer to make corrections only once per event and the pilots having the training to know how to turn it off if they feel it has malfunctioned. I'm perfectly fine in flying on the MAX 8 once all of this has been completed. The LEAP engines are far quieter than the turbofans used on the 737-800 so I hope they'll use them on our routes. I look forward to flying on the MAX 8 later this year.

I was more just making a joke than anything. But Boeing’s problems extend far beyond the max.

 

[320guy]

On the flip side of that, if the screen fails you now have zero information. If a stepper motor for the speedo fails, you can still drive the car.

Meh, already happened to me once. Stop somewhere, turn off the car, wait 2-3 min...start back up.

Hasn’t failed again since.

Worse case scenario... you can use Waze in your sync3 with Apple/android and it has an approximate speed.

 

[ice445]

Unless it's one of the common components that fails on the IPC then you're right back in the same boat, there's a lot more there than the stepper motors. My old '85 F-150 had a flexible PCB that connected the entire gauge set together inside the cluster with an anti-slosh stability module built into it for the fuel gauge so this is nothing new. Reliability is really a draw between the two unless that screen has some horrible failure rate much higher than the other components which I doubt. I respect the difference in preference, if you like the analog gauges get them I wouldn't tell you any different. But this whole "OMG, it's all going to fail and you can't fix it" line sounds just like the move to fuel injection and computer control back in the 80's when everybody was crying that it was the end of hot rodding and fixing your own car. Now look at us, we have cars that come from the factory making more than twice what the best V8 did then and drive as smooth as a Honda Civic. If you told me that back then I would have thought you were full of it.

You're right, it's all just mental masturbation regardless. I prefer the analog, but only by a hair. I think the digital screen is awesome and I have no issue with it. Although I do wish it wasn't part of 401A only.

 

[MountainStang]

I guess the only crummy part is I’ve already heard of a bunch of failures with the digital a dash... I think the main problem is the crappy software that is used to control these things. Honestly if they are issuing recalls on other manufacturers for the back camera not working I’m assuming they would do the same on the dash if it becomes more prevalent issue. Regardless I thinks it’s cool and excited for it in the car. What I would have thought was cooler was saving some coin and not optioning it.

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