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Digital or Analog speedometer?

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ddngr

New member
Graustark said:
Analog: speed of the needle sweep shows acceleration / deceleration. Digital just shows your speed. Speed is continuous vs. discrete as you can't get from 0 to 60 without crossing 30 mph. That, and I get too OCD if looking at a digital readout, as if I'm trying to be at a precise speed.
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This^^

I still dont have my 2.5l yet, but when i use a gps on my current car, it shows a digital MPH and i OCD out hard. For example, ill get it to 43, and tell cruise to accelerate twice to exactly hit 45mph in a 45 zone. this is focus i should be spending on the road.
 
koolgreen

koolgreen

Ready to race!
Bender said:
fyi - consumer level GPS is itself in accurate, so judding accuracy of a speedo with it is risky. Better off getting a friendly police officer with a calibrated radar to help you out.
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perhaps true, but I have paced my gps with my other car, my wifes car and my fathers car and they are all within 1kph.
So I suspect that the garmin is pretty accurate........

I can also tell just by feel...
I know that is totally subjective but the car just feels too slow when I am going 130 kph on the 407.
I have driven that stretch for almost ten years and it just seems slower than it is showing. Which the gps verified. IE I was only going 126 when the digital was showing 130 kph....
 
Stadpad

Stadpad

Go Kart Champion
i noticed when i would drive other cars at around 150 mph+ its hard to even guess where the analog speedo is at cuz i cant see the needle with the split second i have to look at the guages. a big digital speedo would be easier to view.
 
dragon69185

dragon69185

Go Kart Champion
I'm in the old camp and prefer the analog. Digital is nice, but meh. Drove with it for a while and kept noticing I really didn't look at it more than the analog. Use the MFI more for my instant gas mileage so I can slow my ass down and try to get 400+ miles out of each refill (have the 2.5L and last 2 fill ups had a little over400 and still was a little more than an 1/8th of a tank with almost 50/50 city/hwy)
 
jerm

jerm

Ready to race!
I prefer analog speedometers but it's nice to have the digital as an option.
 
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DXBGTI

Passed Driver's Ed
I use a bit of both really, I like to keep an eye on my oil temperature, however I dont think you guys over in the states have this feature on your MFD. The digital speedo and the oil temp are located next to each other in the MFD menu so I generally flick around.
Like many othes this is the first car I have had where there is a digital option for the speedo
 
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Coopaloop

Passed Driver's Ed
i use analog because i like to see what the speed is RIGHT NOW if im accelerating/decelerating because the digital takes too long (impatient i know). i use the screen for mpg (although sometimes it pains me to look) i also have the steering wheel positioned so the top of the curve matches up with the top of the dashboard curve, i can see everything perfectly
 
danielj1

danielj1

Go Kart Champion
I use the digital speedo. I don't like how analog gauges these days have an unrealistic range. Who is going to drive their GTI at 180?
 
My2ndGTI

My2ndGTI

Ready to race!
NEOHMark said:
My first look is always to the digital display.
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Me too. Since I am often going the speed limit (or maybe a bit more...) I try to keep the speed below where I would get a ticket. The digital is more accurate for that.
 
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jokerific

Ready to race!
I've gotten way too dependent on the digital readout.. I feel like something's missing if I forget to switch it back from the average mpg readout or something haha.
 
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DXBGTI

Passed Driver's Ed
danielj said:
I use the digital speedo. I don't like how analog gauges these days have an unrealistic range. Who is going to drive their GTI at 180?
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The reason for this is that an analogue guage is most accurtae at the mid point of its travel, therefore if you look, most mid points are cruising speeds on the highway, so around the 70 - 80mph mark, hense the unrealistic "180mph"
 
danielj1

danielj1

Go Kart Champion
DXBGTI said:
The reason for this is that an analogue guage is most accurtae at the mid point of its travel, therefore if you look, most mid points are cruising speeds on the highway, so around the 70 - 80mph mark, hense the unrealistic "180mph"
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I understand that but most of us in the US drive between 0 and 60 mph and a speedometer going up to 180 MPH places those speeds in an impossibly small range to quickly and accurately tell your speed.

In some spots where I live if you're going even a couple of miles over the limit you will be pulled over or caught via speed cam.
 
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scirocco16V1

Passed Driver's Ed
jbcritch said:
HUD = heads up display? As an app? I gotta know more....
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yea...android has a few.. I like "SPEED by The Swirling Brain" (free) because you can customize fonts, colors, rotation, ect.
Also like Dynomaster (not free) for all its logging functions and the vw GTI gauge pack


Asfar as GPS goes, the accuarcy is not exact like another poster said..consumer GPS is not perfect by far, however 95% time my Garmin, my phone and my MFI all read within 1-2 mph (close enough for goverment work).

Garmin claims accuracy at Within 50'
Moto Droids are 10' to 15'
My Trimble Unit is 0.5' & .3' (pro-grade gps)

I perfer the 180mph over the 70mph speedo my ford had, "how fast are we going?" "dunno, needle is bouncing off the Trip Reset Button, so I guess about 85mph"
 
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