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Apologies if this may come across as a dumb question but I just started the process of researching options to finance a new car and looking at the pics of Honda and Acuras - I notice some models have an Analog Speedometer and some have a Digital (like the Civic).
One of the things I love about my Civic is that digital odometer that is easy to read.
Are the new 2012 models not like this, or are the pics accurate in showing that digital numbers are no longer an option??
The odometer is the one that displays the total miles traveled on a car. The speedometer is the one which tells you how fast you are traveling. All cars have digital odometers nowadays. Digital speedometers are hard to come by because of consumer preference (I like digital too) and because they used to have a high failure rate on some models and were quite expensive to fix.
The 2012 Civic still has a digital speedometer. The only car I know of offhand still having one is the new Chevrolet Sonic. Some higher end cars offer a "heads up display," which is a projection beaming from the dashboard to the windshield, kinda like an alarm clock that beams the time display up to the ceiling. That readout is typically digital. Also, some cars will have an analog speedometer but have a driver's information center of some sort on the instrument panel with a digital speed readout. This is uncommon, but I rented a Cadillac DTS that had this, and I rented a 2005 Chrysler 300C that I'm pretty sure had this.
Another reason analog speedometers are hard to read now is because the manufacturers have them go higher than they once did. My 2002 pickup truck only reads to 100, which is fine because the top speed is 96. It is quite easy to read. I haven't had the truck past 75-80 in a couple of years, so if it only read 85, I wouldn't care. For 2003 they installed a new one that read to 120, pointless because the truck still went only to 96. Most of the new GM ones go up to 140, but they change to metric at the touch of a button and 140 km/h is not uncommon on Ontario freeways.
^ You know some idiots believe their car can do 140, because the speedometer says so.
Anyways, I think many of the newer GM vehicles have both analog and digital readouts. I know my friends '10 Equinox has an analog speedometer, but right next to it you can choose to use the digital one in the info center.
Anyways, I think many of the newer GM vehicles have both analog and digital readouts. I know my friends '10 Equinox has an analog speedometer, but right next to it you can choose to use the digital one in the info center.
That's what I was referring to with the Cadillac DTS. That was a nice touch.
I'm thinking digital odometers are a lot harder to tamper with than the old wheel style ones. I also think I read somewhere that on newer cars the true mileage that is on the vehicle is stored somewhere in the computer system, regardless of what shows on the odometer. Maybe someone can confirm.
They look the same to me. The only difference is placement. The Civic ups and puts the odometer in a non-standard location which is sort of a non-issue as far as I can tell. Really, the whole Civic spaceship look does nothing for me. I'd prefer conventional and garish to spaceship and garish.
I think the first Honda Civic had the digital odometer was 2001 and up. My car is one of the last Honda Civic (2000) to have a analog odometer which currently reads 132,000 something. I'm not sure about the digital odometers, I wonder if the memory bank gets fried and where does the odometer readings go? It would probably go back to zero all over again.
^ You know some idiots believe their car can do 140, because the speedometer says so.
Most newer cars can very well exceed the speedometer. You just have to reprogram the computer to remove the speed governor.
Is it safe to do so? no not really.
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