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I like the separate clock. Why? Well, because I'd rather see what the radio is doing on the radio display as well as see what time it is. It's frustrating to have to press buttons (often not knowing what button because it's a rental car) to swap display info. Of course, some displays are now large enough to accommodate viewing it all at once, which is fine.
The Jetta I drove recently had the clock readout in two places: one in the middle of the instrument panel between the speedo and tach as well as on the radio display.
Maybe so the clock is easier to find instead of looking everywhere?
My VW has a clock underneath the RPM gauge, and my aftermarket stereo has a small clock display if I put it on clock.
But the clock in the cluster is nice and easily readable, no fumbling to see what time it is even though I try to keep time in my head and I can get a good idea from looking at the sun and stars.
So maybe they keep it separate so you know where it is?
My Jeep YJ has an analouge clock right in the middle of the guage cluster, separate from the radio. Pretty sure in 1992 they ditched the analouge and put a digital in the radio.
I guess I'm just used to GM vehicles, where the clock is almost always integrated into the radio.
One Japanese example I was thinking of was the '12 Camry, it still has the little separate clock, even though theres plenty enough room to include it into the Entune screen.
Not sure the truth behind this, but I heard several cars in Japan (especially cheaper econo-boxes) can be had without a lot od typical "standard" features like AC and radios. By having a fixed clock, separate from the radio, you can do without and not lose time.
They've been doing that for decades; my first new car was a 1985 Accord LX, and the clock was at the very top of the center console, right over the A/C ducts.
Makes plenty of sense to me, and ditto for the floor-mounted shift columns---much easier to work on of necessary.
Also, some japanese cars do not come with things like stereo, power steering, a/c, and the like. They come in street/race prep trim and so they make they cars more easy to remove or add parts from.
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