Still don't like it here on my xA, and although I can use it while driving, I certainly dislike it being in the center a lot!

Why?

Can't keep the dials just off direct forward view ala a regular car setup -- here, it's very difficult to keep your eyes on busy traffic, swap a few lanes back & forth, and keep the speed right on target just before passing through some of these evil photo camera intersections here in OC, CA.

There's a very good reason figher planes have everything forward and center, not off to the side - you simply aren't looking where you're supposed to be!

As an example, see my picture here:
http://www.silverace.com/ist/rearviewmirror.html

of the cone of vision coverage you'll have when you're looking at the center dials -- you're one or two lanes to the right, and you'd better watch out about running over whatever just jumped in front of you (kids, bikes, illegals) from the left -- which can happen pretty quickly in Huntington Beach.

when you're travelling even faster with busy/crazy traffic (eg. rush hour, anything on Bolsa, etc.), I find it even more of a mess -- you really do miss out on the entire left side when you're eyeballing those dials.

Far easier, ala any sports car setup (eg. F1) where you've got every important thing up front and dead center -- this way, you can look ahead, but still keep the good stuff in the periphery of your vision w/o having to move an inch. This is even safer in wet/rainy environments - you can keep your front & a bit of both sides in view along with the speedo/etc. of a regular car dial setup vs. the xA.

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Crazier still, move your head a bit and you've suddenly gone from almost Empty on the gas to Empty because of parallax problems with the xA's center setup. You never get this with the regular front-of-you setup, and it's really worrisome when you're miles out from a gas station and gotta nurse the baby to station. (expect to accidentally get stuck in the desert/snow/mountains someday...)

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Also, when moving in a convoy, it's very difficult to maintain distance while checking speed (to make sure those silly photo intesections don't catch you), esp. when moving through lanes.

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ANyways, the other big bug of the xA is that the speed is black on white - which really shines bright at night and reduces night vision quite a bit. Yes, you can turn the entire thing down, but then the radio and tach goes too dark. Simply wish they'd kept it simple like the tach and have a classic red/white needle on black background for safety and night vision. (Plus, get into the day and the glare/sun off the speed makes it less legible than a regular white on black setup - at least here in sunny So. cal.)

This is where the designers went crazy and should have stuck with tried and true - ala the simple, yet legible white on black ala my old 93 Sentra, or red on black ala BMW. (forget about the crazy blue on black ala VW's - that destroy's night vision)

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Additionally, it kills the space I could usually drop stuff - cell phone, stand-alone GPS units (eg. Tom Tom), etc. - stuff I don't want in front of me due to the steering wheel blocking safe access.

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Here I've just given up looking at it because I'd rather keep my eyes on traffic (crazy sometimes here), and make sure I don't get into an accident.

If this was a several hundred dollar option to OEM the baby back to front & center, I'd be first in line!

Of course, if they'd ask a thousand for heads-up display and night vision ala the Honda Legend in Japan (they made the USA version, RL, cheap and ripped it right out), I'd go for that as well.

anyways... the xA has a lot to love about it, but quite a few things just 'wrong' with it - see my other thread, Driving & Owning in LA..... like the rear arm rests - why the heck did they make them so slim vs. the front ones no adult could really rest their arms on them w/o continuously falling off is beyond me.....!

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As for a comparo car, my pick would be the Mazda3 - same $13k starting price, and it's bigger, larger engine, larger trunk, smoother ride, etc. I went for the xA mostly for the looks, but if you'd rather have a smoother, quieter, faster ride for the same price, it's a good start.

(yes, smoother ride - the xA is skittishly bumpy on the mostly urban & 'smooth' roads & freeways here in Los Angeles -- take it anywhere where there's more than a hint of bumps and you will hurt yourself!
Heck, even my 95' Civic rides far smoother!)

 

i got used to it in 4min, 1 min faster than PandaIST.

 

Yo adorable, I think you need to relax! ;)

Seriously, you're nit picking this poor little car to death. The advantage of black on white is that it is the most visible combination of colors you can get. It doesn't disturb my night vision one iota. Perhaps you need to slow down and chill. You're in a tiny little car on city streets, not the race track.

And don't get me wrong, I drive aggressively, but not when it's dangerous and speed cameras are all around, and not when I need to keep looking away from the road to check my speed. If you need to look around so much that checking your speed is a dangerous distraction, then you're just going too darn fast.

 

the first night got tricked. i thought i didnt have my headlights on, missing that glow in the face, but it took no time to get used to. its alot better than the reg. driver side speedo dash

 

Dont worry about it, Adorable just likes to be OCD about stuff.

I dont get it, whats the issue? Think of it as a stop on the contant rotation your eyes should be making while driving anyways. Left mirror, Front, Rearview, Speedo, Right mirror, Front. You dont have to do anything but move your eyes, no craning your neck or moving your hands.

I personally dont see how you can't maintain distance while glancing at the speedometer but then again I dont look at the speedo and think "hey is that a smudge on my speedo? Yep it sure is, I need to pull a tissue out of the plastic baggie I keep them in so they dont get moist in the humidity and wipe that off, Crap now I'm going 58 instead of 55, stupid center speedo!!"

I dont even need to look at the speedo to know how fast I am going. and as for how much gas is in the tank, yes you have some parallax however here is a suggestion. When the little blinking picture of a gas pump is on you need to get gas, it doesn't matter where you move your head the picture is still there. Usually it comes on when you have about 30-40 miles left on the tank.
I could go on but I have to be nice.

 

As I just test drove this car in the daytime, I never considered the advantage of not having the dash lighting up your face and eyes for night driving. Seems like that is a great idea (as well as posting directions there, too).

 

well, it's just me =)

anyways, dead-front&center is better for me because that way, I don't have to move my eyes so much at all -- looking directly at traffic straight ahead, peripheral vision has most mirrors & guages covered, and that's pretty much all that's needed for squirt and go traffic here in LA.

I've got people doing U-turns on Bolsa Ave. from the far right to the far opposite across a six lane road! right in front of me, drivers who think that even though they're parked behind the stopped OCTA bus, they can pull left into the next lane of fast moving traffic just because they can't wait, cars ahead of me doing their usual Friday night slam & Jam - kabamm fast lane sudden stop accidents, etc, etc.

Add to that psyco tailgaters, Santa Ana gang bangers out on a ride, etc, and you've got some worries as well, esp. later at night.

That said, I've developed an 'active' aggressive stance towards getting out of trouble, and if that means a quick squirt and run, then fine with me. But I definitely don't want to be cutting it close w/o managing the speed closely because I tend to know where my cars go out of line. (eg. on my Sentra, it's up to an easy 60mph on a local 180 on-ramp to the freeway before it'll start to slide; 40mph sharp left hand turns before the rear starts to kick out) When it gets like this, I'm not going to stop and talk to the psyco tailgater - I'm just going to gun my baby and rip outta there.

That said, it's easy to mistake how fast you're going w/o an absolute reference -- you can feel like going 40mph one day; 50mph another. And when I'm pushing my car near it's limits, I'd much rather know I have to brake a touch to get the speed under xx mph so I'll have enough tire grip to get out of trouble vs. winding up trashed by psyco tailgater =P

Anyways, I've just always noticed the 'downsides' to anything fast & first. Not for bad, just happens.