2018 leaf analog speedometer . Whadayathink?

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webeleafowners

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 5, 2015
Messages
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Location
Okanagan Valley British Columbia
So what does everyone think of the analog odometer. I have mixed feelings. I love most eof the new leaf and it will make a nice upgrade from our 2016SV in a few years. But I kinda don't like the analog speedometer. I'm trying to wrap my mind around why they would do this. Opinions????
 
webeleafowners said:
So what does everyone think of the analog odometer. I have mixed feelings. I love most eof the new leaf and it will make a nice upgrade from our 2016SV in a few years. But I kinda don't like the analog speedometer. I'm trying to wrap my mind around why they would do this. Opinions????
I wonder if it's one of many options? My wife's truck has an analog option and two digital options.

Edit: I like it.

Also, I wonder if the capacity bars are gone...
 
I much prefer a proper gauge to a number. I like getting not only speed, but rate of change info. It's higher-quality information and it's observable without having to look right at the thing. I'd love a HUD, but absent that, the new speedo looks great.
 
It's apparently an actual analog gauge, not a digital display set to look like one. Its the only choice, and it sucks - especially without a top screen or HUD for speed. Definite downgrade. Makes me wonder if the headlights are Crap, too.
 
My last four cars have all had just a digital or both types and I have gotten so used to digital that analog speedometers annoy me now.
 
LeftieBiker said:
It isn't even a very good analog unit. Hard to read, and looks like it was made for a Chinese truck.

What's hard to read? Seems very clear to me. (may need to open image in a new tab to zoom in).

2018-nissan-leaf.jpg
 
LeftieBiker said:
... Makes me wonder if the headlights are Crap, too.
LIke the current ones already are? I struggle to even know if mine are even one sometimes. and the full beam is not so great. I hope they are better... they look like they push light out the front instead of out the top.
 
What's hard to read? Seems very clear to me.

It isn't hard to read with the car parked. Going highway speeds, however, the numbers are too small to read in a small fraction of a second, thus causing you to look down for a little too long for safety. I'd happily trade the electronic parking brake to keep the upper Speedo display.
 
LeftieBiker said:
What's hard to read? Seems very clear to me.

It isn't hard to read with the car parked. Going highway speeds, however, the numbers are too small to read in a small fraction of a second, thus causing you to look down for a little too long for safety. I'd happily trade the electronic parking brake to keep the upper Speedo display.

I am sure it will work out like all analog meters. You simply get used to the position of the speed you want. What do you need to know? Basically where 65 is or whatever speed you normally drive at. With adaptive CC, the speedometer becomes much less important. The set speed is still digital. or should I say is "now" digital
 
Where I drive regularly there are 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 55 and 65MPH speed limits. I do the 'memorize the position' thing with my Vectrix and it's tiresome. The numbers could have been both larger and thicker, as they have been on most Japanese speedos since 1980.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Where I drive regularly there are 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 55 and 65MPH speed limits. I do the 'memorize the position' thing with my Vectrix and it's tiresome. The numbers could have been both larger and thicker, as they have been on most Japanese speedos since 1980.
Well the screen is customizable. Wondering if there is a font size option?
 
Assuming Orient Express and other sources are right, this is a physical object, not a virtual simulation. The screen to the left of it is what's virtual. Considering this, they did a lousy, cheap job with the speedo.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Assuming Orient Express and other sources are right, this is a physical object, not a virtual simulation. The screen to the left of it is what's virtual. Considering this, they did a lousy, cheap job with the speedo.

the speedo can be swapped where kmh can be the larger outside ring instead of the mph. so this implies other customizations are "possible"
 
LeftieBiker said:
Let's hope that larger numbers are possible, then. They must have an LCD screen on top of an electric speedo. Or Orient Express was wrong.

well, as mentioned before, with the adaptive CC, the speedometer becomes secondary but I can't say I noticed whether static parts like the rings were silkscreened or actual lit displays?
 
I'm disappointed, but if there is an option to add a digital speedometer, than it won't be so bad. I've been driving a car with an analog speedometer for work, so I'm getting used to it again. But, still prefer a digital one. That being said, since I don't know what the new car is like to drive, I may change my mind once I test drive one. :)
 
LeftieBiker said:
What's hard to read? Seems very clear to me.

It isn't hard to read with the car parked. Going highway speeds, however, the numbers are too small to read in a small fraction of a second, thus causing you to look down for a little too long for safety. I'd happily trade the electronic parking brake to keep the upper Speedo display.

The thing about an analog speedometer though, you quickly become familiar with the layout. It's positional. After that, you can tell your speed at a glance (and importantly, peripherally without any glance at all), with a remarkable accuracy. I mean, you don't have to read the digits on a clock face at all to tell what time it is. And that's with 2 hands with different scalars.

great-clock-designs-50-cool-and-unique-wall-clocks-you-can-buy-right-now.jpg


As opposed to digital, which is an act of reading/interpreting symbols. Different and slower part of the brain.
 
The thing about an analog speedometer though, you quickly become familiar with the layout. It's positional. After that, you can tell your speed at a glance (and importantly, peripherally without any glance at all), with a remarkable accuracy. I mean, you don't have to read the digits on a clock face at all to tell what time it is.

That doesn't apply equally to everyone. Also, imagine only the hour hand in the above illustration, which is more like reading a speedo. And you have to read it in 10 minute increments.
 
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