Gauges

[101jinx101]

Who here thinks that the gauges from the Solstice are much hotter, and are going to immediately swap the gauges into their sky? I know I am

[Rik]

The Cobalt SS Supercharged has the killer looking gauges IMO. I think that is going to be the hot swap.

[101jinx101]

hmm, i still personally like the sol gauges better... what does everyone else think? look at the two below, and say which you like better (or mention a different car, even... lol)

[brentil]

If you dind't notice the MPH units are different on the guages, so you wont be able to switch guages and still maintain the ability to tell how fast you're going.

[Delnari]

Originally Posted by 101jinx101

hmm, i still personally like the sol gauges better... what does everyone else think? look at the two below, and say which you like better (or mention a different car, even... lol)

Old picture of the Sky gauges. The new gauges has the 140 Mph speed odometer. The white face gauges on the Solstice are nice. There probably will be aftermarket choices for the Sky if Saturn doesn't offer an option.

[KappaMan]

Personally, I don't care for the "radial" orientation of the numbers in the Sky.

[SkyCaptain]

gauges schmauges.

I'll have a HUD.

[101jinx101]

lol, I'll stick with my oldschool gauges... i don't like how cars are just becoming giant computers on wheels now... I wanna keep it as simple as possible

[Rik]

Originally Posted by brentil

If you dind't notice the MPH units are different on the guages, so you wont be able to switch guages and still maintain the ability to tell how fast you're going.

You can get the cluster reprogrammed.

[Tazz2000]

Originally Posted by SkyCaptain

gauges schmauges.

I'll have a HUD.

w00! HUD!

[mdlestat]

I LOVED the HUD in my C5-- I miss it sooo badly.

As for the gauges-- I dislike whiteface units, and like the Sky's better overall...but one thing really kinda bugs me --the whole 20 MPH increments on the speedo... why?

If you're going to be that vague in your instrumentations measurement marks why not just have two things on the gauge:

"Stopped."

and

"I'm breaking many laws!"

Seriously though-- at least 10mph segments would be appropriate-- IMO it's unintuitive and distracting with such unusually large increments.

[Tazz2000]

Originally Posted by mdlestat

I LOVED the HUD in my C5-- I miss it sooo badly.

As for the gauges-- I dislike whiteface units, and like the Sky's better overall...but one thing really kinda bugs me --the whole 20 MPH increments on the speedo... why?

If you're going to be that vague in your instrumentations measurement marks why not just have two things on the gauge:

"Stopped."

and

"I'm breaking many laws!"

Seriously though-- at least 10mph segments would be appropriate-- IMO it's unintuitive and distracting with such unusually large increments.

I can see people having to calculate how fast they're going based on the numbers the needle is between. LOL

[achieftain]

Originally Posted by brentil

If you dind't notice the MPH units are different on the guages, so you wont be able to switch guages and still maintain the ability to tell how fast you're going.

"Gauges, gauges. We don't need no stinkin' gauges" Seriously, I am somewhat amazed that GM is not offering HUD on the Sky/Sol. My wife and I love it on the Grand Prix's I miss it in every other vehicle I drive. For flat out fast it would be absolutely a must, esp if it had twin side by side mph and rpm, GM WAKE UP, oops, it's Saturday, all quiet in Detroit. The downright coolest dash I've had was in our 1985 6000STE, digital and bars and pushbutton change from US to metric. Had fun with the kids showing them how fast I could go from 0 to 60 and then immediately to over 100 with the "turbo boost" heh, heh. And then of course I just had to find out what would happen when the last bar disappeared on the fuel gauge - you guessed it. Out of gas two miles from home.

[BlueSky]

I love the white face gauges, which I'm guessing are the Solstice ones. I put in aftermarket white face gauges on my SC2, and the VUE came with them standard.

As for digital versus analog - I far prefer analog gauges. I like watching that needle rise as the accelerator goes down. My grandmother's Caprice is the only car I've been in with digital gauges and I don't like it at all. Not to mention it can't keep up with that huge Corvette engine she's got, so it'll skip large increments of numbers when you're flooring it, such as going 0-8-15-21... Not to mention you can't read the odometer and fuel gauges when the car is off. The VUE has a digital odometer, but it stays in a dimmed mode with the car off, so you can still read it. My SC2 has the old-style analog odometer, so it will literally 'turn over' mileage.

Plus, I think analog gauges look cooler.

[Dante]

I'm generally a fan of nice looking white guages. I like the ones in my Vue, but I hate the ones in the recent Ford Explorer Sport. They are just tacky. I have always liked the instrumentation in Pontiacs with the orange/red colors. Despite that, I do like the Sky guages as well. I guess when I get my Sky Red Line (perhaps with Mallett LS2 conversion), I'll have to tweak it out... I think the white guages with a blacklight (VW style) back lighting would look pretty sweet. I've got a thing for those little lunchboxes. mmm R32

HUD -- very sweet...
*after getting pulled over by state trooper*
Officer: Son, do you know how fast you were going?
Driver: No sir, officer... At the speeds I drive, it's not safe to look down.

LOL

[achieftain]

Originally Posted by Dante

HUD -- very sweet...
*after getting pulled over by state trooper*
Officer: Son, do you know how fast you were going?
Driver: No sir, officer... At the speeds I drive, it's not safe to look down.

LOL

TROOPER: "I've been waitin' all day for you!"
SPEEDER: "Well, officer, I got here as fast as I could."

[Gary Severyn]

You inquired, so I'll answer

In my opinion, white guages with red/orange behind lighting looks TERRIBLE. I know that in several of the Pontiac vehicle platforms they are (or were) relatively prevalent with the use of red gauge lighting, and from day one when they started that, I perceived that once again they had missed the mark by a New York-mile.

IMHO red lighting should be limited strictly to warning guages, and intermittent 'idiot' notification lights. Although I am no psychologist, I do recall reading somewhere long ago that in a dark or black environment (i.e., when operating a motor vehicle at night), consistent red lighting... kinda drives a person whacko; has a slight deliterious psychological effect on people.

Anyway, just my opinion. Personally, I think the current Sky guage configuration and styling looks spectacular and clean. I wouldn't want it changed for the world.

Have a great day!

[swatthefly]

Originally Posted by Gary Severyn

In my opinion, white guages with red/orange behind lighting looks TERRIBLE. I know that in several of the Pontiac vehicle platforms they are (or were) relatively prevalent with the use of red gauge lighting, and from day one when they started that, I perceived that once again they had missed the mark by a New York-mile.

IMHO red lighting should be limited strictly to warning guages, and intermittent 'idiot' notification lights. Although I am no psychologist, I do recall reading somewhere long ago that in a dark or black environment (i.e., when operating a motor vehicle at night), consistent red lighting... kinda drives a person whacko; has a slight deliterious psychological effect on people.

my family makes me psyco... red lighting behind the guages is awsome, and it really does help with the nightvision.

i also am a fan of the white faced guages. ive had it both ways and i love the white ones so much. they are so much easier to read.

and while im at it, i like the idea of 20mph incriments. i dont often look down at the speedo, but when i do, its not a long hard look. so you get used to what speed you are going when the needle is pointing wherever. also, how often do you watch your speedo because you need to know within 1mph or so of how fast you are going. the vast majority of people out on the road ride 5-10mph over the limit anyways, so why would 1mph make a difference? i say keep the 20mph incriments. less clutter.

[PammySky]

I like the one to the left

[101jinx101]

do you think the canadian version of the sky/sol will have different gauges? maybe not a different look but have the km on the outside, and miles on the inside? or will they leave it?

[-Tj-]

Originally Posted by mdlestat

Seriously though-- at least 10mph segments would be appropriate-- IMO it's unintuitive and distracting with such unusually large increments.

I kinda like the 20mph increments better. The 10mph increments tend to look very cluttered (see the cobalt's gauges) and I actually think that's more distracting than 20 with larger notches for 10mph increments and small ones for 5.

I like the black faces with the white, though I'm not too keen on the Sky's 'executive-looking' rotated numbers. I've never liked the white ones... they remind me of clowns. (nothing against clowns... just don't want them on my gauges)

[Rik]

I finally found a picture of the Cobalt SS cluster. Tell me this isn't hot:

clicky