Dashboard observation

[Brian916]

For some reason, after 3 weeks I have noticed the speedo is a little different in the GTi. The marks change scale at 60, and 220kph. Up to 60, the marks on the speedo are calibrated in 5kph increments, 60 - 220 in 10kph increments, then the scale changes to 2 x 10kph increments between the numbers.

Don' know why it's taken me this long to notice, I've really only been driving around town and with the speed limits.... and often have the MFD on the digital speed.....

[Corey_R]

Yep... it's a feature of many many cars these days...

[kevvie]

Has anyone noticed that when you enable the alternate speed display it comes up in miles per hour, even when units are set to metric/kilometres?

[moniker]

Has anyone noticed that when you enable the alternate speed display it comes up in miles per hour, even when units are set to metric/kilometres?

Isn't that the whole idea of it being an 'Alternate' display?

[kevvie]

No, it is alternate because it shows the speed on the multifunction display as well as other information at th same time.

Would be really useful if it was in km/h...

[Corey_R]

No moniker is correct... it's "alternate" because it shows the alternate speed units... lol

[Brian916]

Yep... it's a feature of many many cars these days...

Fair enough - it's the only car we have that has that feature though. The Astra (2006) doesn't have it (diesel) nor does the D4 (2010) (diesel). But there are a lot of different cars out there.



Explains why the couple of times I've put my foot down the speedo needle seemed to scream around the dial then slow down - it does due to the scale change!

[Ryan_R]

Generally due to most of the speed limits around the world being under 100kph compared to having speed limits such as 145, 180, 205 (I wish).

But you're right - it does make 0-100 acceleration time feel quicker due to the needle moving quickly. I once tried to set my car to use MPH on the digital display and enable 'Alternate' speed output, hoping that would give me the KPH digital speed along with other MDI info, but that didn't work. Maybe something in VCDS could make the car think it's Briish/American as far as speed is concerned.

[kevvie]

No moniker is correct... it's "alternate" because it shows the alternate speed units... lol

Yes, maybe you are correct. I was mistakingly thinking it might be a useful feature for Oz rather than a leftover from the UK market.

Who in Australia cares about a mph display? No-one I know.

Who would like to see km/h plus other useful information *at the same time* on the "multi-function" display? More than one it seems

If I was after mph as "alternate", I would expect that to come up on the full screen version of the speed, rather than just the small one. LORFL !!

[Corey_R]

There's no maybe about it... it's amazing what you can find in that mysterious book in your glove box...

[slipshot]

Yes, maybe you are correct. I was mistakingly thinking it might be a useful feature for Oz rather than a leftover from the UK market.

Who in Australia cares about a mph display? No-one I know.

Who would like to see km/h plus other useful information *at the same time* on the "multi-function" display? More than one it seems

If I was after mph as "alternate", I would expect that to come up on the full screen version of the speed, rather than just the small one. LORFL !!

It is a leftover from European vehicles, and perhaps US vehicles, where the vehicle could travel from the UK (miles) to mainland Europe (kph) or vice versa. Likewise, in the USA it's mph and in Canada it's kph. Hence it makes it easier to read the speed without having to decipher the smaller increments.

It also means there's no need to have both mph and kph on the speedo although they may still print some of them with this.

[slipshot]

Generally due to most of the speed limits around the world being under 100kph compared to having speed limits such as 145, 180, 205 (I wish).

Actually, most speed limits around the world go higher than 100 kph - certainly the majority of Europe is higher than 100 kph. That's hardly the reason though...

[kevvie]

There's no maybe about it... it's amazing what you can find in that mysterious book in your glove box...

I did read cover to cover and didn't recall anything on this, but could have missed it. There's definitely a few things I could not find at all. eg what decides when the active turning lights come on and off.

[Steveo]

Like Kevvie I did read mine from cover to cover too and because it is trying to provide information on various models it misses the mark on a few things.

It did not explain what the return button did on the right hand side of the steering wheel but someone in this forum pointed out it takes you back one screen on the MFD - but it only does that on some screens - not all.

I am still trying to work out what the "comfort indicator" does.

But back to the start.... Like Brian916 (started this thread) it took me a while to notice the different increments on the speedo.

[AdamD]

I am still trying to work out what the "comfort indicator" does.

"Comfort Indicator" is the feature that, when enabled, will flash your blinkers three times* when you tap the stalk to change lanes. Not exactly intuitive naming!

* VCDS configurable