It was originally put there for rally navigators. Get used to it, that's where it belongs in a MINI.

 

I had the same short-lived speedo location concerns. Fact is, I was stuck in a rental car recently on a trip and for a moment was wondering where the heck the speedo was! I kept looking at the radio area for devine intervention. Needless to say, I am officially used to the layout and like it.

 

Was that Andy Devine?

 

Hey... I'm stopping at the bottom of page 2 because this thread has gotten a bit wacky and... um... moderately evil for my liking

So, I apologize for any third page redundance, I just thought I chuck in an FYI. Someone already posted that the Echo has a center mounted speedo, so does the Saturn Ion.

Happy arguing,
~Kelley

 

There are no speed limits where I live, so actually I've never even looked at my speedometer...seriously.

 

It took me over 3 weeks to get used to it. More than reading my speed, I was concerned about the gas gauge. The good thing is that the speedometer is huge, and once you get used to it, there´s no problem.

I also always drive more with the tach and the engine sound. I can pretty much know how fast I´m driving by the gear, the tach needle and the engine sound.

In Mexico there´s another car with a centrally mounted speedometer, it´s a cute ute called Nissan Xtrail. That one looks very difficult to read because all the gauges are centrally mounted, small and surrounded by the dash. I have no idea how owners of these suvs know when they run out of gas.

 

i perfer to drive my "S" by tach and like having the tach in front of me
my pontiac has a hood mounted tach (right in front of me)
my motorcycle no tach or speedo
i really like the center speedo, but when i drive my work van i keep looking at the radio for speed/gas/temp/etc info

 

It took me about a week and now I find it much more confusing to drive a car that doesn't have a centrally mounted speedo. I love it! I think it adds so much charm to the car.

 

>> There are no speed limits where I live, so actually I've never even looked at my speedometer...seriously.
>>

where do you live?

 

>>>>>>If locating the speedometer in the middle of the dash is such a great idea, why don?t all the automobile manufacturers locate their speedometers there? Forget nostalgia, the speedometer belongs in front of the driver next to the tachometer.

>>>>
>>If placing the speedometer behind the steering wheel is such a burden, then why do so many on this post admit to using their tachometers to gauge their speed? Manufacturers spend a great deal of time and money on driver ergonomics and the center dash mounted speedometer hasn’t achieved wide spread accolades for proper instrument placement. If you want to say the center mounted speedometer is quaint I will buy that. But if you want true nostalgia you better ditch the air conditioning, power windows, locks, cruise, tilt, heated seats, automatic transmission, CD player etc. And while you are at it, inform the manufacturer that you new MINI is lacking in all the squeaks and rattles that were prevalent in the original. The speedometer was mounted in the center on the original Cooper to facilitate building cars for export to left hand drive markets. Center mounted speedometers will never be the norm either now or in the future.


You obviously don't get it. Civics are nice, and they have the speedometer where you obviously expect it. Or order the navigation system.

I got used to it right away. But then again, I had an original.

 

>>>> There are no speed limits where I live, so actually I've never even looked at my speedometer...seriously.
>>>>
What a dream- and you never have to wake up from it! I doubt I'd like some the trade offs in living south of the US border, but care-free motoring at smile-producing speeds, that's tough to beat!!