Team-BHP - How often do you check the instrument cluster/MID while driving?

It's a habit for me- to check on the instrument cluster every now and then. I never miss any oddity that shows up.

This habit saved us on one occasion- the engine overheating sign popped up in our Figo. Our driver was driving and wife and me were in the back seat. He failed to notice it and thanks to my occasional glance at the MID even if I am not driving, I noticed the sign and alerted my driver.

Voted for Look every so often while driving!! :D

I just love the digital speedometer reading, and my eyes almost involuntarily goes at this while driving. Even otherwise, I always keep a close watch on the console just for any signs of trouble.

Got to be honest. I only look at the speed, fuel and the real time efficiency meter. Don't think I have paid much attention to see if any warning light has come up. An eye opener though. Definitely something that will be on my mind when I get into the drivers seat.

I do check the instrument cluster quite often but not to the extent that it becomes a distraction. On longer drives, I usually keep a tab on speed, RPM, fuel gauge, engine temperature and trip meter and also any other warning lights that can glow to indicate a (potential) problem. Over time, this has become a habit and just a quick glance once every 20-30 minutes is enough.

Voted for : Look rarely while driving.

I usually keep an eye on the temp gauge during the initial few minutes after starting off to make sure the engine has warmed up before I drive a bit more enthusiastically. On my GTI there is a separate digital display that shows engine oil temperature. I like to see it cross 100 before I start ripping the car. But once things have warmed up , I must admit I don't look at the meters that often. Since all my cars are automatics I don't feel the need to watch the rev counter that often either. Just the sound and feel is good enough to know what the engine is upto. I depend on the car throwing up a red warning light along with an audible chime to get my attention to something that's not right. Meaning to say I am not oblivious to what the meters are saying. If some unusual sign pops up, my subconscious is sure to notice it.

Speedometer is altogether a different issue. On the highway I keep glancing at it quite often, basically to make sure I am not going too fast, more than anything else.

Happy to note that over 86% of BHPians check their meter console 'every so often' while driving. No one, however, seems to have a habit of scanning while driving. It takes a while to understand the concept and practise & develop the habit, but scanning the ORVMs, IRVM and the gauges every 15-30 seconds, even when driving in a straight line, should be a standard operating procedure for any good driver. One doesn't need to stare at these things to gather the information - with practice, one can pick up the important relevant information within less than 20 milliseconds from each source.

I keep checking it every 20 minutes or so. Normally if I travel in a powerful car which can take you above 100 without sweating I keep looking at the speedometer every so often to keep my foot in check otherwise always glance at the temperature and keep a watch if any new lights have popped up.

I check very frequently because of my obsessive habit of always being aware of what speed I'm traveling in. Also check the DTE semi-frequently. I haven't had any other warnings pop up in my car so far so can't say how early I would have reacted.

I do check everyday morning and also while driving if everything is working fine, this has become a habit for me now. Also I glance at the speedometer and check the speed as driving a pickup truck i.e. ISUZU V cross unable to gauge the speed at times. As it doesn't have the speed alarm which was there in my previous car - Ecosport.

I have noticed a good proportion of cab / commercial vehicle drivers blocking out the instrument panel with an assortment of items including a phone nowadays:Frustrati

This probably explains the difference between Live to Drive and driving as a livelihood. Many of us might still glance at the instrument panel even if there was a HUD I suppose

I usually check during starting to make sure that all the tell-tale lights go off after cranking the engine. Also I keep checking the RPM meter to make sure that the engine is in the correct rpm band (national diesel engine 1.3 MJD) for that torque surge on those rare empty patches of road. Simple pleasures when driving in the city. The fuel gauge and temperature gauge are given a look once in a while during the drive to make sure things are normal.

I keep checking whatever information MID in my cars can offer, fuel efficiency being the main one.

I faced overheating issue number of times due to parts failure in my Terrano and then out of slight fear I developed this habit of looking a temp bar way too often.

Now my wife is the prinary user of the Terrano and I keep asking her to do the same.

I do check
Engine temp - not very often

Speedo - often on highways only to limit speeds to <100kmph, in city not often

Fuel gauge - not very often

DTE (Range), Mileage - Most often

Avg speed - often. The max average speed in any city (Vellore, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Guntur, Mumbai) that i got over a longer period (say 1 month) is max of 18kmph which tells how poor our road infra (not India + France) is.

Trip meter A - often. I reset it every time i refill. Each refill of diesel for Rs 2000 gives me between 400 to 500 kms in city. On highways got even 630 kms (22kmpl)

Tacho - not often since i rarely exceed 2000 rpm, i upshift quickly without revving to the max in every gear

Instantaneous fuel consumption - never

Date, time - sometimes