[theMAG]

Originally Posted by nbr

Things will be fine for MATIZ ,in its second innings because it has now being adopted by an ambitious parent.

Ambitions are fine, but they need to go hand-in-hand with b@lls and cash. Which GM has. Which Daewoo did not. Which GM has. And so on.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by adya33

Never driven a car with center mounted console. Does it make any difference?

Won't the driver need to keep taking his eyes off the road to glance at the meters?
Even the next generation Indica will have centre mounted meters.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by adya33

If console is in center then what is that display in-front of steering wheel?
Never driven a car with center mounted console. Does it make any difference?

Not really, it just gives a different feeling and you have a much clearer view.
The display is probably the idiot lights.

[carCrazy25]

Does anyone here feel that Santro and Wagon R could be more spacious than Spark.
And IMO Santro looks better than Spark.

[THE-U-]

Originally Posted by sajo

Won't the driver need to keep taking his eyes off the road to glance at the meters?
Even the next generation Indica will have centre mounted meters.

The centre mounted instrument cluster offers enormous cost advantage for the manufacturer because they can make very similar dashboards for both LHD and RHD cars. I find it very distracting to drive such cars though. May be they should add head up display!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by sajo

Managed a better quality pic of the India-spec interior today.
Manages to look cute and cuddly from almost every angle!

Looks like the old Santro's rear, but with rounded lights!!!

Anyways... Is that the diesel Optra parked next to it??? And the 6 seater based on the Ace??? Did you take pics of that???

[khanak]

Originally Posted by sajo

Won't the driver need to keep taking his eyes off the road to glance at the meters?
Even the next generation Indica will have centre mounted meters.

Id hate to have centrally mounted speedometers. I think it would look quite odd having notihng in front of you and having all the meters in the centre. . Unlike the other controls for the stereo and the aircon which are used by the passengers as well all the information on the metres is only read by the driver wont it make moer sence to have the meters right in the line of sight. However I guess this has been done to benefit from economies of scale and will take some time to get used to it.

[sajo]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Anyways... Is that the diesel Optra parked next to it??? And the 6 seater based on the Ace??? Did you take pics of that???

Pics of the ACE in another thread (here).

The car next to it was the petrol Optra. I think only the diesel Optra is getting a facelift.

[adya33]

Originally Posted by sajo

Won't the driver need to keep taking his eyes off the road to glance at the meters?
Even the next generation Indica will have centre mounted meters.

Originally Posted by khanak

Id hate to have centrally mounted speedometers. I think it would look quite odd having notihng in front of you and having all the meters in the centre. .

De-ja-vu
When Civic came out people were saying that digital display will cause distraction and all that but it didn't nor have I heard of anyone complaining or any accident caused because of it.
So lets just wait till Spark hits the road before coming to any conclusion.
And my guess is there must be some sorta digital display in front of driver which will give indication of speed/fuel/temperature

[esteem_lover]

Looking at the speedo itself is a distraction when you drive. it is immaterial where it is located. but it sure looks kind of funny. going back to the days when ambys had that type

[rahul_intlad]

Nice catch there sajo.Adya expecting a test drive report from you when the spark is launched.

The one thing I would not like in the centrally mounted instrument cluster is now your copassenger would be easily able to see what speeds you are doing,something which I kind of try to hide at times.

[nbr]

[quote=CrAzY dRiVeR;372505]Looks like the old Santro's rear, but with rounded lights!!!
NO OFFENCE.
GM has just taken minor styling ques, which HYUNDAI, has bee doing all these years , from other manufacturers.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by THE-U-

The centre mounted instrument cluster offers enormous cost advantage for the manufacturer because they can make very similar dashboards for both LHD and RHD cars. I find it very distracting to drive such cars though. May be they should add head up display!

No in all cases. For example, in the VIOS, the cluster is tipped at an angle of ~15 deg towards the driver. So, you cannot use it for LHD and RHD.

[THE-U-]

Originally Posted by Mpower

No in all cases. For example, in the VIOS, the cluster is tipped at an angle of ~15 deg towards the driver. So, you cannot use it for LHD and RHD.

Sure. Some manufacturers do it for the fancy and shoot themselves in the foot too (e.g. the 04-05 Nissan Quest in the US now gone back to regular driver side instrument cluster).

Are you sure about the VIOS though (Yaris in the US market, right)? I drove a Toyota Echo with this cost saving centre cluster in the US some time ago as a service loaner, man that was awful. Then again, the BMW Mini has some centre dials.

I wouldn't mind centre mounted cluster as long as they give us the head up display for free.

Originally Posted by adya33

De-ja-vu
When Civic came out people were saying that digital display will cause distraction and all that but it didn't nor have I heard of anyone complaining or any accident caused because of it.

The civic display is gimmicky with a big taco in the middle and the small digital speedo up top. Then again, I hate digital speedos after using them in the past (novelty at first and then irritates). In my opinion, the digital display is useful ONLY for cruise control setting and also if you use radar/ laser distance control when on cruise for distance or speed.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by THE-U-

Sure. Some manufacturers do it for the fancy and shoot themselves in the foot too (e.g. the 04-05 Nissan Quest in the US now gone back to regular driver side instrument cluster).

Are you sure about the VIOS though (Yaris in the US market, right)? I drove a Toyota Echo with this cost saving centre cluster in the US some time ago as a service loaner, man that was awful. Then again, the BMW Mini has some centre dials.

Mini has center instruments, but as an option you can get speedo and tach in front of the steering. yes, Yaris=Echo=VIOS. Again its a personal thing, but also psychologically, not having the cluster in front of you gives the impression of a more roomy car.
This is OT, but Jeep wrangler has an innovative IP which is a 3 piece system, cluster, center console and glove box. the 3 pieces are just rearranged for LHD and RHD.