Pod People

[ardailsmith]

It's mentioned in the Febuary Car and Driver article on the ZL1 that the retro gauge package is useless in all the 5th gen camaros. My question to Michael Austin the writer is what gauges would he have picked to be in the retro gauge pack?

My question to you Camaro 5 owners what would you want to see in the gauge pack?

[GretchenGotGrowl]

I would like to see standard round gauges and I would like them to be digital. That way I could swap out ones I don't need with a boost controller and wideband and it would look stock.

[ardailsmith]

How is this a ZL1 topic? The gauge package is available in other Camaro5s. Please move this back to the general camaro group

[2012ZL1]

gauge pack is fine the way it is as far as I am concerned.

[radz28]

I like how it is already. If I need to supplement, I'll add some Autometer Cobalt gauges in the pillar, like I had on my '02 I'll probably be adding a boost, tranny and diff' temperature gauge anyways

[Vyscera]

wasnt that note more about where the guages are located, and less about which guages are there? With the idea "keep your eyes on the road", you cant see them.

[HDRDTD]

My big issue with the gauges is where they are mounted. Very difficult to try and read them while your driving. Too far to the right and way to low.

[collins motorsport]

Visibility is gone while viewing them yes, but to anyone that doesnt like the placement, tell us how would you go about replicating these without placing them where they are? And I mean really if your looking at guages your eyes still aren't on the road regardless of where the guages are located right?

[HDRDTD]

Originally Posted by collins motorsport

Visibility is gone while viewing them yes, but to anyone that doesnt like the placement, tell us how would you go about replicating these without placing them where they are? And I mean really if your looking at guages your eyes still aren't on the road regardless of where the guages are located right?

That's the problem of course.
Just like the cup holders that people who have manual transmissions say that they get in the way, with the design constraints, there's no much they can do.

Everybody wants EVERYTHING to be easy to read and easy to get to the controls of, but with all the gadgets people want these days, and only so much dashboard space within reach........

The only alternative I can thig of is to put a large touchscreen panel with reach and let the user chose what to display on it.

Give them the option of whether to display the usual gauges or the nav screen, or the climate controls, etc.

I think THAT's the direction cars will be heading in, in the coming model years.

[adamgl]

Originally Posted by HDRDTD

That's the problem of course.
Just like the cup holders that people who have manual transmissions say that they get in the way, with the design constraints, there's no much they can do.

Everybody wants EVERYTHING to be easy to read and easy to get to the controls of, but with all the gadgets people want these days, and only so much dashboard space within reach........

The only alternative I can think of is to put a large touchscreen panel with reach and let the user chose what to display on it.

Give them the option of whether to display the usual gauges or the nav screen, or the climate controls, etc.

I think THAT's the direction cars will be heading in, in the coming model years.

That would be great.

[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by ardailsmith

It's mentioned in the Febuary Car and Driver article on the ZL1 that the retro gauge package is useless in all the 5th gen camaros. My question to Michael Austin the writer is what gauges would he have picked to be in the retro gauge pack?

My question to you Camaro 5 owners what would you want to see in the gauge pack?

I like the ones they chose to put in there.
Nothing is essential, some are redundant...I view it as a functional design feature - nothing more.

[stymie]

What I can't see so readily in the HUD can be viewed by the stunning auburn haired goddess sitting next to me... upon occasion. Too bad that Chevy doesn't fully equip each ZL1 with such an option.

[L99]

You can't deny that the gauges are really just "Look Cool" and don't serve much function unless your sitting at a long light where you can make an analyses.
Real time information at a glance is preferred over "Cool".
If your in traffic or on a track, you hardly have the time to glance at the dash and impossible at the console.
I would prefer to have all my info on the dash where I can see what is going on with my car.

[radz28]

I'm curious why boost is that important that it needs to be a big concern in this regard. I think it's more of a novelty than anything (these gauges in general). I really don't think GM regards the addition of these gauges as something super-functional. In the past, I've found gauges to almost be more than switches, as they accuracy wasn't great. That was fine, because I didn't expect more, and for someone like me, who wants the accuracy, I didn't mind adding more accurate gauges. I'm pretty sure they would see that their placement isn't really practical, and that's why I think they added some functions to the HUD.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the way they've done it. It's more funny to me the reaction and comments from people nearly complaining about the 4-pack than anything, lol.