Why did automobile manufacturers stop using digital speedometers?
They have not stopped using them. THe new Civic has a digital speedo. However, I think it was because people wanted to be able to put things in perspective. For example, if your are doing 100km/h a digital speedo will tell you ‘100’. On an analog speedo, however, you can easily see how fast 100 is in relation to the top speed of your vehicle. As the numbers go up on a diigtal speedo they don’t have the same effect as a needle slowly changing sides on the guage. (That’s my perspective but I drive both types) Also, digital speedos were mainly a niche buick/caddy thing in the late 80’s (from my personal recollection) and presented a higher cost to the manufacturers. With the push from foreign automakers to drive the price down, analog guages became the norm. I feel the Civic employed a digital guage for two reasons: 1) It fit into their ‘space age’ cabin design theme, allowing them to customize the background and text colour. 2) It physically allowed them more options, like employing the
I have not seen digital speedometers in use in US vehicles. I believe they never rated with drivers because the constant quick changes of the numbers was a distraction to the driver. The same reason the speed shown on the bottom of the windshield in front of the driver was discontinued. There is now a new type analog peripheril view speedometer that is back- lit and color coded so a driver can see the speed sequence of the vehicle without actually looking at the speedometer. The federal highway safety agency was favorably impressed with the concept because of all the dashboard distractions a driver faces today.
