Okay, maybe I am getting old, but the one thing I really dislike about the TSX is the speedometer design.

The "0" MPH starts at the 6 o'clock position, so to check your speeds in the 25-45 MPH zone, you are looking deep into the dash.

I am used to my other cars where "0" MPH starts at about 8 o'clock on the dial, so that your common speeds are higher up on the dial and just need a drop of your eyes from the road to see.

Yeah, it's nitpicking, but it makes it hard to quickly confirm your MPH when you are in a school zone or other highly police-monitored area.

 

I absolutely love that style more than the "normal" 8 o'clock style.
I don't know but I think it just looks better to me.

 

This used to be an issue for me, but it could be worse.

VW started putting 180 mph speedometers in their new lineup --talk about impossible to read. The spacing between each 10 mph increment is so small it's hard to exactly how fast you're going if it's anywhere in between.

 

it has a more sportier look to it imo

 

Looking "deep into the dash?" Are you over 6'? Do you sit way back and have to lean forward/up to see the gauges? Maybe your steering wheel need to be adjusted, just an idea of course.

I like the increments, too. I wouldn't want to tell an officer of the law, "I was doing somewhere between 40 and 45 ... the needle was between the two ticks, and as you can see it's not much wider than the width of the needle...."

 

It took a little getting used to for me as well, but now I like it.

 

My old IROC-Z had a speedo that only went to 85.

 

yeah, the speedometer took a while to get used to. w/ the smoothness of the car, i wouldn't realize i was going 80 instead of what i thought was 60. lol.

 

It would be nice addition to have a setting on the MID display your MPH or an option of Heads up display on future models with MPH, RPM, and/or shift light (if there is a 6mt in the next gen).

 

I love the speedometer and think it should become the new standard. Hopefully they dont change it for next gen.

 

I also like it at the 6 o clock position. It looks better IMO. I remember when the RSXs first came out they had em at the 6 o clock and I was envious.

 

My wife and I tried the Mitsu Eclips, the one thing I HATED , besides the wicked tourq steer was the speedo and tach. About as big as a watch dial. Nice looking car though.

 

I found myself going at least 5 MPH over the speed limit when I first bought the car. My last car's ('96 T-Bird) speedo had the largest ticks defined in 5 MPH increments, so every other largest tick mark was labeled "10, 20, 30, 40 50..." and so on. It took me a while to get used to this speedo because each large tick mark is an increment of 10.

The one thing I did like about the T-Bird's speedo was that 65 MPH was dead top center, which made speed monitoring on the freeway really easy. Took me a while to get used to that change as well, but no big.

Other than those adjustments I had to make, the speedo provides no issues with me! I like it.

 

It is a little deep, now that you mention it, but I've become accustomed to it and like it now. I'm 6'1" on a good day so I do have to look "down" to see it (unless I'm at a buck twenty or something).

I absolutely love the equal status of the tach & speedo. I think this is the only way a sports "anything" should be. When I test drove the TL & found its tach off to the side I was very disappointed.

 

Yeah, I'd say that's nitpicking... i guess you wouldn't like driving a Porsche or a Ferrari...
The instrument panel in the 911 has 0 at 8 o'clock, and 225mph at 2 o'clock. Talk about hard to read?
Porsche 911 Instrument panel
And the F430 has 0 at 6 o'clock like our beloved TSX (or is it the TSX that has it at 6 o'clock, like the F430?), but goes all the way to 360 km/h (225 mph) at 3 o'clock...
Ferrari F430 Scuderia

I guess the easiest way to ensure that the speedometer has larger increments would be to limit the top speed of the car to 80 mph, and display only that. That way, the 60 mph range would be at the top, and wouldn't be hard to read...

 

My solution for any campus, school, whatever zone where the limit drops to 25 or below ... I put the TSX in D3, which is gears 1-3 only. Like with my Jeep, it cruises happily at 25 or so without trying accelerate in a higher gear (that might not make sense unless you think about it).

 

Why do you have to look down? My head stays forward, and my eyeballs just glance the speedo. The only thing I had to get used to was driving stick again....other than that, I got used to the layout within a couple of days.

As for checking your speed in a school zone...I usually go slow and watch for kids...I don't watch the speedo and try to stay 1 mph below the advertised speed limit ;-P

 

Of course, having a speedometer whose displayed range exceeds the car's top speed seems equally silly.

 

My friend was just complaining about the shape yesterday while he took it out for a spin. he said, and i quote, 'Oh, the 0 is all the way down there? I would never feel like im going fast enough in this car, i would need to be atleast at the 12 oclock position to think im going a decent speed in my tras am'

I guess acura did it on purpose to help out the local Police Departments!

 

That's kind of funny that his perception of speed is dictated by instrumentation.

 

I agree. I think that once a good driver is used to the vehicle that they can determine speed by feel and not be 100% relied on the position of a needle.

In urban areas, you just need to flow with the speed of traffic. When it's not super congested, you're doing anywhere from 65-80 here in the Bay Area.

 

fixed. lol. Seriously though, i was going down 880 the other day (i live in san jose/campbell temporarily, santa cruz is my REAL home, and work in newark) and i wanted to get a feel for the vtec. I dropped it into 3rd at like 65ish (i have AT) and i hit 110 before i knew it.

 

That's why a clear, America-oriented speedo is needed. If I'm following flow of traffic on I-40 in Raleigh and my radar detector goes off, I'm as likely to see I'm dong 75 or so ... which is a two-pointer, I believe. So I don't.

You've got to be able to look at your gauge and see if you're legal. Those Porsche and Ferrari gauges are a joke. I guess a GPS with a velocity display is needed.