Why do stock gauges suck?

#22
streetstang03 said:
you tell me! :rlaugh: every once in a while, a little piece of greenish colored foam some through the vent :shrug: did it in my 97 as well :shrug:
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Do you ever get condensation on your vents? I've seen before,(not necessarily stangs) where the interior AC duct is covered with a greenish velvet looking thing. Maybe there is condensation forming and pulls off some of that "stuff" and pushes it out. Do you crank you AC fan speed on high, all the time?

I don't know, just a shot in the dark. :shrug:


BTW. I've always heard that stock Tachs are not as accurate as aftermarkets.
 
#24
tjm73 said:
Because when the car was designed it was designed around the idea that that average driver is 5' 10" tall. The industry standard. All cars are designed with a spec of what an average driver height is and then things are placed where they need to be so the most possible drivers can see everything they need to see. The Focus, by comparison, was designed around the idea that the average driver is 6' tall. If you get intoone of them, they feel roomy as can be.

Dang if they based it on a 5'10 person, they must have had some really long arms, because 5th gear is a bytch to reach. I'm 6'3 and my arm is at full extension to reach 5th gear:mad:
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#25
Why not just use the onboard computerized digital read-outs that Ford put into the Mustangs. Not sure exactly what year they started it but it think it was around 2000. I know that my 2002 has it. It's pretty cool to see my tach and speedometer in it's digital form...:nice:
 
#26
lover said:
tjm73 said:
Because when the car was designed it was designed around the idea that that average driver is 5' 10" tall. The industry standard. All cars are designed with a spec of what an average driver height is and then things are placed where they need to be so the most possible drivers can see everything they need to see. The Focus, by comparison, was designed around the idea that the average driver is 6' tall. If you get intoone of them, they feel roomy as can be.

Dang if they based it on a 5'10 person, they must have had some really long arms, because 5th gear is a bytch to reach. I'm 6'3 and my arm is at full extension to reach 5th gear:mad:
Click to expand...


You may want to try the Comfort Pro shifter handle from Steeda. It really brings the shifter lever closer to you. It bends to the left some, then up. I'm really glad I got it.
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#27
lover said:
Why not just use the onboard computerized digital read-outs that Ford put into the Mustangs.....
Click to expand...

I remember seeing a thread on that somewhere. :shrug: It told how to use your Odometer display to show things like RPMs, speed, engine temp, etc. I should have printed it when I saw it. :(
 
#28
Jinx102672 said:
I remember seeing a thread on that somewhere. :shrug: It told how to use your Odometer display to show things like RPMs, speed, engine temp, etc. I should have printed it when I saw it. :(
Click to expand...

I think I may still have it somewhere. I haven't done it in a while, but I think you are supposed to put the key in the ignition, hold the trip button down, turn the key to where all of the gauges comes on and then release the button..or something like that. I'll have to try and find it and remember it exactly, yeah but it's kool.
 
#33
Stock gauges suck because they are highly inaccurate, tend to fail, and do not produce reliable information.

The temperature gauges moves in 'steps', it will not budge until about 150, then at about 180-230 it will stay dead center. The fuel level takes periodic readings and adjusts very slowly. The oil psi gauge- all it does is tell you if you have 8psi and they are known to fail and drop on/off all the time. Stock speedo is easily off by 5mph at any speed, the tach can be off by as much as 500rpm off the showroom floor. The voltmeter is the most accurate of any of the gauges, but by the time its letting you know your voltage is low- guess what? your batteries already dead.

Did I leave anything out? :D

This is why we have these...
http://web.triggz.org/~triggz/gaugesx.jpg
 
#35
but if you got one of those autometer gauge clusters it would be more accurate in the sense that the gauges would move accordingly (not get stuck or be weighted towards a certain position) correct?
 
#36
The stock gauges aren't even gauges. They are glorified idiot lights.

The water temp, oil pressure and voltmeter all point dead center unless something is wrong. That's it. What good is that??
 
#37
BlueRuckus said:
BTW. I've always heard that stock Tachs are not as accurate as aftermarkets.
Click to expand...

triggz said:
Stock gauges suck because they are highly inaccurate, tend to fail, and do not produce reliable information.

Stock speedo is easily off by 5mph at any speed, the tach can be off by as much as 500rpm off the showroom floor. The voltmeter is the most accurate of any of the gauges, but by the time its letting you know your voltage is low- guess what? your batteries already dead. :D
Click to expand...

My stock analog gauges for speed and tach are very accurate when compared to the digital display. The speed is spot on and the tach is also spot on although it's kind of hard to hold the tach on a mark, it only fluctuates by 5 to 10 rpms, which is no where near 500. Go ahead and try it, the analogs are pretty accurate.
 
#38
lover said:
tjm73 said:
Because when the car was designed it was designed around the idea that that average driver is 5' 10" tall. The industry standard. All cars are designed with a spec of what an average driver height is and then things are placed where they need to be so the most possible drivers can see everything they need to see. The Focus, by comparison, was designed around the idea that the average driver is 6' tall. If you get intoone of them, they feel roomy as can be.

Dang if they based it on a 5'10 person, they must have had some really long arms, because 5th gear is a bytch to reach. I'm 6'3 and my arm is at full extension to reach 5th gear:mad:
Click to expand...

Me too! 6'2" and get pissed about trying to shoot for 3rd and fifth.

It's a ricey set-up to me, designed to accomodate the short people of the world.
Click to expand...
 
#39
Ford did this for a reason folks, not just because they put in innaccurate guages. Perhaps the speedo and tach may be junk if they are off, but imagine if the guages would move as the readings changed (such as engine temp increasing by 5* and the guauge reading accordingly), people would be running into the dealer for stupid things when the car is fine. Imagine someone buys their car in spring, and normal operating temp is say 220 (just an example, I really dont know what it is), if the guage started reading 230 cause maybe it was summer and it was running a little warmer, there would be atleast 1 person that would go into the dealer claiming their car is overheating, when in fact 230* may be considered normal. The guages were designed so that if something really was wrong, the guage would read accordingly and the owner would know to take the car in for a real reason.
 
#40
god damnit i created this thread to justify buying the autometer gauge cluster and to find out if buying it would give me an advantage over stock gauges in terms of functionality so i coudl justify buying them, can someone please answer my question
 
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