My first post on this forum after some time lurking at the edges; different from so many fora which are dominated by a few regulars who have an overestimated importance of their own posts and are dismissive of newcomers. Seems rather friendlier here.
My question is on instrument illumination. I had an audi which had red/orange illumination and current vw's have blue lighting. These colours are at opposite ends of the visual spectrum so can they both be "right"? What is the best colour for instrument lighting?
Vitesse
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If you are a 2 Litre soft top I want you, if you get my drift!! As for illumination stuff I only have cheap cars in black and white.
Welcome by the way.
Martin.
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Welcome !
I prefer green instrument lights. I sometimes have to do quite long night drives and find green the least "agressive" light. I've got sort of orange dash lights in my Nissan and I find them strangely irritating. It has been many a year since I had a BMW but I want to say they were orange-ish red. Wasn't keen on them either. Never had a car with blue lights inside but again I seem to think that some VWs had or maybe still have them. Wouldn't like to say what they'd be like to live with but they don't instantly appeal to me.
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If SAAB are to believed then no back lighting is the best with their Black Panel button. Switches everything off except the speedo unless there is a problem. Brilliant system in my experience of trans-European overnighters.
Hope you enjoy your time here, some knowledgable people here.
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Sort of Bluey white on the CRV - The Golf I had had blue lighting, could never get used to it...
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Still prefer white(ish) meself, though it must be fun owning a current Mustang with it's umpteen colour choices.
Red is a bit too lairy and blue too cold.
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Orange on the CC3 which I can live with.
The first Cortinas with variable brightness instrument lights where, I think, a pale green.
Quite a novelty after the previous white.
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Most Fords had green for a couple of decades - popped down to the shops a few minutes ago in the CRV - the instrument lighting is ok - I like mine turned down low, the blue ambient lighting is very low key in it but effective.
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Have i slipped into a parallel world or something PU, i thought you'd nabbed an X1.
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Not 'ad it yet - waiting for little wheels to turn - expected on 1st October.
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Well, at least you'll have time to warn people you like.......
Last edited by: Humph D'bout on Fri 10 Sep 10 at 20:48
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It's still prettier than a Roomie. By the way that had greenish backlighting..!
Last edited by: Pugugly on Fri 10 Sep 10 at 21:00
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Aye true, but at least the Skoda was cheap.......
:-)
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Whatever the colour, if the instrument lighting is variable, I usually have it at it's most dim. Bright lighting really puts me off watching the road. I'd like to know what those head up displays are like (displaying details on the windscreen). Has anyone got one?
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I like mine on bright. How else would you find your fags, coffee, chocolate bar, phone, sandwiches etc at night ?
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... I'd like to know what those head up displays are like...
Didn't we have someone on here or the other place who said he was a fast jet pilot?
Mike Torque was it?
Dunno if he's still with us.
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I used to fly things with pointy fronts and roundels on them, but no recent experience! In the 60s and 70s we used a system called pillar and bridge where all instruments had luminous symbols and hands/needles. There were illuminated by U/V liights in arc shaped bridges over the top of them and/or little stubby pillars which stuck out the panel but emitted their light at 90 degrees - a bit like small lighthouses but not rotating/flashing, obviously. These were all controlled in groups by a collection of rheostats.
Since then most instrumentation had become internally illuminated digital and there are no light bulbs as such.
A HUD is fine as you can adjust the brightness and it also has an auto function which adjusts the brightness to the prevailing light conditions. Also the projected image is focussed at infinty so there is no problem changing one's focus from the events outside to the image 18 inches from your eyes.
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>> I like mine on bright. How else would you find your fags
If you want to climb mount kilimanjaro you'll have to lay off those Humph :)
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It's my only remaining vice.
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>> It's my only remaining vice.
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apart from leching, leering, ogling etc, mind you can't really call them vices.;)
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....well to be clear it's the only one I can still manage 15 times a day anyway.
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How else would you find your fags, coffee, chocolate bar,
>> phone, sandwiches etc at night ?
I just grope around in the footwell.
Ted
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BTW Welcome Vitesse.....Hope you're not as barmy as half this lot !
Last edited by: silence of the cams on Fri 10 Sep 10 at 21:05
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I have had orange (scenic) horid
White (laguna) nice
Blue (vw) cool
Blackpool hooker red (seat) lurid
Pale red (lancer) pathetic
Nicole has blue in the Polo, I like the VW blue its cool and restful.
Welcome vitese. I never overestimate the importance of my posts. Each one is a small gem.
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Each one is a small
>> gem.
A ZZZZirconium...........QVC quality !
Ted
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Red is best for night vision, thats why submarines use red lights at night and switch to black lighting before coming to periscope depth. (Black lighting is everything off for the uninitiated). Any other colour is cosmetic crap. :)
Welcome aboard vitesse.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 10 Sep 10 at 21:21
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Lotus floodlit their panels at one time...always intrigued me that.
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thats why submarines use red lights at night
British boats do - United States use blue
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>> thats why submarines use red lights at night
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>> British boats do - United States use blue
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So does that make the Americans right and / or better? If red works (and it does) why change it?
BTW the last American nuclear submarine I was in used red, but it was a long time ago.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 12 Sep 10 at 15:37
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My maths teacher at school had a 2L soft top Vitesse. Mrs I'Anson was probably pushing 60, wore a fur hat with a bobble on top that we christened The Landmine, and was an absolutely brilliant teacher.
Anyway, back to the original post.
I didn't have a clue so went Googling. Loads of conflicting claims but I think this article sums things up:
tinyurl.com/4eegue
Orange-red pointers and dial markings accompanied by blue-green adjustable intensity edge-lighting.
Kevin...
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I saved this snippet from a now-defunct web page. It explains why BMW use the lighting that they do.
QUOTE
"In 1972 BMW conducted some tests on various illumination for interior lighting. Orange was shown to cause the least fatigue on the eyes during night time driving, and it turns out people can recognize letters, numbers, and words within the least amount of time when illuminated in orange. This was a part of their safety tests of the time. The interior illumination color has never changed since and remains a BMW trademark. Where yes blue, purple, etc. colors may look 'cool', they're sticking with safety first... something I can appreciate, especially after driving with the deep blue/red illumination of a VW Jetta at night. It really does hurt the eyes when driving out in the country."
END-QUOTE
So there you have it. BMW adopted orange light not on a whim, but after a study. I still think that it looks awful personally, but I respect their reason for choosing it.
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I have these strange but familiar feelings of being defensive of BMW coming on ! Both my BMW bikes have had red instrument illumination as did the old 1992 Honda that preceded them, the VFR which I owned for a while had yellowy white - makes no sense.
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Welcome :) I hope you don't find any regulars here to be like that. I like to think we are very welcoming.
My Panda is a very subtle orange/red colour it works very well as its not at all distracting. I think if it was blue I may be drawn too much to it.
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To widen this, anyone found interior mood lighting to be useful, helpful, or even noticeable.
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There's a wee orange downlighter on my rearview mirror which permanently shines down on to the gearlever. Clever, but fairly useless.
Last edited by: Humph D'bout on Fri 10 Sep 10 at 23:02
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...There's a wee orange downlighter on my rearview mirror which permanently shines down on to the gearlever. Clever, but fairly useless...
The CC3 has something similar which I judge to be equally pointless, unless it's one of those clever things whose use is only apparent when it's not there.
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>> There's a wee orange downlighter on my rearview mirror which permanently shines down on to
>> the gearlever. Clever, but fairly useless.
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Bravo has this. Quite like it - lights up your hand as it goes for buttons on the climate control.
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>>>...There's a wee orange downlighter on my rearview mirror which permanently shines down on to the gearlever. Clever, but fairly useless...
Got one (well two actually) in current car... I like it for finding Polos that drop out of the packet... you can see enough too for a passenger to do whatever.... when they'd normally ask *can I put the interior light on for a moment*.
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>> Bravo has this. Quite like it - lights up your hand as it goes for
>> buttons on the climate control.
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You need a light to tell where your hand is? :)
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What moods can you select?
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"What moods can you select?"
Permanently pre-menstrual in my x-wife's Mazda.
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Well thanks for all the replies and the link. I have driven a Saab with instrument blackout and found it over-rated but that's a personal view. I tended to prefer the audi lighting over anything else, particularly when dimmed down and am not a big fan of the insipid green of many japanese cars.
The best vitesse is a 2L saloon, preferably in pine green. I think the soft top renders an already flexible chassis rather floppy. I admit that the soft top looks rather nice
vitesse
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A very ex-girlfriend used to have a maroon Vitesse convertible with a cream roof. She used to drive it in her tennis kit with the top down sometimes I seem to recall.....
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"She used to drive it in her tennis kit with the top down sometimes I seem to recall....."
Having read that twice ... LOL.
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Sounds like more than the Vitesse was floppy, Hump.
Ted
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Rode very firmly as I remember. Of course there would be a bit of squirming about if you pushed too hard. Remarkably comfortable though given the sporting pretensions.
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A good looker too, tho a bit juicy.
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>> A good looker too, tho a bit juicy.
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You also knew Humph's girlfriend??
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Indeed , although I imagine the body has long since deteriorated.
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>> Rode very firmly as I remember. Of course there would be a bit of squirming
>> about if you pushed too hard. Remarkably comfortable though given the sporting pretensions.
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Car or girlfriend???
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>>The best vitesse is a 2L saloon
I had one with swing axles. I never tried the later models with semi-trailing arms, but it could only have been an improvement.
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...I had one with swing axles...
My first car was an ordinary Herald with the so-called 'jack-up' rear suspension.
Nothing wrong with it provided you braked in good time for a corner.
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>>>My first car was an ordinary Herald with the so-called 'jack-up' rear suspension.
Nothing wrong with it provided you braked in good time for a corner.
I compensated a little for the handling of my Herald (1st car too) by fitting 5.5J wheels and 180 rear tyres/165 front tyres. I do remember the nightmare drifts with 5.20 crossplies.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Sun 12 Sep 10 at 14:33
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...fitting 5.5J wheels and 180 rear tyres/165 front tyres. I do remember the nightmare drifts with 5.20 crossplies...
When I had my Herald, I think crossplys were still standard fitting on a lot of smaller cars.
Putting on four radials was a big upgrade, and an even bigger upgrade if you could stretch to four steel-braced radials, which really were the dog's potatoes.
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goodyear g800 plus steel?
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...goodyear g800 plus steel...
Could have been, there didn't seem to be anything like the number of makes around then as there are today.
I can remember all sorts of faffing about with which rims would take a radial, and which wouldn't.
Some needed a tube, some didn't.
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>> goodyear g800 plus steel?
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Do you mean the Goodyear Unisteel BB, replaced the G800 block tread (not steel braced) and were indeed a fine tyre.
I had a set of Michelin ZX's on the Ventora which refused to wear out, but were terrifying in the wet, sort of four wheel steering, scrapped them and fitted a set of the Unisteels (175 x 13's) and the car was transformed, that was 1974/5 if i recall correctly.
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unisteels probably but i can remember the logo with g8oo+s on the tyre wall
i never liked michelins for years because of their incompetance in the wet i always fitted uniroyal when i could afford them
michelins much improved in the late 80's in my opinion but i cant remember the model number
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...set of Michelin ZX's on the Ventora which refused to wear out...
ZXs were famed for their longevity.
I have a vague recollection of changing them not because the tread was worn out, but because the sidewall was cracked and perished.
If you had the money up front, they were almost a cheaper option because they'd outlast two or three sets of cheapos.
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The natural, clear bulb dash illumination in my 1990 MB 190E was the easiest on the eye.
Of all the crop of colours I think green is preferable.
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Blue in the Golf was really cool to begin with, had wanted a car with blue for ages. Wears off though and now it just looks old.
Orange in the BMW is perfect. Love the down lighting -- it's imperceptible until you need to read a ticket or something in the dark.
Pristine white in the Skoda is very modern and i like it. Suspect it will go the way of the blue VW though :-(
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I really like the blue illumination of the Golfs. It's very easy on the eye, and not distracting in the slightest, even on its brightest setting which is where we tend to leave both ours. The instrument needles, minor switchgear, radio and climate controls are all in a deep red, which is very clear and distinctive at night, but not eye catching.
I'm sure the colour choice was dictated by "bling" aspirations as much as anything else, but I think it works very well.
Sister-in-law's old MX-5 mk3 had the gear selector pattern on the gearknob illuminated in red at night. Always thought that was very cool.
Winner of the best lighting I've seen has to be my boss's Jaguar XF though. Everything is in a soothing pale blue, with the minor switchgear on the centre console looking like something out of Tron. I haven't ever sat in a car at anything like this price which achieves this level of interior ambience. Feels solid like the Germans, but so much more inviting and innovative.
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>> The best vitesse is a 2L saloon, preferably in pine green. I think the soft
>> top renders an already flexible chassis rather floppy. I admit that the soft top looks
>> rather nice
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>> vitesse
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Used to handle better with a (full size) bag of cement in the boot.
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All references to 'Vitesse' seem to refer to the Triumph model but I seem to recall that there was also a Rover Vitesse , possibly in the 80's.
Am I hallucinating?
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...Am I hallucinating?...
Nope, there was a Vittesse version of the Rover SD1 hatchback.
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>> Nope, there was a Vittesse version of the Rover SD1 hatchback.
...and others - at least the 800 and old boxy 216.
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illumination - MD
