by "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
Published 03/29/2017 at 10:02
by "Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
Published 03/29/2017 at 10:02
Tags: WTF
STARS: 2
So I was chatting with a work colleague and mentioned how the clock in my car didn’t work (it’s an MG what do you expect?) and he made me aware of this bizarre choice of dials in the instrument cluster on the Citroen AX
Yes that’s a clock next to the speedo rather than a rev counter, why???
"Cé hé sin" (michael-m-mouse)
03/29/2017 at 10:08, STARS: 1
To tell the time!
I once had a Mk3 Escort with this arrangement and I found it splendid. Few people care how many revs they’re doing or even know what a revcounter is but a large clock right in front of you is useful.
More makers should copy.
"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike)
03/29/2017 at 10:09, STARS: 2
That was fairly common back in the day, actually - usually on lesser models that didn’t come with a tach. I know some older Volvos did it as well if memory serves.
"runnersp, formerly known as t_s" (runnersp)
03/29/2017 at 10:09, STARS: 0
Because it’s probably the poverty-spec model, higher up in the range that’s probably a rev counter.
"Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street." (demon-xanth)
03/29/2017 at 10:11, STARS: 15
It’s so you can keep track of when the tow truck will arrive.
"My X-type is too a real Jaguar" (TomSlick)
03/29/2017 at 10:14, STARS: 2
In the 60s and 70s even the clock was an option, if you were too cheap to buy one you got a blank space where the clock used to be. Looking at you the entire time saying “you should have bought a clock you cheap bastard”
Of course there was also the tic tic tach, which was awesome.
"FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem" (fuelstratifiedinjection)
03/29/2017 at 10:15, STARS: 0
Very common well until the mid 90s, our Mk2 Golf CL had a clock instead of a rev counter.
"Chuckles" (chucklesw37)
03/29/2017 at 10:15, STARS: 5
I agree. Tachometers are overrated. When I’m driving a manual I shift based on feel, not numbers. I had a friend with a base model Subaru Legacy wagon, and rather than give him a clock or a rev counter they just gave him a blank circle.
"fintail" (fintail)
03/29/2017 at 10:18, STARS: 1
I was looking for an image of an old Chrysler with a blanked out clock, and found this:
So, it indeed can be worse.
Back in the 90s, my dad had a 68 Fairlane that was a fairly strippo car - only options were a V8 and radio. It had a blanked out clock - the gauge face had hash marks, but no numbers or internals.
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
03/29/2017 at 10:19, STARS: 0
Yeah I’ve seen about half a dozen cars with stuff like that from the late 90s. Base-spec 106s/Saxos had clocks instead of tachos.
Which MG is it btw? Just come back from the ‘ring in an MG F and it’s a hell of a car :)
"jasmits" (jasmits)
03/29/2017 at 10:24, STARS: 1
Flip side: Putting the clock there makes it very inconvenient for passengers. I’ve never had a car with a clock instead of the tach but the Volvo S40 I drove during my high school years had the clock on a digital screen in the gauge cluster. Fine if I was by myself, but other people would always be asking what time it was. Also, it’s not like it’s such a big deal to glance at a clock somewhere else.
That said, my 2nd-gen 4Runner has the worst clock placement of any car I’ve ever driven. At least from my driving position, when the wipers are off the wiper stalk completely obscures the clock. The only way to check the time is crane to the side of it or flick the wipers on.
"Stapleface" (patrickgruden)
03/29/2017 at 10:24, STARS: 0
That’s fucking awesome.
"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
03/29/2017 at 10:25, STARS: 3
As others have said, it’s because the tachometer was a premium option.
Other implementations of that, that I’ve seen, that are worse (not quite as bad as that Subaru that everyone’s posting):
A 1985 F-150 my family had had that - you get the hash marks for where a tach would go, but no tach.
Yes, that’s a GIANT FUEL GAUGE.
"Milky" (jordanmielke)
03/29/2017 at 10:26, STARS: 1
Early 2000s Impala a friend had, just gave you a giant fuel gauge.
Its like they new old people were going to buy it and just made everything huge so they could see.
"Hoccy" (Hoccy)
03/29/2017 at 10:34, STARS: 1
“Why not both?” - Volvo when producing the 940
"Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street." (demon-xanth)
03/29/2017 at 10:39, STARS: 1
If that were a ‘75 GMC with a 454, that gas gauge would move faster than the tach anyways.
"duurtlang" (duurtlang)
03/29/2017 at 10:40, STARS: 0
My very fancy 54 hp mk2 Golf CL 1.3i Pasadena does have a rev counter. And a digital clock and even a right side mirror! A collectors item I bet.
"duurtlang" (duurtlang)
03/29/2017 at 10:45, STARS: 0
On the early pre 1988 non-GTi Peugeot 205 it was arranged like below. Standard: blank, with a Peugeot name. Optional: rev counter
or
clock. My old beater has the blank.
It also doesn’t have a clock, a 12V socket/lighter, an interval for the wipers, a rear wiper, door pockets, a door for the glovebox, a handle on the roof for the passenger to brace himself, a trip counter, engine temperature dial and a lot of other things you take for granted on a slightly less retro and cheap car.
"FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem" (fuelstratifiedinjection)
03/29/2017 at 10:49, STARS: 0
2 fancy 4 me.
On a serious note, haven’t there been about 20 or so special editions of the Mk2 and Mk3 Golf? Ours wasn’t haha but it did have a right side mirror and a VW Alpha am/fm stereo! Plus vinyl seats from the previous owner who was a hunter and apparently a smoker.
"Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
03/29/2017 at 10:50, STARS: 0
that’s really weird
"Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
03/29/2017 at 10:51, STARS: 0
The picture was from a Citroen AX (now edited to say that) but my car is an MG ZS 180 (v6)
"Amoore100" (amoore100)
03/29/2017 at 10:55, STARS: 1
On ours only the clock ever worked, my dad used the odometer to estimate when to put gas in. Made it to over 300k miles that way.
"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
03/29/2017 at 11:10, STARS: 0
I’m more interested in the dummy light in the bottom right.
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
03/29/2017 at 11:22, STARS: 0
Nice! I’ve always liked the ZS’, and the V6 is a decent little engine :) would probably duke it out quite nicely with my Alfa 156 V6 ;)
"Chuckles" (chucklesw37)
03/29/2017 at 11:46, STARS: 0
I should also mention that the wagon was a stick shift. When I first started driving, I thought that watching the revs was crucial, but now I hardly ever look at it. I let a friend of mine drive my Miata, and he asked me what RPMs he should shift at and I just shrugged.
"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
03/29/2017 at 12:04, STARS: 0
Volvo used to so that. If you didn’t spec a tach you’d get a full-size clock.
"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
03/29/2017 at 12:43, STARS: 1
Well revs are often displayed “per minute” anyways. So you just gotta watch the clock and count to nine thousand before the minute hand moves. Then you know it is time to shift.
"7:07" (fanbrain001)
03/29/2017 at 13:10, STARS: 0
Looks like a Cheat light
"Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
03/29/2017 at 13:19, STARS: 1
yeah I have no idea what that is
"bhtooefr" (bhtooefr)
03/29/2017 at 13:29, STARS: 0
Oh, forgot to mention, the second one is a 91 Plymouth Sundance.
"Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
03/29/2017 at 13:34, STARS: 1
duke it out in reliability? lol
"Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain)
03/29/2017 at 15:00, STARS: 0
Looks like it’s reminding you to recycle.
"Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
03/29/2017 at 15:15, STARS: 0
the whole car? lol
"Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain)
03/29/2017 at 16:53, STARS: 0
With that many lights on, I guess so!
"Discerning" (discerning2003c5z)
03/29/2017 at 20:15, STARS: 0
Owned a manual protege that had no tachometer. Looked like this instead:
"Tareim - V8 powered" (tareimgaml)
03/30/2017 at 02:50, STARS: 0
That’s odd as you could easily fit the temp and fuel gauge into 1 of those sections
"StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8" (stndibnz1)
03/30/2017 at 09:19, STARS: 0
My XJ has this before I swapped it for a tach and actual gauges. Because you really need to know how much fuel you have left to the 32nd.
"Ispeaksarcasm" (ispeaksarcasm)
04/02/2017 at 06:18, STARS: 0
Please tell me this is a joke. There is nothing more infuriating imo in a manual car when it doesn’t have a tach. There should be a law.... And basically all cars have a clock anyway. Which you dont need.
"Ispeaksarcasm" (ispeaksarcasm)
04/02/2017 at 06:19, STARS: 0
Meh just Id just tell them its time to get a watch.