GolfHos

Today I'm parked next to this Toyota Yaris.  I'm looking over at it thinking 'Nice looking car.  Wonder what it gets for mileage, etc.'  Then I notice the gauge cluster is centered exactly midline.  Cut into the dash, with the air vents, followed by the heat/air/etc, and then the radio and storage below that.

Above the steering wheel, nothing but smooth dash.

I couldn't do it.  (never tried)  but I think I am just too traditional.  It seems like it would be awkward to try to look to the right to see the speedodometer.

Anyone have experience with this type of set up?

spacey, isn't the Cooper like that?

I thought someone had finally found a WMD.   ???

That's old news. The WMD was spotted in Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, TX. Note the midline cluster.

(http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c189/FuzzyPhotos/Shad.jpg)

Clive claims to have one but his wife begs to differ.

I for one never had one and never will. Although I can neither confirm nor deny ever placing my hand on one.

And the nice manel toe to boot.

stroh- Yeah, the Mini's speedo is about dinner plate size and is smack in the middle of the dashboard. I believe they designed it this way so the wife knows exactly how fast you're driving her car. To be honest, I almost never look at it because the tachometer is attached to the steering column which can also display a digital speedometer. I figure it's like anything though, once you get used to it, it becomes second nature. At first I had a hard time switching back and forth between the six speed manual in the Mini and the five speed manual in the Pathfinder. Now I don't even think about it. If I didn't have the digital speedo on the tach, I'd probably get used to the center one.

I'd love to have all the gauges in the center.   With my current car, if I have the steering wheel set at a comfortable position, the wheel blocks part of the speedometer so I can't tell how fast I'm going on the freeway.   "I'm sorry officer, I'm just too tall to see how fast I'm driving..."

I've always been told that the center gauges were so they could sell the car overseas with fewer design changes.

first car i saw with the gauges centered was the saturn ion. test drove one when they came out and it was just too weird for me. [sm_disgust]

Had a Saturn Ion rental car for a day once.  almost got in a few car accidents staring at the center guage cluster then looking back up.