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How do you feel about the MFD on the newer Porsches (991, 981, etc.)? I like mine, specially since I can program the Menu Scope. I can barely see the outer analog gauges due to the steering wheel, and I mostly use the big digital readout for speed in the bottom of the tach.
I'm interested to see what they come up with. My 991 gauge cluster is far better than my previous 996.
I have faith in Porsche's ability to get things right, but I don't care for digital/touchscreen stuff in cars in general. We spend all day looking at screens. Why can't driving be a break from it?
opted out of the virtual cockpit option on the S3, it seems nice at first but it's gimmicky, just another feature that'll give me more problems down the road
In one respect, using touch screen controls while driving a 911 is the same as using a smart phone while driving a 911 - It's dangerous. But, as of now, only using a smartphone is against the law.
Leaving aside the touchscreen issue, the dashboard on the '17 911 is, already, a confused mess, IMO. As someone already pointed out, you can't even see the two left most gauges because the steering wheel is in the way. Who needs them, anyway? It looks like they stuck'em on there to balance the dashboard circles. And are two speedometers necessary? I don't dare touch the MFD, even when I'm not driving. Engine temp, speedometer, gear indicator and, once in while, PSI. Changing radio stations on a two lane road, yikes!
It appears Porsche is trying to reduce the average age of a 911 buyer, now at, about, 52. Having Maria Sharapova sitting in one is going to help. But rushing headlong into a kind of electronic nirvana and turning the dashboard into a smartphone is not going to help.
I like the dash of a Cayman better than the 911, since you can actually see the 3 pods... although the speedometer is utterly useless. Thankfully the digital speedo is awesome, and the Cayman has the same blocked gauges on the 911 in digital form. Don't mind having that pod digital, as long as the central tach just the way it is remains. Unfortunately, doubt it'll stay. As we all know, the 911 follows the Panamera, and the new Panamera dash would be awful on a sports car. Hope Porsche breaks that 'tradition'. The dash of the previous Panamera (and similarly, the Macan and sports cars) was the best it'll ever be IMO. I like having buttons, not having to use stupid menus to adjust things, especially for common adjustments. I'd be extremely surprised if the new generations (992,982, etc) don't follow the Panamera, but would love to be wrong. Oh, and another thing I really dislike, especially in a sports car, is an electronic shifter (for PDK), and that's exactly what the new Panamera has as well.
This is slightly off topic, but I have a new BMW S1000RR motorcycle which onlyly has an analog tachometer and then a small digital display that shows everything else. Nowhere does it have a fuel gauge. One of the digital display choices is Remaining Range (distance). And when that range drops below 40 miles or 50 miles, the digital screen automatically switches to that and a fuel light comes on. It's a little unnerving, but when you really think about it, it makes sense. Funny how things will evolve over time...
The one thing that is missing from my 911 that could improve it is a HUD.
I quite like the current mix of analog and digital, although I have to say I rarely look at the speedo, just the digits under the tach.
I will miss buttons. Touch interfaces are for riders not drivers.
I almost entirely agree. You can learn where a button/lever is and what it does and that’s that. Having to read a display to make sure you’re pressing the right bit of it is an ergonomic step backwards, IMHO.
There are things you can do with a touch display that are more difficult to accomplish using just buttons but they tend to be the stuff you maybe shouldn’t be doing while driving anyway?
Much of the widescreen tech seems to present too much information; simpler is often better. Looks great when when you turn it on and for a test drive but there is more going on in some modern car instrumentation than there is in the aircraft I fly!
This is slightly off topic, but I have a new BMW S1000RR motorcycle which onlyly has an analog tachometer and then a small digital display that shows everything else. Nowhere does it have a fuel gauge. One of the digital display choices is Remaining Range (distance). And when that range drops below 40 miles or 50 miles, the digital screen automatically switches to that and a fuel light comes on. It's a little unnerving, but when you really think about it, it makes sense. Funny how things will evolve over time...
That's one of the least intuitive things I've ever heard. Classic example of when technology adds needless complexity, rather than ease of operation. If you're traveling some distance and have a million things on your mind, it helps to have the gas gauge there at all times so you can plan accordingly. Remembering to "flick into" the gas menu just adds to your to-do list, doesn't relieve you of it (which is what tech is supposed to do).
It reminds me of the idiotic battery gauge on my Apple Watch (some faces can't even get it on the main display, so you have to remember to check it, so often your watch will run down, unbeknownst to you).
Doesn't bother me in the least. When excecuted well, it's quite useful. I need to spend some time in the Panamera to check, but from what I see they look good.
They should install a HUD across their product line and leave the rest of it alone. Eyes = on road, not on some myriad details below. Kind of incredible they launched the new Panamera without one.
This!
Truly my only dislike is lack of HUD. Once you get used to the new BMW HUD's it feels very primitive not having one when driving the 911.
Digital dash, fine. I would probably prefer the current "analog" setup, but I think I could "live" with a digital dash (first world problems!). Just don't make the rest of the interior match the new Panamera, it's too minimal, cold, digital, fingerprint-prone, and doesn't feel like a cockpit compared with the last gen Panamera.
If the 992 follows the design of the new Panamera, I will hold onto my 991.2 a bit longer than expected, or even maybe take a step backwards into a 991.1 for the NA engine...
I have the new 2017 Panamera. I quite like the dash on the car but would not want it in a 911.
Theres some misinformation here though. The buttons around the shifter actually are buttons. It may look it, but it is not a touch screen. They give a "click" type feedback. I think it makes the interior cleaner and less messy, and feel fine to use. The screen does not get finger prints to my surprise, but the glossy black buttons that surround the shifter are finger print magnets. Porsche provides a microfiber to be kept in the center console to deal with it, and it works well.
My two complaints though:
1. Why must the center vents be controlled with the touch screen? It's novel at first, but they revert back to "off" every time and in 110 degree weather scrambling to get the vents open through touch screen is a buzz kill.
2. Exacerbating the issue above, I often get the "spinning wheels" when the car first starts up for a period of 20 seconds or so.
Other than that we like the dash a lot. On my 991 I only look at revs, water and oil temps, and occasionally the speed. I like how the digital part of the dash can be customized to the read outs I prefer.
I am 35 though as is my wife. I believe that we are considered "millennials" although we identify more as gen X'ers.
07-05-2017, 07:10 AM
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