Free form high resolution display is now at manageable cost with the booming of EV, which greatly increased the volume; for motion smooth, consider an OLED display.

 

Agreed. Small square digital panels are cheap. Contoured long panels are more expensive to make, but reduce variability, complexity, and process cost. One panel can be designed and painted in endless variations. Software versions replace hardware SKU’s, with cloud storage and distribution. Total cost comes down and flexibility increases.

 

But it is difficult to look at that steering wheel. That’s one ugly steering wheel.

 

Corvette’s stupid icicle of toggle switches makes the cockpit look like an afterthought. “Hey Bubba, where we gonna put dem switches fer like the DEEfrost and that thar high falutin’ heated seat button? Dang, done fergot ‘bout dat. Eh - just stick ‘em ovair on de side.”

 

Indeed that is one of the design faults with the C8 - mid engine car, with a front engine cockpit. The tunnel between the seats is too wide, the cockpit too tight given that there isn't a drivetrain running through it. Just this hulk of plastic with a row of buttons on it. Total miss.

 

And the reason why they couldn’t offer a true manual transmission. The root of the cause always boils down to cost savings.

 

I could say something like, "Corvette owners are easily amused." .... but I won't...

 

Well in that car's defense, it was designed that way to be able to accommodate the battery pack for the E-ray / Zora / EV C8. Why they couldn't use a normal center console for the non electric versions stumps me, considering that 75% of the C8's sold will probably not have any hybridization. That center console area just sits empty when no batteries present. GM engineers are smart though, I'm sure this helped to justify the development of the mid-engine platform, it was a huge leap for them to do this and they probably had to streamline the manufacturing for all proposed variants to get this design past the bean-counters. In product development, there's usually a good reason behind stuff like this that is not obvious to those who are not down in the muck during development, I go through this all the time on my own products.

 

Would probably amuse the current and former 911 owners trying to jump the long lines for a C8 Z06 allocation.

 

to be fair... that basically has the same 3 center gauges of the 992 dash. Other info that can be displayed in outer gauges in 992 hides in menus in the C8. So would you rather slightly tilt your head or press a button?

(again: I'm guessing the 992.2 dash will be great, I just think the bitterness towards 992.1 design is comical)

 

I can't believe we are still talking about this.

Maybe we can also debate gin or vodka for a martini.

 

 

These early 911 gauges posted above are actually not obscured by the steering wheel! If you look closely you notice it, and how much care the designers likely took to ensure that’s the case.
Before I test drove a 992.1 I thought to myself “it’s probably not that bad”… once I got in and started to drive I realized that it IS that bad. Seems like a sh*tty engineering effort.

Couldn’t wait to return the car as it was a total bore to drive as well. Nothing like the 991.2 T I had driven a year prior. Granted, this was a base 992.1 - hopefully the more powerful variants are more engaging to drive.

 

When I am driving where I need maximum attention to the road, I only care about rpm, oil psi and oil temp. I have 100% view of these metrics at all times (including boost, water temp. and volts btw). The rest of it is only an occasional check while driving in a relaxed environment so no big deal for me. Others opinions may differ.

 

There are really only 2 options: have a super skinny wheel and adjust it so it hides less of the gauge cluster (like the old models) OR enjoy the nicer thicker wheels we have now and move your head a little if you wanna see the (rather useless) side gauges and if you don’t wanna move your head, just set your gauge to the simplified version.

By the way, I’ve never driven a base 911 but my GTS is the most thrilling vehicle I’ve ever driven on every level so don’t judge the 911 just based on your experience with that base model.