SY-997

As I drove through patchy fog with my headlights on this morning, my panel lights seemed to flicker on and off. Wondering if I had a loose wire, I checked the manual to see if this was a "feature." Lo and behold, on p118 it says that "the illumination is automatically adjusted to the ambient brightness by the light sensor in the tachometer."

I don't believe any of my previous cars varied brightness using a light sensor, and I have been able to read the gauges and seemed to have survived okay so far. Seems to me the feature unecessarily introduces slightly more complexity and a possible point of failure.

I'm curious whether anyone has found the feature useful, and under what circumstance?

cviles

I normally don't notice the "feature" except at certain times near dusk when I turn on the headlights but the dash doesn't illuminate until it gets darker. I've never noticed mine to turn on and off except going into a tunnel or something. I've definitely never seen mine flicker.

Edgy01

You can sort of "test" the lighting's ability to sense the ambient lighting by sticking your finger over the sensor,--it's on the face of the main cluster,--at the 4-o'clock position of the speedometer, beneath the cruise control annunciator light.

SY-997

I think it was flickering because I was going thru patches of fog, causing sun and glare to vary. Distracting, but now that I know its a feature not a bug, I can ignore it.

Todd in PA

I have noticed this as well and I don't like it. I was traveling through a tree lined street at dusk and saw the lights flicker on and off. It was distracting ( I noticed it) and completely unnecessary. Also I turn my headlights on when it is raining and dreary and I would prefer the backlighting to come on in these conditions, they don't. This feature is poorly executed in my opinion.

Of course I love the car, it is spectacular, but the window operation and the instrument backlighting suck. (Let me tell you how I really feel!)