Next-gen Mini interior ditching familiar center speedo
03-29-13, 03:50 PM
#1
Next-gen Mini interior ditching familiar center speedo
Next-gen Mini interior ditching familiar center speedo
A Reddit user has posted images of the 2015 F56 Mini Cooper, one each of the exterior and interior. As has been the case since the launch of the new Mini in 2001, the overall exterior shape underneath camouflage screams Mini, but insiders are still calling the coming F56 model "the most aggressively different new Mini yet." Inside, though, the two-door that defined premium hatchbacks has, according to its most devoted buyers, gone mainstream.
The giant ring atop the center console is there, but there's no longer a speedometer inside of it. Instead, in an integration that brings to mind words like "shoehorned," Mini designers have placed radio and telephone controls inside the bezel. According to the Mini experts at MotoringFile, the picture above is the base trim and one of four possible treatments – in the upper trims a larger screen for navigation takes up most of the space. The bezel itself is marked with mood lighting that supposedly "swirls around" when you start the car with the red toggle switch.
The speedo rests atop the steering column with a tachometer placed to its left. The BMW wheel pictured is just for the prototype – you can expect a familiar three-spoke Mini wheel when the car is revealed, and latest rumor is that the event will take place at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show.
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/29/n...center-speedo/
03-30-13, 11:36 AM
#2
Lexus Fanatic
Good. Even if it breaks a half-century of Mini tradition, I have never thought that center-dash-mounted speedos and secondary-gauges were a good idea. Despite PR-efforts by some auto-manufacturers (Mini, Saturn, Toyota, Nissan, Panoz) to convince us otherwise, such as the argument that the steering-wheel can't block the view if the gauges are in the center, or that it is easier for a driver to shift eyes to the right rather than down, the fact was, and remains, that it is simply a cost-cutting measure to make the dash easier to produce for both left and right-hand-drive versions in various markets.
03-30-13, 12:05 PM
#3
Good. Even if it breaks a half-century of Mini tradition, I have never thought that center-dash-mounted speedos and secondary-gauges were a good idea. Despite PR-efforts by some auto-manufacturers (Mini, Saturn, Toyota, Nissan, Panoz) to convince us otherwise, such as the argument that the steering-wheel can't block the view if the gauges are in the center, or that it is easier for a driver to shift eyes to the right rather than down, the fact was, and remains, that it is simply a cost-cutting measure to make the dash easier to produce for both left and right-hand-drive versions in various markets.
03-30-13, 12:06 PM
#4
Good. Even if it breaks a half-century of Mini tradition, I have never thought that center-dash-mounted speedos and secondary-gauges were a good idea. Despite PR-efforts by some auto-manufacturers (Mini, Saturn, Toyota, Nissan, Panoz) to convince us otherwise, such as the argument that the steering-wheel can't block the view if the gauges are in the center, or that it is easier for a driver to shift eyes to the right rather than down, the fact was, and remains, that it is simply a cost-cutting measure to make the dash easier to produce for both left and right-hand-drive versions in various markets.
03-30-13, 12:31 PM
#5
Lexus Fanatic
That's why, among other companies, I also mentioned Toyota in the last post. Toyota (Echo, Yaris, Prius), Saturn (Ion), Nissan (2Gen Quest), Mini, and Panoz have all sold center-mount speedos in the American market.
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03-30-13, 03:57 PM
#8
It was a non-issue for me. In every Mini I've ever driven(US spec models), there is a digital speed readout in the bottom of the tach, which is straight dead ahead of you. The center speedo was more a stylistic sillyness in that they could've used that space for radio/nav controls.
03-30-13, 06:26 PM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
that interior looks hideous.
03-31-13, 06:52 PM
#11
Lexus Fanatic
My Buick Verano, though, offers a nice solution......a conventional needle/analog speedo in front of the wheel, and, between the speedo and the tach, a push-button (on/off) digital speed-readout if you want it (it's part of the trip-computer menu).
The center speedo was more a stylistic sillyness in that they could've used that space for radio/nav controls.
Last edited by mmarshall; 03-31-13 at 06:55 PM.
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