What Ford Engineer in their right mind...

[KC1BUD]

OKed the printing the KPH in red on a black background??? I was in Canada last weekend and nearly went off road while trying to check my speed. Good thing there was no cops around, I might have been delayed on the trip home doing a sobriety tests.

[DriVer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC1BUD OKed the printing the KPH in red on a black background??? I was in Canada last weekend and nearly went off road while trying to check my speed. Good thing there was no cops around, I might have been delayed on the trip home doing a sobriety tests.

Most IP designers have dual colors for MPH and KPH. If it is too much of a challenge to check you speed in KPH just remeber a few benchmarks from the MPH scale when you have a good view of the speedometer. That's what I would do. I didn't have that problem on my IP.

[goldwingerx2]

I set the GPS to KPH.

[Nick-B]

I think what KC1BUD is saying is that red on black is a bad color choice especially for something as important as a speedometer. We should be able to quickly see our speed and not have to think twice about it. For some folks that color combo is easily readable but many people (myself included) do not perceive red like others do. For us red text on black is pretty much illegible. This is a common color perception issue and a good designer should know this. I agree, shame on Ford for such a careless goof.

[Luv2go]

Just this week I noticed a similarly illegible kph display on an Honda Van, so it's not just Ford engineers

Stewart

[TW]

Maybe the same engineer in China did the light system for both companies

TW

[LVJ58]

Guess we lucked out as the KPH on our 2000 is white on black same as the MPH except the MPH in larger digits.

[Frank P. Martin]

Designed the speedometer for my wife's Ford Escape. Starting at 20mph, the speedometer is marked in 5 mph increments and denoted in 20 mile increments- Not the best arrangement but not a problem. However, from zero to 20mph, there's just one mark (10mph?), then the next denoted marking is 20mph. In Pennsylvania, many school zones are 15mph and there's no mark on the speedo for that speed-- you have to guesstimate it. It doesn't give you a warm & fuzzy when you see the police car sitting on the side measuring your speed as you travel through the school zone.

Yeah, I'm sure everyone reading this is thinking the easy answer: Drive at the 10mph mark. However, if you do this, you run the risk of impatient drivers behind you blowing their horn and giving you the one finger salute because they want to go 15 mph (or faster).

Actually, I think the best speedometers are the ones with a digital display that can be switched from mph to kph by pressing a button.

[idenphones]

I am surprised that we don't have, as standard equipment, or at least an option, of a "Head Up Display"

For those that have never used it. The speedo and most of the instruments are projected on the windsheild. Ususally you can select what you want to see.

Had it on my resent Corvettes and loved it. MPH, KPH, and a bunch of other options to boot.

No looking down to see what is going on.

[speed racer]

The people that buy there ford trucks in canada have the oposite problem.

[wa8yxm]

It is easy to do MPH/KPH conversion in your head

8/5

That is if your meter says 50 mph, you are doing 80 kph

To do KPH/MPH it's 5/8

Of the sign says 100 KPH that is 62.5 mph It is that easy

[KC1BUD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick-B I think what KC1BUD is saying is that red on black is a bad color choice especially for something as important as a speedometer. We should be able to quickly see our speed and not have to think twice about it. For some folks that color combo is easily readable but many people (myself included) do not perceive red like others do. For us red text on black is pretty much illegible. This is a common color perception issue and a good designer should know this. I agree, shame on Ford for such a careless goof.

Since KPH is a secondary speed for me, it is also written smaller. My Chevy Pick-up has both in white on black and nearly the same size.

I am going to make a cheat sheet for my rig and have it laminated and stick it right to the dash.

[KC1BUD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm It is easy to do MPH/KPH conversion in your head 8/5 That is if your meter says 50 mph, you are doing 80 kph To do KPH/MPH it's 5/8 Of the sign says 100 KPH that is 62.5 mph It is that easy

Even with my strong background in electronics math was never my strong suit. To make those calculations I would need to remove my shoes and socks and have a pencil and paper handy.

[KC1BUD]

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldwingerx2 I set the GPS to KPH.

I knew where I was going. Didn't need the GPS, or so I thought.