No Need for Fancy Gauges - 2016 Honda Pilot Long-Term Road Test

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No Need for Fancy Gauges - 2016 Honda Pilot Long-Term Road Test

Our 2016 Honda Pilot long termer has gauges that put the digital stuff front and center and push everything else off to the side. It might be efficient, but it's not pretty.

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nate001

I like cars with a analog speedometer, I think that they look better and are easier to read.

The panel from the Silverado/Sierra is a good example of a having analog gauges and also a center display that can mirror the important information digitally if you want it to.

thepuff

Most people that drive a Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander for the matter don't care about the driver interaction nor the temperature of their vehicle's coolant. Many would't know how to decipher an oil, coolant, trans or volt gauge. Front and center importance for them is their sirius XM stations, texts, or nav to the nearest shopping center/soccer field.

hank39

thepuff said:

Most people that drive a Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander for the matter don't care about the driver interaction nor the temperature of their vehicle's coolant. Many would't know how to decipher an oil, coolant, trans or volt gauge. Front and center importance for them is their sirius XM stations, texts, or nav to the nearest shopping center/soccer field.

Or information that tells them when they need an oil change

moparbad

These gauges are poorly designed. An analog speedometer is more important than the RPM. If the designer must have a digital speedometer then do it the way GM does in the Cruze with analog speedometer and selectable digital in the information screen. Honda las lost it's way in ergonomics and intuitive, tactile controls. Actual knobs and buttons paired with a touch screen is the way to go. Trying to adjust volume on Honda's screen without looking at it is very difficult while driving. Adjusting volume with a knob is easy and attention remains on the road. Steering wheel controls are a solution if well designed. Unfortunately there are now too many controls on the steering wheel in some vehicles which leads to driver error. Why does the vehicle keep speeding up when I try to increase the volume? Just kidding...sort of.

nate001

thepuff said:

Most people that drive a Honda Pilot or Toyota Highlander for the matter don't care about the driver interaction nor the temperature of their vehicle's coolant. Many would't know how to decipher an oil, coolant, trans or volt gauge. Front and center importance for them is their sirius XM stations, texts, or nav to the nearest shopping center/soccer field.

They don't need to add the voltage gauge & oil temp, and they already have fuel and coolant, so they could use a similar layout to what GM has done has been done with the Cruze or GM trucks. Honda also has great gauges in the CR-V, Civic & Accord, the design in the Pilot is dull and uninspired, they would have been better to copy directly from one of the other Honda models.

allthingshonda

Funny how people give props to GM for their gauge design but forget that GM was a pioneer of all digital gauges and everybody hated them. The 1986, yes 86, Riviera was the first car to have a touch screen interface for trip computer, climate controls, and audio functions, I like these gauges. Clean, simple and easy to read. The center screen can display malfunction messages if something requires your attention. And like all Hondas I'm sure it has at least 15 warning lights for various systems. How is a analog speedometer easier to read than a digital one? Analog: needle pointing between 70 and 75 quick glance how fast are you going? Digital: 72

5vzfe

^ I agree. The tach doesn't really need to be there at all, most people probably don't even check it that often. digital speedometers tell you exactly how fast you're going, and that info is front and center. All this despite the fact I too enjoy traditional gauges in cars. At least it's not all recessed deep into some pod tube thing, that's not a trend I'm a fan of.

nate001

allthingshonda said:

Analog: needle pointing between 70 and 75 quick glance how fast are you going? Digital: 72

Speed limits are in 5 MPH increments, so I don't need to to know exactly how fast I am going 72, 73, 74 it doesn't make a big difference since I want to keep up with traffic and drive at or maybe slightly above the speed limit.

With an analog gauge you can see its position at glance and see where the needle is pointing and know that you are going about 65, 70, etc. if other the gauges are out of place you can see them without being aware unless something is wrong.

stever

I go back and forth between my analog speedo on my van and the digital speed on my Garmin. I use my cruise a lot in town and often set it to an odd number as shown on the Garmin, like 47 (in a 45 zone).

My real preference would be a HUD with the digital speed shown on the windshield.

I like having an analog tach though.

nagant

A tach is useless anymore really. All one needs is an upshift light that goes yellow then red at redline.

heather99

A tachometer is not useless, otherwise why would every manufacturer still include that in their dashboard layout? It serves a purpose, though it is more needed for manual- or driver-shiftable-transmission vehicles. For automatic transmissions maybe not so much. But they can be used to inform the driver how the engine is doing especially when the road goes uphill or downhill, or when towing a load.

Analog gauges are sadly being phased out in favor of those huge LCD screens that display faux analog gauges and turn completely black when the engine is off. Ferrari, Mercedes and Tesla have that in some of their models already.