I rented a Yaris for business last week (not on purpose... ya takes what ya can gets) and found it to be generally a decent car except for the awful, idiotic cluster placement. The tach, speedo and all driver instrumentation is in the enter of the dash so that you have to look right to see anything. Directly in front of you is... nothing. A blank dash.
Who is the asshat that thought this was a good idea? Why do back seat passengers need a better view of the tach, speedo and status than the driver?
The bean counters that want to justify using one gauge pod for any market in the world LOVE center clusters. Some of the dashboard pads are RHD/LHD capable too.
Think of all the money they're saving...I'm sure that translates into extra savings for us consumers, right? 
I borrowed a friend's echo. That idiotic gage cluster was the one thing that ruined that car completely (aside from the miserable handling and lack of anything resembling power)
To make room for the speakers of course...
The only reason I can see to do this is that it allows the gauges to be higher up in the field of visibility. Rather than having to take your eyes off the road by looking down, you glance to the right and keep the road in your peripheral vision.
But I'm guessing the real reason is bean-counters/change-for-change's-sake types.
My wife and I sat in a First year Saturn Ion to appease a salesman once. We both couldn't get over that stupid center mounted instrument cluster (or the gray plastic trim running the length of roof) I also pissed off the salesman by laughing and telling him "You'd better inspect this- it looks like the original steering wheel might have been replaced with one from a bumper car."
It leaves more room for your netbook up there.
mad_machine wrote:
I borrowed a friend's echo. That idiotic gage cluster was the one thing that ruined that car completely (aside from the miserable handling and lack of anything resembling power)
I loved it in the Echo. I didn't expect to, but it seemed completely natural to me.
oof...I hated it in our Ion - it sucked....whats worse, imagine getting out of a regular car and switching immediately into one with a center cluster...at least 10 times in the first 8 minutes you have a moment like this:
The voice inside my brain said:
*ZOMGWEREALLGONNADIE* (as my heartrate goes up to about hummingbird levels) THE NAZIS STOLE MY INSTRUMENTS AND ALL MY FUEL ...oh wait...there they are- the dumbtarded designers put the instrument panel *ALL WAY THE FRIG OVER THERE...@$$HOL3S!!!!*... whew ok, so here we are going down the road ...dum dee dum dee dum...hows my temperatureOHMYFREEKINGOD *WHERE IS MY SPEEDOM*... oh...right, there they are waaaay over there...
Maybe Toyota thought it might be cute to copy the original Mini? Didn't the Echo with the same type of instrument cluster have 2 gloveboxes? Or am I thinking of another Toyota model?
Put 70k or so on the combination of a Scion Xb and a MINI Cooper and both had the center mounted dash. You get used to it, it's not a big deal.
The Yaris/Echo had it in the center for a long time as far modern cars go. I love it in my "cringe" Prius, it seems to keep your eyes on the road better and is less straining. Also they show where your fingers are on the audio controls without you having to look down which is great.
dimeadozen wrote:
I also pissed off the salesman by laughing and telling him.
I stopped and looked at one and they had a white styrofoam "model" of the DOHC head for a sales presentation. I picked it up and asked the salesman; WHAT was GM thinking by using styrofoam heads? How long would these last? The guy thought I was nuts.
Who is the asshat that thought this was a good idea? Why do back seat passengers need a better view of the tach, speedo and status than the driver?
The idea is, some people don't like having all of that distraction in front of them. It's the logical extension to those SAABs that have a button you can press that will kill all of the gauges except the speedometer.
The kind of people like that, those people... are not car people. They're transportation appliance people.
FWIW - One of my relatives is a transportation appliance person, and the Yaris was off her list because of the goofy dash. It was a showdown between Fit and Fiesta, and the Fit won out because she couldn't find a Fiesta that wasn't loaded to the gills. Great, it's a cheaper car in theory, but the ones on the lot were fully optioned up. ("SYNC? Why do I want that?")
PS - We couldn't find anyone who'd buy her '99 Metro at any price. It was hauled off to the junkyard today. Kinda sad, but just no room for it.
We've got a MINI and an Xb. You get used to it. Since I wear bifocals, I find it easier to read than the instruments in my old Astro.
mtn
SuperDork
9/13/10 6:32 p.m.
Knurled wrote:
Who is the asshat that thought this was a good idea? Why do back seat passengers need a better view of the tach, speedo and status than the driver?
The idea is, some people don't like having all of that distraction in front of them. It's the logical extension to those SAABs that have a button you can press that will kill all of the gauges except the speedometer.
The kind of people like that, those people... are not car people. They're transportation appliance people.
I love the night panel on my SAAB. Seriously, what is on the gauge cluster that I need to see? If something comes up with the oil, temperature, or gas, the light for that will come back on.
the "night panel" was the only part of my old NG that i really liked. I am a car guy, but when I am in commuter mode at night, it is nice to shut down everything but the speedo and go. Very soothing.
Knurled wrote:
PS - We couldn't find anyone who'd buy her '99 Metro at any price. It was hauled off to the junkyard today. Kinda sad, but just no room for it.
If it was a manual with the 1.3L SOHC 16 valve, you are an evil, evil person 
It was an automatic.
I would have bought it, but I have too many cars.
I also have plenty VW drivetrains that I could fangle in, given the utter lack of VW shells. Of course, this would make the car not registerable since it's OBD-II. How do you get a Digifant-I to pass a scan tool test?
I actually didn't mind it in the Scion xB I drove. I felt like it wasn't any different than glancing over at the radio.
If I get a Yaris, mod #1 is a GPS where the cluster should be. Then coil-overs and 9# koseis...
Considering the average car-operator has their vision clearly set at a point just beyond the windshield washer nozzles - having to look away to check if they're exceeding 20mph probably isn't a hardship.
In my case, however - I want as much information as possible within my field of view. I've had center instrument cars as rentals and ~hate~ it. I scan a 5 point field continually while driving: Front to line of sight - rear view - left side mirror, right side mirror - instruments - back to front. You can get all of it while barely moving your eyes. Center cluster is too far away to be prominent in your peripheral vision, IMO.
Our MINI has the tach mounted behind the steering wheel and the speedo in the center. Having the tach there by itself is great when driving hard. Having the speedo in the center while commuting is....well...just different. Not really better or worse. I will say it's a little unnerving when the wife can watch your speed....
We're cheating though - the tach has a small digital readout out off the speed at the bottom.
