Odometer reading KM when showing speed

[Epoch]

My 2005 Passat is showing current speed (when driving) in the odometer section.

The rest of the car is set to GB miles, the instruction manual states that i need to press the 0.0 button when stationary and the ignition is on to change it to miles but it doesn't appear to work?

If i press and hold it, it obviously resets the trip miles and a quick press does nothing.

Can I get the dealer to change this at service or am i being stupid and doing it wrong?

[sathound]

As the main speedometer only shows MPH, it is an EU requirement that there is another indication of speed in KPH and this is the digital display above the trip odometer. It cannot be changed.

[Epoch]

Thanks, that's annoying and somewhat frustrating.

[sathound]

Yes, I agree somewhat whilst in the UK, but take your car over the channel and it is your only indication of speed in Km/hr!

[gamichea]

Thanks, that's annoying and somewhat frustrating.

Why?

[Epoch]

Yes, I agree somewhat whilst in the UK, but take your car over the channel and it is your only indication of speed in Km/hr!

I Would agree in this situation, but as below


Why?


If the needle speedo had both measures (MPH/KM), like most other car manufacturers I could have seen my MPH digitally for the 99.9% of the mileage i'll drive it. To be fair i doubt i'll take this one abroad at all, I don't disagree with the rule but i do disagree with the execution of compliance in this case.

[henley_regatta]

If the needle speedo had both measures (MPH/KM), like most other car manufacturers I could have seen my MPH digitally for the 99.9% of the mileage i'll drive it. To be fair i doubt i'll take this one abroad at all, I don't disagree with the rule but i do disagree with the execution of compliance in this case.

There's much I admire about the Passat, in terms of the engineering and the attention to detail. From the rubber anti-rub strip under the key slot, through to the wiper blades resetting their position on engine shutdown, even through to the use of the electric hand brake and ABS sensors to detect uneven tire pressures. All good stuff.

But I'm with most people on this one: Every other (UK) car on the chuffin' planet has KM/H as a secondary scale on the Speedo, usually in a darker colour. So why on earth VW decided that this was no longer good enough and we needed some complex electronics and display rules and whatnot to display this value digitally I have no idea.

[Quatrelle]

There's much I admire about the Passat, in terms of the engineering and the attention to detail. From the rubber anti-rub strip under the key slot, through to the wiper blades resetting their position on engine shutdown, even through to the use of the electric hand brake and ABS sensors to detect uneven tire pressures. All good stuff.

But I'm with most people on this one: Every other (UK) car on the chuffin' planet has KM/H as a secondary scale on the Speedo, usually in a darker colour. So why on earth VW decided that this was no longer good enough and we needed some complex electronics and display rules and whatnot to display this value digitally I have no idea.

Exactly, and if they insist on complicating things, why not make it possible to change it? I'd very much like mine to display in km/h, especially as the steps per 10km/h get smaller once the needle goes past '12 o'clock', and for some reason it's marked in 'even' increments (i.e. 20,40,60 etc) and the speed limits here are 50,70,90,110,130.

[gamichea]

For reasons of clarity I much prefer the single mph scale on the speedo.

Just because every other car on the planet has a secondary scale on the speedo. does not mean that is the best or only solution. Its what we're used to & has stood the test of time for reasons good or bad.

As for complex electronics, isn't the main speedo driven electronically anyway? If so the km/h display is surely no more than than a separate feed from the same driver whose native mode is likely to be km/h.

[Spudrig]

For reasons of clarity I much prefer the single mph scale on the speedo.



I prefer it too as I live very near the border with the Irish Republic, so I do some driving down there to get my diesel, where the speed is in km/h. So I think that it is a good idea, especially as it is more accurate than some cars that have the mph and km/h scales

[sl123]

I agree with gamichea. I much prefer the single mph reading on the speedo. When I last drove in europe in a BMW it had dual layout on the speedo and it was confusing. Having it shown on a seperate display is better. Each to their own :Blush:

[Epoch]

Each to their own :Blush:

I strongly agree,

However the ability to choose either/or on the digital display with a meeting of the legal requirement dealtwith in the traditional manner would have enabled happyness allround.

[jonsey24]

What bugs me is when you pull away and the KMH kicks in over the top of your mileage readout so you have no way of telling how many miles your car has done untill you come to a stop.

[Stuart W]

I agree with gamichea. I much prefer the single mph reading on the speedo. When I last drove in europe in a BMW it had dual layout on the speedo and it was confusing.

Are you saying that the km/h reading confused the mph reading or that it was confusing to read the km/h reading per se?

In any previous car I've driven I've barely noticed the km/h scale, and the only advantage I can see with the Passat is that it looks less cluttered, but I couldn't really see how having an inset km/h scale could confuse the mph reading.

As for actually using a km/h reading, I've never driven abroad thus don't know if an inset analoge reading would be preferable to seperate digitial one.

[Stuart W]

What bugs me is when you pull away and the KMH kicks in over the top of your mileage readout so you have no way of telling how many miles your car has done untill you come to a stop.

Yes, but it's hardly a great hardship unless like me you're one of those people who like to look out for mileage 'milestones':o

I suspect the reason for this and not being able to change to mph is to ensure that the correct figures are consistently on display - if you could change from mph to km/h and vice versa then you could forget and end up reading the wrong speed for the legal requirements.

[angus]

I don`t see the need to change the digital display to mph, particularly when its far harder to read quickly than a big circular dial with a big red stick in it which gives the very same information.
I don`t look for mileage `milestones`, so as said above its not really a hardship.

There are lots of things I [B]don`t[B] like about my Passat - but that isn`t one of them!

[Epoch]

There are lots of things I [b]don`t[b] like about my Passat - but that isn`t one of them!

Care to share?

[Quatrelle]

I don`t see the need to change the digital display to mph, particularly when its far harder to read quickly than a big circular dial with a big red stick in it which gives the very same information.
I find my big circular km/h dial is very cluttered once the big red stick gets to 100kph - the gap between the 20km/h marks is half what it was. A problem with having a speedo that goes up to 220....:(

Seriously though, the needle doesn't move very far so you have to look quite carefully or you find you're well over the limit. I'm glad I've got CC for its digital readout.

But yes, to each his own.

[gamichea]

I find my big circular km/h dial is very cluttered once the big red stick gets to 100kph - the gap between the 20km/h marks is half what it was. A problem with having a speedo that goes up to 220....:(

Seriously though, the needle doesn't move very far so you have to look quite carefully or you find you're well over the limit. I'm glad I've got CC for its digital readout.

But yes, to each his own.

So your kmh speedo.has a diminishing scale? How curious, 'cos my mph speedo. which reads to 160 (=255kp/h., I think) has a constant scale with 80mph at tdc and 20, 40, 60, etc. in a larger font than 30, 50, 70, etc.

[Spudrig]

So your kmh speedo.has a diminishing scale? How curious, 'cos my mph speedo. which reads to 160 (=255kp/h., I think) has a constant scale with 80mph at tdc and 20, 40, 60, etc. in a larger font than 30, 50, 70, etc.

Yours is the same as mine Gamichea

[Quatrelle]

Here's mine.

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s256/Quatrelle/Speedo.jpg

The gradations before 100 km/h in the larger font are in 20s, after they are in 20s, for virtually the same scale.

It's the bit between 100 and 140 km/h that bugs me - that 40km/h is the same (almost) as the 80-100.

I think part of my problem is that I wear glasses for a slight correction for distance, consequently I have to really re-focus when I look at those small increments on the speedo. I'm going to see if I can get a weaker prescription from the optician - bizarrely, as I get older my distance vision seems to be improving, probably because now I'm retired I don't spend all day in front of a computer screen.

Apologies for stating that my speedo only went to 220 - I was thinking of our Laguna, the speedo of which is easier to read.

[Spudrig]

That is a strange speedometer Quatrelle, I wonder why VW chose to do this rather than keeping the increments the same? I also notice that the speed at 30 and 50kph are marked red, presumably for roughly 20mph and 30mph.

[Quatrelle]

Yes, 50 km/h is the equivalent of 30mph and serves the same purpose as in the UK. 30 is far less common than 70, so not sure why it's red. 90 is for single carriageways, 110 for dual carriageways and 130 for autoroutes - none of which is in the larger font!!

[Spudrig]

Yes, 50 km/h is the equivalent of 30mph and serves the same purpose as in the UK. 30 is far less common than 70, so not sure why it's red. 90 is for single carriageways, 110 for dual carriageways and 130 for autoroutes - none of which is in the larger font!!

None of the speeds on my speedometer are highlighted red :(

[Stuart W]

I suppose the basic problem with a kh/h scale is that of necessity there's more numbers involved thus it's bound to be a bit more cluttered than a mph scale.

Perhaps that's why they don't inset one in the UK cars - because they need a high max speed number these days a lot of detail would be lost on an inset scale.

Quartelle's dual-scale speedo is interesting though - presumably they consider it preferable to have more detail available at lower speeds.

[gamichea]

Quartelle's dual-scale speedo is interesting though - presumably they consider it preferable to have more detail available at lower speeds.

Interesting? That's a much more polite description than I'd use for that instrument bearing in mind the driver needs to take in the reading at glance.

I guess design/layout is constrained by myriad EU rules but why not start at 10 kph and go up 30, 50, etc.to 130 at tdc then on to 250, crucially omitting 20, 40 etc. to improve clarity? After all those of us working in miles make do with 10mph divisions and at an equivalent 12-13mph 20kph is only a little more.

[Stuart W]

Interesting? That's a much more polite description than I'd use for that instrument bearing in mind the driver needs to take in the reading at glance.

I guess design/layout is constrained by myriad EU rules but why not start at 10 kph and go up 30, 50, etc.to 130 at tdc then on to 250, crucially omitting 20, 40 etc. to improve clarity? After all those of us working in miles make do with 10mph divisions and at an equivalent 12-13mph 20kph is only a little more.

I suppose it might be a bit like the dipstick - thinking of ever more elaborate designs either in the hope that they might be a selling point or merely to justify the existance of the designers.

A bit like government really.:o

[Spudrig]

A bit like government really.:o

Lol :D