Hi there. I'm looking to buy my first car soon, and I would really like to get a Scion xA. I've wanted one ever since high school. However, there are a few things I would like to learn about the car.

One of my biggest concerns are the center-mounted gauges. Are these distracting while driving? For example, instead of looking behind the wheel to see your mph, you have to look towards the center of the dash.

For those who drive the xA, is this a distracting feature?

 

It took me a while to get used to it, but I like the fact there is no light coming from straight in front of you at night from the instrument cluster

 

(as I said in the other thread) It takes some getting used to but, it's actually easier and IMO less distracting, since you don't have to look down.

 

drove the xA a few months before i got the xD,

center mounted works just fine



the design is meant for your eyes to travel across, rather then down i think
but... prob just a corporate money saving scheme

 

I like this feature because there is no light in front of you when you drive, it's weird the first week you drive it, but you get used to it very fast.

 

Hmm. It sounds like something I could get used to. I'm just worried about my dad. I'm worried that he will say it's too distracting and therefore won't let me get the xA.

I hope he lets me get one.

 

Let him go with and/or drive on the test drive too.

 

Center gauges are a plus not a minus,aids night time driving.

 

Tell him he can monitor your speed when he's in the car while you're driving, since he can see the gauges better ;) That'll win him over.

 

It is easier and less distracting to just flick the eyes slightly down and right to see the guages than it is to look between the spokes of the steering wheel and refocus to a much closer and very different lighting environment.

The distraction from what is happening in front of you (where your primary attention should be) is actually less with the high mounted instruments at a decent distance.

You get used to the very rapidly.

 

The xB2 has center gauges as well and it felt natural for me.

 

Yup, the xA, xB Classic, and the xB2 all have centered instruments mounted fairly high.

They don't take your eyes as far off the road yet they are not directly in front of the driver. You never lose peripheral vision of what is happening on the road like you do with low mounted instruments behind a steering wheel

 

takes a week but its fine.

 

I've had mine 5 years and I love it. Its never ever been a problem. My husband drives a cavalier and loves driving my car because its comfortable and feels great and easier to see at night. I honestly hope your dad lets you get one, because they are super fun cars. Great gas mileage, great people, great fun.

 

I'm going to have to disagree and say that its the most awful concept ever. I find that while driving its a total distraction in that my immediate field of view is not symmetrical. There is this constant annoyance of the guages to my right. I ride motorcycles and it is much more natural and intuitive to check your instrument cluster by looking down than off to the middle. One of the top annoyances of the Scion line.

I just traded in my Xa for a Rav4 and let me tell you it was great though, I got above NADA book value for my '05.

 

When I was looking to buy a car last year I was originally interested in the Toyota Yaris, which also has centered gauges. The salesman explained to me that the reason for this is to reduce production costs because this car is sold to be driven on the right or left side of the road, depending on the country. Instead of designing a whole new dash for this, they cut costs for Toyota (and us) by just sticking the gauges in the middle - easily seen from either side.

Considering that these cars were designed to be inexpensive for the quality, this makes sense to me.

 

I actually like my center mounted gauges. I think they are more functional. Just different. Took almost no time to get used to them.

As for the center mounted gauges reducing production costs. That might be true, but I'm not so sure. It is still a different dash whether it is right hand driver or left hand drive. The little center thing w/ the speedometer might be the same, but the rest of the dash has to be reversed anyway. I'm not even sure the speedometer portion is the same. I wouldn't be surprised if left hand drive cars have the gauges moved around on the center part.

 

I wouldn't say it's the most awful thing ever, but I certainly would rather have them regular mounted.

I find it distracting to have to look out of the direction of travel. I also make use of the dash dimmer when driving at nighttime on cars that have conventional gauges. The other thing is that since the gauge face is not perpendicular to the line of sight from the driver's perspective, I never know if I should interpret the speedometer needle as it appears from where I'm sitting or as it is indicating if one was looking perpendicular to the face of the gauge.

IMO, it's the worst "feature" of the car, and yes, it most definitely is a cost cutting measure first and foremost.

 

i thought they were at first but i got used to them quick. I agree with everyone here that the lack of light coming from the dashboard is quite great. I drive long distances and not having that beam in my face helps a ton.

 

It took a couple weeks to get used to, but once I did I realized I like the center mounted gauge cluster so much better than the standard position. I can keep an eye on my speed out of the corner of my eye instead of trying to see through the steering wheel.