What is the ugliest dash currently in production (or in recent memory)???

[MinisterofDOOM]

It doesn't work fine.It's stupid.

If it worked fine, you'd see it in more than just a handful of goofball cars trying to be clever.

The gauge cluster on a normal car isn't obstructing the view anyway. There is no benefit to the center gauge cluster but I can think of several downsides:--It's out of direct line-of sight--It's in plain view of passengers (backseat drivers rejoice)--It is wasting useful space--It looks stupid--It is stupid--It's in an awkward spot--There is no benefit to the driver--It moves warning lights out of ready visibility

Look at that Yaris interior. Empty blank space behind the steering wheel.Useful space at the top of the center stack is now wasted on the mislocated instrument cluster.

I'm not worried about what's "easy" I simply dislike doing things differently for no good reason when the traditional way works spectacularly. It looks dumb and provides no benefit to the driver.

Cost cutting is no excuse. Kia has no problem offering cars with sensible dashboard layouts for below Toyota's pricing. They don't seem to need to cut corners. Toyota is one of the biggest automakers in the world...they can do anything Kia can.

If the Toyota was short on dash space or at least made use of the now-unused space like, for instance, the Mini does, I wouldn't hate it nearly as much. But the Yari's version of center gauge pod just leaves gaping emptiness all over the dash. And with dash materials THAT cheap looking, you really should be breaking things up to help disguise the cheap.

[matt_a]

It doesn't work fine.It's stupid.

Gee..that's funny. I could have sworn that I drove my car to work this morning and it worked fine. I could see the road and the guages just fine.

I'm also active on a Scion website and the hundres of people on there who ACTUALLY OWN own xAs (not just giving personal opinions) have no problem with the center gauges either. Whether or not you like them is your opinion, but the bottom line is....they work just fine.

[Knightro2]

When my fiance (girlfriend at the time) got rear-ended she got a Toyota Echo as a rental car. We went to a wedding at Disney and that night I drove it back to the hotel. After a couple of minutes driving I looked down to see how fast I was going and freaked out because I was just staring into a black void. I didn't know what was going on until I finally realized it was a center console. Even after driving it more the next day it was just annoying. I'm all for change...I have to be because I work in the IT field. But this is just wrong. lol

[matt_a]

After a couple of minutes driving I looked down to see how fast I was going and freaked out because I was just staring into a black void.

LOL. That's funny.I hate having to get used to rentals. A few years ago I had a Chevy Equinox as a rental in the Chicago area. If you've ever driven around Chicago you know that many of the highways are "toll roads". That Equinox had the power window switches in the center console and they weren't laid out in a way that made sense to me. Everytime I had to pay a toll I was putting windows down all over that car! I lost count of how many times I had to tell the toll guy, "sorry..it's a rental".

[Knightro2]

That Equinox had the power window switches in the center console and they weren't laid out in a way that made sense to me.

LOL, yea..I used to be a minor road warrior at my last shop...setting up the network and such at new locations. I got a Suzuki XL7 (I think it was) a couple of times. I believe that is the knock off of the Equinox. It had center mounted window contols. But that thing was fun to drive...it had a nice little dual exhaust rumble to it.

I got an Equinox back in '04 as a rental while my S-10 was being repaired from all the roof shingles that hit it during Hurricane Charley. It seemed not very stable at high speeds from what I remembered.

[Promise Land]

How no one has said the '04 - '07 Nissan Quest is beyond me. That was really very poor in design and function.

[greggie195]

It doesn't work fine.It's stupid.

If it worked fine, you'd see it in more than just a handful of goofball cars trying to be clever.

The gauge cluster on a normal car isn't obstructing the view anyway. There is no benefit to the center gauge cluster but I can think of several downsides:--It's out of direct line-of sight--It's in plain view of passengers (backseat drivers rejoice)--It is wasting useful space--It looks stupid--It is stupid--It's in an awkward spot--There is no benefit to the driver--It moves warning lights out of ready visibility

Easily, EASILY one of the funniest posts I have ever read on these interwebs. Good job! I agree with it also!

My 02 Grand Am has the same red lit ugly dash that GM loves so much. Maybe that's why they are going out of business!

[ElDiablo]

[VersaMG08]

wow, looks like you have to study the instrument panel to understand how it's used...

[SuperTurbo]

[url=http://imageshack.us]That Saturn steering wheel looks familiaris it just me or....hmmmm

Modified by blacky_s13 at 11:21 PM 2/3/2009

yea, I know... Look at the center console too, It looks like inside have 2 micky or something LOL

[SuperTurbo]

Oh, blacky_s13

For that red interior, what car is that?? Somehow it makes me remember those cyber car from the 80s

[Red Devil]

I counter with the best looking dash on the market....

[Rockhound]

I'm seeing a theme here... amlost every dash pictured has been of a GM product. Does GM need work in the interior design department? I guess so, because I'm going to add the 2000 Pontiac Grand AM to the list. Ugliest dash I've ever seen, hands down. Oh, and the mid 80's corvette, with that odd rectangular pad in front of the passenger...

No coincidence there. GM produces some of the ugliest interiors, hands down. Although the current-gen Focus is a schizo nightmare as well. Too many angles, too many disparate 'styles'.

What always got me about GM interiors, though, was that the switchgear felt like it was made with Fisher-Price quality plastics - visible seams from the molds everywhere, bulbous switches with what appeared to be hand-painted lettering - and those awful Delphi stereos!

Speaking of bulbous, Saturn's interior 'designers' never met a circle they didn't like. The second-gen SL2 was so rounded and straight line averse it came off like a child's toy. I recall that the SL2 didn't even have backlit gauges! It just had a little light that shined on the gauges. Cheap!

And like in that Aztek photo, the trim around the center stack is just this snapped on piece of hard plastic that looks like it received no design input at all. They found various bits in the parts bin and threw them in.

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I've gotta say, though, that the soft armrests and switchgear in the Versa are both pretty nice. Not a bad interior at all for the class - and even beyond. What I like is that it is one of the few cars in this segment that doesn't have an interior that looks like it was designed for a teenager. You know, the kind an adult feels stupid in - especially when faced with having other adults ride in the car with you.

[blacky_s13]

Oh, blacky_s13

For that red interior, what car is that?? Somehow it makes me remember those cyber car from the 80s

An old aston martin

[Ginsu]

He he. Quite the sig, Red Devil. Has there been a response from him yet? I've been away from the forum for a week or so.

[1.8S]

97-03 Ford escort zx2.