Is there a Speedometer / Tachometer software upgraded for LOOK?

[AZshot]

I've had my 4door Bronco for months now and love almost everything about it except the instrument cluster. The speedometer off to the left side, with it's needle always pointing somewhere at the extreme left of the screen, is useless. Never seen, your wheel and hands are in the way.

The intended view with it's center, large empty space area, with the small speed number at the bottom requires a heads-down look and to mentally cogitate your speed.

The bar tachometer is similarly non-intuitive, as is it's supplemental number with one whole number and decimal. It's the epitome of horrible human systems engineering. You have to mentally convert 2.7 to 2700 RPM, 27 to MPH beside it, a bar graph, a needle, bells, whistles, different colors, vertical movement, scrolling numbers....etc....etc. VERY stupid and I seldom even look at the instrument cluster for speed/RPMs.

I come from a fighter pilot training background. This is a nightmare design. A needle and the SAME type of needle for both instruments is best for quick, peripheral checking. You don't have to really LOOK at an analog gauge and CALCULATE things mentally....you just SENSE your speed and RPM out of the bottom of your eye.
There, a little for Fords engineers to think about. Does anyone have a way to software upgrade it to pseudo needles and round gauges for both?

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[jsteph262]

People are hoping that the raptor dash will be able to swap in, but until someone gets their hands on one we wont know.

 

[TX-Hans]

I've had my 4door Bronco for months now and love almost everything about it except the instrument cluster. The speedometer off to the left side, with it's needle always pointing somewhere at the extreme left of the screen, is useless. Never seen, your wheel and hands are in the way.

The intended view with it's center, large empty space area, with the small speed number at the bottom requires a heads-down look and to mentally cogitate your speed.

The bar tachometer is similarly non-intuitive, as is it's supplemental number with one whole number and decimal. It's the epitome of horrible human systems engineering. You have to mentally convert 2.7 to 2700 RPM, 27 to MPH beside it, a bar graph, a needle, bells, whistles, different colors, vertical movement, scrolling numbers....etc....etc. VERY stupid and I seldom even look at the instrument cluster for speed/RPMs.

I come from a fighter pilot training background. This is a nightmare design. A needle and the SAME type of needle for both instruments is best for quick, peripheral checking. You don't have to really LOOK at an analog gauge and CALCULATE things mentally....you just SENSE your speed and RPM out of the bottom of your eye.
There, a little for Fords engineers to think about. Does anyone have a way to software upgrade it to pseudo needles and round gauges for both?

What you laid out could easily be the top complaint and wish list item for the Bronco. There is no solution right now but many people are hoping either Ford issues a major revision via software (highly unlikely), a 3rd-party figures out how to crack it all and change it, or the new instrument cluster for the upcoming Raptor/Warthog can somehow be retro-fitted into the standard Bronco.

 

[zuke]

Our best hope is probably to get a company like Carobotor interested, They make some awesome replacement dashes for other makes and models (Mostly Jeeps)...

 

[AZshot]

Thanks for the news, I don't check in here very often. I searched and thought I may have missed some easy fix.

 

[EBG]

I'm hoping the gauge cluster from a Ranger will swap in - nice, simple, basic, clear, easy to read analog gauges.

Ranger is based on the same platform as the Bronco, and even built on the same assembly line, if the gauge cluster fits the dash it stands a good chance of working, even if a little help from Forscan is needed.

 

[JoeSpeed]

whatever the option is, wanna change the display colors, a MyColor system like a Mustang

Ford dropped the ball like they were repeatedly dropped on their heads

 

[AzGoat]

+1 on wanting something different. One item I would upgrade and gladly pay the Bronco tax on.

 

[thatspecialbeat]

The design is dumb but you lost me at "have to mentally convert 2.7 to 2700."

 

[TX-Hans]

My opinion is, this is an area where Ford could do some software programming and charge a few hundred bucks as an upgrade.

True, but if Ford wanted to build back good will with its Bronco customers, it would do the upgrade free of charge, especially if it could be done as an over-the-air update. If it's a service visit type of update, then I suspect it would have to charge some nominal fee to cover the dealer's opportunity cost for doing the update. I suspect either approach is wishful thinking but we can always hope.

 

[Oisinirish]

I find it amusing that the tach display almost exactly matches the fuel economy slider from 2011 F-150 while fuel economy gauge matches the tach on said truck.
Not sure wtf they were thinking when they designed the setup for the Bronco. It should be an easy patch. It’s just graphics after all.

 

[PrepVet]

I very much doubt there will ever be an over the air update to the look of the dash. Something like that would give Ford too much pause to do because of the liability concerns. Perhaps a “patch” installed at a dealer but then Ford would have to give a lot of access to the firmware something I think they would very much avoid for the same liability and intrusion concerns.

Perhaps a hardware upgrade, either with a tag a long chip that modifies the display output but does not alter the root firmware or even an entire dash assembly.

I know Tesla does it but that is an entirely different company, culture and more importantly it was designed from the start to be able to have that done. Regularly.

 

[l88m22vette]

^ Broncos get updates all the time, there essentially isn't a difference, it'd be an update like anything else receives at this point. They could add a few options, in case anyone wants to keep the original, and even something as simple as different colors would help. The instrument cluster sucks from a design and ergonomics standpoint, it makes your eyes work for the information instead of easily providing it to you (which is the whole point of instrument clusters).

1) The most important gauge, the analog speedo, is the farthest from the center of the windshield on the bottom-left. The most intuitive gauge to read ironically takes the most time and effort away from watching the road. The speedometer should have been on the right side of the cluster, and just this change alone would have been a big improvement.

2) The tachometer is small, difficult to read easily/quickly compared to an analog gauge, and the basically pointless second speedometer right next to it makes a quick glance more difficult. The screen's color scheme of blues and grays washes stuff out, which adds to making reading it difficult. Why aren't the tachometer bars red?!

3) There is a lot of unused space on the screen, which makes what is displayed seemed crammed in, or not thought out correctly, like something else was supposed to be included. I know that things like the speed limit sign or optional equipment use some of the this space, but things that are ALWAYS is usage should get top-billing and placement over secondary notifications or setting lights.

At the end of the day, Ford wanted a round speedo because heritage. They could have put a version of the normal speedo right in the middle of the cluster, and included the digital speed, speed limit sign, and maybe navigational stuff there. The right side could have been a nice digital tach, with fuel/coolant/etc., while the left would be offroad and status info. Boom, a big center speedo like the original that doesn't hurt your brain to use.

edit: Sorry for the necro-bump, I have been trying to research if there is a way to pick up a tach signal for a stand-alone gauge

 

[GoHack]

I've had my 4door Bronco for months now and love almost everything about it except the instrument cluster. The speedometer off to the left side, with it's needle always pointing somewhere at the extreme left of the screen, is useless. Never seen, your wheel and hands are in the way.

The intended view with it's center, large empty space area, with the small speed number at the bottom requires a heads-down look and to mentally cogitate your speed.

The bar tachometer is similarly non-intuitive, as is it's supplemental number with one whole number and decimal. It's the epitome of horrible human systems engineering. You have to mentally convert 2.7 to 2700 RPM, 27 to MPH beside it, a bar graph, a needle, bells, whistles, different colors, vertical movement, scrolling numbers....etc....etc. VERY stupid and I seldom even look at the instrument cluster for speed/RPMs.

I come from a fighter pilot training background. This is a nightmare design. A needle and the SAME type of needle for both instruments is best for quick, peripheral checking. You don't have to really LOOK at an analog gauge and CALCULATE things mentally....you just SENSE your speed and RPM out of the bottom of your eye.
There, a little for Fords engineers to think about. Does anyone have a way to software upgrade it to pseudo needles and round gauges for both?

New Bronco owner here.
My biggest complaint w/it is the lack of a "REAL" readable Tachometer.
I've owned a 2022 Bronco Sport Badlands, and there were no complaints on my part w/it's Instrument Cluster, including its Tachometer.

I like to see a Tachometer, especially driving off-road.
It seems to me the display could be reprogrammed.

 

[Headsong]

Seems odd that we can't configure our own. It's just software display. Granted, there'd be required elements, but a nice day and drop page would be great.

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