Spokane Shelby Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I have been watching the postings to see if anyone else has trouble seeing the gauges during the day. At night with the lights on they are beautiful and easily read. I have trouble seeing any of them including the speedometer, which is a problem trying to maintain 35 on an arterial. I turned the lights on during the day, but is does not illuminate the dash. Is there something I do not understand or could do to solve this problem? On our 99 Cobra the gauges have a white face and are easily seen. This has been a disappointment to me on the 500. Maybe it is just my old eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthLord Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 Try adjusting the amount of brightness right next to the headlight control. All the way up will turn on the interior lights, so turn it up until they come on, then click back a little to shut them off. You might also want to change the MYCOLORS setup but I think that only works when the lights are on, which you don't have problem them... I personally love the red, white and blue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 You're not the only one. I've complained about this from day one and the glare from the "mis-designed" clear plastic doesn't help at all. Ford HAD to make the background different just because it's a "Shelby". If they would have left it black like the base V6 and GT, the contrast makes it far superior in terms of seeing the gauges in the daylight. OR why didn't they stick with SVT tradition and make all the gauges white-faced? As soon as someone markets either a white or black faced overlay for our cluster, I'm all over it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05FSTBK Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 You're not the only one. I've complained about this from day one and the glare from the "mis-designed" clear plastic doesn't help at all. Ford HAD to make the background different just because it's a "Shelby". If they would have left it black like the base V6 and GT, the contrast makes it far superior in terms of seeing the gauges in the daylight. OR why didn't they stick with SVT tradition and make all the gauges white-faced? As soon as someone markets either a white or black faced overlay for our cluster, I'm all over it.... i run with my lights on 24/7 (when driving) i also run with the R-W-B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpretzel Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I haven't had issues seeing the instruments. They're all crystal clear. Actually, I've never had a car with better instrument visibility. Maybe your backlight settings need to be adjusted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6-Speed Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I don't have any problems seeing the instruments during the day or at night. With the headlights & parking lights off, the instruments are illuminated with white light; the My Colors feature is only enabled when you turn on the headlights. I also believe the dimmer control only works to adjust the instrument panel illumination when the headlights or parking lights are turned on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mciarochi Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 If I wear sunglasses, I have trouble making out the instruments. If you run lights-on in daylight, that makes it worse, even all the way up is not as bright as lights-off. However, night lighting is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUCKY DUCK Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 If I wear sunglasses, I have trouble making out the instruments. If you run lights-on in daylight, that makes it worse, even all the way up is not as bright as lights-off. However, night lighting is great. Ihave same problem, it's terrible in Fl. sunlight. Can"t find white faced guages anywhere for GT500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unjustified Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I have been watching the postings to see if anyone else has trouble seeing the gauges during the day. At night with the lights on they are beautiful and easily read. I have trouble seeing any of them including the speedometer, which is a problem trying to maintain 35 on an arterial. I turned the lights on during the day, but is does not illuminate the dash. Is there something I do not understand or could do to solve this problem? On our 99 Cobra the gauges have a white face and are easily seen. This has been a disappointment to me on the 500. Maybe it is just my old eyes. I too run my headlights during the day. However, the dash lights will dim when you turn the headights on. This is to keep them from blinding you at night, but makes the CD player display & other dash lighting difficult to read during the day. I have the brightness level turned all the way up & Mycolor set to blue to match the ambient lighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of GT Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 I don't have any issue seeing or reading my gauges day or night, but for those of you who mentioned that they desire white faced gauge faces for their 500's and can't seem to find any, these are the guys that can take care of that for you... http://www.redlinegaugeworks.com/ They are located in California and have done some really terrific gauge faces on high profile cars that have been featured on televison shows such as "Rides". I have personally used them in the past, and can tell you that they do excellent, quality work, and all they do at Redline is everything related to gauges and nothing else. While your at it, they can also change your speedo's top speed number to 200 M.P.H. or more if you like. You're welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ingram4868 Posted July 16, 2008 Report Share Posted July 16, 2008 Maybe it's just my poor old eyes but I have a lot of difficulty seeing the gauges during the day, especially the fuel and boost. By comparison my Toyota mini van is very bright for daytime use but the performance and handling are lacking just a wee bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachane Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 I also find the daytime gauges annoyingly dim, though at night with the lights on they're fine. Asked my local service department if there is any adjustment for the daytime gauge brightness; they said no. (No optional "brighter bulbs" or anything like that.) I don't think this is a problem of contrast with the gauge surfaces; thus merely replacing with white or other-colored backgrounds won't help. This may be a nonfixable problem. One possible suggestion: Neatly cut out some bright (white/red/etc.) small "arrowheads" or "dots" from a self-adhesive paper, shelf liner, etc. and place them carefully at key speedometer points you use frequently (such as your preferred freeway speed). Obviously you would have to do this in such a way as to not obscure those points at night. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mciarochi Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 While your at it, they can also change your speedo's top speed number to 200 M.P.H. or more if you like. Wow! That's pretty cheap to make your car go that fast! If they have one that goes up to 300 mph, I bet you could even beat a Corvette! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachane Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 http://www.redlinegaugeworks.com/ I have emailed them to enquire whether they can brighten the daytime lighting on the OEM gauges ... Will advise any response here. May also poke around the SF Yellow Pages to see if there are similar gauge shops around here that can do this too. Am speculating that there's some kind of uniform lighting source behind the gauges for daytime, and it shouldn't be hard to replace it with a brighter lightbulb, so to speak. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 The problem is not the white backlighting or lack thereof. It is the lack of contrast between the white numerals and "gray" background. This problem is compounded by the glare off the cluster's flat clear plastic covering. In sunny southern Arizona, this is a major issue. I don't care if you can increase the backlighting 10x, it will not help with the glare. My wife's '05 and my former '05 Whippled GT both had black backgrounds and the the gauges are MUCH easier to see. It doesn't help with the glare factor but it is far superior in terms of daytime gauge visibility. Also if there is a way to keep direct sunlight from hitting the pair of "tunnels" thereby eliminating the glare on the clear plastic, the problem will be completely solved. Unfortunately Ford somehow decided to use flat pieces of plastic. Have you ever been behind a truck with a camper shell with a flat plate rear glass? If the sun hits it just right, glare city!! Other camper shells with a slightly contoured glass doesn't have this issue. That's why it's made that way. Now if Ford would have designed the cluster plastic similar to the '69 Camaro, even when the sun hits it, glare would be minimized. The '69 Camaro's instrument cluster's plastic covering is not flat. It's two main gauges, the speedo and tach, both have clear plastic that's shaped like a cone, pointing towards the driver. The tip of each is just above the center of each gauge. It's an awesome design that works. Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ingram4868 Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 The GT500 test mules were driven all over the Nevada deserts during the glaring summer heat. I wonder if the drivers reported on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 That's a good question. The glare has been evident since the first S197 in 2005. With the intro of the GT500 in 2007 and Ford's persistence in making attributes on it different from all other S197s, the "gray" background was born. Like I originally stated, why in the world did they not go with traditional SVT's white-faced gauges I don't know... (ALL other SVT vehicles have white-faced gauges.) Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APPLESREDGT500 Posted July 17, 2008 Report Share Posted July 17, 2008 I don't have any issue seeing or reading my gauges day or night, but for those of you who mentioned that they desire white faced gauge faces for their 500's and can't seem to find any, these are the guys that can take care of that for you... http://www.redlinegaugeworks.com/ They are located in California and have done some really terrific gauge faces on high profile cars that have been featured on televison shows such as "Rides". I have personally used them in the past, and can tell you that they do excellent, quality work, and all they do at Redline is everything related to gauges and nothing else. While your at it, they can also change your speedo's top speed number to 200 M.P.H. or more if you like. You're welcome. I think I might be interested in this, I asked awhile back about this being available for the 40th or especially the SuperSnake and recieved no response. I suggested using something like the Ford GT speedo like this I know Saleen did 200mph speedo's for their packages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachane Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 Redline Gauge Works emailed me back, said they don't do modern setups like that in the 2007. They referred me to another company, which said that there are masses of diodes behind these instruments, and switching them for something brighter would be a major operation, time/cost prohibitive. So just brightening the daytime lighting doesn't seem to be an option. "Willie"'s point about the glare factor is well-taken; hadn't noticed that. May experiment with a crude little "sunshade" to see if that makes any difference. Also wondering whether there might be something like a polarized film that could be static-cling-placed onto the clear plastic ... Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of GT Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 Sorry, but I was referring to Redline changing the gauge faces to white, not changing the L.E.D.s to make the gauges brighter. Did they say that they didn't do white face gauges on late model stangs? With respect your your idea/question about finding polorized static cling flim, while it's not polorized, static cling headlamp tinting film does come in varing degrees of tint so that might be something to look into. Good quality window tint is UV/polorized, but I'm not sure if it would cling on to the plastic gauge covers without distorting their clarity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willie Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 "Willie"'s point about the glare factor is well-taken; hadn't noticed that.... Michael, please drop the quotes. This is my real name. ....May experiment with a crude little "sunshade" to see if that makes any difference. Also wondering whether there might be something like a polarized film that could be static-cling-placed onto the clear plastic ... Michael Did this over one year ago. Made them out of cardboard spray painted flat black. They're a pair of trapezoidal shaped pieces that are inserted into the two tunnels and sit horizontally, essentially dividing the hole into upper & lower sections. This way, the sunshine that hits the bottom of each tunnel that reflects upwards towards the gauge is "intercepted" by the cardboard. It's not perfect but it works. I'd rate effectivity at 75 percent. I then put them in my wife's '05 to have her test and evaluate. She never reported back so I just looked inside her car. They are still there!! I can take / post pics if requested. If I decide to make these more "permanent", I'll make them out of 64 mil aluminum sheet metal and paint them flat black. Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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