Brand new P5: some basic questions...
 

Howdy all!

Whelp, just picked-up my mid-year revision P5 and love it. This car is great! But I have a few questions:

1) I get a lot of glare from the sun on the glass covering my instrument cluster. Anything I can wipe on this to reduce the glare? No biggee either way...

2) The instrument gauges are backlit for night-time viewing. On the right the battery and door-ajar symbols only light-up when something's wrong, but the water temperature and gas-pump symbol on the left are always lit. Why is this? Why not only light them when something's wrong, like you're overheating or need gas, that way the user interface'd be more consistent. Just curious.

3) I didn't realize the high beams don't stay on permanently, you have to hold the stick -- anything I can do to make the high beams stick? Jumper a fuse, spank a monkey....

Other than the above, some observations...

1) the extra-bulky shift knob they put-in for the mid-year revision I like better than the earlier one. I was surprised what a difference that thing makes.

2) the lack of a center armrest doesn't bug me in the slightest (I thought it would)

3) the sound system really does suck. HA! :) Oh well, too bad. I'm glad I didn't get the 6-disc indash I was thinking of! I listen to NPR most of the time anyway...

4) the transmission on this car is soooo smoooth!

This is my first moonroof and I'm paranoid about leaving it open when I park it!

I love this car!! And this message board!

Josh

Re: Brand new P5: some basic questions...
 

1) I wear sunglasses and the glare doesn't bother me. I don't know of any wipe-on product that could help.

2) I'm not sure of the new revisions, but as far as I know, there should be no lights that are lit in the back when you are driving normally. For most cars, the lights DON'T stay on unless there is some sort of trouble. They first come on when you start the car, but should disappear.

3) To make the high beams stay on, turn on the headlights (ie. rotate the end of the stalk) and then push the entire stalk forward towards the dash board.

Happy Zoom Zooming!

Congrats!

The coolant temperature and fuel-pump symbols are just there to let you know that the top gauge is coolant temperature and the bottom gauge is fuel level. They are not warning lights. I believe there is a seperate warning light for coolant overheat. For low fuel-level, there is a small orange light just below and to the right of the fuel-pump symbol. This will light up as you near empty. Are the symbols necessary? Probably not, but I could imagine the lawsuits if the gauges weren't labeled.

As Pro_fan wrote, to keep the high beams constantly on, push the left control stock forward. It will click into place. Pull it back to flash the high beams; this position is spring-loaded and will spring back when you release pressure.

And, you should have a center armrest. It's not a substantial one, but it's there.

Other than that, what color did you get? Did you get the leather?

-Jerry

Re: Brand new P5: some basic questions...
 

nothing that I know of, it doesn't really bother me since you're suppose to LOOK AT THE ROAD when you're driving, not STARING at the gauge cluster :rolleyes:
are you talking about the water temperature gauge and the fuel gauge on the left of the speedometer??? You got to be kidding me right??? Of course those should be lit along with the speedo and the tach at night all the time. They let you monitor the temperature of your engine and how much fuel you have left before anything goes wrong :rolleyes:
here's how you use the signal/headlight stalk. you PULL the stalk towards YOU to FLASH your high beams (this works even when your headlights are off), and you PUSH the stalk towards the DASH to turn on high beams permanently when you turn on the headlights (you should see a blue headlight icon lit up when you're in high beam mode)

and oh yeah, since you just got your car, READ THE OWNER'S MANUAL!!!!!!!!

reading is fun-damental :D :D

Unfortunately, I think sarcastic posts like the last one generally scare people away more than they help.

On a lot of cars out there, pulling the left control stalk towards you will permanently cycle the high beams on and off. After getting used to this setup, a different configuration can be confusing.

Glare on the instrument panel can be highly annoying and dangerous. But, I don't suppose you need to look at it. When you get a speeding ticket, run out of gas, or overheat, just blame it on the glare.

And have you even seen the new mid-year refresh instrument panel or the white/silver-faced gauges? A few of the warning lights look just like the symbols and markings.

-Jerry

man, what did I eat last night!!!! :eek:

I just reread what I posted last night, wow was I rude or what?!?!?

Sorry about that :( , I'll try to be nicer next time :)

but, reading IS fun-damental, and the owner's manual is a must-read for every true Protege enthusiast :D