car_designer

Considering buying the Dakota Digital VHX gauge set up for 1970-72 Cutlass.

Is anyone currently using them in a 1970-72 Cutlass?

Anyone have them for any other cars?

Thoughts? Issues?

Allan R

Paul, I thought you already have a digital setup in your Post S?

car_designer

Allan, the ones I currently have are not digital but full electric "analog".

That is also what the VHX series from Dakota Digital is. "Analog" with dials and everything

I've only had the current ones in the Cutlass for a year (a different brand) and already the speedometer has quit working properly and I've found that the temp gauge is hard to read at night since the numbers are quite small. Also the lense creates a lot of glare to the point that at times I have to shade it with my hand to read the water temp during the day.

Allan R

I know what you mean about the fade on the dash during sunlight. You'll also run into that with digital gages if you install them. I had a completely digital dash on my Olds 98 Regency Elite (1995). The dash itself was pretty much bombproof electronically, but the washout in bright conditions was less than desirable. Sure you don't want to go with just a regular ol analogue set up that the car came with from the factory?

I looked up the Dakota VHX. Cool look - it almost matches the OEM look, but how do the gages for oil, temp, fuel and volts compare to the size of the ones you have now?

Much as I'm not a big fan of complete digital dashes I think the one they sell looks reasonable. Don't like that 'Drive' is located on the tach, and it also looks like the speedo is limited to around 80 mph? Again, in bright sun you'd be screwed to read that dash. JMO.

car_designer

I'm not a fan of the digital look either.

A few features I like about the VHX series is that all the indicators (turn signals, highbeam, brake, ...) are blended into the gauge faces like on modern cars. Also, they have a nice mix of modern look but still look like they fit the car. And also, you can set one of the LCD displays to show km/h which could be convenient.

Unfortunately, when I bought the gauges I currently have, Dakota Digital did not have the VHX for a 1970-72 Cutlass.

Here are the Speed Hut gauges I currently have. I really like the look but as you can see in the first image, glare can be a challenge.

These gauges are 3 3/8" diameter. The water temp scale is the hard one to read with all the numbered points with small font. That was a real problem last summer with the overheating issue.

I think that the VHX should be quite a bit easier to read during the day or night, even if I do go with the blue backlight again.

interior006_zps4bc2d871.jpg

gauge_panel_night_zps9eaf8aa8.jpg

ach1992880

I'm running similar Speed Hut gauges in my car. I haven't gotten any drive time with them yet, but I can see what you mean about the temp gauge with the small font. I do like the fact you can manually set the high/low warning light parameters for each gauge for the "dummy light" effect.

Allan R

Paul, can you order the VHX with choice of backlight color? They look better set up than the Speed hut ones for size and clarity. I like that the dial pointers are centered in the cluster and sweep outward, unlike speed hut ones. I think that's more than half the battle to making the gage presentation easier to read.

car_designer

Very nice set up. I like the tick/scale style you went with. What colour backlight did you choose?

I set all the high/low warning lights on mine and it was very easy to do. Follow the instructions, but it is just a couple of button pushes per gauge.

The VHX have something similar, but instead of individual LEDs, a warning message flashes in one of the LCD displays. Not as in your face and the very bright LEDs in the Speedhut ones, but it works.

Allan, yes you can. You can choose the face colour (black or silver) and the backlight colour (blue, red or white). Yes, the pointer orientation was something that surprised me when I first looked at the Speedhut.

(Oh, and Allan, speak Canadian! You forgot a U in colour )