79 Alfetta sedan instrument layout-quite terrible..

[sudsy]

I know I seem to be monopolising this section of the forum however once I get invested in something I'm all in...

As much as one could wax lyrically about the 116, some things just need to be aired..

That being, no matter how many times I've driven the sedan, I always struggle to see the tacho and speedo.

It's simply an example of one of the worst designed instrument clusters imaginable.
I mean what were they thinking?
Too much Chianti at lunch me thinks..

Each time i try to read the Tacho or speedo behind my hands, is almost seconds with my eyes off the road!!
And it's  usually at the times that this data is kinda vital..(ie at a decent clip, in a corner).
One should be able to see it almost peripherally, let alone having to hunt it out...

That said, the clock is the most dominant in the field of view, and with hands on the wheel there is also 40% available free/blank instrument real estate.

Even without hands on the wheel Tach and speed are 40% obscured. Hands on... where they're meant to be, and almost total blockage..
AND with hands moving past and around these dials, I think its borderline dangerous trying to read them!!
I cannot fathom how this design passed any rigorous checks an processes..

Why not put the big gauges in the middle, and sacrifice any of the smaller ones to the sides, when you can find and glimpse them at your leisure..??

Interior design team big fail on this count..
-3 out of 10 I'm sorry..
Epic fail..
Think I'll be installing a tacky tacho where I can see it!!

Anyone else find this to be a driving experience flaw in the (later) sedans or is it just me being odd?

[poohbah]

You could try to put in a split dash/cluster out of a GTV ... they are ugly as a bucket of smashed crabs but they are easy to read. Especially if you swap the tacho back to eyes front position of the euro spec cars.

I have no idea if the GTV dash would actually fit in a sedan though.

[Paul Gulliver]

Sudsy, without trying to sound to much like an old fart I think you need to appreciate that car ergonomics was a relatively new field / frontier in the early  mid 1970's. Alfa was probably no worse  in fact even better than the rest of the field. Go and sit in virtually any 1970's car you will be horrified. The  instrumentation placement ( if any) and location of any other driver aides was by todays standards mostly nonsensical. I had a series 1 Alfetta sedan a bit over 40 years ago. From memory if you feel your vision of the dials is slightly compromised alter your driving style and either raise or lower the  "ADJUSTABLE STEERING COLUM" .
My previous ride in those days was an Austin Healey Sprite and I have got to tell you the Alfa was like a space ship after all the post WW2 English junk.
No adjustable / collapsible steering column . If you were unlucky enough to have a high speed head crash in that cars of that era you stood a good chance of having the steering column driven through your chest like a dagger.
Now go out to your Alfetta sedan / GTV . move the steering wheel up or down and get your self comfortable and go for  good drive and enjoy yourself.
Whilst your moving just appreciate how good the steering feel and ride is and how connected you feel as a driver. I can tell you, you got none of  that in a HQ Holden or any other mid seventies car .

PS . " it's  usually at the times that this data is kinda vital..(ie at a decent clip, in a corner). "

   Mid corner at a decent clip you are a lot better off listening to the engine and paying attention to what gear you are in ,  than taking your eyes off the road to look at your oil pressure guage.

[bonno]

Further to Pauls comments regarding keeping your eyes on the road/track, that is most if not all race cars have an audible buzzer and or light that comes on when you have reached pre-determined maximum RPM. I suppose it is a matter of taste regarding layout of instrumentation and won't go further on the matter. Additionally, back in the seventies aftermarket gauges and Smiths Rev counters were place in a convenient location and mostly on the underside of dashboard so as not to drill holes unnecessarily.
Cheers
bonno       

[carlo rossi]

Well for my 2 cents worth rounded down to nothing
The italians are probably working on the premise that if you purchased a new alfa and wanted comfort you purchased the alfetta
'then you were chasing luxury and comfort and the most important item for the driver was
"am i on time ?"
I you were a devoted sports car lover and love to drive then you bought the GTV and as the others have said the split dash was all about racing
in the middle of the steering was the Tacho( swaped to speedo later because of aussie laws)
the most important item there being how far can i rev this without blowing up
So I think when you take this into account They were so far ahead of the game that they made laws to stop them
Do you know of another manufacturer that was legislated against for a dash?

[sudsy]

@carlo Rossi.. Well put

And despite the driving style "observations" expressed here....one still needs a micro glimpse of engine speed at any time, not just when your brain is done with the corner...its like the rear view mirror that with greater driving hours under your belt, you don't actually need to look at it as it all becomes an automatic peripheral action..putting said mirror in the glove box really restricts that automatic peripheral intake of information..

That said.. Given other advice here ..I thought I'd adjust my traditional lowest possible steering wheel position, and try a not so familiar higher setting...
Much to my surprise, I have got used to this higher steering wheel position and a quick/peripheral  observation of the tacho is now slightly possible more of the time..
AND I can still get there on time!!!

[GG105]

Sudsy, you should drive an aircooled 911 sometime...

[Beatle]

Try the 'Fangio' position.  Wheel up high. hands always within the lower half of the wheel rim. Your hands will never obscure the dials  .  Oh, and don't forget to use your ears.......

[GTVeloce]

Sudsy, you should drive an aircooled 911 sometime...

After you have given up trying to read the dials that are obscured by your hands and wheel, you can try the old "where the hell is that switch?!"

[ALF750]

sudsy, I hear you and agree.   In their defence, the instrument cluster is lovely and symmetrical!   The problem is made worse by fitting a smaller sports steering wheel, but the OEM wheel is mostly always bloody ugly in the Alfas IMO.