Road & Track gets it wrong
 

In the Porsche Cayman S vs. Nissan 370Z article in the April issue of Road & Track (discussed here: http://www.the370z.com/nissan-370z-g...-cayman-s.html), they show a photo of the fuel gauge cluster of the 370Z, along with the following comment about the Z's interior: "Our only complaint pertains to the dimly lit fuel and coolant gauges, which are difficult to see 90 percent of the time." This is on page 45 of the hard copy.

Well there's just one problem. The photo they published doesn't show the production version of the gauge! Here's the photo they used:

http://www.the370z.com/members/semte...rcent-time.jpg

Here's the REAL thing:

http://www.the370z.com/members/semte...vous-error.jpg

I just emailed them the following letter:

The photo of the 370Z's fuel gauge on page 45 is not an accurate representation of the fuel gauge in production models that customers are actually buying. Either Nissan gave you a pre-production model to do your testing with, or you're using an old stock image. Either way, your "only complaint" about the 370Z's interior is predicated on a straw man. The production version has the area around the LEDs blacked out, precisely to make it easier to see the fuel and water temp levels, as shown in this picture from my own 370Z:

[Then I pasted in my photo for them here -- the same one right above.]

Sheesh this irritates me. Don't get me wrong; I know the cluster isn't perfect and could use some improvement. But if you're going to knock something, don't use fake evidence to make your case. That's just lame.

You just owned them. Well done.

wow that's huge

You'd have to admit some analog gauges woulda been nicer. Hi tech is sometimes sooooo lame. R&T are idoits nevertheless.

i dont get it... u turned off ur car and took the pic, but they had the car on (except engine)??

The little dots are different on production z.

On the production Z, the LEDs are nested within a black strip so that the lights contrast against the black. On the pre-production models, there's no black strip, and the lights don't contrast well against the silver face. So R&T complains that it's hard to see the lights and uses a picture of the pre-prod version to make their case. Compare the two pics I posted again and you'll see what I mean about the black strips.

oh THAT! it's not like it's gonna make a huge difference. but yes they got a pre-production car

I must have the pre-production car :)

oh i like how they have a little arrow pointing to where the gas cap location is.

You mean the arrow that points to which side of the car it's on? I think all cars have that. I know my wife's Murano has it, and any time I rent a car on business I look for the arrow when it's time to fill it up for return. And I'm usually given Fords when I rent.

Good catch.

yes, that black strips def helps. During night time driving, I have 0 visibility issue. During the day, it's not too bad with the black strip. It gives better contrast. But I can def see how it can be harder to see in the day if it was just silver. Good catch! :tup:

ah.
i guess i never caught that in any cars.
gonna check mine tomorrow.

did R&T reply yet...lol

I wanna see what they respond with...........that's good you owned them..lol

I have the Sept 2002 R&T magazine with a full section on the 03 Z....lol......collectible

Nice ownage http://www.camaro5.com/forums/images.../happy0180.gif