Humans generally don’t like change. Just ask Coca-Cola, or indeed, Porsche. When a product becomes so beloved that certain individuals build a chunk of their personality on it, any changes are often subject to heavy scrutiny. Unsurprisingly, people are big mad about the digital gauge cluster in the 992.2 Porsche 911, but I reckon it’s time they got over it.
Now, I’m not one for ultra-minimalist tech-heavy cars. I like buttons, knobs, switches, tactile things that add complexity but also facets to interact with the machine. Both of my own cars feature row-your-own gearboxes by choice, to give you context on how I’ve put my money where my mouth is. As for this latest generation of Porsche’s sports car, I still bemoan the change from a simulacra of a key to a regular start button, but after having lived with the 992.2, I can safely say that the new all-screen instrument panel is actually a substantial usability improvement.
Still, that hasn’t stopped people on the internet from getting mad ever since spy photos of the facelifted interior leaked in 2022. On a Rennlist thread about the digital cluster abundant in short comments detailing the suboptimal reception of the digital gauge cluster, one user wrote “It’s almost like Rolex going with digital movement and displays.”
On a similar note, this Reddit post in r/porsche entitled “We Need Analog Gauges Back on the 992.2 911” goes on a rant about how this user is unenthused by the all-digital cluster on facelifted 992.2 non-GT models.
The move to a completely digital cluster feels like a step towards homogenizing the driving experience. One of the unique charms of the 911 was its distinct analog elements, which set it apart from other high-performance cars. Now, it seems Porsche is prioritizing flashy screens over the timeless driving pleasure that the analog tachs offered. Don’t even get me started with the start/stop button. I am not looking forward to the future.
Alright, if it’s about tradition, let’s take it there. The dashboard of classic 911s is dominated by a five-gauge layout, and while it looks great with the physical tachometer in the close-up photograph above, it only takes a quick zoom out to reveal a problem in emulating a classic Porsche 911 cue in the pre-facelift 992.1.
Ah, yeah. See, the pre-facelift 992.1 cluster consisted of two screens flanking an analog-facing tachometer, and if you wanted the five-gauge layout, the two outer simulated gauges were almost completely blocked by the rim of the steering wheel. This wouldn’t be a huge problem if the information within them wasn’t necessary for vehicle operation, but the simulated gauge on the right is the only one that can display fuel level and range remaining. You know, important information when operating a car. Also, about that tachometer—it’s not an analog cable-driven unit because pretty much no modern car still uses that technology. Instead, it’s a digital board with an analog face, only analog in the horological sense rather than the sense every car enthusiast seems to use.
Meanwhile, the all-digital cluster in the 992.2 Porsche 911 goes semi-circular with the outer dials when the five-dial layout is selected, and the result means you’re actually able to see all five dials. A quick glance down while in my normal seating position lets me see oil temperature, water temperature, wheel speed, engine speed, and a little dial of my choosing I currently have set to display the trip computer. Excellent.
What’s more, the all-digital cluster opens up new layout options, and I’m quite fond of this minimalist one. You used to have to choose between displaying your tire pressure and certain powertrain temperature levels on a regular 911, but not anymore. Tire pressure and temperature on the left, oil temperature, coolant temperature, battery temperature in this T-Hybrid model, and fuel tank level on the right. Speed and revs in the middle, of course.
While the analog-style tachometer is still fitted to the 911 GT3, I’ve actually found the all-digital cluster easier to live with. Besides, we’re talking about a predominantly turbocharged, predominantly dual-clutch automatic sports car available with four-wheel-steering, adaptive damping, and even hybridization. The jig of pretending it’s “analog” is firmly up. Want something more mechanical and less electronic? Go buy an old air-cooled Porsche. Want something up-to-date? Buy a new one. For now, I’ll continue to enjoy this familial digital cluster as I decide whether the stick-shift 911 Carrera T or the electrified 911 Carrera GTS T-Hybrid is the new Carrera to have. Watch this space.
Top graphic images: Thomas Hundal
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This is the same Porsche that’s experiencing decreased sales and 40% decreased profit .. right? (https://www.motor1.com/news/758441/porsche-trouble-tariff-prices/). Maybe, and just spitballing here, if they listened to their customers just a little bit better, sales wouldn’t have been so bad? The cost-cutting from screens and poor interior materials is not fooling consumers.
I can see both sides in this issue. The usability improvements and ability to use different displays on the digital cluster are great. But this isn’t a normal car for regular folks – it’s a performance car for enthusiasts willing to drop large sums of money for a very specific driving experience that is more analog and involved on purpose.
I drive a 2019 Volvo S60, and it has an all digital cluster. It’s easy to read, has no lag, and puts the gps map right there int the middle of I want. I can change themes to change things up and display relevant info to that particular drive. The keys never have to leave my pocket to use the car, I just get in and turn the knob. The digital cluster and keyless start are perfectly sensible improvements and enhancements to make this car more convenient and easier to use. But it’s a luxury sedan that is meant to keep me comfortable during the banality of work commutes. This isn’t that – a Porsche 911 is a performance driving machine where connecting the driver to the car and to the road is paramount. Having a dial tachometer and physical key may not be necessary, but simply put, many enthusiasts simply prefer these more tactile parts of the driving experience – even if they are technically less convenient to live with. But who the heck buys a Porsche 911 of any kind because it’s easy to live with? Idk
I mean, it’s a philosophical argument. At what point does a Porsche stop being a Porsche? Was it the transition of air cooled to water cooled engines? Was it when they added computer managed active suspension?
For me, I think the current 911 is too bloated to fit my mental image of what Porsche should be. I rather like the 718, but that’s getting killed off.
Get one while you can. The 981 and 718 6-cylinder models, especially with manual transmissions, will all be future classics.
I would imagine there was a similar wailing and gnashing of teeth in the transition from the 993 to 995 gauge cluster(never mind the air cooled purists). Is the new screen for functional, practical and useful. Yep, no question. Is it less beautiful? Less character? Yep, no question.
This might be an easy take when you’re in a car that’s been loaned to you. But, if you’re a Porsche enthusiast and spending your own money on the car, you want all the defining and engaging elements that drew you to a 911 in the first place. You can make a screen look like anything you want, but it’s still just a screen at the end of the day. The physical tach shown above is much more beautiful to look at. There’s real depth and contrast of finishes and textures that can only be simulated by a screen. This is one of those cases where being objectively “better” is not truly a better experience.
And, speaking with my own money, I got a 981 Boxster S and, after someone totaled it, a 718 Boxster GTS 4.0L (6MT’s, of course). The relative simplicity of the interior and LACK of screens (basic center console screen and a small cluster screen) were a primary reason for purchasing for me. I could’ve spent much less on a new Z4 Handschalter, and I’ve had 2 prior and 1 current Z3/Z4’s, but the screens were a total turn-off for me for a driver’s car.
It would be far easier for people to stop “freaking out” about a reasonable opinion on a design feature. Whinging about whinging isn’t a good look.
What’s the refresh rate of these screens? That’s all that matters.
If the gauge is jittering around like Crysis running on a potato, then the screen is useless. But if the needle actually keeps up with the revs, a screen is… fine? I guess?
I prefer analog gauges, but only because I like minimal distractions while driving. One screen in the middle is plenty.
Saying car enthusiasts should ‘get over’ something i think is a tiny bit patronising and insulting. Everyone has an opinion and that’s fine. Also i never got the impression anyone means cable driven, when talking about keeping an analog face to the gauges, that’s just a strawman.
I tend to agree that well designed physical gauges will always feel more special to me than even the most high-res screen and flashy graphics. The Rolex comparison is spot on imo. In the end how much information do we really need to be showing here at all times and are there things more important in a 100k+ toy than dry practicality and cost efficiency (which is what those screens are, if we’re truly honest about it)
I was thinking about the cable-driven tach too. I assume that person is also passionate about their wipers being vacuum-driven and their warning chimes to come from a little mallet hitting a bell.
The valid complaint of the 992.1 is the steering wheel blocked some gauges.
992.2 solved that.
They’re fine, but they’ll never feel special. That’s a mark against the digital dash, as a lot of the appeal of the cars are the obsessive detail where things feel special. In essence, some of the detailed physical craftsmanship is the point.
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Honestly, the bigger issue forever now is that the dedicated speedo has become increasingly useless. In normal use cases, you only use about a third of its range. The digital speed readout in the tach is where I usually look for my speed.
I am always fascinated by “controversies” like this. I wonder who the loudest complainers are…. lets try and look at this based on various groups that have and often express their opinion vigorously.
(1) Folks that already own a Porsche. They often will take the position that their model/trim/etc is the best of the best and any change is just wrong. (I’m looking at folks that own air cooled Porsche’s as the greatest offenders here.)
(2) Folks that aspire to buy a Porsche but will never actually buy one. This group gets to complain and announce they are now not buying any Porsche because of this newfangled digital display as it ruins the car. (They smugly can, and will, pronounce this to all.)
(3) Folks that will never buy a Porsche. Ah yes, folks with absolutely no skin in the game spouting an opinion that really does not matter.
(4) Folks that bought some other brand of sports car. They gleefully use this change to make fun of Porsche. (And it might actually be justified if they don’t get too serious.)
….. I’m sure there are more out there….
This is done in fun and jest as I fall into group 3… I highly doubt I will ever own a Porsche unless I will some huge lottery and even then I’m not sure I would still buy a Porsche. So my opinion on this matter is… well…. kinda pointless. 🙂
Anyone else want to mock some group that is likely complaining about said change?
You are being far too unkind to post-aircooled Porsche owners. We can argue which years are superior because of analog gas pedals and throttle assemblies and gear chages made by cable vs.digital or which year has better gear box ratios.
Also, you don’t need to win the lottery to get bitten by the Porsche bug. I used to think they were simply boring cars and my old man would just knowingly smile at me. Years later, I picked up my first which was a one owner 944 in 9/10 condition. I bought it on a whim thinking I could flip it and then something happened. I realized that Porsche made the most balanced, relaible, and easy to live with sports car in the world. No more driving on Sunday and wrenching for the rest of the week so I could drive next Sunday. No more just driving a car and worrying about something breaking. I could just drive and drive fast or carve a corner a bit quicker and keep going. Then you start looking at other cars. Porsches that is, not other makes. That would be daft!…
I just wish I could sit down with that old man one more time and tell him “I get it now, you were right…”
Hey, I’m still annoyed with how the 996 abandoned separate gauges in favor of a, gasp, cluster, so this is merely insult to injury to me.
What information do you need? Speed, because laws and things, a rev counter because physics and explosions stuff. Otherwise lights, oil pressure/temperature, coolant ditto. Do you need to know the temperature of your tyres? or the slip angle of adhesion? No one watches these gauges, other than endurance racers,even so a they don’t until the car breaks. At which point the pit crew shout at the driver, who then says”if you you are so brilliant then why not drive the thing, in the pissing wet for four hours” suddenly, the red flashing light makes sense.
I am a dinosaur, but I like very analog instruments if the Chronometric tachometer (or speedometer) fail to function it is time to check everything else.
All I need is an Oil pressure gauge.
Maybe an ammeter?
Fuel gauge if you can’t just look in the tank I guess.
Odometer because given Herr Heisenberg’s choice between knowing where I am or how fast I’m going I’d prefer the location info.
Speedometer or tach, if you insist but don’t really need both.
Maybe temperature – but oil pressure tells you if you are too hot, and I’d rather know my oil pressure.
Barometer and vacuum gauge if you are in the mountains a lot. Carb temp if you live where it gets cold.
Oh what the hell, lots of thermometers
Oh, a tapley meter, always wanted one of those.
My uncle had an odometer that ran backwards. It didn’t tell you how many miles you had gone but how many you had left and was combined with a speedometer that displayed how much faster or slower you needed to to be driving to arrive at your destination destination on time.
Actually he built a few of his own before he bought a TimeWise
Tire temps are bloody useful if you track a car. I install aftermarket TPMS sensors instantly in new rims (if they don’t have it by default) so I can optimize tire pressure and thus keep the temps of the tires where they should be (note ; those are much lower for regular road tires than racing (semi) slicks). If you have no idea what the temps are then the pressure is likely way too high. Not only are you losing a ton of grip, things can get dangerous where tires decide to explode if you hit the kerbs a bit too enthusiastically.
BTW road tires on a road car can get up to temperature within 2 laps. No endurance race needed. Actually endurance racers will not drive their cars to the limit since the car has to make it to the end of a very long race…
Maybe I’m odd, but I prefer the all digital dashes now. I have used a number of them and some are kind of crap but overall, they are just easier to read, have more information and often can be configured to your taste.
I totally understand folks who prefer older style gauges, but I’m over it.
I’m not in Porsche’s target demographic, so this is all moot to me.
I put a tachometer in my Datsun 510 station wagon, because tachs always intrigued me as a kid. But I was already used to shifting that car by ear long before I put it in and seldom glanced at it while driving. I probably used it more to adjust the idle speed.
I have zero issues with a digital gauge cluster. IMHO, it’s just more options for the user. With enough DPI, it should be better. I mean, I get the counter arguement, but let’s move on, like you said.
The 911 is so far from what it started as it’s a bit silly to be worried about digital gauge clusters at this point. I prefer analog too but it just doesn’t matter that much.
I’d much rather have a digital dash than a digital “infotainment” screen. The dash on the otherwise horrible Chevy Equinox I rented recently had some actually useful information on its digital display, including actual coolant temperature instead of an idiot light or intentionally inaccurate gauge.
I thought I was going to hate digital gauges on cars. Then I bought a vehicle that only had digital gauges and it’s been a total non-issue.
But I think 2 key things are important. The screen needs to have a binnacal or else it will get washed out in certain lighting conditions. The other thing is that it should either offer something special or the graphics should try to mimic real, multi-layer gauge faces. Or better yet, BOTH since it’s just a screen that’s attached to a computer that will let it display anything it’s programmed to.
Looking at the photos in this article, I don’t think the 992.2 has either. The screen looks like it has only a tiny binnacal. And the graphics look boring as hell. No details in the graphics to give them some flair or virtual depth. They look mostly like the boring ass “minimalistic” and “flat” graphics that have been the scourge in phones UIs since Apple introduced it over a decade ago.
While I do like a moving needle across a gauge, I think the real issue people have with digital gauges / many modern ecu driven “analog” gauges is how responsive and how filtered the movement it. Too many cars seem to lag by .5-1 seconds, and also apply severe filtering to the movement. I’d rather have a bouncing “needle” if a car is misfiring 1-2 times a second than the perfectly smooth output you get in most cars. Somewhere around 5-10 updates per second would probably convert a lot of old school haters. Bonus points if they let me digitally rotate the gauge so what I determine to be the danger zone is pointing straight up so I don’t even need to look directly at them.
Yah 1-2 in my STi was at <6k rpm because the tach couldn't keep up.
Definitely don't want lies.
Bring back the 928 with its moving binnacle!
In this context “analog” doesn’t mean “cable-driven,” that’s not what people are asking for. They are asking for a gauge cluster that consists of gauge needles that physically trace an arc over a non-emulated gauge face. The word “analog” is often substituted to describe this collection of parts. It’s tactile, effective, doesn’t wash out in direct sunlight, and timeless.
Personally, I find the hand waving and attitude of “everyone just needs to get over it” to be a bit insulting in the context of a car culture website that is meant to be for everyone. If this is a place for all enthusiasts, then sure there is room here for people who like physical gauges in their $100k sports cars right?
If you aren’t gonna be all “analog” then what is the point of having one analog gauge and the rest digital. Just make em all digital.
Gotta agree with the Rolex comment. Cheapskate cost savings on a 911 is the kind of mindset that is making Porsche struggle right now
Everyone can opine as they like, and buy or not buy as they like.
In this case I doubt cost savings were much of a consideration for Porsche, who can pretty much charge what’s necessary for features and performance that are wanted. As noted in the article, the digital gauge gives you choices that give you better information, to improve your enjoyment of your sporting driving experience.
In the case of watches, people can buy Rolexes. Or if they’re like me: given the choice of solely one or the other for the rest of my life, I would without hesitation reject any Rolex in favor of my smartwatch. I understand some of the appeal of watches, and I do like them, but not as a thing on my wrist whose job is to do things.
And to offer another perspective, I daily drive an Apple Watch, but I appreciate a nice time piece. I sure as hell wouldn’t buy an overpriced Rolex if I wanted a nice watch. You can get a nice, accurate watch for 2% of the price of a Rolex.
I grew up with the usual succession of Timexes. Never saw the attraction of the Casio calculator watch when it came out, but I had an Armitron with a regular analog dial (with rotating outer ring to be used as a countdown timer) plus a small digital display in the face that could do stopwatch, date, or could be set as a clock for a second time zone. When the battery needed changing and later moreso when it broke and I took it apart, I found that the analog and digital were two separate watches, with two separate batteries. Residing in one case.
Wow, can’t say I’ve heard of that! I suppose that’s less complex than one movement for both right?
I imagine so. The usual crown with push-pull to set the quartz watch, and a couple of buttons for the digital.
Unique new case and face and interior filler plastic bit, but two reused independent movements.
Does that mean you’d still be able to tell the time after one battery went out? If so, that’s kind of brilliant…
Yes. I forget which, but one would run out of juice before the other, which still ran with no problem. Then I’d just replace both when I opened it up. It was an interesting mystery though before I opened it the first time.
To go further, the Rolex comment has a lot of parallels outside of cars. Everyone today has a phone, it’s a necessity for carrying out modern life. A screen is a utility, regardless of its resolution or refresh rate. A smart watch is also something you’d get to make life easier. Meanwhile, someone who’s fashionable would want an analog-face watch, but a quartz movement is fine. Someone who’s a watch enthusiast would likely want an automatic, and might have thoughts about what country or brand it’s from.
My smartphone is always in my pocket, I shove its weak little flashlight bulb into nasty engine-bay crevices and drop it all the time, because it’s a tool. Meanwhile, I wear my watch every day, but take it off if I need to insert my hands in dubious orifices, even though my phone cost a lot more and is more useful. As for smart watches, Everyone I know that has one treats it like a phone – somewhat disposable, because it will be superseded in a couple years. No need to preserve something for 20 years that will only have any value for 5.
With my long-winded tangent over, the point is that screens are practical right now, but they’re not fashionable, definitely not special and a Porsche 911 ought to be both in every way possible.
Going even further with the Rolex analogy, a lot of Porsche owners are watch people. There was a whole Tag Huer booth at Rennsport Reunion for goodness sake. The demographic who buys a fancy watch for the craftsmanship is the same demographic buying Porsches. So you’d think Porsche would go the opposite way from the digital dash and go EVEN MORE analog. That may happen in the near future at least (see hypercars like Bugatti literally using watch mechanisms in their tach).
Live feed of my inbox: 986 mass airflow sensor shipped, Seiko 5 rear gasket and oils shipped.
See the evidence!!! People of the jury, I rest my case!
When was the last time analog gauges were truly analog? Anything that appears to be an analog gauge is a needle driven by a stepper motor processing electronic data.
They’ve been milking the “analog” thing for a while. my gut level warm take is the last REAL 911 was the 997, everything since has been a gussied up touring car for people who want badge cachet. I am of course qualified to speak on this matter because i have an opinion and i’m on the internet.
Cut off for TRUE Porsches connesiurs is the 997. We don’t listen to jumped up pantry boys even if they do have a charming 918 Spyder… which, I could put up with if I could afford it at the moment.