The three-second rule is alive and well in the automobile industry, where all of you car's warning lights must perform a "bulb check" each time you fire up your machine.
If, as they should, the lights briefly come on then go out, you've learned two things. First, the bulb hasn't burnt out and the warning circuit is working; And second, as we all know, lights that go out after the bulb check period indicate the lack of a problem with that system. Or you haven't yet put your seatbelt on, or you forgot to release the parking brake, or your high beams are on, or the cruise control is armed, or whatever.
That's the easy part, but who is going to notice lights that don't come on? To do that you must first know which ones you're supposed to have. You know, the RTFM part.
In the case of our 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, the three apparent dark circles in the upper right corner are not the sign of a problem. There are no lights there, is all. They're blanks, room for future expansion or a mere styling cue to make eveything look even.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 3,494 miles
billt9 says:
07:29 PM, 02/28/12
Your bulbs are out!
Go see a dealer today.
Flatbed tow only.
travelingman79 says:
08:42 PM, 02/28/12
What? No coolant temp gauge and no blue engine-cold warning light? ZOMG fail!
hybris says:
08:56 PM, 02/28/12
What no "Missile Warning" Light!
7driver says:
09:22 PM, 02/28/12
Is there an SAE standard or government mandate that says the ones in the center of the tach have to be in the center of the tach? Otherwise I'd move some of them into the blank spots in the upper right.
stromson says:
05:11 AM, 02/29/12
This is my one complaint with the Sonic: Not enough gauges. I want my car to look like a 90s jet liner - analog gauges everywhere!
dg0472 says:
06:06 AM, 02/29/12
@7driver
The real question is what other governments have mandates for warning lights not used here, such as excessive speed. Those last three on top probably are used in other markets. In fact, if someone at IL wants to shine a light on them, there are probably icons there already, just no bulbs to light them.
ed124c says:
06:40 AM, 02/29/12
That dash looks so silly, compared with the classic look of the Cruze's dash.
kissel1 says:
07:15 AM, 02/29/12
Dan, your progress continues to please me since I last dropped by!
Now, on to my questions:
1) What is a "bulb check" and do all the bulbs come on when you turn the key?
2) What do we learn if the bulbs briefly come on then go out?
3) What about those dark circles in the upper right hand corner? Are they defective?
Looking forward to your speedy reply!
stromson says:
07:48 AM, 02/29/12
@kissel1 - Uh, he answered all of those in the original post.
dougnash2009 says:
08:41 AM, 02/29/12
I really like the idea of that kind of super-compact instrument cluster. Not specifically the actual design or final details of that Chevy - but of the clean lines of a single big analogue tach, and a small digital cluster with speed and other relevant info adjacent.
It's exactly the trend that took over with sport bikes in the past decade.
Now, if Chevy can just make a cool car to put that gauge pack in, that would be swell.
stovt001 says:
09:33 AM, 02/29/12
@travelingman79: I know a lot of GM cars have digital temp readouts in the DIC. It would be good to know if the Sonic had that.
@stromson: He's a weird troll that makes odd comments then asks questions that are directly answered in the blog post. I don't get it and he disappeared for a while, and is back now.
90in55 says:
10:17 AM, 02/29/12
My '07 GTI had lots of warning lights, but most of them stopped working in the first six months.
greenpony says:
10:23 AM, 02/29/12
What does the steering wheel with an exclamation point mean? "Steer!"?
What about the engine light in red vs the engine light in yellow with an arrow? One has to be "check engine" but what's the other?
stromson says:
10:27 AM, 02/29/12
@stovt001 - Odd...thanks for explaining it at least!
badreligion says:
11:08 AM, 02/29/12
@greenpony
That is a flat tire with an exclamation point, it is the tire pressure monitering system alert.
barich1 says:
11:24 AM, 02/29/12
No, he's talking about the steering wheel with an exclamation point (second from the left in the top row of lights). It means that there's a problem with the power steering. You'll see that light on most (all?) cars with electric power steering.
I think that the engine light with the arrow indicates some sort of "safe mode" where engine power is decreased.
badreligion says:
11:34 AM, 02/29/12
@barich1
I didn't even notice the lights not in the tachometer. I am not very observant this morning.
evodad says:
11:58 AM, 02/29/12
I think it would look better if the fuel light, low tire pressure and traction control (i'm guessing) were all in those blank spots. Those spots should be full in all markets because right now they look like there is something missing. If any of those three (or any of the other warning lights) integrated inside the tach were there and then you had market specific lights within the tach it would look complete. Missing lights within the tach would go unnoticed unlike the missing spots that are currently there
greenpony says:
01:00 PM, 02/29/12
kissel1 is an eighth grade test. If you've read the text at all, you should be able to answer the questions.