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Presumably also there is the large speedometer directly in front of the driver, so not really a big problem!
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Presumably also there is the large speedometer directly in front of the driver, so not really a big problem!
Which will over-read by up to 10% compared to an accurate GPS-based reading on the satnav.
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Surely there are only a very limited number of times the OP will going somewhere they've never been before, and therefore need sat nav to get there?
Also, i'm assuming that the digital speed display is a separate thing from the actual speedometer?, because I think it highly unlikely that using the built in sat nav would mean you have no way of knowing how fast you are going!.
With the first and second points (the OP, or Paul 1963 can maybe confirm on the latter?), I don't see this as being that much of a problem.
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Bit confused here, is this the latest shape Swift with the new 3 pot engine ?
I've got the latest shape also in ultra spec and as far as I'm aware there is no digital speedo display on the infotainment unit ( unless I haven't found it of course!). Not exactly sure why you would want a digital speed display when there's a speedo right in front of you?
If we are talking about the latest Swift and there is indeed a digital display for speed option you can set the display to give a split screen, I have the sat navigation on the left ( sat nav is always active btw but only gives guidance prompts if a destination is set), economy, time and date in the centre and radio settings on the right.
Edit: guess the op is aware that it's possible to alter the sat nav view, large arrow, small arrow, 3d view etc.
Edited by paul 1963 on 31/07/2025 at 08:35
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Which will over-read by up to 10% compared to an accurate GPS-based reading on the satnav.
Only ever had one car that over read by 10% and that was the 2007 Micra 1.2 Acenta. When it was due for 4 new tyres I was shocked how expensive the 175 60 x 15 ones were in decent makes but I spotted that on the B post sticker 175 65 15 was a factory option and was a much cheaper size, from memory about 40% less. Quick tap at the Casio and they were about 3% taller. Checked with insurers who had no problem provided I changed all 4 which I was doing. Fitted 4 Kleber all seasons and after the speedo was only about 3 mph fast (full tread as well as the profile height would have helped).
Our Yaris and Corolla both over read by about 3 mph at 70 mph according to Waze.
On the other hand the Caterham reads 68 mph at 70 according to Waze which is technically illegal. The car has original factory size wheels and tyres (185 60 x 14) and the diff ratio and speedo drive gears are all factory spec as is the VDO speedo. But at 30 mph the speedo reads 33. No doubt one of the current electric speedo's would correct matters but at a mighty cost.
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Bit confused here, is this the latest shape Swift with the new 3 pot engine ?
I've got the latest shape also in ultra spec and as far as I'm aware there is no digital speedo display on the infotainment unit ( unless I haven't found it of course!). Not exactly sure why you would want a digital speed display when there's a speedo right in front of you?
If we are talking about the latest Swift and there is indeed a digital display for speed option you can set the display to give a split screen, I have the sat navigation on the left ( sat nav is always active btw but only gives guidance prompts if a destination is set), economy, time and date in the centre and radio settings on the right.
Edit: guess the op is aware that it's possible to alter the sat nav view, large arrow, small arrow, 3d view etc.
Yes it is Suzuki Swift Ultra which came to market in mid 2024. The display software and Garmin sat nav software have been updated to 2025 versions but didn't help with this issue.
There are 11 items that can be displayed on the small digital screen directly behind the center of the steering wheel. When the car is on you can change what is displayed by pressing the info button on the steering wheel left side. This way you can bring up the digital speed indication which is very nice and easy to read quickly.
Problem arises when you use navigation, no matter what type, built-in Garmin or Google Maps or Apple Maps. Big crude arrows from the Garmin sat nav overwrite the digital speed at every junction. You can get the speed back again by 11 presses of the info button on the steering wheel, only for it to be overwritten again at next junction. The 11 presses to restore the digital speed are because the designer put the speed 11 places away from the arrows (Intersection) on the list of items. If he was thinking he would have put them next to each other on the list and then only a single press of info button wound get the speed back.
It is astounding that Suzuki deliberately damaged the functionality of the digital speed indication by crude arrows that come from the Garmin sat nav even when the driver is not using Garmin and is using Google Maps or Apple Maps. It is almost as if they had to include digital speed but were so much against it that they decided to wreck it as much as possible by spending effort to replace it by crude arrows from an old Garmin sat nav even when Garmin is not being used by the driver.
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Surely there are only a very limited number of times the OP will going somewhere they've never been before, and therefore need sat nav to get there?
I know a couple of people who follow their sat-nav religiously, regardless of where they're going. I've heard of folk that are unable to recall where to go on a regular route if their sat-nav isn't working.
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<< I know a couple of people who follow their sat-nav religiously, regardless of where they're going. I've heard of folk that are unable to recall where to go on a regular route if their sat-nav isn't working. >>
Our great-nephew had to get from Edinburgh to Basingstoke - which he did - but afterwards had no idea where he had been ...
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Surely there are only a very limited number of times the OP will going somewhere they've never been before, and therefore need sat nav to get there?
Also, i'm assuming that the digital speed display is a separate thing from the actual speedometer?, because I think it highly unlikely that using the built in sat nav would mean you have no way of knowing how fast you are going!.
With the first and second points (the OP, or Paul 1963 can maybe confirm on the latter?), I don't see this as being that much of a problem.
It shouldn't be any problem if Suzuki had not deliberately decided to interfere with the digital speed indication by overwriting it with crude arrows that come from the old Garmin sat nav even when the driver is using Android Auto or CarPlay which already have junction signs on their displays. The Garmin sat nav is always running and cannot be switched off. The designer actually spent time writing computer code to cause the digital speed indication to be overwritten by the old Garmin sat nav arrows even when the driver is using Google Maps or Apple Maps. I am baffled by why he did this and why it was not found to be unhelpful during testing, if testing was done.
What you call the actual speedometer is an old fashioned rotary dial which needs more focus and more time to interpolate. It is to right of center. It means more time not looking at road and less safe
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What you call the actual speedometer is an old fashioned rotary dial which needs more focus and more time to interpolate. It is to right of center. It means more time not looking at road and less safe
That's a weak argument - probably applies to every car ever built - analogue dials are quicker to understand than digital.
Edited by RT on 08/08/2025 at 12:12
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What you call the actual speedometer is an old fashioned rotary dial which needs more focus and more time to interpolate. It is to right of center. It means more time not looking at road and less safe
That's a weak argument - probably applies to every car ever built - analogue dials are quicker to understand than digital.
Analogue dials were the way to display measured values using moving coil meters. They require interpolation of the position of the needle on the scale as every value cannot be printed on the scale (for clarity). Then the digital age arrived and numbers can be shown directly and clearly as decimal numbers, no need for time consuming interpolation, just a clear number in large format. Nowadays fewer cars have analogue dials and all have digital speed. Some people like the dials for historic or emotional reasons and some cars still use them or a simulated computer graphic to attract those customers.
I do not know of any manufacturer except Suzuki who has put a digital speed indicator in a car and then deliberately used time and effort to make it nearly useless when the driver is using any type of navigation software, even when not using the built-in Garmin nav.
What on earth was Suzuki's motivation?
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You're missing my point - analogue dials are faster to interpret than a digital guide as the angle of the needle gives the major clue - while digital gauges require you to interpret the numbers.
You may prefer digital gauges but don't pretend they're better.
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You're missing my point - analogue dials are faster to interpret than a digital guide as the angle of the needle gives the major clue - while digital gauges require you to interpret the numbers.
You may prefer digital gauges but don't pretend they're better.
You only need to interpret numbers if they are written in other than decimal system, e.g. hex or binary. Decimal numbers are just read.
Interpreting the angle of a needle as a clue to the speed is interesting but clues are not enough for driving in areas with many closely spaced speed limits, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 etc.
On the Suzuki Swift the engine speed is actually a better "clue" to speed as it has fewer numbers on it and 2000 rpm in 5th gear is 80 kmph. 3000rpm is 120kmph.
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Presumably also there is the large speedometer directly in front of the driver, so not really a big problem!
Which will over-read by up to 10% compared to an accurate GPS-based reading on the satnav.
That's no problem then. Believing the speedo'll keep you the right side of the law.
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<< Which will over-read by up to 10% compared to an accurate GPS-based reading on the satnav. >>
Maybe, maybe not. In the days of cable-driven speedometers (as on my 205) Pug odometers seemed to over-read by about 4%. I suspected that may have been because of a simple replacement of gearing to convert a km-based device to miles, but maybe not.
However my 207 has an electronic system which seems to over-read by about 1%, so I am guessing that while the law may allow for wider discrepancy, makers can manage better accuracy.
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One of our cars has analogue Speedo kilometre markings that are difficult to see. As we frequently drive in France I bought a small digital GPS readout that sits on the dash and displays km or miles per hour. It is accurate when calibrated against Google maps GPS and was less than £5 from Ali express.plugs into nearest USB point. It even has a built in compass. Incidentally both cars are 1mph fast at 30mph and 2 mph fast at 60mph.
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OK so I've been out in the car and had a play, there is indeed a option for a digital speedo display but it's on the instrument binnacle rather than the central infotainment unit, setting a route on the satnav will give a secondary display on the binnacle that does obscure the digital speedo, pressing the right hand stalk on the binnacle several times will hide the arrow and restore the speed display, seems it will only go back to the directional arrow if you take a wrong turn ignoring the satnav directions.
Couple of little points, personally I can't see why one would want a secondary speed display 30mm away from the analogue speedometer and secondly I always cancel the binnacle prompt and just listen to the instructions with maybe a quick glance occasionally at the infotainment screen in order to see the distance to go.
Presumably the op's car is fitted with the speed warning system? Sort of makes any speedo redundant given that the speed limit is displayed and gives a audible warning should you exceed it, that said I fully understand we all like our cars set up differently.
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We have two vehicles with analogue and digital speedo next to each other and one with just analogue. Despite the closeness the digital is preferred as that matches the cruise settings.
I miss not having digital on the vehicle without, which ironically is an older Suzuki Swift where it isn't an option.
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OK so I've been out in the car and had a play, there is indeed a option for a digital speedo display but it's on the instrument binnacle rather than the central infotainment unit, setting a route on the satnav will give a secondary display on the binnacle that does obscure the digital speedo, pressing the right hand stalk on the binnacle several times will hide the arrow and restore the speed display, seems it will only go back to the directional arrow if you take a wrong turn ignoring the satnav directions.
Couple of little points, personally I can't see why one would want a secondary speed display 30mm away from the analogue speedometer and secondly I always cancel the binnacle prompt and just listen to the instructions with maybe a quick glance occasionally at the infotainment screen in order to see the distance to go.
Presumably the op's car is fitted with the speed warning system? Sort of makes any speedo redundant given that the speed limit is displayed and gives a audible warning should you exceed it, that said I fully understand we all like our cars set up differently.
Even if you don't set a route on the built-in Garmin sat nav but use Google Maps or Apple Maps on Android Auto or CarPlay the arrows will still come from Garmin and overwrite the digital speed.
This means that Suzuki made a deliberate effort to cause the arrows from Garmin to appear even when the route is only set in Google Maps or Apple Maps. This in my view is self inflicted sabotage and is difficult to imagine unless the designer was a disgruntled employee or in pay of competitors and no user testing was done.
You can make excuses for Suzuki by referring to speed limit signs and the old fashioned rotary speed dial but this does not look good in what was sold as a modern design.
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OK so I've been out in the car and had a play, there is indeed a option for a digital speedo display but it's on the instrument binnacle rather than the central infotainment unit, setting a route on the satnav will give a secondary display on the binnacle that does obscure the digital speedo, pressing the right hand stalk on the binnacle several times will hide the arrow and restore the speed display, seems it will only go back to the directional arrow if you take a wrong turn ignoring the satnav directions.
In the beginning I thought that it only happened when I deviated from planned route but eventually found it happened at most junctions. I was using Android Auto. Then tried iPhone with CarPlay and arrows didn't appear. Thought I had a solution and would buy iPhone but before I did that the arrows came when using iPhone. So the design is not only unhelpful it is flaky in operation, maybe just to make the digital speed indication as frustrating as possible.
Suzuki's response was to say the system is working as designed so no fault. They wrote that "some people might like the arrows". The word "might" really hit me when I read it.
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OK so I've been out in the car and had a play, there is indeed a option for a digital speedo display but it's on the instrument binnacle rather than the central infotainment unit, setting a route on the satnav will give a secondary display on the binnacle that does obscure the digital speedo, pressing the right hand stalk on the binnacle several times will hide the arrow and restore the speed display, seems it will only go back to the directional arrow if you take a wrong turn ignoring the satnav directions.
In the beginning I thought that it only happened when I deviated from planned route but eventually found it happened at most junctions. I was using Android Auto. Then tried iPhone with CarPlay and arrows didn't appear. Thought I had a solution and would buy iPhone but before I did that the arrows came when using iPhone. So the design is not only unhelpful it is flaky in operation, maybe just to make the digital speed indication as frustrating as possible.
Suzuki's response was to say the system is working as designed so no fault. They wrote that "some people might like the arrows". The word "might" really hit me when I read it.
I think ultimately it boils down to Suzuki making very reliable and quite agile cars but otherwise being a bit low-rent (I can say that as I have one). They have bought-in a third party infotainment system and its integration with the dash is not great. It's quite common - only VW seem to have come up with a decent user interface and their satnav is pretty awful. They all seem to have good and bad points - the Renault and Vauxhall ones look they're underwater, the Kia one is completely baffling, and so on. I imagine you'll get used to it eventually.
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OK so I've been out in the car and had a play, there is indeed a option for a digital speedo display but it's on the instrument binnacle rather than the central infotainment unit, setting a route on the satnav will give a secondary display on the binnacle that does obscure the digital speedo, pressing the right hand stalk on the binnacle several times will hide the arrow and restore the speed display, seems it will only go back to the directional arrow if you take a wrong turn ignoring the satnav directions.
In the beginning I thought that it only happened when I deviated from planned route but eventually found it happened at most junctions. I was using Android Auto. Then tried iPhone with CarPlay and arrows didn't appear. Thought I had a solution and would buy iPhone but before I did that the arrows came when using iPhone. So the design is not only unhelpful it is flaky in operation, maybe just to make the digital speed indication as frustrating as possible.
Suzuki's response was to say the system is working as designed so no fault. They wrote that "some people might like the arrows". The word "might" really hit me when I read it.
I think ultimately it boils down to Suzuki making very reliable and quite agile cars but otherwise being a bit low-rent (I can say that as I have one). They have bought-in a third party infotainment system and its integration with the dash is not great. It's quite common - only VW seem to have come up with a decent user interface and their satnav is pretty awful. They all seem to have good and bad points - the Renault and Vauxhall ones look they're underwater, the Kia one is completely baffling, and so on. I imagine you'll get used to it eventually.
I will get rid of it sooner than planned. I cannot understand how something so stupid got through any testing. Using old style Garmin nav is totally unnecessary as the maps on Android and iPhone are so much better due to their search engines etc. Of the 11 items that can appear in the small digital area on the dash quite a few are related to acceleration, torque, g force etc. and of little use to the driver unless he is a car test engineer. I don't think a disappearing digital speed indication has been marketed by any other car manufacturer as it is the type of behavior that could lose customers. Suzuki had to invest time and effort to deliberately make their digital speed indicator work badly for the driver. It would be easy to fix as it means removing the code that was put there on purpose to make the arrows. Their position as written to me is that some customers might like the arrows overwriting the digital speed. I am amazed that they wrote that.
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Presumably also there is the large speedometer directly in front of the driver, so not really a big problem!
The digital speed indicator is directly in front of the center of the steering wheel. The old fashioned rotary speed dial is to right of center and the rotary dial for engine speed is to the left.
The digital speed is much quicker to read and can be read in peripheral vision whereas the rotary dial needs direct focus and interpolation of the scale, making it a longer distraction and less safe.
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The problem with the arrows overwriting the digital speed indication happens when using Android Auto (with Google Maps) or CarPlay (with Apple Maps or Google Maps). It seems that Suzuki deliberately tied these Internet maps into the pre-installed Garmin sat nav to cause these arrows to appear because the arrows come from the Garmin sat nav which is always on and cannot be disabled.
I am astounded that Suzuki think this is a good idea, to suddenly cause the speed indication to disappear and replace it by crude arrows which give much less info than the big arrows on the junction signs already on the Google Maps display. To get the digital indication back takes 11 presses of the info button on the steering wheel, only for it to be overwritten again at the next junction. The 11 presses arise because of where display items are in the list of possible items. It could have been a single press if the designer gave it a bit of thought and put the arrows and the speed indication next to each other in the list.
The pre-installed Garmin sat nav is pretty useless compared to Google Maps and Apple Maps and it is strange that such an obsolescent system was installed and used to damage the digital speed indication even when Google Maps is the sat nav being used by the driver.
Once you have used a digital speed indication it is a pain to go back to interpolating an old fashioned rotary dial which requires more time and is more distracting and less accurate.
I think Suzuki may be the only car manufacturer with this strange design concept and I am personally shocked by it.
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