Reversed Compass Directions?

[suzook]

I disagree, while compass indicates the direction the car is headed. The other purpose is to indicate where other directions to help the driver navigate.

When heading North, turning left should make the car travel West, turning right should make the car travel East.

The compass should be indicating W N E

With the current buggy compass, drivers that want to travel west would be turning right.

You can not expect all drivers to know how an actual compass behaves.

They just need navigational aid of where the car is going, and which way to turn to west or east.

Completely disagree. Ford did it correct. Use the nav if you need to know which way to turn your vehicle.

 

[peterk9]

I disagree, while compass indicates the direction the car is headed. The other purpose is to indicate where other directions to help the driver navigate.

I realize what you are saying but that is not what this type of compass was designed for. See ModMiFord's post above. It explains the differences in the two types of compasses. All the globe type compasses shown are the same as ours. So while you may disagree, the compass works as it was intended to.

 

[rmp301]

I disagree, while compass indicates the direction the car is headed. The other purpose is to indicate where other directions to help the driver navigate.

When heading North, turning left should make the car travel West, turning right should make the car travel East.

The compass should be indicating W N E

With the current buggy compass, drivers that want to travel west would be turning right.

You can not expect all drivers to know how an actual compass behaves.

They just need navigational aid of where the car is going, and which way to turn to west or east.

Funny thing is that when I turn toward the west, even though it shows "E", when the truck is pointed west, it shows "W" on the compass globe, so it does know where it is headed, the reference points are just a little funky. I doubt I would have noticed this except that it was brought up here and I became fixated on the points of reference

 

[w1kedz]

With the current buggy compass, drivers that want to travel west would be turning right.

You can not expect all drivers to know how an actual compass behaves.

1) it's not buggy, it's functioning as intended

2) if you don't know how an actual compass behaves, how do you expect to use a compass? What does that statement even mean?

 

[cnsheets]

I can't speak for everyone here, But I for one learned the basics of N,S,E,W in grade school.

Is it that difficult to know and understand that if you are traveling north, east is to your right and west is to your left?

 

[CDNexp]

I understand this how the actual physical one works but now with the digital tools we can do things differently. I would rather have a digital too that shows right as east and left as west ( when traveling north) and don't call it a compass. call it direction assistant or whatever. And u can keep the option to have the traditional one for people who loves that

 

[1995E]

Wait, this guy has a point.

When you are traveling north, shouldn't west be on your left and east be on your right?

When I'm facing north, the vehicle showed E on the left which I found very weird.

 

[CulturalInfidel]

You can not expect all drivers to know how an actual compass behaves.

Perhaps those people shouldn't even be allowed to operate a motor vehicle at all!

The compass is displaying a digital representation of a REAL FRICKIN' COMPASS ... it's not buggy, it's correct!
If a person can't handle it, then their brain is buggy... not the compass software.

 

[rmp301]

Perhaps those people shouldn't even be allowed to operate a motor vehicle at all!

The compass is displaying a digital representation of a REAL FRICKIN' COMPASS ... it's not buggy, it's correct!
If a person can't handle it, then their brain is buggy... not the compass software.

So what's "Up" ..... "Down"?:scratch:

 

[w1kedz]

Wait, this guy has a point.

When you are traveling north, shouldn't west be on your left and east be on your right?

When I'm facing north, the vehicle showed E on the left which I found very weird.

I'm gonna take a shot and say you didn't read this entire thread before posting

 

[w1kedz]

So what's "Up" ..... "Down"?:scratch:

Compass's don't work in relation to vertical direction.. but in relation to your statement, anybody who does not know which direction is on their left or right given a direction they are pointed, should not be driving.

If I'm going west, I should always know that right is north, and left is south, and it should be common sense for any given direction. This is something we all should have learned in 5th, 6th grade? Earlier? Maybe they should add basic directional coherence to the mandatory driving test before you get your license?

The compass works like any other globe compass, and is what most people are used to. It's not buggy, it's functioning as designed, which is "correctly"

 

[CulturalInfidel]

Wait, this guy has a point.

When you are traveling north, shouldn't west be on your left and east be on your right?

When I'm facing north, the vehicle showed E on the left which I found very weird.

Just because YOU find it "weird" doesn't mean it IS weird.

In this particular case, your own understanding of how things work is flawed and Ford's presentation is correct.
You're never too old to learn something new... but you COULD be too stubborn.

 

[jreask]

I could swear my 4WD 2012 EX says "intelligent 4WD" on the left gauge cluster Does Ford make an AWD version of the EX?

 

[peterk9]

I could swear my 4WD 2012 EX says "intelligent 4WD" on the left gauge cluster Does Ford make an AWD version of the EX?

Nope, just the AWD. My Highlander which had all wheels driven full time was 4WD. In the Owner's Guide in the Index it refers to All Wheel Drive (AWD). At least it does in mine.
I was afraid this issue would come up again.

Peter

 

[jreask]

Nope, just the AWD. My Highlander which had all wheels drived full time was 4WD. In the Owner's Guide in the Index it refers to All Wheel Drive (AWD). At least it does in mine.
I was afraid this issue would come up again.

Peter

I was unaware that an AWD version was available. I thought there was only FWD and 4WD ?

 

[rmp301]

Compass's don't work in relation to vertical direction.. but in relation to your statement, anybody who does not know which direction is on their left or right given a direction they are pointed, should not be driving.

If I'm going west, I should always know that right is north, and left is south, and it should be common sense for any given direction. This is something we all should have learned in 5th, 6th grade? Earlier? Maybe they should add basic directional coherence to the mandatory driving test before you get your license?

The compass works like any other globe compass, and is what most people are used to. It's not buggy, it's functioning as designed, which is "correctly"

I do know the relation to N S E W when driving ...... I never had a compass for reference in my vehicles before and that's why I never noticed that W is to my right when driving N in the Ex ..... It only became apparent when I read this thread. You may be right that I cannot read this globe compass and perhaps because it's not a real compass that I can visually look at from the top or sides, it is throwing me off and I can't comprehend the concept of how it functions ........... or I am an "old dog" and can't learn this! :roll:

 

[peterk9]

I was unaware that an AWD version was available. I thought there was only FWD and 4WD ?

The only versions are FWD and AWD. 4WD is an incorrect term for this new Explorer.
Let's not hi-jack this thread with this discussion. There was a thread opened on this issue a number of months ago.

Peter

 

[peterk9]

I do know the relation to N S E W when driving ...... I never had a compass for reference in my vehicles before and that's why I never noticed that W is to my right when driving N in the Ex ..... It only became apparent when I read this thread. You may be right that I cannot read this globe compass and perhaps because it's not a real compass that I can visually look at from the top or sides, it is throwing me off and I can't comprehend the concept of how it functions ........... or I am an "old dog" and can't learn this! :roll:

You can look at it from the side. The letter facing you is the direction you would be going in. It is different from those flat ones that you would look at from the top. All compasses are not created equal.

Peter

 

[VinceL]

I like the way the compass works, but if I hadn't learned how to sail in the past few years, I might have thought twice about how the Ex's compass looks.

 

[charliez]

1) it's not buggy, it's functioning as intended

2) if you don't know how an actual compass behaves, how do you expect to use a compass? What does that statement even mean?

It's easiest to find the direction to turn to using a compass by looking at it from above. Place a car icon with an arrow pointing up, while the compass rotates in the direction the car is moving. This is the perspective that is most useful at a glance. It's a "flat" compass.

The current compass implementation while it works as intended, does not provide additional navigational information that is helpful, rather it provides miscues.

So I suppose I disagree with the how the compass is represented. Maybe have a choice to display?

1. The globe compass
2. The "flat" compass (my choice)