Annoying Speedometer Reflection COULD THIS HELP

I bought one as soon as I got my ride and it helps some but the glare is still there. But I bought mine to serve the real purpose of the product. They are great.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(didjyman @ Aug 17 2007, 09:17 AM) [snapback]497871[/snapback]</div>

You can get a small piece of black material and put it under your DashMat on the opening closest to you. The DashMat will hold it in place and the speedometer glare should go away. That's what I did with my Dash Topper (similar to the DashMat).

 

Whatever you do don't get a light color dashmat, the reflection is very bad. I bought a tan one and laid it on the dash tocheck the fit and drove to work the next morning. The dashmat didn't last a mile. The reflection on the windshield was horrible. I never finished the installation, just put it back in the box.

 

anyone have a photo?
does it go around the small round vent holes?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prius2go @ Aug 17 2007, 01:47 PM) [snapback]498017[/snapback]</div>

The one I have is from Dashtopper, which I ordered from a Toyota Dealer. As you can see it goes around the small round vent holes and has an opening for the temp sensor. If you order directly from them (rather than ordering at the dealer) you can have one custom done which will extend the material past the MFD to make it easier to see in the sun.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Aug 20 2007, 02:31 PM) [snapback]499291[/snapback]</div>

Wow, you can see the blue reflection on the windshield. Is this a problem during the day?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zenMachine @ Aug 20 2007, 12:34 PM) [snapback]499295[/snapback]</div>

Not when sitting in the car itself.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Aug 20 2007, 03:31 PM) [snapback]499291[/snapback]</div>

Would like to check into that further, looked around here, the east coast, found nothing...
Which Toyota dealer did you purchase it from? and part number if possible.
Thanks.

 

People who have the speedometer glare on the windshield at night, have you tried turning down your interior lights (roller to the left of the steering wheel)?

The only reason I ask is that I noticed that when my interior lights are turned up all the way, the glare from my speedometer on my windshield at night is really really bad, but if I turn down the brightness of the interior lights, I cannot see any glare at all.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AOV @ Aug 22 2007, 04:23 AM) [snapback]500195[/snapback]</div>

The company is called Dashtopper and I got it at Toyota of El Cajon (CA). They had samples of the material so I could take it out to the car to see what would work (they also had samples of the seat covers too). They had to order, as they don't carry it in stock, but it's something they did on a regular basis. I'd just go to the dealer and ask.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dmklass @ Aug 23 2007, 07:43 PM) [snapback]501265[/snapback]</div>

Most of my night time travels are on unlit streets, very dark, so I did I turn it down, dimmed it, it helped a lot, but...still not good enough. Not much you can do with the reflection of the turning signal light, that lights up the windshield as well, I find it distracting.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Aug 23 2007, 08:57 PM) [snapback]501295[/snapback]</div>

Thanks, checked it out, probably will go directly with the Dashtopper company. I liked the Sedona suede the best, probably in charcoal gray to be a better match with the gray/black interior, and my charcoal gray wool-y seats. My other choice would have been black, probably would be too black, and would get too hot in the sun.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dmklass @ Aug 23 2007, 04:43 PM) [snapback]501265[/snapback]</div>

Have you tried turning the dimmer all the way down? It turns the speedometer lights off completely! If you do that, and turn off the MFD it becomes very strange driving in the dark, my eyes start to hurt.. it feels like I've gone partially blind or something because my eyes are so used to seeing an instrument cluster in that area at night then suddenly theres nothing but darkness. Pretty neat though... "Officer, I swear! I have no idea how fast I was going, I don't have a speedometer!"

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AOV @ Aug 24 2007, 03:48 AM) [snapback]501459[/snapback]</div>

If you order from them directly, you can have them do a little custom work like extending the area around the top of the MFD to act as a sun hood. The one I got didn't have an opening for the center speaker (they said that was to protect the speaker itself from sun rot), but you can have them put a hole there too. Being covered muffles the output, but I understand that the center speaker isn't the best for sound anyway (people have disconnected that speaker and gotten improved sound).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Aug 24 2007, 04:21 PM) [snapback]501731[/snapback]</div>

My Dashmat arrived yesterday. I haven't had a chance to test it out at night yet. But it did occur to me, after trying it on, that they probably could sell a lot more of these if they added the MFD hood as part of the mat. What a big convenience that would be for a lot of people...

 

I hope they design those dash covers with the airbag in mind... wouldn't be very fun to get smacked in the face by a piece of carpeting in an accident.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ilusnforc @ Aug 24 2007, 05:12 PM) [snapback]501754[/snapback]</div>

Yes, the Dashmat has a flap over the airbag area. It also has two round holes for the side vents as well as a rectangular slit for the defrost vent. And of course a hole for the "Power" button. Looks like everything's been thought out. Everything but an MFD hood, that is.

BTW, I don't see the speedo reflection anymore (not that it ever bothered me before). I bought the Dashmat primarily to protect my dash from the intense TX heat and to prevent warping. But the other side benefits are nice bonuses, no doubt.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zenMachine @ Aug 24 2007, 09:40 PM) [snapback]501896[/snapback]</div>

I see the cutout flap over the airbag area, but if you look at the dash closely you will see the shape of the letter "H" where it appears the airbag deploys from the middle with the upper and lower sections breaking away. However, that piece of dash mat over the airbag appears to be one piece covering the entire airbag area... so when the bag deploys that piece of carpet will likely end up in your face, or so it appears...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ilusnforc @ Aug 24 2007, 06:12 PM) [snapback]501754[/snapback]</div>

Maybe I shouldn't say anything about airbags, but...if I had a choice...maybe getting hit by a piece of carpet is better than being hit by an airbag.
I have read probably too many articles about the pros and cons of airbags, mentioning one negative as being...it injures you at the same time its suppose to protect you. Obviously, if the accident is bad enough to deploy the airbag, one should be grateful for having one, but....being smaller than the "average" person behind the wheel....I tend to think otherwise.
As I said, maybe I shouldn't say anything about them, not sure if they have improved them over the years.
Would be good to have that option of having them turned on or off.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(aaf709 @ Aug 24 2007, 05:21 PM) [snapback]501731[/snapback]</div>

After reading your post, I decided to give it a try and contact Dash-Topper, this was their response:


Every now and again we do get a request to have a Dash-Topper altered in some way or another, though our resources for doing this are fairly limited.

I have checked out our pattern for the 2007 Prius with our designer. Unfortunately, the pattern has no reference for the speaker to make a cutout for it. In fact, we intentionally cover speakers to give them the same UV protection we do for the rest of the dash (speaker components are particularly susceptible to this kind of damage). Usually, there is no discernible effect on the sound; if there is, a small adjustment to the tone settings will easily compensate.

Also, we looked at the area you mentioned you wanted some fabric to overhang your instrument cluster. We tried approximating a 2-inch overhang of fabric (a minimal amount to provide any kind of shading) Over the course of a couple of days the unsupported fabric sagged; it simply isn’t stiff enough to make the kind of addition you’d like.

We do want to provide you with the best possible product we can, and the result of this experiment isn’t the kind of quality we would be comfortable sending out.

Thanks again for your requests!

Jim Linde

Dash-Topper Website Customer Relations

I guess it should be arriving in a few days, my biggest concern was the sun rather than the reflection on the windshield at night, which is not as distracting if you dim it a little.