Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display

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Mon 24 Aug 2015 20:58
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - surfdriver13

This is a short video of the latest version of my saver. I would be grateful if you can have look and let me know your opinion. Thanks

Look on youtube, and enter in search bar, Eco spot saver head up

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Mon 24 Aug 2015 21:59
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - alan1302

Think it looks like something that will get in your way when driving.

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Tue 25 Aug 2015 09:59
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - dadbif
Back in my youth, we used to fit vacuum gauges that gave the same read out on a dashboard gauge, ran of the inlet manifold, they never caught on....
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Tue 25 Aug 2015 10:29
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - skidpan
Back in my youth, we used to fit vacuum gauges that gave the same read out on a dashboard gauge, ran of the inlet manifold, they never caught on....

They never caught on because they were totally pointless. High vacuum meant you had lifted off, low vacuum meant you had your foot down. Why did you need a gauge to tell you that.

As for saving fuel by looking at another distracting display it beggars belief. Most cars have mpg read outs as standard and they are totally pointless.

Any decent driver should realise that the best way to save fuel is to drive a bit slower and anticipate the road and traffic ahead. All you need is 1/2 a brain cell and a pair of Mk one human eyes.

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Tue 25 Aug 2015 11:38
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - expat
Back in my youth, we used to fit vacuum gauges that gave the same read out on a dashboard gauge, ran of the inlet manifold, they never caught on....

They never caught on because they were totally pointless. High vacuum meant you had lifted off, low vacuum meant you had your foot down. Why did you need a gauge to tell you that.


If you think vacuum gauges are pointless you should have tried the vacuum powered windscreen wipers fitted to 1950's Fords. When you went fast you had low vacuum so the wipers slowed to a crawl. When you slowed down the wipers speeded up to frenzy. Exactly the opposite of what you wanted. Trying to drive with them when it was snowing was a real challenge especially at night.

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Tue 25 Aug 2015 12:02
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - skidpan

If you think vacuum gauges are pointless you should have tried the vacuum powered windscreen wipers fitted to 1950's Fords. When you went fast you had low vacuum so the wipers slowed to a crawl. When you slowed down the wipers speeded up to frenzy. Exactly the opposite of what you wanted.

They actually survived into the 60's. Remember dads 1960 Ford Consul, who ever came up with that idea needed a sound whipping.

Chap at the garage down from where dad lived (same family still there but they do funerals now) did something that made them go faster but it was still vacuum related.

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Tue 25 Aug 2015 15:02
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - surfdriver13
Back in my youth, we used to fit vacuum gauges that gave the same read out on a dashboard gauge, ran of the inlet manifold, they never caught on....

They never caught on because they were totally pointless. High vacuum meant you had lifted off, low vacuum meant you had your foot down. Why did you need a gauge to tell you that.

As for saving fuel by looking at another distracting display it beggars belief. Most cars have mpg read outs as standard and they are totally pointless.

Any decent driver should realise that the best way to save fuel is to drive a bit slower and anticipate the road and traffic ahead. All you need is 1/2 a brain cell and a pair of Mk one human eyes.

Thanks for your reply.

I also find the insantaneous mpg too lively and pretty useless but the average mpg is not too bad, especially if zeroed for each tank fill up.

G force of acceleration and braking is fundemental for a driver, not just for fuel saving, and this instrument, with good damping to slow the indicator down a bi,t gives a completely new dimension for your driving, beyond speed and revs. Yes, we have our senses to rely on but but like with many things in life an accurate instrument to follow is very useful.

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Tue 25 Aug 2015 14:33
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - surfdriver13

Think it looks like something that will get in your way when driving.

I made it as small as possible and it appears on the screen about mid dashboard, where eg a satnav sits when mounted on the windscreen. T

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Tue 25 Aug 2015 14:42
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - surfdriver13

Think it looks like something that will get in your way when driving.

Thanks for your comment

I made it as small as possible and it appears on the screen about mid dashboard, away from the main field of view, where eg a satnav sits when mounted on the windscreen. The size , as it appears to the driver, is only about 5x6cms, which is about half that of the satnav.

I have designed the scale and text to be as minimal as possible, to keep it simple for a busy driver.

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Tue 25 Aug 2015 12:56
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - Avant

Possibly the 'sound whipping' should also have been given to the idiot at Ford who decreed that they should continue to fit a six-volt battery when everyone else had progressed to 12v. Perhaps the battery would have been flattened by lights + electric wipers, particularly as it would have already been put to the test by the time it took to start a Ford of that era.

In the 50s, Austins were way ahead of Fords. My father had a 1951 A40, and my own first car was a a 14-year-old A50. I still feel sad to think what happened to Austin eventually.

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Tue 25 Aug 2015 13:49
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - brum

Ay oop....its reminisence time in the main lounge of the nursing home again.....shall we have a singsong everyone? eh?

Edited by brum on 25/08/2015 at 13:50

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Tue 25 Aug 2015 15:21
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - skidpan

G force of acceleration and braking is fundemental for a driver, not just for fuel saving, and this instrument, with good damping to slow the indicator down a bi,t gives a completely new dimension for your driving, beyond speed and revs. Yes, we have our senses to rely on but but like with many things in life an accurate instrument to follow is very useful.

What a total load of b0110cks.

If you cannot rely on your senses when drving send your license back, you should not be on the road.

Lost for words (almost).

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Tue 25 Aug 2015 17:21
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - RT

G force of acceleration and braking is fundemental for a driver, not just for fuel saving, and this instrument, with good damping to slow the indicator down a bi,t gives a completely new dimension for your driving, beyond speed and revs. Yes, we have our senses to rely on but but like with many things in life an accurate instrument to follow is very useful.

What a total load of b0110cks.

If you cannot rely on your senses when drving send your license back, you should not be on the road.

Lost for words (almost).

Well said, and a lot more politely than I would.

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Wed 26 Aug 2015 11:36
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - catsdad
Re G force. So if I am going downhill, slowing in gear (or using the brakes if you subscribe to "gears to go, brakes to slow" mantra) and using no fuel at all, will the G force device suggest I iincrease my speed to reduce the force at the potential expense of fuel economy? If so its not a simple message at all. I assume this must be the same device that did the rounds a year or so back and if so the visuals have been improved a lot but that's about it I'm afraid.
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Wed 26 Aug 2015 15:33
Ford Focus Saloon - New Fuel Saver prototype, Head up Display - Wackyracer

I watched this new video of what appears to be the same non starter of a product. If you can call a spirit level bubble and some form of pivoting weighted mechanism a 'new product'.

I think your video highlights the true answer. If you can't react to an indicator flashing for 9 seconds before you start to slow down, you don't need this device - you need a trip to specsavers (other opticians are available) for an eye test and probably some glasses.

I think you need to take this device to Dragons Den, hopefully they will be able to make you see that your wasting your time and effort.

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