# Can you get the Mk1 dash upgraded to show a digital speedo?



## silverbug (Jan 1, 2020)

I haven't yet got a Mk 1  , but reading on here I realise that these cars didn't come with any provision for a digital speedo in the DIS display like the later ones (Mk2?) .
My daily A3 has the digital speedo and I rely on it totally , in fact I don't look at the round dials!
If I get a TT with a pixel problem I was wondering whether this mod could be done by the various companies repairing the LCD's?
Anyone know , or has had it done ?
Thanks


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## Essex2Visuvesi (Oct 22, 2019)

I think it's available on the colour screen mod that someone was offering


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## David C (Apr 15, 2013)

Essex2Visuvesi said:


> I think it's available on the colour screen mod that someone was offering


Yes I'm sure the Colour MFA has a speed display.


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## EddieMunster321 (Jan 14, 2016)

silverbug said:


> My daily A3 has the digital speedo and I rely on it totally , in fact I don't look at the round dials!
> Thanks


So, just to confirm; you don't rely on the large, analogue dial display that's in your eye line, instead preferring to use a digit display about 100th the size of the aforementioned dial?


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## silverbug (Jan 1, 2020)

Excuse my ignorance , what models have the colour MFA?
If I get a dash repair I'd really like a digital speedo.
Thanks



EddieMunster321 said:


> silverbug said:
> 
> 
> > My daily A3 has the digital speedo and I rely on it totally , in fact I don't look at the round dials!
> ...


 This is my dash , a lot easier to read an exact number than figure out which number the speedo hand is pointing to...and it's definitely not 100th of the size


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## barry_m2 (Jun 29, 2015)

silverbug said:


> This is my dash , a lot easier to read an exact number than figure out which number the speedo hand is pointing to...and it's definitely not 100th of the size


Very much this!

It's a lot easier and quicker to see what speed you are doing by looking at the number displayed on the center screen. I have it set on my Mk2 and A1. I just assumed it wasn't an option on the Mk1.


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## silverbug (Jan 1, 2020)

barry_m2 said:


> Very much this!
> 
> It's a lot easier and quicker to see what speed you are doing by looking at the number displayed on the center screen. I have it set on my Mk2 and A1. I just assumed it wasn't an option on the Mk1.


I'm fairly sure it was never available on the Mk1.
Just wondering if anyone has had it done to their dash as part of the DIS LCD pixel repair problem etc.
Sounds trivial I know , but it's something I'd really like to have ........


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

Just get a road angel speed camera detector they have a digital speed read out :idea:


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## pcbbc (Sep 4, 2009)

It's not a standard feature. You'd need an after market mod to add it. The colour MFA mod may be able to do it (can't comment as I've not seen it), and perhaps FIS-Control also.

I recently hacked my RNS-E firmware to add speed to the digital compass screen...








I could probably do a better job (i.e. bigger) now I know how to write graphics (not just text) to the cluster. Update rate might not be great though.

And you might want to check out the work John949 has been doing over on the MK2 forum.
That would be compatible in some respects with the MK1, although I don't know if he'll be providing a speedo for a couple of reasons. The main one being the Mk2 already has a digital speedo.

A digital speedo can be very useful. Not easy to get an exact speed from an analogue dial. Especially if you have your cruise set and are going through an average speed check.


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## SamDorey (Dec 31, 2016)

Speed limits are usually apart of the 5 times table, pretty simple to read the analogue display. :wink:


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## sunnydene (Nov 17, 2018)

I also wanted a digital speed indication on my TT as my A5 is much easier to stick to speed limits with the digital display than with the analogue one.
I fitted a GPS digital speedometer a year ago at a cost of £20 from ebay. It sits on top of my dash only needs a 12V supply and works great. 
I have also set an alarm on it at 80mph which obviously has never been on yet. 8)


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## pcbbc (Sep 4, 2009)

sunnydene said:


> I have also set an alarm on it at 80mph which obviously has never been on yet. 8)


Aren't there speed limit alarms built into the TT Computer on the DIS? I'm sure there are, but I've forgotten how you set them!


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## sunnydene (Nov 17, 2018)

The DIS does have two speed warnings. Warning 1 is set whilst driving and is not stored when the car is switched off. Warning 2 is set with the engine off. I have warning 2 set at 85mph so I have a warning at 80 and then yet another warning if I ever made 85.


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## droopsnoot (Sep 5, 2002)

There were studies done back in the eighties when digital speedometers were starting to become available (Audi ur-quattro, MG Maestro and more) which found that it takes your attention away from the road for longer when using a digital readout. The reason was that you actually have to read the digits and process them in your brain, whereas on an analog dial, you just need to register the approximate location of the pointer, and there's no need to actually read the nearest number, in most normal driving.

I still want an ur-quattro, though.


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

Hi, Code 17 on Climate Control will give road speed in KM/H.
Not a lot of use I know.




Hoggy.


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## silverbug (Jan 1, 2020)

Thanks all.
I'm used to a digital speedo in my A3 and it's second nature to me to just look ahead.
Combined with cruise it's a license-saver IMHO  .
If I can get a digital readout on a TT so much the better ..


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

droopsnoot said:


> There were studies done back in the eighties when digital speedometers were starting to become available (Audi ur-quattro, MG Maestro and more) which found that it takes your attention away from the road for longer when using a digital readout. The reason was that you actually have to read the digits and process them in your brain, whereas on an analog dial, you just need to register the approximate location of the pointer, and there's no need to actually read the nearest number, in most normal driving.
> 
> I still want an ur-quattro, though.


Yep I remember this at the time when everybody and there dog were fitting digital dash


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## GARAGE HERMIT (Mar 7, 2015)

this post must be a windup, :roll:


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## silverbug (Jan 1, 2020)

GARAGE HERMIT said:


> this post must be a windup, :roll:


Can't make up my mind if that's a serious post or not .
What's wrong with the original question?


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## chivvyp (Jun 20, 2014)

sunnydene said:


> The DIS does have two speed warnings. Warning 1 is set whilst driving and is not stored when the car is switched off. Warning 2 is set with the engine off. I have warning 2 set at 85mph so I have a warning at 80 and then yet another warning if I ever made 85.


Hi,
How do you set warning 2? I didn't think it was possible to reset from the factory supplied setting on the mk 1.

Pete


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

chivvyp said:


> Hi,
> How do you set warning 2? I didn't think it was possible to reset from the factory supplied setting on the mk 1. Pete


Hi. Click to enlarge








Hoggy.


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## sunnydene (Nov 17, 2018)

chivvyp said:


> sunnydene said:
> 
> 
> > The DIS does have two speed warnings. Warning 1 is set whilst driving and is not stored when the car is switched off. Warning 2 is set with the engine off. I have warning 2 set at 85mph so I have a warning at 80 and then yet another warning if I ever made 85.
> ...


According to my handbook:
Switch off ignition
Briefly press adjuster/test button in the instrument cluster and the mileage display lights up
Press the adjuster/test button for at least 2 seconds. The display will then show current set alarm setting or crossed out warning if none set
To set speed alarm press top or bottom of the function selector switch on the windscreen wiper stalk.


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## __Dom__ (Jun 25, 2009)

The wifes A6 has a digital speed readout on the centre DIS and I've grown to prefer that to the analogue dial on my TT. However, if it could be displayed on my TT, I'd be even more miffed about all the missing display lines!


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## chivvyp (Jun 20, 2014)

Thanks Hoggy/sunnydene.

If I read it correctly it's set in km/h?

Pete


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## sunnydene (Nov 17, 2018)

chivvyp said:


> Thanks Hoggy/sunnydene.
> 
> If I read it correctly it's set in km/h?
> 
> Pete


MPH on mine


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

chivvyp said:


> Thanks Hoggy/sunnydene.
> 
> If I read it correctly it's set in km/h?
> 
> Pete


Hi, MPH on mine.
Hoggy.


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## Nickboy (Dec 5, 2018)

Just get a heads up display unit for under £50 and plug it into your OBD2 port...digital speed display plus much more. Mine is set to also display engine coolant temp and volts reading


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## davebowk (Aug 16, 2019)

Nickboy said:


> Just get a heads up display unit for under £50 and plug it into your OBD2 port...digital speed display plus much more. Mine is set to also display engine coolant temp and volts reading


Which one have you got because the cheap one i tried won't work on VW/Audi


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

pcbbc said:


> sunnydene said:
> 
> 
> > I have also set an alarm on it at 80mph which obviously has never been on yet. 8)
> ...


yeah it is pressing in the left button, I always end up setting it to 5mph when trying to set the clock, twice a year (yeah right more like every month when I do something on the car) you press it in when driving - it is just another annoying beep which makes you jump and expect to stop to fix it or call the RAC


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## chivvyp (Jun 20, 2014)

sunnydene said:


> chivvyp said:
> 
> 
> > sunnydene said:
> ...


Last question, is this warning 2 lost if the battery is disconnected?

Pete


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## sunnydene (Nov 17, 2018)

> Last question, is this warning 2 lost if the battery is disconnected?


I think so as I had to reset mine when I changed the battery but didn't notice at the time of changing as I was more concerned trying to get the radio working again as the code in the handbook didn't work(luckily for me someone had written the code on the back of the radio  ). Removing the battery did set all the other instrument display parameters back to zero e.g.clock / mpg so I would expect the speed warning to reset as well.


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## chivvyp (Jun 20, 2014)

Thanks


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## StuartDB (Feb 10, 2018)

Hoggy, is the new account a robot? It is just copying and posting like the 3rd reply.


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

StuartDB said:


> Hoggy, is the new account a robot? It is just copying and posting like the 3rd reply.


Hi, 3 posts removed.
Hoggy.


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## tigerblade (Jan 31, 2016)

I've just got a 17 quid hud from eBay that shows digital speed plugged into odb port on my mk1. It works fine. 
Although after about 50mph digital speed is about 2mph ahead what the analog display shows. 
But I can live with that.


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## SamDorey (Dec 31, 2016)

Just came across this which I never knew about. Code 17 for speed. 

https://wak-tt.com/climate/climatecodes.htm


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## Jussi-R (Feb 12, 2021)

silverbug said:


> Thanks all.
> I'm used to a digital speedo in my A3 and it's second nature to me to just look ahead.
> Combined with cruise it's a license-saver IMHO  .
> If I can get a digital readout on a TT so much the better ..


Hello Silverbug!

I implemented digital speedometer to my mk1 TT via radio's infotainment CAN bus. If you're still interested in the subject you can check my project documentation: https://www.hackster.io/databus100/...o-car-s-instrument-cluster-via-can-bus-66e273


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## Jussi-R (Feb 12, 2021)

pcbbc said:


> It's not a standard feature. You'd need an after market mod to add it. The colour MFA mod may be able to do it (can't comment as I've not seen it), and perhaps FIS-Control also.
> 
> I recently hacked my RNS-E firmware to add speed to the digital compass screen...
> 
> ...


How did write new graphics to the cluster? I'm very interested in the subject and my plan is to display the speed with big numbers in the nav section of the DIS. At the moment the speed is only in the uppermost part of the DIS, replacing the radio station info.


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## silverbug (Jan 1, 2020)

Jussi-R said:


> silverbug said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks all.
> ...


Thanks for the info , but that is way over my head :lol: .
I've been on a waiting list for a Colour MFA for a few months now , hopefully it will be installed within the next few weeks  .


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## pcbbc (Sep 4, 2009)

Jussi-R said:


> pcbbc said:
> 
> 
> > It's not a standard feature. You'd need an after market mod to add it. The colour MFA mod may be able to do it (can't comment as I've not seen it), and perhaps FIS-Control also.
> ...


Good work...

Just one question, why couldn't you use the off the shelf CANBUS shield? These work fine on the infotainment bus, but with just one modification. You need to remove the terminating resistor. On most boards there is a track link specifically for this that you need to cut.

Using an off-the-shelf Arduino (e.g. UNO or Mega) and a CANBUS shield would significantly simply your project for the beginner (no PCBs to make up and zero or minimal soldering) 

Did you not check out the previous post I mentioned about the CANBUS protocol for talking to the centre section of the display, as per the navigation system? Get that working first. The graphics is just an extension to that basic protocol.


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## Jussi-R (Feb 12, 2021)

pcbbc said:


> Jussi-R said:
> 
> 
> > pcbbc said:
> ...


I didn't use off the shelf shield, because I thought that the MCP2551 transceiver didn't support fault tolerant CAN (ISO 11898-3), and I couldn't find any mention of it. Are you sure that it is possible? And thanks for the link to the NAV section!


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## pcbbc (Sep 4, 2009)

Jussi-R said:


> I didn't use off the shelf shield, because I thought that the MCP2551 transceiver didn't support fault tolerant CAN (ISO 11898-3), and I couldn't find any mention of it. Are you sure that it is possible? And thanks for the link to the NAV section!


Yes, totally possible. You just need to remove the terminating resistor as I stated.

I have an Arduino R3 with regular CAN shield and have it sending and receiving data on my infotainment CAN in the TT 8N without issue. Many people use such a setup with RNS-E so they can inject wheel rotation and reverse gear signals onto the infotainment CAN for vehicles that don't have these natively, or to make the optical parting system work with non-OPS PDC modules.

And John949 uses one as the basis for his project which displays diagnostics data in a sort of "FIS-Control light" way on his MK2 DIS cluster.


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## Jussi-R (Feb 12, 2021)

pcbbc said:


> Jussi-R said:
> 
> 
> > I didn't use off the shelf shield, because I thought that the MCP2551 transceiver didn't support fault tolerant CAN (ISO 11898-3), and I couldn't find any mention of it. Are you sure that it is possible? And thanks for the link to the NAV section!
> ...


Okay, as you mentioned earlier, using an off the shelf shield would've made things a lot easier .
At least I learned a lot on the CAN bus and now I have very compact Arduino - CAN combination.


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## silverbug (Jan 1, 2020)

Well approaching 18 months after I first posted the question ,I have achieved my aim , ColourMFA now installed in my cluster 8).
To say I'm happy with it is a bit of an understatement :lol: .


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## Wilky1974 (Feb 14, 2021)

silverbug said:


> Well approaching 18 months after I first posted the question ,I have achieved my aim , ColourMFA now installed in my cluster 8).
> To say I'm happy with it is a bit of an understatement :lol: .


Wow! Just wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This looks amazing!


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## Hoggy (May 8, 2002)

silverbug said:


> Well approaching 18 months after I first posted the question ,I have achieved my aim , ColourMFA now installed in my cluster 8).
> To say I'm happy with it is a bit of an understatement :lol: .


Hi, Just a show off :lol: :lol: :wink: 
Hoggy.


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## silverbug (Jan 1, 2020)

Wilky1974 said:


> Wow! Just wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This looks amazing!


I think it is, was worth the wait 8) .



Hoggy said:


> Hi, Just a show off :lol: :lol: :wink:
> Hoggy.


Totally :lol:


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