Anyone else dislike the cruise control light?

[MD5]

I really dislike the yellowish color of the cruise control light. In every other vehicle I've owned, that color is for a Check Engine Light. I hate seeing that color and in the back of my head thinking there is something wrong with the car.

Why couldn't they have made it another color?

Matt

[Kid Red]

I don't mind the color, it's the 'just throw in there somewhere' looking out of place that I don't like about it.

[paging_drburgos]

I havent really had a chance to use the cruise control yet...but i bet now that you mentioned it i will notice it and it will bug me too. :P What is starting to bother me is the green lights all over the insturment panel. Was blue out of stock? Green just reminds me of cheapy Ford's.

[Kansei]

^^ lol. On my Protege5 ALL of the interior lighting is red/orange... except for that darn cruise control light (well and the turn signal lights but I've since modded them). It's green! :P

Then they make the 5, with green interior lighting, and give it a yellow-ish cruise control light? haha.

[Kansei]

I havent really had a chance to use the cruise control yet...but i bet now that you mentioned it i will notice it and it will bug me too. :P What is starting to bother me is the green lights all over the insturment panel. Was blue out of stock? Green just reminds me of cheapy Ford's.

Blue might look cool, but it's the WORST for night-time visibility. Blue is really hard to distinguish and messed with your night vision. On the opposite end of the spectrum is red.. though some people don't like the look, it's the best for night vision reasons :)

[paging_drburgos]

Blue might look cool, but it's the WORST for night-time visibility. Blue is really hard to distinguish and messed with your night vision. On the opposite end of the spectrum is red.. though some people don't like the look, it's the best for night vision reasons :)

I didnt think of that. I actually enjoyed the red in my old 3 series. Red would actually look cool in this car wouldnt it?

[Kansei]

that's why BMW did it.. germans always love over-engineering stuff :P.

I love the red in my P5. I think it gives off somewhat of a sporty vibe. Wouldn't stop me from loving a Mazda5 though :)

[jandree22]

Yep, this is the one and only thing I'm annoyed with on my 5 since I got it a week ago. There are TWO seperate cruise control lights "Cruise Control Main" in orange whenever cruise control is on (standby) and the "Cruise" in green when the cruise control is set (active). I sometimes just think about leaving the cruise control always on so eventually that orange one will just burn out :D

I wonder if the dealership could turn that orange bugger off somehow... probably expensive as hell, if they even can.

[Jager12]

To bad, I can't talk with you all...I got no cruise at all !!!!

[jadonP5]

if you really hate it, just take out the bulb that illuminates the indicator

[Kansei]

Oh dear god, not a cruise control main light.. that's how my mom's altima is.. always requires a couple keypresses to get cruise on because of that.

You could always dissassemble the cluster and remove the cruise control main bulb. one of my favorite things about the cruise control system on my p5 is how freakin simple it is to use. The main on/off button is on the side (you can't even see it from the driver's seating position lol) and it is a physical toggle switch so I never, ever have to touch it.. it is ALWAYS on). Then just the three buttons, and when you have a speed set the green light comes on.

Hey if the 5's cruise control bothers you guys so much.. trade cars with me :) I want a 5.

[dommo_g]

Blue dash FTW.....My car used to have the same green color as the Mazda. Maybe just a slight bit more blue tint....whenever I get a chance, I'm gonna attempt to do the Mazda dash in blue.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b91/dommo_g/SRT%20stuff/NightGuages005Small.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b91/dommo_g/SRT%20stuff/NightGuages012cropSmall.jpg

[Zoom5Zoom]

To bad, I can't talk with you all...I got no cruise at all !!!!
You can add cruise just like the rest of em if you want its an easy mod....I can send link just send PM

I got used to my cruise light like really......I have had mostly mazdas and I don't even know what a engine light is.....lol lol lol(peep)

[meackerman]

what bugs me is the red gear indicator. All the previous cars I've driven, a red light in the dash is an indicator of trouble. I find myself catching the red gear indicator out of the corner of my eye and looking down to see what's wrong.

[jandree22]

You mean in the red 1-4 # in an automatic? I think that's kind of nice... I'd love that in my 5MT :D

...but yes, I could see where you're coming from. A green numbering light would be scrumptious, wouldn't it?

[JimboNC]

Nothing gets old faster than green illumination. Have it in my Protege and I avoid driving at night because of it. Had hoped the 5 would be red/orange like the MZ3. But that's not the worst thing mazda could do to the 5; and they did it when they changed the headlights and taillights on the 2007 models to black. Now it looks like a stripper. The silver or grey around the lights was icing on the cake.

Mazda is always doing this. I'll bet those Silver Surfer guys talked them into it.

[Kansei]

^^ on your protege, if you really wanted to, you could buy all the red illumination parts from an ES/MP3/MSP/Protege5 to get rid of that green forever :)

[meackerman]

You mean in the red 1-4 # in an automatic? I think that's kind of nice... I'd love that in my 5MT :D

...but yes, I could see where you're coming from. A green numbering light would be scrumptious, wouldn't it?

yeah thats the one. I like having the gear number there, just not in red.

[jandree22]

Is it a difficult chore to take the cluster apart to kill this light? Is the bulb hardwired right in the circuit board or is it easily removable? Any place I could find illustrated diagrams on this besides the service manual I don't have access to? ;)

I always just leave the cruise system turned on, so no need for that nasty little orange "Cruise Main" light. All I need is the little green light to let me know when it's actually active.

[Kansei]

It'll be easily removeable.. and by easy I mean "easy once you have the gauge cluster out"

[jandree22]

lol, thanks (lol2)

Unfortunately I took a look at the panel and there's no obvious screws anywhere. The 5 may be a real PITA to get out.

[Kansei]

I just took a look at a pic.. looks like the whole big trim piece surrounding the gauge would have to be pulled off.. don't know how easy that'll be.

[X10James]

I've had my 5 nearly 10k miles now and I still do a double take once in a while over the dumb "CRUSE MAIN!" light.

Big things shouldn't light up on the dashboard unless there is a problem. I keep thinking my check your engine light is on or something.

I've mostly learned to ignore it, which is why it gets me every so often.

What I want is a really big "YOUR CAR IS RUNNING PROPERLY!" light, which goes off when the "check engine" light comes on :D

[Kansei]

^^ that's about as useful as a "all of your lightbulbs are working just fine right now" light hehe

[the_saint]

I've got almost 18k miles on mine and that light doesn't bother me at all.

[Matthew1785]

uhh kensei my cruise control light on my MP5 is green lol and i have the amber color interior as well

[Kansei]

uhh kensei my cruise control light on my MP5 is green lol and i have the amber color interior as well

(this is the Mazda5 forum).

I know our cruise light is green... the 5 has a light that is on whenever the cruise control system is turned on, not just when the speed is set.

[jandree22]

I've got almost 18k miles on mine and that light doesn't bother me at all.
Visibly, I agree in a sense, because it’s not “nagging” my attention. In my wife’s Toyota, every time you shut off/restart the car, you have to turn the Cruise system back on again… I could understand the light in that situation. The part that bothers me, is I leave my Cruise Control system turned on 100% of the time, and it stays on even after shutting the car off, so it seems completely pointless to me to have an amber warning light glowing non-stop. More of a principle thing than a visible distraction.

I do like the green "Cruise" light when it's actually active, though :)

[JimboNC]

I like the instruments and controls lighting Audi used on their small cars in the 1970s, they color-coded everything:

RED lighting was for all things the driver could NOT control.

AMBER lighting was used behind things meaning CAUTION or ALERT.

BLUE lighting was used behind or on buttons the driver COULD control:
headlights, radio buttons, windshield wipers, etc.

That's what all the car companies should do, standerize the lighting.

[B1GHAM]

did anyone ever think that it was colored this way so that people would be aware it was on and not forget about it? Thats the first thing that I think of with regards to the color.

pulling the bulb wouldnt be worth it either... TOOO much work for a tiny light that you will only see with the cruise on.

I kinda think the fact thats its lit in an amber color is a good thing.

[the_saint]

did anyone ever think that it was colored this way so that people would be aware it was on and not forget about it? Thats the first thing that I think of with regards to the color.

pulling the bulb wouldnt be worth it either... TOOO much work for a tiny light that you will only see with the cruise on.

I kinda think the fact thats its lit in an amber color is a good thing.
My dad's fix-it for those pesky 'check engine' lights was a pieve of electrical tape over the indicator. Just put the tape on the plexiglass cover over the warning light and everything was instantly A-OK (thumb)

[Kansei]

did anyone ever think that it was colored this way so that people would be aware it was on and not forget about it? Thats the first thing that I think of with regards to the color.

pulling the bulb wouldnt be worth it either... TOOO much work for a tiny light that you will only see with the cruise on.

I kinda think the fact thats its lit in an amber color is a good thing.

Since you don't have cruise control you may not know this.. but on most Mazdas the "on/off" switch is like.. a real switch. I never turn it off, so I never have to push the button. It persists after the car is restarted and everything. I've never intentionally turned it off in all the years I've owned the car. having my cruise control set is just one single button press away at any time.

Granted, that may all be precisely why Mazda put the cruise main light in.. so that you don't leave it on all the time.

[B1GHAM]

Since you don't have cruise control you may not know this.. but on most Mazdas the "on/off" switch is like.. a real switch. I never turn it off, so I never have to push the button. It persists after the car is restarted and everything. I've never intentionally turned it off in all the years I've owned the car. having my cruise control set is just one single button press away at any time.

Granted, that may all be precisely why Mazda put the cruise main light in.. so that you don't leave it on all the time.

:p you act like Ive never had a car with cruise control before. My 03 Jetta was the same way... It had a hard on/off switch that would stay active ALL the time, and setting it was a push of a button away. That, I think, is the only car that Ive had like that... the rest you would have to hit a main cruise button to turn it on, but it would turn itself off after the car shut down.

[Kansei]

Yeah that's what I was referring to. If you hadn't had a Mazda with cruise control you may not have experienced one like that. I know it isn't like that on my Mazda truck (since it's just a badly disguised ford ranger), and it isn't like that on my Mom's Altima or Sister's Maxima.