Alfetta instruments

Sir,

I refer to the road test on the Alfetta 2000 in your July issue.

The statement that the speedometer and tachometer rotate in opposite directions is Incorrect. In fact bosh instruments are quite normal, moving from zero in a clockwise direction. Obviously with two such dials side by side, when the two needles pass each other whilst accelerating, one must be moving up, whilst the other moves down.

The zeros of the instruments are so arranged that in each case the working region of the dial is not obscured by the steering wheel. If Alfa had made the speedometer rotate anticlockwise, then the two needles when passing each other during acceleration would move in the same direction. I submit that this would be more confusing, it being unnatural to read a dial calibrated anticlockwise. Usual disclaimer.

Epsom JAMES WALLACE

(Correction accepted. I visualised the dials wrongly when writing the story. The peculiarity lies in the zeroed positions of the needles: the speedometer at five minutes to the hour; the tachometer at twenty minutes past the hour. I still think they are confusing! C. R.)