My on-order Black '06 GT vert will have the IUP/ICAP combo. I've noted that one of the IUP features is the "Message Center". Having never seen one of these babies from less than 10 feet away, I was wondering if somebody could contextualize this feature for me: What is it, where is it, what does it do, will it annoy the crap out of me, should I disconnect it, etc.

TIA!

 

Basically, it's a small text box at the bottom of the speedo which has green wording that you can set to different functions... such as odo and trip odo, MPG, trip timer, avg speed, and others stuff. It also helps in using the MyColor option. From what I hear, it will also display info on Check Engine light occurences. It has a few other functions too, but that's what I can think of off the top of my head...

 

Cool... Thanks. I'm assuming the text color will also change with the MyColor options on the rest of the guages, no? And why is Ford so hung up on the whole green light thing, anyway?? Ick.

I think said option needs a flash kit of its own to interface it with, say, a really good radar detector... I could really use a scrolling message that says something like, "WARNING : : : The Man : : : 12:00, 2 Miles, Closing..."

Fortunately for me and others, New Jersey's idea of an unmarked car is a Crown Vic with no light bar.

 

The text on the message center and the radio console stay green, no matter what the "MYColor" is set to. I usually wind up leaving MyColor on Green, so it looks consistent with the rest of the vehicles electronic lighting. Every once and a while I go blue or orange. it really is a cool feature that can adjust to your mood.

 

Actually, I don't think the green is changeable. It didn't change when I was playing with the MyColor stuff, and in fact that's one of the reasons I didn't leave my gauges green.

Another note about the MyColor... you cannot change the color of your daytime gauge lights (or at least I haven't found it). Your gauges are lit up white during the day, for better visibility (they are rather recessed). Most people probably don't even notice they're lit up, but just thought I'd mention it. The MyColor doesn't kick in until you actually turn on your exterior lights.

Yeah, some different functionality would be kinda cool, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before somebody comes up with something...

 

I like my message center... the timer is useful for trips... it only runs when you are running the car... the car runs an average mpg and then when it thinks you are 50 miles away from empty, it warns you. It tells you how many gallons of gas you have used.... lots of things you could do with a pen and paper... but don't have to.