There are a variety of instrument panels in different types of cars. While the kind of car you have dictates what kind of instrument cluster you have, it is not necessarily the one that you would like. For those who care enough about the cluster in their car, they will either customize one for their car to match the style they like or they will only buy cars that have the kind of panel that they prefer.
Race cars and muscle cars have a very unique style of instrument clusters that is instantly associated with that style of car. The gauges are usually hung inside of a polished aluminum or chrome face plate and have a lot of gauges. They also tend to have green lights by some of the gauges to indicate that things are fine and red lights to indicate when that gauge is outside of the normal operating range. Besides race cars and muscle cars, you may find this kind of dash inside of some sports cars.
A lot of cars tend to have fewer gauges and more lights. However, the lights are not visible until there is a problem. There is no green light to indicate that things are fine. The indicator lights come on in the shape of a symbol that is meant to indicate what kind of problem there is. In this type of instrument panel, there is only a speedometer and gas gauge.
Another common style of instrument clusters is the digital one. A lot of cars actually use some digital display in the car. Some cars have a completely digital display, including the speedometer and gas gauge.
Another style of instrument cluster that looked promising in the past was the digitally projected display. This intent of this kind of panel was to help drivers keep their eyes on the road instead of looking down to see the cluster. However, studies showed that this was not as helpful as once hoped for some drivers and the costs of the kind of instrument panel is still too expensive to make it fit into the right price range.
It is not important what gauges you have in your car. It is important that you learn how to read them and understand what they mean. By learning what they mean and paying attention to them you can make your car last longer by taking better care of it.
In a day and age of increasing distractions while driving, it is important that you do not let the instrument panel become one more distraction that will cause you to get in an accident. Not looking at them at all is not a smart choice, so when should you look at them. I would suggest that you look at them at a red light, when you are essentially alone on the road, in straight parts of the road and when you are traveling at slower speeds.
A couple of rules that I guide myself by is to never look at the gauges while in rush hour traffic. Chances are that I am not going over the speed limit in that kind of traffic and I cannot afford to look away from the road for even a split second. I also try to make sure that there is no one in front of me for a long ways when I do need to look at the speedometer or gas gauge while driving down the freeway.
If you need a replacement instrument cluster, also called an instrument panel, be sure that you get the right one for your make, model and year of car so that it will slide in your car without modification.