They might not be the first thing that enthusiasts consider when looking for a new car, but a good instrument cluster is a very underrated asset to any car. After all, it's the part of the car that drivers will be looking at the most, and they'll rely on it to give an accurate reading of the car's telemetry at all times. So, not only does the cluster need to be clearly readable, but ideally, it needs to look good too. With the advent of digital instrument clusters, that latter requirement is now easier for manufacturers to achieve than ever before.
It's not surprising that most of the coolest instrument clusters on the market right now can be found in sports cars, as they're already cars configured primarily for driver enjoyment, and so they can have a little more artistic license with their displays. But, the asking prices for these cars vary wildly, from ultra-high-end limited run hypercars right down to one sports car that comes with a starting price of just $27,995. So, it might not be as costly to get a cool digital instrument cluster as many enthusiasts might think. Let's take a look at eight of the best options on the market right now.
8 Audi R8
Audi's flagship R8 supercar is overlooked in several ways, as it tends to get less attention than its rivals despite being a great driver's car and featuring styling that's managed to remain sharp all throughout its sixteen years on sale. Unsurprisingly, its instrument cluster is also underrated.
It manages to look like a traditional supercar display but with configurable readouts for things like tire pressure and a G-force monitor. So many digital instrument clusters end up looking vastly different from traditional analog designs, so it's good to see Audi evolving the R8's previous cluster design here rather than trying to re-write the rulebook.
7 Ford GT
Talking of re-writing the rulebook, the Ford GT took the automotive world by storm when it was first released to customers in 2017. It came with a V6 engine rather than a traditional V8, and it looked nothing like anything Ford had made before.
Its instrument cluster reflects that rule-breaking mentality, as it looks closer to a competition race car's readout than anything that would feature on a road car. It's all the better for it, and it complements the racing-inspired touches around the rest of the car perfectly.
6 Porsche Taycan
Porsche's first all-electric model has seen big successes right out of the gate, and it's already outselling the 911 after just a couple of years on sale. Part of its draw among buyers has been its versatility, as it's able to tear up a track or cruise around a busy city just as easily.
The curved screen showing the digital cluster reflects that versatility, as it's configurable to display anything from traditional speed and revs to a cutting-edge navigation system and tire pressures. It also comes with automatic speed limit detection, displaying the current limit in a small readout next to the main speedometer.
5 Subaru BRZ
With all the $100,000+ cars featured here, it might seem like an interesting instrument cluster is out of reach for the average buyer. Well, fear not, as the new 2022 BRZ's setup is equally cool and yet it costs under $28k for a base-spec model.
The combination of rev counter and speedometer into a single dial is a great idea, and like the more expensive sports cars, it features a G-force meter and a variety of temperature and pressure gauges. The cluster can also be configured with specific readouts for either the track or the open road.
4 Rimac Nevera
Rimac is quietly revolutionizing the hypercar industry, recently merging with Bugatti and becoming integrated into the VW Group family. They have just released their first production vehicle, the Nevera, to a limited number of exclusive buyers, and it's a seriously impressive machine.
It takes pure electric power to levels never before seen in a production vehicle, with an almost clinical approach to extracting every drop of power from the car. The dash is a similarly clinical affair, looking completely different from anything that could be achieved with an analog cluster.
3 Bentley Flying Spur
Bentley's Flying Spur is the ultimate high-performance luxury barge, combining brutish power and exquisite craftsmanship. It's fair to say that the car's buyers are used to the finer things in life, and so the watch face design tropes used in the digital dash are very on-brand.
Consisting of two primary dials with smaller, round dials inside and a central square readout, the Flying Spur's dash gives the impression of two watches positioned neatly on either side of the display. The small inner dials are often found on high-end timepieces like Rolexes and Breitlings, but here they add an extra level of elegance to the driver's view of the Bentley.
2 McLaren 720S
Favored by celebrities and wealthy collectors alike, the 720S has been one of McLaren's biggest sales successes to date. It features several innovations that aren't found anywhere else, but its folding digital cluster is one of the best.
The entire display can fold down to give the driver an unobstructed view of what's in front of them, so they can focus on driving as fast as possible. It automatically folds down in race mode, and it can also be manually lowered in other modes, in case the driver wants to cruise without looking at that pesky speedometer.
1 Lamborghini Huracan STO
The newest and maddest evolution of the Huracan is the STO, a brightly colored, racing-inspired limited-run car that's already proved very popular among collectors. Lambos have been inspired by fighter jets for years now, and the STO is no different, with a futuristic, aircraft-style digital instrument cluster.
Out of any manufacturer, Lamborghini has had consistently some of the coolest clusters on the market, even if it's sometimes at the expense of readability. The speedometer in particular is a lot less prominent than in most other cars, but presumably, those who can afford to buy and drive an STO aren't too bothered about the occasional speeding ticket.