Automakers equipping affordable vehicles with luxury head-up displays
Fancy head-up displays used to be reserved for luxury cars, but the technology is trickling down to more affordable offerings.
You may have seen automakers like Audi and BMW advertising their head-up displays, but did you know they’re available on several reasonably priced vehicles? The technology has been around for decades through the aftermarket, but now automakers are equipping their cars from the factory to make it easier for drivers to keep their eyes on the road.
Here are a few affordable cars that offer head-up displays either as standard, as part of a package, or a standalone option.
Chevrolet Chevrolet offers various models with head-up displays, but the most affordable is the Camaro. The sports car actually offered a head-up display starting with the fifth-generation model and has improved on the technology ever since. Other Chevy cars that have a head-up display include the SS, Corvette, Tahoe and Suburban, but none of those are particularly affordable.
Honda Honda currently offers a head-up display on the Clarity only, but that’s only available as a lease. The Japanese automaker, however, is adding the technology on the all-new 2018 Honda Accord that is launching this fall. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but the head-up display will be available on all Accord models, ac- cording to a preliminary specification sheet.
Mazda Mazda calls its head-up display an “Active Driving Display,” and is available on several models, including the Mazda3, Mazda6, CX-3, CX-5 and CX-9. Not all of those fall under an affordable price point, but most of them do. Mazda’s Active Driving Display is actually mounted in front of the windshield and over the gauge cluster and was recently updated for the 2017 model year. The 2017 Mazda CX-9 uses a traditional windshield projection.
Mini Mini’s head-up display is available on its Hatch and Countryman models and displays a variety of information including speed, navigation, and en- tertainment system info. The fullcolour display rises from the dash with a push of a button on the MINI Connected console. It costs $1,300 as part of the visibility package on the hatch and $750 on the Countryman as a standalone option.
Toyota Both the standard Prius and the Pri- us Prime offer a head-up display, and the technology isn’t particularly new to the Prius family.
It’s fairly light in terms of features, but it does display the important stuff including speed, turn-by-turn navigation and battery. The head-up display is only available on specific trim levels on the Prius and Prius Prime.