Note, I said hand, not head. And I also said I prefer a different method. Of I'm cold, put my coat on. If I'm hot, take my coat off.

I don't live in LA or Miami either. I live in Tennessee and this time of year our low to high per day ranges from 50 to 80 degrees, so about 30 degrees in a day too. I also drive a truck for a living and travel all 48 as well as Canada, so I may leave Illinois where it is snowing and end up in Texas where it is shorts weather.

You may not think so, but I did offer you constructive criticism. Use the computer sitting on your shoulders instead of relying on something else to think for you. In your example, watch the road/tires instead of the windshield. If there is no water spray, it is ice. If there is, it is water. If you think it is ice, slow down to what conditions safely allow and increase your following distance. Those gauges can be off several deegrees too. What are going to do if it says 34 but it is actually 32 and what you think is water is actually ice? I've logged close to 1 million miles (accident free) and have never once needed to know the exact temperature to get where I was going.

 

The ice incident I described took place at about 0200 on Christmas morning, east of McKenzie Bridge, Oregon on Hwy 126. There was no traffic/tire-spray to observe -- there seldom is on our rural two-lane highways late at night.

I'm not convinced my hands can reliably tell the difference between 45 degrees and 35 degrees when I stick them out the window. With this aging body, I occasionally feel cold when it's in the 40s. On other days I feel warm. Actually, most days I feel warm, particularly dressed for work, so I don't usually add a coat until it's raining or freezing.

I appreciate your advice, and I've used the spray-off-the-tire technique for many, many years. I taught the same lesson to my kids and others I've trained. I'm in my mid-fifties, I've been driving since I was 14, and driving on highway snow and ice since I was 16. I'm in law enforcement, so I've had lots of classroom, track, and real-life driver-training in challenging conditions of every kind. I've also worked through the accident reconstructionist analysis on many, many collisions. And, after almost thirty years in the saddle, I'm still required to get continuing training, including EVOC training. I don't claim to know everything about anything, but I'm past remedial driver training tips.

My new work rig is a Dodge charger, but the one I just gave up was a Chevy Tahoe, and it's display module would warn ICE POSSIBLE when the temperature dropped within a few degrees of freezing. I found that a very helpful reminder, particularly patrolling into mountainous rural areas at night when the temperature wasn't supposed to be so cold. In my experience the Ford and Chevy temperature gauges have been amazingly close to the house thermometer and the one on the bank downtown -- close enough to be useful to me.

I understand reasonable folks can have differences of opinion. That's where you and I stand on this, I guess. I appreciate some electronic advancements/aids, and the external temp gauge and ice-warning are among them. My truck is either malfunctioning, or wasn't equipped. It goes into the shop on the next day off.

 

Do you have an EXT button near your HVAC controls?

 

Excellent reply. Nothing wrong with differing opinions. My thing with current electronics and other things like that is that people rely too much on them and forget how to do things for themselves. Automatic transmissions aren't just a luxury anymore. Most people CAN'T drive a manual now. GPS is helpful, but most people can't drive without it because they don't actually know where they are going or pay attention to what's around them. Stop at a truck stop and ask the average person where they are going, what road they were just on, etc, and their answer is usually "i don't know, I'm following my GPS." What happens when they lose signal or their battery dies? It might take me 10 extra minutes per day, but I still plan my route with an atlas.

Kids can use calculators on math tests in school now and most of them can't do simple addition without it. Which is one of the reasons we homeschool. I don't let my kids watch tv at home, so I sure don't need one in the car either. We play games, read, talk to each other, etc. I'm just old school when it comes to most things, but that's just my personal way of doing things and I'm sure lots of people would disagree with me

 

My 2003 F150 xlt had the outside temp and compass on a roof mounted consol. My 2009 F350 XLT SD has no outside temp. Like Whaler 22, I myself drive for a living, 40 years to be exact,1.5millon mile accident free at this job alone. I have all kinds of training and real world experience plus refresher courses every year. But it's still nice to have a few extra electronic gadgets to hedge your bets. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

I agree. That's why I always did brain challenges with my kids when they were young. We had a 25 minute drive to town when they were in grade school, so their mom and I used that time to talk and teach. From the age of four on I'd give them math challenges, percentage calculations and the like. We also talked about deceptive advertising word tricks, field navigation, ballistics, emergency field first aid and so on. By the time they were seventeen I felt like I'd shared most of my stupid mistakes, and taught them most of what I remember about important things in life. Now they're on their own and teaching me. They're both much brighter than me, thank goodness. Maybe they won't have to rely on an electronic temperature gauge!

 

I like hearing about parents that are actually involved with their kids and take the time to enjoy them. So many parents I know just stick their kids in front of a tv or do whatever they can so they don't have to deal with them. Sounds like you have done a good job with yours.

 

Back to the question at hand.

Still don't know why Ford did not have this in my 2010 XLT. I do like knowing the temp in degrees vs. sticking my hand out and seeing if it is cold or hot.

My bottom line Chevy Prizm has the outside temp gauge.