Jud

I could not see the cruise control on light on the dash either. Then I took my sun glasses off and I could see it light up when the cruise control was activated. With my Saab Aero and all other cars that I have had, I could see the light even while wearing sun glasses.

A3inNC

...Are gorgeous. So what's your question?

clyde415

Are your sunglasses polarized? When I wear my polarized pair, I can hardly see those lights, but when I wear non-polarized ones, I can see them fine.

Timmay

Not sure what your point is. You're saying the illumination of the cruise control led is too dim?

DaveNJ

So many auto displays are LCD these days and LCDs work by polarization. If your sunglasses and the display are in opposite planes, you get a total blackout of the display. Try tilting your head to the side (to rotate the lens 90 degrees) and you should see the effect. I cannot wear polarized lenses any longer for this reason -- in most cases (Nav or instrument panel), the displays are totally blacked out.

I don't know about the cruise control indicator, though -- I never use cruise control!

TwoGuns

Some of us old farts have difficulty with the red illumination. Point in fact: I painted the iron front sight on my little snubbie (revolver, that is...no jokes please) a bright blue for low-vis conditions. Works better than the red or orange.

I will give serious consideration to changing the backlighting on the A3's gauges to blue.

TT Karl

Can't see many things on my GTI dash when I wear polarized Oakleys.

A4ia

because it doesn't affect your night-vision as much as other colors. Obviously, plenty of other cars use different colors (including the hideous neon blue in my Golf) but red is generally chosen for practical reasons.