I'm surprised they don't have a time-version of the trip odometer, which would let you see how long the trip is taking. This display would start counting time only when the engine is running, and could have a reset button. If you want to know how long it takes to drive to work, you would reset the display when you get to work. Or if you want to know the round-trip commute time, you would wait till you get home before resetting. Also you could call your friends on your cell-phone and say accurately "guess how long I've been stuck in traffic!".
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It'd be neat to have a permanent version of this device as well, to figure out the average speed of your car. This might be useful when buying a used car... lots of mileage in a short time indicates a lot of high-speed driving, and a lot of wear on the engine.
excellent idea! it would be a temporal analog of the car's odometer, with a resettable timer below it for timing individual trips. thanks for the comment.
My friends Volkswagen Passat has this option.
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