The World’s First Fully Customizable Tesla Cluster | FAQ
The S3XY Dash is our fully customizable instrument cluster, designed for the Model 3 and Model Y from 2018 onward. It displays car data in real-time, allowing you to choose from dozens of stats and configure the page layouts to fit your driving habits. It is also the first Tesla Display that comes with resizable Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support.
After we launched it, we received thousands of comments, asking a variety of questions. As a company that listens to our community, we will address the most common concerns in this article.
And for the visual learners, we also prepared a video:
Can I get the Dash without a Commander if I already own one?
If you already have the Gen2 Commander, you can purchase the S3XY Dash as a standalone unit from here.
The Commander is the hub that connects your Tesla to all of our S3XY products. If you’re unsure whether you have the Gen2, simply think back to whether you’ve purchased any Buttons, Knobs, or Stalks within the last two years, as it is included in that bundle.
Where do you mount the S3XY Dash?
To figure out the perfect spot for it, we asked the community on our Discord channel to send us POV photos of their driving position.
We realized that you can use the included MagSafe holder to mount the Dash just behind the windshield for two main reasons:
1. It reduces eye movement from the road to the screen, significantly cutting the time needed to readjust your focus back to what’s happening around you.
2. This position also provides a unique experience, almost like having a Heads-Up Display in your Tesla without disassembling the entire dashboard.
Of course, if you don’t like it, you can always use the same stand and the additional 3M tape to place the Dash just behind the steering wheel. This position is for folks who:
1. Like to have a more traditional instrument cluster setup.
2. Frequently like to tweak and readjust the layouts, stats, and features. That way, they don’t have to reach that far to do so.
We recommend going for the first option to explore the S3XY Dash’s full capabilities.
How is it powered, and how do you route the cable?
We went for a custom USB-C cable to power the S3XY Dash. The cable goes inside the gap at the far end of the car’s dashboard, then routes through the left or right A-pillar (depending on whether you have LHD or RHD) and then exits under the driver’s seat into the USB port underneath the rear vent.
As you can see, the installation is fast and simple and keeps your car’s interior intact. Most aftermarket displays require you to go through a grinding installation process that involves tearing apart the dashboard and then assembling it back together.
How do you deal with reflection and glare?
One of the main concerns was that during low visibility conditions, such as night drives, the screen reflects on the windshield.
To resolve this issue, we went for an anti-peeping film that blocks the light coming off the Dash. But since this lowers the brightness of the display, we went a step further and changed the panel from LCD to QLED. We also had to make some adjustments to the circuit board.
The result is a net brightness increased by about 15% with vibrant and more vivid colors.
Will the Tesla map be visualized on the screen?
As of now, full map streaming isn’t supported on our or any other third-party displays that use Tesla’s official API and CAN bus.
However, we drew inspiration from Tesla’s navigation system and made the S3XY Dash the world’s first instrument cluster that displays route progress, estimated arrival time, and expected state of charge at your destination, all summarized in a single widget.
Additional questions
- Where does the sound come from? - You can set it to come from the Tesla’s speaker or from the Dash itself.
- Can you watch YouTube? - For safety reasons, we haven’t implemented this option, nor will we add it in the future.
- Why is there no front camera? - The installation of a front bumper camera requires you to drill into your car, and we think this might discourage a lot of you.
- Does the Dash support turn signal camera view? - As of right now, it’s not possible.
- Does it block the air vent? - If you go for the traditional instrument cluster position, then the Dash will block the direct stream, but the airflow will still run above and under. However, if you decide to try out our placement idea behind the windshield, then that's not a problem.
- Will it drain a lot of power? - The energy consumption is insignificant - around a quarter of a percent, if you have it on for 24 hours.
- Will my car’s tyre pressure be visualized on the S3XY Dash? - Yes. It will be shown alongside many other important safety indicators, such as open doors, trunk, frunk, and more.
Conclusion
The S3XY Dash will become even smarter with OTA updates. Just like always, the new implementations will be based on community feedback to make sure you guys have the best Tesla experience possible.
