Bad news - I bought a wrx and it definitely has bad strain for me that can affect me even 24 hours later. I’m going to trade it but now I don’t know for what. I’m looking at an older BMW - before they switched to digital screens (2018 has analogue dials and just one heads up screen in the middle above the dash) - and hoping it is tolerable, as their new (2019 and up) digital screens are reported to be bad. I can also consider Volvo - not brand new but 2017-2019 era - and although those are all digital people here have reported that they are acceptable…
New car, LED screens/lights, PWM
As an aside, if it is LED's in the dash/display bothering you, it is possible in at least some care to disassemble the dash, get to the PCB that drives the display, and unsolder/resolder in new LED's. I heled a friend do this in an old Mazda he had because he wanted everything blue, so we got the PCB out, removed all the red LED's, and put in blue ones.
I do not know if you could replace actual screens, but from an electronics standpoint, as long as the new screen had the same pinout as the existing connectors (or you felt like wiring up an adapter) there's no reason it shouldn't work.
So I contemplated this. Not sure what the difference in screens is, but let's say I really loved the WRX and wanted to keep it and it was just ONE screen bothering me - I'd absolutely source that screen from a 2019 model and swap them.
Where it's ALL the screens as well as the dials, I suspect there is some inverter that is shitty, or else the entire thing is driven by bad current, or … something.
I was curious, so I looked into this. Apparently in the US it is the law since 2018 that all cars must have a backup camera. This means there never again will be a vehicle that doesn't at least have a cheap screen for the radio.
That said, it seems that Mazda has made the conscious decision to eliminate touchscreens from their lineup in favour of button controls and I saw this intriguing blurb "The head-up display that top trims of the Mazda 3 get is now projected onto the windshield. The amount of time it takes the eyes to focus on the head-up display is greatly reduced because it’s now focused on a point 7.5 feet ahead of the driver."
I've never seen a display projected onto the windshield and wonder how that might be for you.
You should test drive the Dodge Challenger. It's an AWD and still comes with manual transmission which I think was part of your original ask.
Gurm I’m looking at an older BMW - before they switched to digital screens (2018 has analogue dials and just one heads up screen in the middle above the dash) - and hoping it is tolerable, as their new (2019 and up) digital screens are reported to be bad.
A couple of months ago i upgraded my car from a Volvo V70 -11 to a BMW 5-series 2020 with the new live cockpit (all big digital screens). Bad news, I got tension headache that wouldn’t disappear. I have a friend who has a 2018 5-serie, no troubles with his car. So my girlfriend drove and i sat behind her in the backseat, it worked. But driving wasn’t working because the live cockpit was in my field of vision. So after the three weeks with tension headache i sat in the car i the garage with one eye covered for 4-5 times x 12 minutes. After that it works for me!
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I'm glad to hear you adjusted! I also had serious strain from my wife's 2019 Forester when she first got it, and by a similar method - passenger seat, shielding one eye - I got used to it.
So I'm going to try to see if I adjust to my WRX, because it's a great car. But I'm not holding out much hope. I'm specifically going tonight to test drive a 2018 4-series without live cockpit, hoping that it will be nice, because I could really be super duper happy driving a 430i Gran Coupe for the next 10 years. 
I've also got a test drive scheduled for two Volvos from 2018 and 2019 (the 2018 is before they had 100% digital cockpit, the 2019 is with digital cockpit) to see if they are really as nice on the eyes as some here have said.
Either way, I have options.
First i did training for 3 weeks back in Nov-Dec 2018 which gave me pretty good results. In the beginning of 2019 it took some time for me to go from a iPhone 4S with iOS 7 which was the only working phone for me to a 5S. In the summer I trained so I could use a iPhone 7. In the beginning of 2020 i bought a iPad Pro, had it a month, didn’t work so returned it. In the summer of 2020 I change to a iPhone 11 Pro, i had taking me around 9 month of training before I could use it. Then I bought a iPad Pro again and got it to work. After the summer of 2020 with all the training I discovered that with new screens i got tension, so i coverages one eye for 30-60 minutes with the new screen and then i worked. Have done it on 6-7 screens now and i am so happy for that.
30-60 minutes one time, and it worked sae day? Or 30-60 minutes a day, then that was it, for some period of time, and then it was useable?
Sorry to bug you for more details but I still can't put together your exact training schedule and regime. Could you spell it out in very clear detail? How long per session, how many sessions a day, and how many days before training was no longer needed?
Nice to hear that you like nice cars. I have owned a couple of BMW M3, and drove them as they deserved. Back in 2007 i got the chance to drive with Colin McRae, a dream that come true. I have 2 friends that both have got BMW 440 Gran Coupe -18 for some months ago, they’re super happy. WRX is also a really nice car.
I keep my fingers crossed!
I love the WRX - handling, performance, everything - but it may not be… sensible… considering it's my only car most days and I have to do a lot of kid taxi service on questionable roads.
I am strongly leaning towards the 430i Gran Coupe - 440's are in short supply - from 2018 if my eyes can tolerate it (or 2017 which was Xenon instead of LED and had even better dashboard layout), they are really reliable as BMW's go and I can readily get one inside my budget with around 30k miles on it and in pristine condition.
I've never been in a financial situation to own an M car, but seriously an M440 is my dream - all that power but still civil enough to drop the kids off at school.
I am happy to answer, the biggest problem for me just now is that English is my second language so be patient with my bad translations.
In August 2020 i had trained with one eye for approximately 20 months, not every day, but in many periods. It was then I discovered that 30-60 minutes one time could fix so i could use a new screen which gave me tension headache, and now i have done it 6-7 times.
Sometimes when i have trained, i put my open right hand between my nose and my right eye. So i can see things some meters away, but the mobile screen i can only see with my left eye. Maybe that have worked for me, I don’t know the magic formula, i have trained and test many things.
So I drove a 2018 BMW 430i for about 30 minutes today. First of all, what a gorgeous car. OMG.
Second… my eyes are tired, but they weren't during the drive. They were a little tired immediately after, at the dealership, with their weird lighting. I will see how I feel in the morning. So far, promising - far better than most modern cars.
I did, for the record, spend a LOT of time playing with the infotainment system. The rest of the dash was pretty innocuous, TBH. The dials only faintly light up orange until it gets good and dark out, probably the least obtrusive possible coloration.
I'm going to also try to drive a 2017, which has even older screen tech and Xenon HID instead of LED for headlights.
mike I am happy to answer, the biggest problem for me just now is that English is my second language so be patient with my bad translations
Understood
mike In August 2020 i had trained with one eye for approximately 20 months, not every day, but in many periods. It was then I discovered that 30-60 minutes one time could fix so i could use a new screen which gave me tension headache, and now i have done it 6-7 times.
I'm not sure I follow. August 2020 was only 11 months ago. Do you mean "20 minutes"?
What I am interested in is:
- How many times a day did you use the eye patch?
- Each time you used the eye patch, how long did you use it for?
- How many months did you do that training before you were able to use screens without the patch and not get symptoms?
Thanks
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ensete I'm not sure I follow. August 2020 was only 11 months ago. Do you mean "20 minutes"?
December 2018 to July 2020.
ensete What I am interested in is:
How many times a day did you use the eye patch?
Each time you used the eye patch, how long did you use it for?
How many months did you do that training before you were able to use screens without the patch and not get symptoms?
First of all, I don’t feel comfortable patching so I don’t do it. For the most time when training I wear a pair of gaming glasses with a paper over one glass, both eye open. Sometimes I put my right hand between my nose and my right eye so I can see most things with two eyes, but only the screen with my left eye.
- One.
- Approximately one hour.
- Three weeks. I trained with a iPhone 5S, and after three weeks I didn’t get tension headache. But my eyes was still hurting, but not so bad as before. Then I took on next screen with training and so on.
Gotcha, thanks for that! I'm comfortable with the eyepatch, but it seems an eyepatch or a pair of glasses with one lens covered should achieve the same effect
The good news is I am about 2 weeks into patching and I can notice a difference. It's not much, but while before I couldn't go any time at all ithout getting triggered, I can go a solid 5 minutes now, so progress is being made, just slowly
I think we all have different levels of muscular accomodation. Think of it like any other muscle. If your right bicep were atrophied, doing two-handed curls would cause your whole body to hurt because all the other muscles would have to compensate.
Then, depending on age and health and a million other factors, how long does it take to get from curling 5lbs. to curling 35lbs.? Months, most likely. I used to be able, when I was 30, to curl 35lbs. per arm as a normal workout. Now, getting from 10lbs. to 20lbs. took me weeks, and getting from 20lbs. to 25lbs. took just as long, and that's where I'm at now.
So I think we all have to have patience. I think some of our issues CAN be overcome here, it's just gonna take a WHILE.