Not sure how much you've played around with the "VIEWS", but you can get a myriad of different things inside the tach and speedometer - elevation (as you have), but then also range (distance to empty), fuel economy, compass, gear selection, etc.
Pretty sure you can add "off-road" with the long-coding in VCDS. Click on the CAR button of the display, then SETTINGS, then at lower-left, there's SELECT or SELECTION. Click on that and you might find some interesting bits.
Glow plug error: Funny you should mention that, because on our road trip last weekend, the CEL came on, and that was it:
Code:
1 Fault Found:
4971 - Glow Plug/Heater Indicator Circuit
P0381 00 [175] - Implausible Signal
MIL ON - Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 6
Mileage: 67633 km
Date: 2000.00.00
Time: 00:00:00
Engine speed: 0.00 /min
Normed load value: 0.0 %
Vehicle speed: 0 km/h
Coolant temperature: 61 ∞C
Intake air temperature: 58 ∞C
Ambient air pressure: 1020 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 12.320 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 40
Electric auxiliary heater: shut-off conditions-Bits 0-7: 0
Electric auxiliary heater: shut-off conditions-Bits 0-7: 0
Electric auxiliary heater: relay activation-Bits 0-7: 0
Preheat time: 0 ms
Glow status-Bits 0-7: 0
Glow status-Bits 0-7: 0
Glow cycles above temperature threshold-Bits 0-7: 3
Glow cycles above temperature threshold-Bits 0-7: 184
Glow cycles below temperature threshold-Bits 0-7: 0
Glow cycles below temperature threshold-Bits 0-7: 1
Extern.temp.sens.1 bank 1: raw value: 23.5 ∞C
--------------------------------------------------
Readiness: 1 1 0 0 0
23.5C (around 78F) and coolant at 61C (~140F) - so, no reason for the glow plugs to come on.
I checked again later in the trip while I was wrestling with the folding mirror issue, and the code didn't come back, so....????
I do remember when the tech at VW was doing the setup, that the "Glow Plug Indicator" was a persistent error message in ODIS. So...maybe the display is looking for a hard-wired glow plug "dummy light" that's not there(?). Really just guessing at it here.
When you get VCDS up and running, can you see what you have coded as your fuel tank capacity? It's somewhere in the long-coding. I changed mine from what it was originally because it seemed to way underestimate my distance to empty. But now, I think the one I chose is a little too optimistic (750km of range on ¾ of a tank)