Buttons in cars better than touch screen

[repoman0]

Might be easier to get a different car LoL

Without a doubt. I tried that though, sold it inside of a year while this one stayed.

 

[Captante]

Yeah I prefer physical controls. But voice control that works is acceptable substitute for me.

There's the key right there..... the other thing that would make all-touchscreen controls okay would be fully reliable automatic self driving cars but that's just a pipe-dream as long as 99% of the other vehicles on the road have humans at the wheel!

 

[sdifox]

There's the key right there..... the other thing that would make all-touchscreen controls okay would be fully reliable self-driving but that's just a pipe-dream as long as 99% of the other vehicles on the road have humans at the wheel!

I don't think self drive is realistic. A master system where all cars on road are linked to acting as one system has a much higher chance of success and reliability.

 

[MrSquished]

I'm not against touch screen controls for the sake of being against them. I use them in other applications. I don't mind if they have them in cars, just not forcing touch screens to do everything for certain functions where buttons are much safer and better.

 

[IronWing]

GM has managed to f up knobs. When I turn the fan knob to high, I expect the fan to turn up to high. Instead, I get the lazy teenager thing of the fan controller slowly rolling off the couch and sulkily getting around to turning the fan up . I swear it lets out a tortured sigh.

 

[sdifox]

GM has managed to f up knobs. When I turn the fan knob to high, I expect the fan to turn up to high. Instead, I get the lazy teenager thing of the fan controller slowly rolling off the couch and sulkily getting around to turning the fan up . I swear it lets out a tortured sigh.

It's the Emo-Mate!

 

[Captante]

I swear they've yet to make a substantially better environmental system in a car then the one that came in my 1986 Toyota pickup in any car at any price. (not counting the anemic AC!)

 

[lxskllr]

I swear they've yet to make a substantially better environmental system in a car then the one that came in my 1986 Toyota pickup in any car at any price. (not counting the anemic AC!)

If it ain't broke, fix it til it is... Speaking of climate control, it doesn't get any better than colder/hotter, and fan speed higher/lower. I don't need a specific temperature, and when I turn a knob all the way, I want it all, not some attempt at making a car feel like my livingroom. If I don't like the temperature, I'll change it. The specific temperature's irrelevant.

 

[Dulanic]

What surprises me is that Tesla doesn't have voice control. Like "Tesla, turn on wiper speed two." If that is in place, I wouldn't mind the actual control being in a tablet.

I disagree, a button on the wheel ensures that only the driver can issue commands. I can see my son doing things he shouldn't if it was 100% voice.

 

[Captante]

The MOST important thing in a vehicles climate-control however is the presence of an old-fashioned manual "recirculate-switch" that closes with a clearly audible mechanical "clunk" inside the dashboard like that 1986 pickup.

Then the vehicle is hermetically sealed lol! Seriously you could ride for miles behind an out-of-tune diesel city bus and never know it was there in that thing!

Most newer vehicles don't actually cut off all outside air no matter what settings are chosen and instead rely on filters that have serious limitations.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow I didn't realize that. I use recirculate all the time, because my train of thought is it's not any different than my house furnace. If I was using outside air it would be way less efficient then continuously warming or cooling the same air that's already passed through at some point.

 

[dlerious]

I don't think self drive is realistic. A master system where all cars on road are linked to acting as one system has a much higher chance of success and reliability.

You mean something autonomous like this? Not for me.

 

[Captante]

Wow I didn't realize that. I use recirculate all the time, because my train of thought is it's not any different than my house furnace. If I was using outside air it would be way less efficient then continuously warming or cooling the same air that's already passed through at some point.

Even if they do close all the way with "automatic" systems the little flap/door that opens and shuts to control airflow doesn't close very tight in most vehicles so you get leakage of stinky fumes.

The old ones that worked with a small lever were spring-loaded and when they snapped shut they were sealed tight. The downside of this in my truck was that moisture would build up in the cab pretty quickly thanks to zero airflow unless the AC was on.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

We don't need no thought control ....

 

[AdamK47]

Nothing can outdate a car more than the center infotainment screen. While every EV on the planet tries to one-up each other on the center screen, Audi decided to ditch it going from Gen1 to Gen2 R8. It shows the contrasting minds for those two segments of buyers.

 

[Captante]

Nothing can outdate a car more than the center infotainment screen. While every EV on the planet tries to one-up each other on the center screen, Audi decided to ditch it going from Gen1 to Gen2 R8. It shows the contrasting minds for those two segments of buyers.

Well done Audi!

(now if they would only make more cars with manual transmissions!)

 

[lxskllr]

I lost my taste for manual transmissions. I spent a lot of time looking for my old cherokee with a specific configuration that included a manual transmission. I grew to dislike it. People don't know how to drive anymore. Never did, but it's gotten worse. Can't maintain speed, perpetual creep at traffic lights, erratic stops and maneuvering... It makes driving a manual unfun, and the occasional benefit of a manual is far outweighed by the daily tedium of dealing with people that have no business operating machinery.

 

[Captante]

I lost my taste for manual transmissions. I spent a lot of time looking for my old cherokee with a specific configuration that included a manual transmission. I grew to dislike it. People don't know how to drive anymore. Never did, but it's gotten worse. Can't maintain speed, perpetual creep at traffic lights, erratic stops and maneuvering... It makes driving a manual unfun, and the occasional benefit of a manual is far outweighed by the daily tedium of dealing with people that have no business operating machinery.

Drive a manual from Honda, Toyota or BMW and I strongly suspect you would have a very different impression. They're a joy to drive rather than a chore.

The manual Jeeps I've driven were all on the "agricultural" end of the performance-spectrum with notchy and imprecise shift-linkage and uneven clutch engagement.

You are however completely correct about the ability (or lack thereof!) of the average driver in America.

 

[mikeymikec]

GM has managed to f up knobs. When I turn the fan knob to high, I expect the fan to turn up to high. Instead, I get the lazy teenager thing of the fan controller slowly rolling off the couch and sulkily getting around to turning the fan up . I swear it lets out a tortured sigh.

Would you prefer it to have a smug and sunny disposition?

 

[repoman0]

Yeah, I don't think twice about operating my BMW/Getrag manual transmissions compared to my wife's automatic CX-5 despite being surrounded by the same idiots. It feels like no extra "work" to me at this point and it's satisfying to operate despite being slower in every way than a computer controlled transmission.

The manual in the 2014 Subaru WRX that I owned for three months was trash in comparison, on the level of budget economy cars I've rented in Europe, and I'd rather have an auto than any of those.

 

[Captante]

Yeah, I don't think twice about operating my BMW/Getrag manual transmissions compared to my wife's automatic CX-5 despite being surrounded by the same idiots. It feels like no extra "work" to me at this point and it's satisfying to operate despite being slower in every way than a computer controlled transmission.

The manual in the 2014 Subaru WRX that I owned for three months was trash in comparison, on the level of budget economy cars I've rented in Europe, and I'd rather have an auto than any of those.

I drove a friends 2015 WRX manual a few times and you are absolutely right that thing was awful, but I think the heavy & uneven short-throw clutch that fully engaged in roughly 1/2 inch of pedal-travel was even worse than the sloppy linkage!

Good car overall the WRX but I would only consider buying one with a "slush-box" which kinda defeats the entire purpose of a sports-car.

 

[Motostu]

Drive a manual from Honda, Toyota or BMW and I strongly suspect you would have a very different impression. They're a joy to drive rather than a chore.

Yeah, my old Integra had a manual transmission and was fun to drive, even in city traffic. Never felt like work.

 

[Captante]

Yeah, my old Integra had a manual transmission and was fun to drive, even in city traffic. Never felt like work.

Old room-mate of mine had one of the original Integra's and aside from serious rust issues that car was great fun to drive and bullet-proof reliable.

In fact my current Honda Fit "bottom feeder" is within spitting-distance of being my overall favorite car that I've owned despite costing less than half as much as some of them due to it's nimble handling and fun to drive personality.

There's no substitute for good design!

 

[Aikouka]

I've had my Model 3 for nearly four years now, and ugh... I really hate the lack of physical controls. When you're driving in a minor rainfall, and all of a sudden, it switches to a major downpour, it's not exactly fun sitting there waiting for the wipers to actually react. I had that problem in my 2013 Ford Taurus with its rain-sensing wipers, but with that one, I could just rotate the dial on the stalk one position to go from AUTO to MAX; I didn't even have to look at it! Tesla also removed the feature that made your headlights automatically come on when the wipers were going and the headlights were set to AUTO, which means that I have to manually turn them on each time. Yet again, in most cars, this isn't a big deal as the headlight dial is usually either a knob on the dash or a dial on a stalk; however, in a touch-only Tesla, you have to enter the car dialog (bottom left) and switch the lights from AUTO to ON in the Quick Settings section (top middle). I can't do that or change my wiper speed without looking, and the last thing that I want to do in the rain is take my eyes off the road.

Another awkward problem is music. When you're using streaming services and can't guarantee that you know every track that will play, you may need to quickly look just to see what's currently playing. This happens to me often. In previous cars, media information was displayed on the dash cluster (typically on the right side), which was fairly easy to check without taking my eyes off the road. On the Model 3, the media information is at the bottom left of the screen, which requires me to look too far down to reliably keep the road in my peripheral vision. (The use of periphery is what makes the dash cluster work well enough.)

I lost my taste for manual transmissions. I spent a lot of time looking for my old cherokee with a specific configuration that included a manual transmission. I grew to dislike it. People don't know how to drive anymore. Never did, but it's gotten worse. Can't maintain speed, perpetual creep at traffic lights, erratic stops and maneuvering... It makes driving a manual unfun, and the occasional benefit of a manual is far outweighed by the daily tedium of dealing with people that have no business operating machinery.

Maintaining speed is actually one reason why I like cruise control, and why I'm always annoyed that I can't turn off traffic assist on my car. I want to go a specific speed so if someone is passing me, they'll always be passing me so long as their speed is consistent. It just makes things easier on everyone around me... theoretically. The problem that I've noticed is that people are one-pedal-position drivers. In other words, their form of cruise control is that they find the foot position that gets them going the speed they want on relatively flat land, and they leave it there. This causes them to go slower up hills and faster down hills.

I've never understood why people creep at lights. A few weeks back, I kept watching this one guy creep at a light so badly that by the time the green came for our side, his whole car was already completely in the intersection. (We were both the first at the light with him in the lane next to me.) Related to creeping at lights, people that leave excessive gaps or just approach a light far too slowly also grind my gears. Excessive gaps can throw me off in a few different ways as I typically try to modulate my speed so that I slow down at a gradual rate. I usually base that off the idea that I'll be coming to a stop in about a certain point, but if someone decides to leave a whole extra car length in front of them, now that stopping point is completely off, and I'm likely going faster than I'd intend. It also helps more when people gradually slow down, because you get a better sense of when they'll stop compared to those that slow down to 10 MPH and crawl up to their stopping point.

In general, what I've come to learn is that people either don't consider how their actions affect others while driving, they just don't care, or both.

 

[Fritzo]

The only reason we have touch screens in cars is they can make one panel to everything instead of having to make customized parts for every function. Don't expect them to go away anytime soon.