No! Hairstyle warning.
We’ll have to agree to disagree here. I find it far easier to touch a screen which is inline with my windscreen than have to take one hand off the wheel for a large amount of time, contort my arm and try and co-ordinate that controller with what’s happening on the screen. I find myself looking at the screen for longer as i attempt to move the cursor around the screen, all of which could be done in most cases by a couple of touches. Or i do what i normally do, start off on a station and then just leave it or mute it because i can’t be bothered fiddling, that or just play a playlist off the phone.
Changing a favourite on the DAB for example; i can either scroll through using the steering wheel controls while looking every time to see which one i’m on, or move the controller over to click on the star/have to look down to find the star button, then i have to scroll down with the wheel to find the one i want all the time looking at the screen. This is normally done in a few stages. Or i could reach over, touch the star and then the one i want which would take a matter of a couple of seconds.
Every other car with a modern interface in that i’ve driven lets you do this and to me it’s far safer. Also you show me someone who doesn’t mess with their infotainment, dash info, heating, heated seat buttons, windows etc and i’ll show you a liar. To be looking down in your lap while texting or pissing around with your phone is one thing, adjusting a radio is another.
It is much safer to look at the screen than down at the controls, I have unlocked this feature in my car and I’m much happier.
You can do most things via Siri voice control and I’ve got the screen enabled when driving so the interface is much easier and quicker to work with than the MZD interface. MZD voice control I found never worked that well and was extremely slow to the point where it was distracting.
Absolutely agree with everything said there. Carplay would be fantastic if i could touch the screen like it was designed for.
I’ll just leave this here… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNuFcIRlwdc it’s safe for work.
lol, that’s what MZD was like, Siri works far better.
Well TB I don’t use the SatNav, I just leave it in the “home” position, showing where I am, and I don’t use Infotainment because I have tinnitus, so I don’t need to use either the control knob or the touch screen, the only mobile phone I have is a “pay as you go” kept in the boot with the emergency pack, and I’m not a liar, I just have different priorities to you OK.
Wasn’t calling you one either. As i said agree to disagree on this one but as someone who does use the infotainment it is the single most frustrating thing in the car.
The single most frustrating thing ? Apart from the totally feel free steering then ?
I find the steering to be perfectly fine, full of feedback and nice and direct.
I agree with many of the things mentioned on here particularly those things which are unnecessary.
Electronic hand brake: Not only are you handing over an important safety system to a computer but if the battery goes flat you can’t even push the car out of the way. Handbrake turns become a chore too
Keyless entry & start. Now the key has fell out of my pocket and is under the seat. Brilliant.
Dash board lights. Modern cars have them on even during daylight so the amount of wallies driving about in the dark with no lights on has increased significantly because they can see their speedo is lit up so think their lights are on.
Super bright headlights. At first glance seems like a great idea until you realise that everyone is driving around squinting at the brightness of the oncoming traffic and then when they have a clear road they still can’t see because their night vision hasn’t kicked in because of all the bright white light around them.
Squirters that won’t squirt without wiping the screen. Again seems like a great idea until you have a particularly cold morning when the washers freeze. Now all the road salt you wanted to clear is smeared across the screen instead. Much better
Touch screens. Not great on a cold morning with gloves on.
Drive by wire throttle. I know the benefits and I’m sure it could work properly with the right setup but it just doesn’t feel direct enough for me. I can feel it intervening especially on my other car where for some reason it holds the revs for a bit during gear changes. Can’t even give a car a good blip these days
See this so much on my drive to work.
Super bright headlights - more blinding when you’re siting in the MX-5!
Not so much squirters but the wiper blade position at rest. I recently tried to remove a bit of fluff under the blade and ended up scraping off a bit of paint from the edge of the bonnet due the wiper arm rubbing against it. Apparently I need to RTFM to see how to put the wiper arms in the correct position for removal.
Drive by wire throttle - agreed. Only time it feels normal is when my car is in Sports mode, which is not much fun unless there’s a long stretch of clear road ahead.
Unnecessary electronic gizmos seem to be the most unpopular things on modern cars, judging by all the posts.
Manufacturers seem to try to make every new model into an X-Box on wheels, which I suppose pleases some folk. Me, I’m just a dinosaur who likes a car to be a car ! I never use any of the ‘toys’ on my wife’s recently-acquired Mazda 3 - wouldn’t know how to, and don’t want to learn to be honest (told you I was a dinosaur !).
Our 2008 NC is quite basic by modern standards (it has heated leather seats, CD player, air conditioning, and electric windows), which my ‘techno-thickie’ brain can cope with, but I dread to think of the repair bills should any of these things go wrong. Probably be cheaper to get another car !
While looking through the 560 pages main handbook for instructions on wiper blade replacements, I came across a section about Climate Control.
Automatic ventilation - The system automatically selects the outside (fresh) air position when the climate control system operates over a certain period of time (approximately 30 minutes) in low temperature with the recirculated air position selected.
Smart ventilation - The smart ventilation system maintains pleasant/fresh air condition inside the passenger compartment by automatically detecting/controlling the temperature, humidity, when you drive the vehicle with the climate control system in the OFF position. When the smart ventilation system starts to operate, the message, “SMART VENTILATION ON” appears for 5 seconds. • The smart ventilation system stops operating, when the OFF button of the climate control system is selected. • The smart ventilation system stops operating, when any button of the climate control system is selected for operation. • The smart ventilation system may not operate, when the vehicle is driven at low speed.
So should these systems malfunction does that mean I’ll be slowly deprived of oxygen?
The Multimedia System manual is a much shorter 196 pages.
First thing I did when I got mine was to install the tweak that allows touch screen use at all times. It’s supposed to be a safety feature but I find using the touch screen rather than spinning the knob and pressing the button leaves my hand off the wheel and eyes off the road for less time.
You do realise of course, that the temperature eventually equilibrates in the car. I’ve always found this type of system to be rather pointless. It’s a lovely marketing gimmick that fools so many people into paying extra…
Until I accidentally ended up with a decently clever C/C system I would have agreed with you.
When I bought my 1993/4 Astra I chose not to have aircon or power steering, but did pay extra for the optional ABS. I never missed the A/C or P/S, but the ABS paid for itself on three occasions during the 205,000 miles I had the car.
I hired a brand new A4 twenty years ago in France, and between the four of us we could not turn off the C/C no matter what we tried. One evening the windscreen misted over inside and we had to wait ten minutes for it to sort itself out, playing with the controls had no effect. By contrast the basic A/C in our 1997 Vextra was superb at drying Hon No. 2 Daughter’s hair on the way back from the many swimming club sessions.
What evidence do you have to support that?
- Do you really think legislation would allow it, and insurance would cover it, if it was dangerous?
I’d rather trust radar control than most other drivers on the road. It makes for smoother, safer driving when used correctly, ensuring I maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front.