4 ms·

Thanks, I'll stick with my battle hardened manual gearbox, until I ride this car into the ground. Maybe I'm turning into a grumpy old man, but I want nothing to

Thanks, I'll stick with my battle hardened manual gearbox, until I ride this car into the ground. Maybe I'm turning into a grumpy old man, but I want nothing to do with the lack of physical buttons, giant touchscreens, and fly by wire EVERYTHING in these cars.

saxonww 4y ago
Would it be so bad if you actually get the specifications for this stuff? I assume/hope it's so hard because of all the safety regulations applied to cars; the amount of effort this person already has had to put into figuring out how a gear shifter works is sad.
forgingahead 4y ago
Wish I could upvote you 1000 times - rented a car last week and couldn't figure out how to control the damn AC in it. Gear shift was a turning knob like I was tuning my radio, not to mention the iPad staring me in the face while I tried to drive. Like TVs, I think there is a decent sized market for "dumb cars" - will any company step up to make them though?
- ricardobeat 4y ago
  Those are user interface design failures, not a direct consequence of the switch to electronics & automation. There are modern cars that are very pleasant to use (Hyundai Ioniq / Kona are my favorites), while others that have the exact same feature set are terrible (BMW i3, Nissan Leaf).
  - Hellbanevil 4y ago
- isatty 4y ago
  Let me guess, one of the new Ford SUVs? Happened to me too, wtf was ford thinking with the circular gear selector and AC controlled by a damn screen?
  - HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
    I think it's mainly a discovery/RTFM kinda deal. My wife's 2014 Edge is in the shop and they gave us a 2022 Edge as a loaner. I had the same WTF at first. But it's pretty obvious where the gear selector is and how to use it. And there's a fan icon at the bottom of the screen that, surprise, surprise, is the A/C control. All in all, it's not hard to figure out. Granted there are some things that surprise me, like the "white line detector" that provides haptic feedback in the steering wheel like a rumble strip that somehow became enabled a couple days ago, but all that is because I haven't bothered to RTFM. After driving the car for a week, I have to admit that I like it. Could be tempted to buy it from the dealership if they'll give me a good enough deal, which isn't very likely these days :-(
    - forgingahead 4y ago
      Sure, but this is user-hostile. The entire expectation of the car rental process is that you get your keys, jump in the car, and drive off. If you have to read a manual, or sit there fiddling with knobs and buttons while it's freezing/steaming outside, then the process is broken.
      - HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
        > entire expectation of the car rental process is that you get your keys, jump in the car, and drive off. Which is exactly what I did. Figuring out the A/C was basically "it's hot in here, oh, there's a fan icon, press that." The other stuff I never bothered with because it simply wasn't worth learning for a car I only have for a few days.
bluenose69 4y ago
Agreed. It seems, from the instructional video on that website, that a driver must touch the control in a certain spot to put the car into park. I wonder whether it makes a sound, or gives some other indication, when you touch it correctly? Surely, a driver isn't forced to look for that little yellow "park" icon, to see whether the car is in park. It seems that the old ways are receding into history, but the future is not especially appealing to everybody. Double-clutching, rev-matching, etc., are all part of the fun. The more cars get "easier", the harder it is to want to drive.
- davrosthedalek 4y ago
  The car will auto go to park when you switch off the engine. I almost never select park manually. But its a regular button.
  - Arcanum-XIII 4y ago
    On my car, there’s no park button at all. It’s not even a symbol lighted either, it plainly doesn’t exist. Maybe because it’s a robotic shifter and a not an automatic one - I don’t know. I can only put it in neutral, and if I want a true park, well, I have to shut down the engine and use the handbrake (still manual strangely).
    - davrosthedalek 4y ago
      I also have a manual handbrake, because how else do you want to make a hand-brake turn (insert smiling Clarkson here).
- buran77 4y ago
  I wouldn't put automatic transmission in the same bucket as touchscreen buttons and whatnot. The former makes the life more convenient for the driver. The latter makes the life more convenient for the manufacturer and less convenient to the point of danger for the driver.
- simondotau 4y ago
  > I wonder whether it makes a sound, or gives some other indication, when you touch it correctly? It’s a mechanical button that looks like a mechanical button. It has a positive feel when pressed. Assuming the transmission can engage park, a (P) symbol illuminates on the shifter and in the driver’s binnacle. If you turn the car off without pressing the button, park will be automatically engaged, if possible. (I haven’t tried turning the car off while it’s in neutral and rolling down a hill. Not planning to run the experiment.) In short, it’s very intuitive.
newsclues 4y ago
The aftermarket for adding switches, buttons and knobs to supplement or replace the terrible touch user interface is going to be a massive market

saxonww 4y ago

Would it be so bad if you actually get the specifications for this stuff? I assume/hope it's so hard because of all the safety regulations applied to cars; the amount of effort this person already has had to put into figuring out how a gear shifter works is sad.

forgingahead 4y ago

Wish I could upvote you 1000 times - rented a car last week and couldn't figure out how to control the damn AC in it. Gear shift was a turning knob like I was tuning my radio, not to mention the iPad staring me in the face while I tried to drive. Like TVs, I think there is a decent sized market for "dumb cars" - will any company step up to make them though?

ricardobeat 4y ago
Those are user interface design failures, not a direct consequence of the switch to electronics & automation. There are modern cars that are very pleasant to use (Hyundai Ioniq / Kona are my favorites), while others that have the exact same feature set are terrible (BMW i3, Nissan Leaf).
- Hellbanevil 4y ago
isatty 4y ago
Let me guess, one of the new Ford SUVs? Happened to me too, wtf was ford thinking with the circular gear selector and AC controlled by a damn screen?
- HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
  I think it's mainly a discovery/RTFM kinda deal. My wife's 2014 Edge is in the shop and they gave us a 2022 Edge as a loaner. I had the same WTF at first. But it's pretty obvious where the gear selector is and how to use it. And there's a fan icon at the bottom of the screen that, surprise, surprise, is the A/C control. All in all, it's not hard to figure out. Granted there are some things that surprise me, like the "white line detector" that provides haptic feedback in the steering wheel like a rumble strip that somehow became enabled a couple days ago, but all that is because I haven't bothered to RTFM. After driving the car for a week, I have to admit that I like it. Could be tempted to buy it from the dealership if they'll give me a good enough deal, which isn't very likely these days :-(
  - forgingahead 4y ago
    Sure, but this is user-hostile. The entire expectation of the car rental process is that you get your keys, jump in the car, and drive off. If you have to read a manual, or sit there fiddling with knobs and buttons while it's freezing/steaming outside, then the process is broken.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
      > entire expectation of the car rental process is that you get your keys, jump in the car, and drive off. Which is exactly what I did. Figuring out the A/C was basically "it's hot in here, oh, there's a fan icon, press that." The other stuff I never bothered with because it simply wasn't worth learning for a car I only have for a few days.

bluenose69 4y ago

Agreed. It seems, from the instructional video on that website, that a driver must touch the control in a certain spot to put the car into park. I wonder whether it makes a sound, or gives some other indication, when you touch it correctly? Surely, a driver isn't forced to look for that little yellow "park" icon, to see whether the car is in park. It seems that the old ways are receding into history, but the future is not especially appealing to everybody. Double-clutching, rev-matching, etc., are all part of the fun. The more cars get "easier", the harder it is to want to drive.

davrosthedalek 4y ago
The car will auto go to park when you switch off the engine. I almost never select park manually. But its a regular button.
- Arcanum-XIII 4y ago
  On my car, there’s no park button at all. It’s not even a symbol lighted either, it plainly doesn’t exist. Maybe because it’s a robotic shifter and a not an automatic one - I don’t know. I can only put it in neutral, and if I want a true park, well, I have to shut down the engine and use the handbrake (still manual strangely).
  - davrosthedalek 4y ago
    I also have a manual handbrake, because how else do you want to make a hand-brake turn (insert smiling Clarkson here).
buran77 4y ago
I wouldn't put automatic transmission in the same bucket as touchscreen buttons and whatnot. The former makes the life more convenient for the driver. The latter makes the life more convenient for the manufacturer and less convenient to the point of danger for the driver.
simondotau 4y ago
> I wonder whether it makes a sound, or gives some other indication, when you touch it correctly? It’s a mechanical button that looks like a mechanical button. It has a positive feel when pressed. Assuming the transmission can engage park, a (P) symbol illuminates on the shifter and in the driver’s binnacle. If you turn the car off without pressing the button, park will be automatically engaged, if possible. (I haven’t tried turning the car off while it’s in neutral and rolling down a hill. Not planning to run the experiment.) In short, it’s very intuitive.

newsclues 4y ago

The aftermarket for adding switches, buttons and knobs to supplement or replace the terrible touch user interface is going to be a massive market