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but the ability to have more than 4-5 buttons is a huge benefit It is? For whom? A few years ago, I upgraded from a 2007 Hyundai Elantra to a 2019 Subaru Legac

but the ability to have more than 4-5 buttons is a huge benefit It is? For whom? A few years ago, I upgraded from a 2007 Hyundai Elantra to a 2019 Subaru Legacy. The new car is better in many ways (most notably, having all wheel drive) but the HVAC situation is an absolute regression. In the old Elantra, I have physical knobs. No, not physical buttons that send digital inputs, actual physical mechanical knobs connected directly to the HVAC mechanisms. I miss those knobs every time I have to take my eyes off the road and enter some kind of complicated input to get outside air blowing. In the old car, it was a matter of turning on the fan and making sure the toggle was set to outside air, rather than internal recirculation. In the new car, you have to turn the system on with the on/off button, set the temperature to "low" by twisting the temperature control until the temperature display reads "LO", adjust the fan speed with a +/- button, and then finally get the air blowing where you want by repeatedly pressing the button with the seat icon until the air is blowing at your face (rather than at your feet). The crazy thing is, as bad as all that is, Subaru is one of the better automakers in this regard. They have the HVAC controls broken out into their own separate module on the dashboard, with its own display for the temperature, fan speed, vents, etc. And all the controls have physical buttons, so I can at least feel where the controls are, even if I can no longer determine their current state by feel. Other automakers, like Toyota, Honda and Ford consolidate everything into a single 8" display with capacitive controls. Oh you want to adjust the fan speed while also being able to see the Android Auto UI? Too bad, screw you. Cars have improved in a lot of subtle ways, I'll admit. All-wheel drive has gone from being a relatively high-end option to being far more ubiquitous. For all its warts, I genuinely do appreciate the fact that Android Auto allows me to have a decent GPS and mapping solution built into my car. But if you gave me a way to bring the HVAC controls from my old car into my new car, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

brigade 4y ago
> actual physical mechanical knobs connected directly to the HVAC mechanisms I'll admit to not living in Phoenix or the like, and it did take me time to trust climate control after only having simple A/C, but I doubt I'm alone in preferring to only adjust target temperature and letting the car automatically control fan speed and vents. Dunno if Subaru is especially bad at that, but in any situation where the interior is hot enough that you're trying to get "max A/C", I know leaving it at my normal auto 72° will cause VW and Mercedes to choose max A/C and blow out of the top vents. But yeah, designs that completely hide the still-occasionally-used buttons like defrost tend to suck. It sucked in the 2004 Prius, and still generally sucks now. If designers want more console space or minimalism, get rid of big gear shifters instead IMO.
- quanticle 4y ago
  I used cold air and air conditioning as an example, but my problem is actually the opposite. I live in Minnesota. It gets cold here. I need a constant supply of hot air blowing at the windshield and side windows in order to keep them defrosted. Subaru, in its infinite wisdom, decided to make the "Full Auto" default to having the hot air come out of the foot vents. It also throttles the way back when it detects that the cabin is up to temperature (68°F in my case), which is ostensibly fine, but causes problems with frost. So, every time, I end up having to do a bunch of configuration to override the "smart" HVAC system in order to actually get it to appropriately balance safety and driver comfort.

brigade 4y ago

> actual physical mechanical knobs connected directly to the HVAC mechanisms I'll admit to not living in Phoenix or the like, and it did take me time to trust climate control after only having simple A/C, but I doubt I'm alone in preferring to only adjust target temperature and letting the car automatically control fan speed and vents. Dunno if Subaru is especially bad at that, but in any situation where the interior is hot enough that you're trying to get "max A/C", I know leaving it at my normal auto 72° will cause VW and Mercedes to choose max A/C and blow out of the top vents. But yeah, designs that completely hide the still-occasionally-used buttons like defrost tend to suck. It sucked in the 2004 Prius, and still generally sucks now. If designers want more console space or minimalism, get rid of big gear shifters instead IMO.

quanticle 4y ago
I used cold air and air conditioning as an example, but my problem is actually the opposite. I live in Minnesota. It gets cold here. I need a constant supply of hot air blowing at the windshield and side windows in order to keep them defrosted. Subaru, in its infinite wisdom, decided to make the "Full Auto" default to having the hot air come out of the foot vents. It also throttles the way back when it detects that the cabin is up to temperature (68°F in my case), which is ostensibly fine, but causes problems with frost. So, every time, I end up having to do a bunch of configuration to override the "smart" HVAC system in order to actually get it to appropriately balance safety and driver comfort.