Posted on 09/21/2024 3:06:23 PM PDT by grundle
Physical buttons are increasingly rare in modern cars. Most manufacturers are switching to touchscreens – which perform far worse in a test carried out by Vi Bilägare. The driver in the worst-performing car needs four times longer to perform simple tasks than in the best-performing car.
The screens in modern cars keep getting bigger. Design teams at most car manufacturers love to ditch physical buttons and switches, although they are far superior safety-wise.
That is the conclusion when Swedish car magazine Vi Bilägare performed a thurough test of the HMI system (Human-Machine Interface) in a total of twelve cars this summer.
Inspiration for the screen-heavy interiors in modern cars comes from smartphones and tablets. Designers want a ”clean” interior with minimal switchgear, and the financial department wants to lower the cost. Instead of developing, manufacturing and keeping physical buttons in stock for years to come, car manufacturers are keen on integrating more functions into a digital screen which can be updated over time.
So in what way have these screens affected safety? Vi Bilägare gathered eleven modern cars from different manufacturers at an airfield och measured the time needed for a driver to perform different simple tasks, such as changing the radio station or adjusting the climate control. At the same time, the car was driven at 110 km/h (68 mph). We also invited an ”old-school” car without a touchscreen, a 17-year-old Volvo V70, for comparison.
One important aspect of this test is that the drivers had time to get to know the cars and their infotainment systems before the test started.
No backlighting
Tesla was not the first to introduce a touchscreen, but the American carmaker has always offered bigger touchscreens than most manufacturers, containing more of the car’s features. Even the windshield wipers are controlled through the touchscreen.
BMW iX also offers a touchscreen, but not as big as Tesla’s, and also more physical buttons. But that’s no guarantee for a system which is easy to use. The BMW’s infotainment system has lots of features, but it also has one of the most complex and complicated user interfaces ever designed.
Another sin is committed by Volkswagen and Seat. In order to save money, the touch-sensitive climate controls below the screen in the ID.3 and Leon are not backlit which make them completely invisible at night. Voice control
The carmakers are keen to point out that many features now can be activated by voice. But the voice control systems are not always easy to use, they can’t control every function and they don’t always work as advertised, which is why the voice control systems were not tested in this experiment.
The results speak for themselves. The worst-performing car needs 1,400 meters to perform the same tasks for which the best-performing car only needs 300 meters.
Big differences
The easiest car to understand and operate, by a large margin, is the 2005 Volvo V70. The four tasks is handled within ten seconds flat, during which the car is driven 306 meters at 110 km/h.
At the other end of the scale, Chinese electric car MG Marvel R performs far worse. The driver needs 44.6 seconds before all the tasks are completed, during which the car has travelled 1,372 meters – more than four times the distance compared to the old Volvo.
BMW iX and Seat Leon perform better, but both are still too complicated. The driver needs almost a kilometer to perform the tasks. Lots can happen in traffic during that time.
Dacia Sandero and Volvo C40 perform well although they both have touchscreens. However, they are not overloaded with features. Volvo shows that a touchscreen doesn’t need to be complicated.
We have also measured the angle at which the driver has to look down to operate the controls. By photographing the same driver in all cars, we find that the driver has to lower the line of sight by 56 degrees to view the lower end of the screen. Compare that to only 20 degrees in the Mercedes GLB.
Which tests were performed?
Activate the heated seat, increase temperature by two degrees, and start the defroster.
Power on the radio and adjust the station to a specific channel (Sweden’s Program 1).
Reset the trip computer.
Lower the instrument lighting to the lowest level and turn off the center display.
Totally agree. And I’m very much in favor of new electronic winders, but having to poke around a touch screen for half a minute (while trying to drive) simply to turn up the AC instead of just turning a knob is ridiculous.
Safety equipment? SAFEY EQUIPMENT?! WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' SAFETY EQUIPMENT!!! (LOL!)
In other words, looking at your phone = unsafe.
But Looking at your big ass screen = safe? Not seeing it.
A friend of mine just bought a brand new Mercedes SUV. It has a large screen, a row of all necessary buttons and a mousepad.
I hate the screens. Hit a bump and I dial someone on the phone and have to hang up and start all over with the original task.
Went in to get a key cut and the young man started to give me the spiel about how it would not start the car because it would not have a chip. The other cashier, who was about my age, looked at my truck and laughed.
When it comes to motor vehicles chip free is the way to go.
> Apples and oranges. <
Perhaps it should be better described as, to each his own. Power windows. Touchscreens. Auto start-stop. If you want it, take it. Else, decline it.
Unfortunately, that’s usually not the case. You’ll take what’s standard, and like it.
Tesla originally had the turn signal on a touch screen - until the feds gave them crap about it.
Sickening.
I've had three GM trucks with infotainment screens and the one I love the most is the one on my 2024 Sierra. Changing the volume is easy...just turn the volume knob that's located in the same place as an old fashioned vehicle. Or toggle the buttons on the back of the steering wheel with your right hand fingers, which is very intuitive and doesn't require you to take your hands off the wheel or eyes off the road. To change the station, toggle the buttons on the back of the steering wheel with your left fingers. To switch from FM to XM just tap the icon on the screen and then select the band you want from the drop down menu (Red cirle). To directly program a radio station simply press the direct entry icon and key in the station frequency (Green circle). It's actually pretty easy.
The one I had to deal with was nothing like that. And it had no knobs.
The older style infotainment system had both a volume and a tuning knob. I'm a GM man and I've never seen a GM truck that didn't have at least a volume knob, and that's only on the 2023 and 2024 half tons and on the 2024 HD trucks. Everything before that had volume and tuning knobs.
It took me forever to figure out a few things.
Agree had a 2011 Chevy pick up and it took a co-pilot just to control the A/C or heat had to punch a button for a/c then one for the temperature then one for driver side and then one for the passenger side.
It’s one of many reasons I hate any car or truck after 1970 KISS = KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID.
HVAC is one of the easiest things to deal with...just set it on Auto and select the desired temperature. I never touch my controls when I'm driving. If you have a passenger that wants a different temperature they can set theirs individually. When the passenger gets out just hit the Sync button and both sides will be at the same temperature again. I can't imagine wanting to go back to a pre 70s vehicle.
Even with set to Auto it still needs changing when the temp. changes out side it’s a POS ordeal the older cars had one lever to slide as need and you didn’t have to look at it.
Bonus round with older cars they had vent window when it rained you didn’t het the rear seat and carpet wet and when you opened the door is soaks the carpet no drip rail.
Nothing good can be said about the POS newer cars.
The whole purpose of the Auto temperature is to maintain the same interior temperature whether it's 20° outside or 100°. It's no different than the thermostat in your house. It works much better than that crappy manual slide mechanism.
I once rented a car and had a lot of trouble just changing a radio station as I drove.
As I reached over and tried to tap a virtual button my finger was bouncing up and down. This has to cause people to lose focus and stare at the screen instead out the windshield at the traffic.
My 2016 Honda Accord Sport has buttons for the most part. I use buttons on the steering wheel for vol and changing radio stations and changing to the bluetooth connection to my cell phone to play my music. I do not need to look away from the windshield and seeing the traffic.
Auto temperature is to maintain the same interior temperature
Not when the outside temp changes to hotter or colder it still has to be reset
That may be its purpose, but it doesn't work.
That may be its purpose, but it doesn't work.
I've never had it not work for me on the three GM trucks, Hyundai and Subaru that I own or have owned. You probably had a faulty system or didn't have it set on Auto. Again, its function is to maintain the selected temperature regardless of the outside temperature. And mine have always worked as designed during summer and winter.
Not when the outside temp changes to hotter or colder it still has to be reset
On the five vehicles I've owned that have Auto temperature I just set it and forget it. It never has to be adjusted when the outside temperature changes. If I set it at 72° that's where the interior temperature stays at, regardless of the outside temperature. I might set out in the morning when it's freezing and the heater gets the temperature up to 72°. As it gets warmer during the day it will eventually switch from heating to air conditioning if it gets hot outside. That's how it's supposed to work and that's how mine all work.
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