Let's talk about interiors

Rilot

Rilot

Rilot

Don
Joined
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Posts
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Location
Wargrave, UK
I was over at the Mustang forums today and we were discussing the new S650 Mustang that came out last year. Specifically the screen situation.
Ford has followed the crowd and replaced the instrument binnacle and infotainment displays with a pair of massive screens. In my opinion is looks like crap. Take the pony badge off the steering wheel and you could be sitting in literally any other car from the last 3 years or so.

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Of course, it's not just Ford. It's literally everyone else.

BMW
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Audi
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Mercedes Benz
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I get it. Putting big screens in the car and then paying a digital artist to make icons is far, far cheaper than building the tooling for bespoke buttons and switches along with all the associated wiring, but seriously. They all look bloody awful. The only ones who seem to still be doing it right are Porsche and Volvo.
I also point my ire at the use of bloody piano-black everywhere and flipping capacitive buttons. I don't want capacitive buttons. I want actual, physical switches.

Am I alone in this opinion? Are we doomed to having touchscreens for everything?
 
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Yeah I'm with you on screens. Do not want a car with a naff tablet.

My personal interior gripe is the trend away from leather (real or fake) in the name of appearing animal friendly - because I have severe dust mite allergy so I can't have fabric seats, instant deal-breaker, and it's a common allergy so they're losing loads of customers by doing it.
 
I’m into tech (obviously) and cars too and I agree with you. I don’t want to be looking by away from the road for any prolonged amount of time and having more information on screens naturally seems to lead to this.

In my first cars, I could adjust the controls without needing to look at it, just by the tactility of the buttons, dials etc. some cars better than others for that. ‘Climate control’ actually makes it a bit worse as you have to look at the temperature reading. Now, it’s tricky. I drive new cars regularly and often even with the same brand they can move the control locations on a screen or bury them in further menus. ‘Max A/C’ has been a frustration this summer in several vehicles.

I would argue tactile buttons and knobs are demonstrably better for the user and so are the superior solution. Which means this trend is based on either cost saving or illogical consumer behaviour fuelled by marketing and the need for constant appearance of ‘innovation’.

I still drive an Elise and that is mostly old school, although it does have push button start. However it feels like it actually powers the starter as you need to hold it down long enough to crank the engine rather than just a press…

I think some cheaper new EVs are bucking this trend, would love to hear some people with examples.
 
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I love a proper sculpted dash that looks like it belongs there and not added on as a afterthought. At least my 2021 Leaf has a proper dash with it's touchscreen actually a part of it unlike the gen 3 Leaf that is launching soon and has a horrible interior like most other EV's these days. Even back in 2017 when I was looking for a new car these awful "tablet" looking screens were starting to make a appearance, I just really don't like them.
 
alex24 said:
I’m into tech (obviously) and cars too and I agree with you.
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The same (obviously) but I've been called a Luddite for not embracing the touchscreen revolution before. I love cool graphics and I love nice design. There's no reason why the two can't be combined without sticking an iPad Pro to the dash. In my opinion, car interiors from the 2020s are going to date really quickly in the same way that the 80s fad for LCD dashboards did.

You only need to go back 1 generation and it was perfect. I submit a 2019 BMW 3-series cockpit for consideration.

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To me, that is perfect. Nice binnacle with info I need. Touchscreen for nav and infotainment, physcal buttons for things I need to adjust or turn on frequently.
 
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I'm not a fan either. For stuff like EVs and Priuses it's fine, but in a Mustang that's absolute sacrilege. That needs a proper tach that bounces off the limiter, not some crap screen that flashes red.


I also think these screens are going to age cars like mad.
 
I think Mercedes got it about right with the 2017 E-Class family - it wasn’t touchscreen at that point though.​
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www.carwow.co.uk

Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe (2016-2020) Interior & Infotainment

Click here to see the interior of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe (2016-2020). Get the most up to date information and photos on the infotainment system, sat nav and interior equipment
www.carwow.co.uk www.carwow.co.uk
 
I suspect your regular punter doesn’t care about safety and tactile buttons, they’re happy with a big stupid Tesla’esque screen that mimics their iPhone.

Agree with everything that’s been said though, its a terrible trend. Cost cutting maybe but car prices certainly aren’t reflective.

I don’t know the ins and outs of the tech but do worry about software/hardware failure 10-20 years down the line. Manufacturers don’t support the software versions for long.
 
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I presume these new touchscreens still support phone mirroring with CarPlay and Android Auto or do you have to use the inbuilt systems?

Good thing about phone mirroring is you get regular updates for the phone software over the Internet.
 
Rilot said:
The same (obviously) but I've been called a Luddite for not embracing the touchscreen revolution before. I love cool graphics and I love nice design. There's no reason why the two can't be combined without sticking an iPad Pro to the dash. In my opinion, car interiors from the 2020s are going to date really quickly in the same way that the 80s fad for LCD dashboards did.

You only need to go back 1 generation and it was perfect. I submit a 2019 BMW 3-series cockpit for consideration.

1753296733121.png


To me, that is perfect. Nice binnacle with info I need. Touchscreen for nav and infotainment, physcal buttons for things I need to adjust or turn on frequently.
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Nice, I like the 5 series too but the screen is bordering on the stuck on style

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radderfire said:
The capacitive buttons are pretty bad for usability, it's true.
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Does capacitive buttons mean buttons on a screen? So touch screen buttons?
I can't think of anything less user friendly than adjusting most of the controls on a touch screen whilst driving. I've got an android head unit and I use the steering wheel physical buttons wherever possible. I find trying to touch the screen ends up with me missing the buttons as the bumps in the road jog my finger position. It's infuriating. I can't imagine trying to adjust the AC in the same way or something else important to the functioning of the car on a normal journey.
I like physical switches too.
I don't care what it looks like as such...screens are nice ... To view and read info. Not to touch while driving imo.
 
I hate it personally - I like the cockpit so to speak to be driver focussed, quick and easy to read display of important information in front of me and proper controls for anything that I might need to change on the fly when driving.

Aesthetically it cheapens an interior so much when it looks like an ipad has been tactlessly glued in.

One of the reasons I'd been leaning towards Nissan in recent years but even they are going that way with newer cars.

It is hit and miss in the pictures above but one I really hate is when they style the hazards button in amongst the entertainment controls, etc. that really does my head in as how do you not think about the fact that a driver might want to find that button quickly and efficiently in an emergency situation!!! fortunately some cars they are still a big well positioned button with a good size symbol on albeit many could be improved.
 
I'm with you on this, although the exception is with BMW because the iDrive implementation is very well done (in G20 guise at least). It's professional looking, clean and useful.

I know my feelings might come across strong on this one, but I really can't express how much I HATE Mercedes Benz interiors. The UI on their screens looks childish and almost tron-esque in appearance and it's just emphasized more so with the amount of screen real estate in newer models.

Plus whilst being physically good quality, the Merc interiors just look cheap because of the abundance of chrome effect plastic on switches, fan surrounds and the lines around screens. I thought it only applied to the C-Class but I've had an S-Class courtesy car since the 24th June and it was swapped out for an E-Class today - they're both the same too.

I'm biased but it's something I really like about my Guilia interior (the MY20 face lift improved the interior, and the leather dash option is a must) - it's just the right amount of screen real estate and it blends into the dash, rather than being a screen stuck in as an after thought.

When I say blend in, it's not like the Merc photo you attached where whilst it blends in as part of the flow between center console and dashboard, it's far too big and overbearing.

 
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Mekrel said:
Plus whilst being physically good quality, the Merc interiors just look cheap because of the abundance of chrome effect plastic on switches, fan surrounds and the lines around screens. I thought it only applied to the C-Class but I've had an S-Class courtesy car since the 24th June and it was swapped out for an E-Class today - they're both the same too.
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Personally I really don't like Mercedes interiors, some exceptions aside, they mostly look try hard to me, like someone thinks that artlessly slapping in more bling somehow adds up to something high end.
 
Just jammed on top of the dash looks tacky and a sloppy design. It's like they couldn't figure out how to properly integrate it so just wacked it there. It's cheaper than having proper dials for the manufacturer. But inevitably it's going to break and then the car is un-roadworthy, because you then have no speedometer and it'll cost 1000s to fix.

The Honda just looks like a reception desk with a steering wheel.

And yea touchscreens are always awful to use. A stupid idea for driving as you can't feel your way around it. There needs to be regulations against having the basics on a screen.
 
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These pictures looks weird to me with my Focus MK3 having 2 basic old school text dot matrix like screens. :cry:

One concern I've seen online with Youtube repair videos the repair costs for these screens are insane and can be hard to source. Surprised how they got round safety regulations as some cars are getting rid of phyiscal buttons and everything is controlled with the screens so once they break or start playing up ones screwed.
 
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