1078
Volkswagen shifts back to physical buttons on dashboards (www.semafor.com)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/world@lemmy.world
181 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Volkswagen will restore physical buttons to the dashboard in its latest compact car, part of a wider move away from touchscreens.

In a particularly retro touch, the new ID Polo will even have a volume dial.

For a decade or so, automakers rushed to replace knobs and switches with screens, Autoblog noted in October, but users largely disliked them: Controlling the air conditioning, for example, required delving through submenus while driving, which was both difficult and dangerous. Research found that using touchscreens took longer and distracted drivers.

Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and VW have all announced plans to return to more tactile controls, and US and EU regulators announced last year that cars with touchscreen controls could get worse safety ratings.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 190 points 10 months ago (13 children)

Buttons that you can use without looking at them, please.

On my old car, the temperature dial had a notch, and you could set it to heat/cold by whether it was left or right of center, now it's a free-spinning dial. Old fan control was a dial with stops, now it's two buttons with no tactile distinction. Old vent selector was a dial with stops and I knew the foot/defrost setting was one from the top and the foot/body setting was one from the bottom, now it's a single button same as the fan buttons that cycles through all the options. If I want to change anything, I have to wait until I'm at a red light or something so that I can look down and fiddle with it. I used to be able to do it all blind.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 13 child comments
    •
  • [–] 33 points 10 months ago (9 children)

    One of my cars has climate control with a knob, so I have to look at the (small) screen to see what the temperature is.

    My other car has a hot/cold knob that I can just crank all the way to the stops. It even turns the A/C full blast on full cold.

    I prefer the latter.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 9 child comments
    •
  • [–] 17 points 10 months ago (8 children)

    If you just leave the climate control set to a temperature that you find comfortable then the car will heat or cool as it needs to, to achieve that temperature.

    I know cranking it over to hot or cold probably makes you feel better but it won’t make the engine warm up any faster or make the aircon cool any more.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 8 child comments
    •
  • [–] 9 points 10 months ago (7 children)

    Yes but I want the absolute maximum heat or cool it can provide, starting immediately. Even if the air coming out is only slightly warmer/cooler it’s still warmer/cooler.

    I can always turn it down later.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 7 child comments
    •
  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    My understanding of climate control systems is that it does only provide maximum heat or cool. There's a temperature sensor in the cabin that tells the car when it's at the right temperature, but until that point is hit, it is heating or cooling as much as it can.

    The only difference between climate control and traditional a/c is it knows when to stop and when to turn on again

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago

    Your understanding is wrong. I've tested the output air on both settings in the winter. Max heat had like a 30° difference. The engine doesn't want to pull that much heat unless necessary because it reduces fuel economy when the block isn't saturated. So unless you specifically ask for 110° air, it's going to give you 80°

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 7 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    Most car ac systems are either on, or off. They don’t have variable compressor speeds. They cool at maximum until they reach the temp you set then they switch off. If the temp rises again then they switch back on.

    A non EV cars heat is provided by the coolant that circulates through the motor. Nothing you can do will make the heater heat up faster.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Nothing I can do? If I drive my car at higher rpms, wont that make the engine hotter thereby also heating the coolant faster?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago

    Yes that is true, I assumed everyone knew that 90% of engine wear occurs during the warm up period so you’d be foolish to ever run the car harder than needed in that period.

    I was referring to turning up the heat to full or anything you can do in the cab as the poster seemed to think he could get more heat from the old analog systems faster than a standard climate control system.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [+] -7 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    In the old car, it was an analog system. These systems are digital in newer cars. So while you may get a knob or button, it's still sending digital signals. That's why there's no distinction when you turn the knob, because there literally isn't a distinction.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •