This is the kind of detail that I love about a well engineered car.
Why does the article want to make a multifunction dial with no tactile feedback? Have they only ever driven a Tesla?
So last century eh? Maybe also less life threatening.
That, too, is mentioned in the article ("This means you can simulate different types of haptic feedback, like different detent strengths and hard stops.").
> and doesn't need you to take your eyes away from the road at all?
Also addressed in the article ("Showing three different data types in one dial is possible but definitely the maximum. When adding a fourth function, keeping track of your position in the interface without looking down becomes too difficult.").
You should be able to set 2 temps.
Early morning in summer: temperature is under 15°C, no need to heat over 20°C. Evening: outside is 30°C, I don't need 20°C in the car anymore but 25ish would be perfect. A 2 temperatures setting or 1 temperature + delta would prevent having to change it every time I enter the car.
There's some famous electric car manufacturer that did the same. His products were unusable in some locales even before he went all political.
No, I don't need to know Musk's politics to avoid his cars.
Of course, it's well known that BMWs come without a turn stalk so maybe it seems normal if you compare those two brands :)
Since I was test driving, I just moved forward instead.
On the originals, sure. The stock physically latches away from the center position when the signal is on. Works great.
On some of the newest ones, there is a left signal button and a right signal button. I think that, if you are signaling right and push the left button and you don’t lose the race against the automatic end of signaling, then you end up not signaling. This is both modal and racy.
On the intermediate models I’ve tried, I’m moderately confident that the stick always rests in the center position. You can’t push it toward center because it’s already there.
I tick it to the left it stays on until i tick it back to the center. it doesn’t stay lock to the left until i complete the turn, this is a key difference.
it’s really a nonissue. you have enough time to cancel a lane change with FSD running.
And if you train the "AI" only on rectangular grid cities, that's a problem.
There are 4 “positions” on the stalk, two towards the left and two towards the right. On each side there is one all the way at the end of the throw, and one about 1/3 into the throw. You push it to the 1/3 mark to cancel the signal.
That's too ... physical ... for modern designs, I guess?
I really don't like getting out of a car cooled to 18 C when outside it's 30+.
However this just proves "smart" automatic a/c is useless because, newsflash, different people have different habits.
That's because their car has badly designed and implemented climate control.
I do that in my current car because it has crap climate control, Tesla S 70D. In my previous car I set it when I bought the car and adjusted it perhaps once a year, Rover 75 Connoisseur.
I get that approach for AC, because cooling air takes energy, but there's no excuse for that behavior when (in an ICE car) you're warming the cabin with waste heat from the engine. Just give me some damn heat!
Fortunately, I have an old enough car that I can take manual control of the heater and blast it for a few minutes until I'm warm, and then switch over to climate control to maintain temp. Cars which don't have manual override have to be tricked by using the climate control like a heater knob. It's dumb, all around.
The temp I don't believe you can really fix. Sometimes I throw my jacket in the back, sometimes I keep it on, sometimes I'm tired or my stomach is upset and I want it to be a sauna, sometimes I'm sweaty and want it to be a fridge..
Audi is okay.
The best I’ve found is Infiniti, which 2013 ish on, the auto settings are perfect 99% of the time.
(This of course means, you do have to adjust the temperature setting, but once set the fans spinning up and down are perfect along with the heat moderation. )
BMW could be user error on my part. The longest I’ve used a BMW is 3 weeks, with probably 9 weeks of total usage, and while I tried to get the auto settings to work, on multiple models it was nothing but agony for me.
If I hear the a/c more than 5 minutes after starting the car, it means it's on window defog.
Or it's over 30 outside and I'm driving in full sun. What climate change?
I've rented a BMWs a few times in the past and they have a clever multifunction knob cum joystick on the centre console but it's a bloody nuisance to use compared to a touchscreen in my opinion
Can't give any personal evaluation, as I've never (AFAICR) driven a BMW.
Truly a lost art today. Fond memories.
(this also describes my 2009 saturn; I think; unsure, but that's a good sign: I don't look at/think about this knob conciously!)
Its just a nice touch that was pretty clearly done by someone who had a very good grasp of intuitive human interfaces.