Harry's Garage - YouTube

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Discussion

DonkeyApple

57,658 posts

174 months

Sunday 2nd May 2021
quotequote all
I think there was a Cerb by the wall beyond the golf.

Got to say that the touch screen is mental. How can you drive safely having to always have your eyes off the road and a hand off the wheel to do anything. And the lag on some of the requests were insane in contrast to just pressing a button.

I just don't get the touchscreen obsession. They are amazing tech but that doesn't mean they are the right solution or better solution in every application.

It seems like some form of commercial Stockholm Syndrome so that if you commit the time to learn where everything is when it comes to slinging the car away in three years time you'll just get another.

I wonder if manufacturers such as JLR and BMW retain the switchgear because they have an older demographic?

Squirrelofwoe

3,208 posts

181 months

Sunday 2nd May 2021
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Pretty sure we sure Harry's project 8 going past us into our village through Gainfield towards hatford/Stanford in the Vale yesterday (Saturday) morning- my wife spotted a purple Jag go by and I just glanced the small 'SVO' numberplate.

Harry, was it you or is there an imposter?!

ChocolateFrog

27,518 posts

178 months

Sunday 2nd May 2021
quotequote all
SydneyBridge said:
Good Golf R video
Car does absolutely nothing for me though and as for no buttons, I would have to beat that stupid screen control thing with a stick...

Ps. Nice TVR
40k or 50k with options is just insane.

The old Golf R could be had on business lease for something like £250pm, which is cracking value.

Unless this one follows the same path I just can't see it selling as well, although if they're predicting 10% of production will be R's, they must be expecting to shift thousands.

Edited by ChocolateFrog on Sunday 2nd May 21:56

waynecyclist

9,715 posts

119 months

Sunday 2nd May 2021
quotequote all
SydneyBridge said:
Good Golf R video
Car does absolutely nothing for me though and as for no buttons, I would have to beat that stupid screen control thing with a stick...

Ps. Nice TVR
Over £40k for something that bland, wheels are awful.

Touch screen is madness

Zad

12,742 posts

241 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
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Yes, my first reaction was "ooh, nice blue Cerbera, has that been there all the time and I didn't notice?". Appreciation for the three old-school sporty convertibles near the end too. Triumph, Merc, MG. Who wouldn't want to be out in the Cotswolds on a fresh, bright, spring day in one of those? I bet every one grounds out on the particular bit of road, deafens you on the loud tarmac, and then struggles to top 20mph up that little hill, has a whiff of slightly unburned petrol, and leaves you feeling the world is a great place to be alive.

Touch screens are great for manufacturers. They cost peanuts even now, and will only get cheaper. It means they can remove all the expensive pushbuttons, knobs, dials, twiddly things and lots of indicator lamps etc, along with loads of wiring loom and expensive plastic mouldings. They also have a tendency to fail after, say, 10 years, and will be extremely difficult to repair, resulting in many written off cars that are perfectly sound mechanically. But the owners at that time won't be the original buyers, who will keep buying them anyway.

Despite being a techy nerd, I hate them with a passion. So much work has been done over the years on physical and digital user interfaces, yet car manufacturers seem to be totally ignoring it all. Screaming fast ARM processors cost bugger all, yet they still penny-pinch. There is reportedly a government investigation into screens / accidents etc going to happen. I suspect I can tell you the outcome now, and that everyone involved will be driving a Tesla or similar in not many years.

rix

2,831 posts

195 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
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Agree with the touchscreen comments, it looked pretty hateful! My lease 8 series has one but does at least have a reasonable amount of buttons, I drive and fairly conventional heater/fan controls. Please tell me you can turn off the 'feedback' noises, when pressing the screen - it's the equivalent of key sounds when dialing on a mobile phone!

Genuine Barn Find

5,805 posts

220 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
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Rare for me, but i switched off as soon as he sat in the Golf. I just concluded that i couldn’t care less about this car, it’s horrendous interior and over complicated touch screen, or even how it drives.

Although he’s always (just about) on the fence, i got the impression from his body language that Harry felt the same way too.

Uncle John

4,430 posts

196 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
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Touchscreens are dangerous even before building in the lag. By the time the screen makes its mind up you’ve travelled a fair old distance with your eyes off of the road.

Offered in only three colours as well! That is miserly.

The mk 8 for me looks bulbous, not sure why or how but it’s definitely not a slick look.


anonymous-user

Original Poster:

59 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
quotequote all
Going to defend touchscreens a bit here. Some cars do it better than others. Seems this Golf one is unnecessarily complicated by having sport on the gear stick, traction control in the brakes menu, and an R button bringing up another menu for drive modes. It needs a rethink.

And having the manual fan inside a menu - a joke. Volvo and Tesla have climate controls available at all times on their screens.

Edited by F20CN16 on Monday 3rd May 10:40

Leithen

11,862 posts

272 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
quotequote all
A pity, steering aside, the fundamentals of the car seem pretty good. But I agree, the touchscreen would drive me mental.

Other end of the market, by didn't the Roma have the same issue?

Caddyshack

11,320 posts

211 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
quotequote all
[quote=DonkeyApple]I think there was a Cerb by the wall beyond the golf.

Got to say that the touch screen is mental. How can you drive safely having to always have your eyes off the road and a hand off the wheel to do anything. And the lag on some of the requests were insane in contrast to just pressing a button.

I just don't get the touchscreen obsession. They are amazing tech but that doesn't mean they are the right solution or better solution in every application.

It seems like some form of commercial Stockholm Syndrome so that if you commit the time to learn where everything is when it comes to slinging the car away in three years time you'll just get another.

I wonder if manufacturers such as JLR and BMW retain the switchgear because they have an older demographic? [/quote

My Rangie has a touch screen for things like the heated seats...I still don’t get why I have to press the screen to pull up seats, then press the hot button 3 times to get the lowest setting...my boxster and mini just have a button to turn on the seats.

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

59 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
quotequote all
Caddyshack said:
My Rangie has a touch screen for things like the heated seats...I still don’t get why I have to press the screen to pull up seats, then press the hot button 3 times to get the lowest setting...my boxster and mini just have a button to turn on the seats.
With the dual screen? Push the rotary on your side, and turn it one click clockwise. Now your heated seat is on the lowest setting.

frisbee

5,105 posts

115 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
quotequote all
F20CN16 said:
Going to defend touchscreens a bit here. Some cars do it better than others. Seems this Golf one is unnecessarily complicated by having sport on the gear stick, traction control in the brakes menu, and an R button bringing up another menu for drive modes. It needs a rethink.

And having the manual fan inside a menu - a joke. Volvo and Tesla have climate controls available at all times on their screens.

Edited by F20CN16 on Monday 3rd May 10:40
Touchscreens are brilliant if designed properly. Most seem to be designed using a tombola.

Welshbeef

49,633 posts

203 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
quotequote all
thegreenhell said:
I didn't notice any TVRs, but I did spot an Alfa 8C.
It was in the garage on the left hand side.

ettore

4,284 posts

257 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
quotequote all
F20CN16 said:
Caddyshack said:
My Rangie has a touch screen for things like the heated seats...I still don’t get why I have to press the screen to pull up seats, then press the hot button 3 times to get the lowest setting...my boxster and mini just have a button to turn on the seats.
With the dual screen? Push the rotary on your side, and turn it one click clockwise. Now your heated seat is on the lowest setting.
This. You can - happily - do it with the knob underneath the lower screen. I think the Rangie strikes the right balance on this stuff.

AstonZagato

12,909 posts

215 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
quotequote all
Zad said:
Touch screens are great for manufacturers. They cost peanuts even now, and will only get cheaper. It means they can remove all the expensive pushbuttons, knobs, dials, twiddly things and lots of indicator lamps etc, along with loads of wiring loom and expensive plastic mouldings. They also have a tendency to fail after, say, 10 years, and will be extremely difficult to repair, resulting in many written off cars that are perfectly sound mechanically. But the owners at that time won't be the original buyers, who will keep buying them anyway.

Despite being a techy nerd, I hate them with a passion. So much work has been done over the years on physical and digital user interfaces, yet car manufacturers seem to be totally ignoring it all. Screaming fast ARM processors cost bugger all, yet they still penny-pinch. There is reportedly a government investigation into screens / accidents etc going to happen. I suspect I can tell you the outcome now, and that everyone involved will be driving a Tesla or similar in not many years.
This is exactly why they are proliferating. Also, it enables lots of options to be added or deleted without it being obvious to the casual eye. I believe Audi are now offering heated seats as a subscription - i.e. all seats are heated but you need to either buy it at the point of purchase or sign up for a monthly payment to unlock the menu item that sets it going.

They are a safety nightmare. Whereas every button or dial could be selected by touch, now it requires one to take one's eyes off the road. A huge retrograde step IMHO.

DonkeyApple

57,658 posts

174 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
quotequote all
frisbee said:
Touchscreens are brilliant if designed properly. Most seem to be designed using a tombola.
That's the strange thing. You could see on that Golf just how slow it was which for a company the size of VW is just odd. And you could also see that some really quick and simple adjustments required multiple presses, each one requiring a wait and a visual check of progress.

While it is easy to understand the cost savings of a single screen over traditional switchgear it is so inferior and dangerous and some cases that either one of the smartest companies has comprehensively failed to understand what a car is and how it is used or one has to consider the seemingly more likely scenario that there is a huge consumer segment who can only work equipment via screens and that VW have tailored the product for this key segment.

The real highlight in the video was watching Harry try to swipe the screen as it brought back memories of my offspring, when toddlers, trying to swipe the TV screen to change channels. biggrin

Leithen

11,862 posts

272 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
quotequote all
We're on our second XC90 as the safest 5-up family tool. Volvo have an enviable safety record and focus.

But at the same time - touch screen swipe and lag hell. It's as if the safety department were given the week off.

NomduJour

19,385 posts

264 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
quotequote all
XC90 heater controls are awful - also has rubbish electric steering, like playing an old Pole Postion arcade machine.

RichB

52,483 posts

289 months

Monday 3rd May 2021
quotequote all
The touchscreen controls in Volvos are detestable things.