What Happened To All My Car's Buttons?
Why hello there! It's time for another episode of the TTAC podcast!
Why do new cars not have enough buttons and knobs?
We find out with analyst Ed Kim from AutoPacific.
Also, TTAC contributor Matthew Guy and I discuss winter windshield wipers and the future of NASCAR driver Daniel Suarez.
Kim passed on some data that we weren't able to get to during the recording, just as an FYI for you all:
60 percent of new vehicle shoppers say that "I like the nice clean look of screens instead of buttons and dials,” but 48 percent say “I'd rather control my vehicle’s functions with dials or buttons than use a screen.” That adds up to 108 percent, which means there is definitely at least some overlap of people who want the look that screens provide and people who would rather use physical controls.
FYI, 44 percent say “The more screens in my vehicle the better” and 53 percent say “I’d like to have the option to upgrade the size of my center screen.”
So basically, the big story here is that physical controls are very well liked and desired, but so is the look of screens. Give the people both!
You can find us wherever you get your podcasts or by clicking here. If you like what you hear, please leave a review!
We thank Ed Kim and Matthew Guy for their time, and Matt Posky for editing. Most of all, we thank you for listening!
We'll see you next time!
[Image: Volkswagen/VerticalScope/TTAC.com]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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- Peeryog Everytime I see one I am reminded of the current Santa Fe. And vice versa.
- Original Guy I watched that Moscow parade thing. (With the Cyrillic captions because my Russian is a little rough.) I won't give the whole thing away, but it started off with a couple of dudes riding around in stupid useless convertibles, standing up like Hitler, who I'm pretty sure was an actual Nazi. They drove around in circles and kept stopping to ask if anyone had seen all the missing military equipment, and all the guys kept moaning back, that no, they hadn't, ask the next section of guys.They looked around for someone shorter and sicker-looking than Putin but they were unsuccessful so they let him speak.The North Korean military was there, I guess the invasion has begun. The North Korean guys were skinny but their rifles were nicely polished, I guess they have plenty of time on their hands between meals.Some of the Russian military guys carried little white flags, I assume they keep those handy in case they run across any U.S. Marines.
- Marc J Rauch EBFlexing on ur mom - Ethanol is compatible with more types of rubber, plastic, and metal than gasoline and aromatics. This means that ethanol is less corrosive. The bottom line is that long before ethanol could have any damaging effect on any engine component, gasoline and aromatics would have already damaged the components. And the addition of ethanol doesn't exacerbate the problems caused by gasoline and aromatics; it actually helps mitigate them.
- Original Guy Today I learned that a reverse brake bleeder (and a long borescope) can be helpful if you are autistic and don't have any friends and no one wants to work with you to bleed your brakes. Also it is quick, once you figure out the process.When Canada assembled my truck back in circa 1995, they apparently used a different clip to attach the brake pedal (and switch) to the brake booster than what is technically called for. It is tough to realize this when the spring steel clip flies off to who knows where. Of course I ordered the wrong clip trying to match the style that I saw buried up in the dash before it flew away. My truck now has the 'correct' clip, everyone can relax.I ordered some more brake fluid (DOT 3, nothing fancy) but it turns out I still have two fresh bottles (my shelves aren't empty, I just have too many shelves).Went to install my fancy new Optima YellowTop battery and it turns out I need a new side post terminal bolt. (Yet another order placed, bring on THE TARIFFS.) It would be a shame to strip out the threads on a nice new battery, no?Good news: The longer it takes me to get my truck started again, the more I save on fuel. 😁
- Normie Weekends here would be a great time for everyone to join in praise of dog dish hubcaps on body-color matched steelies!
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I think buying decisions now must be made to buy vehicles made before the infestation of info systems with touch screens. These are expensive to replace and are unsafe to use while driving.