Physical Buttons!

[Saleen836]

New Euro NCAP safety tests next year will encourage car makers to return to physical buttons
https://www.evo.co.uk/car-technology/207666/button...

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-1...

[MitchT]

Buttons are almost as annoying sometimes. There should be a knob for the ICE volume, a knob for each of the left and right temperature controls and BMW should revert back to the lovely rotary switch they used to have for the lights before they stuck a collection of buttons there instead.

[Dapster]

I'm all for a return to 90's peak buttonage

[PlywoodPascal]

My car has 5 buttons it’s all I need

[Jader1973]

5 points out of 100 is nothing - the threshold for 5 stars is 80% in that section so losing 5 points makes very little difference, so I can’t see the new protocols changing anything unless the vehicle is borderline for 5 stars.

Of course, Euro NCAP protocols have a tendency to creep in to homologation regulations over time, so some physical controls may become a requirement.

[Mr Tidy]

Why did it take so long?

Surely it has been pretty obvious for years that using a screen slapped onto the dashboard wasn't any safer than a screen on a mobile phone in a holder?

[Rough101]

There are now too many features and functions to control with buttons.

NCAP should really be researching which are most dangerous as screen functions and then giving points for the properly thought out buttons and screen.

[ambuletz]

i read about this, and think its a great thing, as others have said it has taken too long for someone to speak up about it.

Buttons > touch screen.

you don't need to look at a button to know you've touched and pressed it. it's more difficult on a touch screen.


Now the same needs to be done for rev/speed clusters. REAL gauges instead of a screen. a physical gauge is easier to read, won't have the same amount of glare. At a bare minimum a real gauge should be used for revs/speed.

[Mercury00]

MitchT said:

Buttons are almost as annoying sometimes. There should be a knob for the ICE volume, a knob for each of the left and right temperature controls and BMW should revert back to the lovely rotary switch they used to have for the lights before they stuck a collection of buttons there instead.

Definitely. My Lexus has buttons for temperature up and down, and holding the button doesn't increase how quickly the numbers progress. You're talking 28 presses to get it from 16 degrees 30 degrees.

[Hoofy]

Mr Tidy said:

Why did it take so long?

Surely it has been pretty obvious for years that using a screen slapped onto the dashboard wasn't any safer than a screen on a mobile phone in a holder?

Yep, I feel a sense of relief when my garage gives me an older hire car and I don't have to spend 20 minutes trying to figure out how to switch on the blowers and select a radio station. It's a toss up between a 2015 Golf and a 2023 Golf. I suppose it's fine if it's a car you're using daily but for a car that I use once a year, I can't remember how to turn the volume down without accidentally turning the a/c temp down instead. I won't even mention the default lane alert thing.

[RDMcG]

Although I have more modern cars, I prefer the buttons on my ten-year old 911 than the more recent cars:

[blueg33]

My car has 18 buttons on the steering wheel. Be careful what you wish for!