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Home > General > One step back... |
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taztastic Member Since: 03 Feb 2011 Location: North West Posts: 8652 |
The big stick is a benefit in some situations, ie a failed hill climb, although both designs can lead you to sticking the car in park locking the wheels, rather than reverse to regain control.
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26th Mar 2013 8:31 pm |
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flylr Member Since: 03 Apr 2010 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 281 |
And then again... maybe we are all just a bunch of old farts . Bring back the 8 track and VHS (Coming) 2016 RR Evoque td4 180 HSE Dynamc
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26th Mar 2013 10:04 pm |
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bobtail4x4 Member Since: 24 Mar 2013 Location: mid yorkshire A1/M62 Posts: 120 |
Im sure some remember the single record player in cars, |
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26th Mar 2013 10:18 pm |
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griff9of13 Member Since: 02 Nov 2011 Location: Merseyside Posts: 64 |
Going back to the design of the TR selector in the new model; not only is the switch operation a bit fiddly, it's badly positioned being behind the gear leaver. In my opinion it would have been much better to place it in front of the gear leaver because where it is now is completely out of your line of sight, meaning you need to glance away from the road to find it. It is also a bit of a stretch back with your arm to reach it. I suppose it is more aesthetically pleasing to look at though, even if it is far from practical. gone MY2010 GS TD4 Manual Stornoway
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27th Mar 2013 8:48 am |
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EYorkshire Member Since: 18 Nov 2010 Location: (!) Posts: 4392 |
I haven't sat in the updated model yet but I can imagine the change of the 'Terrain' knob to 'switches' is design over practicality, a backward step in my opinion but change in design always wins the customer over as they want something different no matter how absurd it may be.
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27th Mar 2013 9:00 am |
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chicken george Member Since: 05 Dec 2007 Location: N. Yorks Posts: 13291 |
I get were you are coming from, simple safety, being able to lock up the car from habit rather than using a button.. but times change mechanical levers for gears and handbrakes are being phased out and will never return. tractors have electric gear changes, these can frustrate you until you get the nack then after that the thought of a clumsy gear stick seems laughably old fashioned. At work At home "I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race |
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27th Mar 2013 9:02 am |
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pab Member Since: 28 Aug 2012 Location: Now in Mid-Wales Posts: 2007 |
The issue isn't just aesthetics or practicality - it's one of good UI design. Ideally all the controls on a car should be able to be operated without the driver having to divert his attention from the road. A chunky knob with well-defined click points fulfils that objective, a pair of small buttons doesn't. A good example in the pre-13 cars is the lighting panel - the main lights are on a reasonably-sized knob and can easily be operated blind. The fog light switches, panel dimmer, etc, are small buttons or wheels and cannot - particularly as I (and I'm sure others too) can never remember which control does what. Light switch, OK. Other lighting controls not - good thing they're not needed often.
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27th Mar 2013 9:24 am |
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Yanwoo Member Since: 29 Jan 2013 Location: Surrey Posts: 280 |
DId a little research on this (I'm currently studying an ergonomics / human factors course where we look at exactly this kind of stuff) and found a paper that back up Tradewin's position. I can't link to the whole paper because it's restricted access, but here's a few relevant quotes:
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27th Mar 2013 2:46 pm |
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Yanwoo Member Since: 29 Jan 2013 Location: Surrey Posts: 280 |
btw I know Land Rover takes this stuff seriously - I met some of their human factors/ergonomics folks at an event a while back - so I'm sure they had good reasons for their changes ( doesn't mean we can't disagree tho |
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27th Mar 2013 2:48 pm |
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Boycey Member Since: 10 Mar 2013 Location: Midlands Posts: 97 |
Good post, Yanwoo.
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27th Mar 2013 3:07 pm |
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Tradewind 35 Member Since: 04 Dec 2012 Location: Cornwall Posts: 441 |
Good post yanoo - I was not aware of that research - but it is fairly basic stuff. Electronic advances nowadays mean all car controls could be finger tip - or mouse click operated. Behind the scenes most of the mechanics are in fact operated by electric motors and computer software but the human interface should still be context related for some controls. To choose an extreme example - we could substitute a mouse button on the dashboard for the brake pedal - clearly that is hopelessly wrong because braking may have to be done in an emergency when a brake pedal would be stampd through the floor if it could go that far. Stamping hard on a brake pedal connects with the driver's need for positive interaction with all the computer power wich will bring the car to halt safely. Fiddling with a tiny button would not.
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27th Mar 2013 4:43 pm |
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j77 Member Since: 26 Nov 2008 Location: Fife Posts: 2909 |
Having had the Evoque for the past year and a bit, using the TR which is in the same place as the Fl2 and the same switch gear, I haven't found it to be any more difficult than reaching over a gear lever to turn a knob. I don't even need to take my eyes of the road to change settings, I know the order of the settings and it shows you on the dash which setting you are in.
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28th Mar 2013 12:23 pm |
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Yanwoo Member Since: 29 Jan 2013 Location: Surrey Posts: 280 |
That's great j77 that it works for you.
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28th Mar 2013 1:43 pm |
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EYorkshire Member Since: 18 Nov 2010 Location: (!) Posts: 4392 |
.. and here's me thinking topic discussion was what a Forum was all about |
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28th Mar 2013 1:59 pm |
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