Al_in_Philly
Autocross Newbie
- Location
- Philadelphia USA
Yesterday, I was thumbing through a copy of Automobile Magazine, which a friend had given me. In it, was a story about the 2015 Chevrolet SS, which included a photo of its interior. I couldn’t help feeling somewhat repulsed by the big, overdone centerpiece above the console containing its huge infotainment screen. When will GM learn that "Less is more?"
I couldn’t help asking myself “why do we have those things?” I can understand having a NAV screen, but since virtually all of these systems also include voice directions something the size of a Garmin or a smartphone is really sufficient for that function, not something rivaling the local cinemaplex in screensize. Do we really need, or want, the name of the local radio station spelled out big enough to be read from the back seat? And is it important that the resolution is so high that the slightest curve in an image is reproduced so cleanly that the human eye cannot detect a single irregularity? Or is this just another automotive design factor drawn from fashion and not all that much from function?
Back in my youth, one of my lust objects was a white 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 convertible with orange racing stripes and backward facing hood scoop, owned by one of my neighbors, Tom. Looking back at that time I now feel somewhat uncomfortable about all the hours I spent asking him questions about the car; one of them being about those incredibly cool gauges mounted on the center console. I remember him throwing me for a loop when he said something along the lines of “yeah, they’re cool, but I don’t really use them much.”
Lots of things on cars can look really cool, but have relatively little utility in real life: console mounted gauge clusters, most rear spoilers, even the 19” wheels and quad exhaust pipes on the current R, and most definitely IMAX infotainment screens. But there are certain trends that sometimes put function over form, such as an even more performance car trend that was around when I finally got my driver’s license, a big Sun tachometer strapped onto the steering wheel shaft, placed so that you could monitor your engine speed and shift at just the right time while still paying attention to the road. But admittedly, there were far more of these attached to 307 cubic inch Chevy Novas with Powerglides than Hurst shifted four-on-the-floor 455 GTOs.
Fortunately, the Golf R already has a nice, big, tachometer in clear sight. In fact, the things which one needs to pay attention to while driving are all quite easy to see and reach, even its much maligned 5.7” infotainment screen—especially when considering that flanking that screen are big key function buttons to push to get things going (and not needed to be included on the screen, as with that Chevy SS). Any function which you might want to access without pulling over, like changing songs or driving modes are still easy to see and touch on the screen.Going up to 6.5”, 8”, or Jumbotron size wouldn’t really make those operations any easier to perform. And throwing any of the text-based information which one might draw from their iPhone or Android with the upcoming CarPlay system is incredibly unsafe, regardless of screen size, even while walking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4_XWyOcMvc .
Yes, there are those who want CarPlay so that they can use Google maps and Pandora, etc. run through their smartphones, but even that isn’t quite as a marvelous idea when one knows that virtually all of the US cellular providers are planning on either dropping unlimited data plans, or significantly raising their prices for it to consumers. Once that’s in effect, having you phone constantly querying the Google database and downloading the latest local map after local map every time you drive outside of your home territory won’t be quite as attractive as it is right now. But still that will be a cheaper alternative than paying for VW’s NAV system, unless it stays bundled to the DCC that you might dearly want and wind up with the basic Discover NAV system anyway, like it definitely is for 2015 and likely 2016.
So when all is said and done, I’m not going to be all that bothered about losing 0.8” on my screen size, nor the enhanced integration with my smartphone, while briskly driving my 2015 Golf R, because like my neighbor Tom told me 45 years ago: “yeah, they’re cool, but I don’t really use them much.”
I couldn’t help asking myself “why do we have those things?” I can understand having a NAV screen, but since virtually all of these systems also include voice directions something the size of a Garmin or a smartphone is really sufficient for that function, not something rivaling the local cinemaplex in screensize. Do we really need, or want, the name of the local radio station spelled out big enough to be read from the back seat? And is it important that the resolution is so high that the slightest curve in an image is reproduced so cleanly that the human eye cannot detect a single irregularity? Or is this just another automotive design factor drawn from fashion and not all that much from function?
Back in my youth, one of my lust objects was a white 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 convertible with orange racing stripes and backward facing hood scoop, owned by one of my neighbors, Tom. Looking back at that time I now feel somewhat uncomfortable about all the hours I spent asking him questions about the car; one of them being about those incredibly cool gauges mounted on the center console. I remember him throwing me for a loop when he said something along the lines of “yeah, they’re cool, but I don’t really use them much.”
Lots of things on cars can look really cool, but have relatively little utility in real life: console mounted gauge clusters, most rear spoilers, even the 19” wheels and quad exhaust pipes on the current R, and most definitely IMAX infotainment screens. But there are certain trends that sometimes put function over form, such as an even more performance car trend that was around when I finally got my driver’s license, a big Sun tachometer strapped onto the steering wheel shaft, placed so that you could monitor your engine speed and shift at just the right time while still paying attention to the road. But admittedly, there were far more of these attached to 307 cubic inch Chevy Novas with Powerglides than Hurst shifted four-on-the-floor 455 GTOs.
Fortunately, the Golf R already has a nice, big, tachometer in clear sight. In fact, the things which one needs to pay attention to while driving are all quite easy to see and reach, even its much maligned 5.7” infotainment screen—especially when considering that flanking that screen are big key function buttons to push to get things going (and not needed to be included on the screen, as with that Chevy SS). Any function which you might want to access without pulling over, like changing songs or driving modes are still easy to see and touch on the screen.Going up to 6.5”, 8”, or Jumbotron size wouldn’t really make those operations any easier to perform. And throwing any of the text-based information which one might draw from their iPhone or Android with the upcoming CarPlay system is incredibly unsafe, regardless of screen size, even while walking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4_XWyOcMvc .
Yes, there are those who want CarPlay so that they can use Google maps and Pandora, etc. run through their smartphones, but even that isn’t quite as a marvelous idea when one knows that virtually all of the US cellular providers are planning on either dropping unlimited data plans, or significantly raising their prices for it to consumers. Once that’s in effect, having you phone constantly querying the Google database and downloading the latest local map after local map every time you drive outside of your home territory won’t be quite as attractive as it is right now. But still that will be a cheaper alternative than paying for VW’s NAV system, unless it stays bundled to the DCC that you might dearly want and wind up with the basic Discover NAV system anyway, like it definitely is for 2015 and likely 2016.
So when all is said and done, I’m not going to be all that bothered about losing 0.8” on my screen size, nor the enhanced integration with my smartphone, while briskly driving my 2015 Golf R, because like my neighbor Tom told me 45 years ago: “yeah, they’re cool, but I don’t really use them much.”