What happened to steering wheel-mounted controls?

[rice_classic]

A track toy vehicle with buttons on the steering wheel? No thank you. Might as well give it a smiley face and call it a Mazda.

[Tomzilla]

I like not having buttons on my steering wheel. Can't tell you how many times I've changed a track on my CD because I was evasively driving with my Mazda and hit a button.

[Shizuma]

Originally Posted by huma

Are you talking about the button between the audio and navigation? I never use it...and I'm still living in the 90's when cars couldn't understand you or talk back to you.

Even in 2013 the car can't understand you, at least if you drive a BRZ, lol! I don't think I've ever seen a more poorly implemented voice recognition (or headunit for the matter), I've found while driving it's easier to either use my phone and it's voice recognition or pull over any type in the info because I've yet to have a single successful use of the BRZ's voice controls.

[Jayde]

Originally Posted by Shizuma

Even in 2013 the car can't understand you, at least if you drive a BRZ, lol! I don't think I've ever seen a more poorly implemented voice recognition (or headunit for the matter), I've found while driving it's easier to either use my phone and it's voice recognition or pull over any type in the info because I've yet to have a single successful use of the BRZ's voice controls.

I haven't even tried mine yet and I've had the car for a month and a half.

[quik1987]

The steering wheel controls were not from Subaru/Toyota but from an aftermarket company

[R8]

Originally Posted by rice_classic

A track toy vehicle with buttons on the steering wheel? No thank you. Might as well give it a smiley face and call it a Mazda.

So why then even include a radio with a "track toy?"

I'd think that using steering wheel buttons to change stations (etc.) is far less distracting than reaching for the radio.

[zoomzoomers]

Originally Posted by wu_dot_com

i remember when the preproduction pic surface with the steeringwheel control. majority of the forum member including myself reject this feature and give a negative review.

however, lately. people started to come out of the woodwork wanting to have it back...

i for one like my steering wheel clean. yes the control would be nice, but when i am driving this car, i am more focus on the drive than the controls.

Not to give you a hard time, but you do know that you just contridicted yourself right? The point of having steering wheel controls is that is distracts a driver less than having to take their hands off the wheel to adjust the radio/take & make calls via bluetooth/etc. Of course, this doesn't apply to anything done on a track/etc., but for real world applications steering wheel controls aids the driver take their eyes/hands off the wheel less than if they werern't present.

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by R8

So why then even include a radio with a "track toy?"

I'd think that using steering wheel buttons to change stations (etc.) is far less distracting than reaching for the radio.

I don't play the radio when I'm at the track but to each their own.

[alluringreality]

Originally Posted by quik1987

The steering wheel controls were not from Subaru/Toyota but from an aftermarket company

The controls on the demo car is similar to what Subaru uses on the Impreza, where the right side is the cruise. If this car eventually gets steering wheel controls they will probably be Toyota's style to go with the production cruise control.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...9&postcount=13
http://www.automobilemag.com/auto_sh.../photo_05.html

[Linseal]

I personally hate how cluttered these controls can get. Have you've seen the new Avalon wheel? It has a fucking d-pad!

[wu_dot_com]

Originally Posted by zoomzoomers

Not to give you a hard time, but you do know that you just contridicted yourself right? The point of having steering wheel controls is that is distracts a driver less than having to take their hands off the wheel to adjust the radio/take & make calls via bluetooth/etc. Of course, this doesn't apply to anything done on a track/etc., but for real world applications steering wheel controls aids the driver take their eyes/hands off the wheel less than if they werern't present.

i failed to see the correlation you are trying to make here. in order for your logic to work, you have to assume that a driver can only partake a single action at a time which requires the total attention on either the driving or the controls. on top of that, you are assuming that the driver must complete both actions in the same timeframe.

however, we are not such simple creatures that cannot prioritize our tasks or multitask.

so when i said i am more focus on the driving than the controls. i mean when i drive, i exert 80-90% of my attention on driving experience. if i happened to need to adjust the radio, make a phone call, etc, i will adjust it when the driving situations allowed me to (like at a stop light, or when traffic dies down).

[zoomzoomers]

Originally Posted by wu_dot_com

i failed to see the correlation you are trying to make here. in order for your logic to work, you have to assume that a driver can only partake a single action at a time which requires the total attention on either the driving or the controls. on top of that, you are assuming that the driver must complete both actions in the same timeframe.

however, we are not such simple creatures that cannot prioritize our tasks or multitask.

so when i said i am more focus on the driving than the controls. i mean when i drive, i exert 80-90% of my attention on driving experience. if i happened to need to adjust the radio, make a phone call, etc, i will adjust it when the driving situations allowed me to (like at a stop light, or when traffic dies down).

Ok, so you're the type of person who would have argued against forks when they were first used saying that fingers do just fine. So we'll just agree to disagree, but here's your troll card anyway...

[Khyron686]

Engineers said the controls would have made the wheel bigger by 1 inch (or 1.5 I forget). Anyway, small wheels rule!

[Razz]

I miss the controls.

Today on the way to work, I have to drive directly into the sun.

No way to use a touch screen.

Need the controls on the wheel.

They are a practical safety feature.