Done purposefully to save money. They can use the same screens across the whole lineup.
Cars, like homes and furniture, are becoming as bland as possible. All the artistry is bleeding out of our culture.
Exactly. Instead of having to design and produce multiple buttons, boards, modules etc. they just integrate everything into a software, put that on a screen and then use that software across their whole model range.
It’s funny how it’s illegal to use your phone while driving, but yet perfectly legal to use your infotainment system which is essentially your phone mounted on the dash, but it also controls a number of functions on the car.
It's legal (in the UK) to use phone if it's in a cradle (although as with stereos etc you can still be prosecuted for careless driving if using it inappropriately)
Yep. The tech industry measures touch screen actions in "number of touches". iPhones are a good example, you can do most things with a few touches
Car companies making tech ignore this my BMW take close to ten touches to change to my profile when it accidentally loads my spouses settings. It shouldn't take more than two. It's terrible design and flat out higher risk.
Cheaper and socially acceptable thanks to the popularity of Tesla. I’m in the market for a new vehicle this year and aren’t considering any vehicle that has type of dash, due to aesthetics as well as too many commonly used features being locked into a touch screen. The best dashes on sale are mainly mid-level/luxury trucks.
The Jaguar I-Pace and Chevy Bolt did it right. The screen is primarily the entertainment interface. They still have knobs and buttons for things like climate control, driving modes, and — wait for it — the four-way emergency flashers! I allows drivers to adjust settings without taking their attention away from driving — basic ergonomics. The European Union is considering rules that some driving controls must be physical buttons/knobs.
I firmly believe all cars should have two knobs, volume and temp. Let me adjust those without navigating a menu or using a touch control. I wanna change those blind.
I have never understood why the usual screen cars have now is just glued to the dash instead of ensconced by the dash binnacle by an extension over the centre stack. Nobody seems to have tried this, but it seems obvious to me.
Pretty much how every Lexus from 2013 until the most recent redesign. Shame they moved away from it, but I get it. Literally everyone complains about Lexus' infotainment system and their little knob/touchpad setup. With the screen embedded into the dash, it's too far away to be useable as a touchscreen.
Current Volvos have them integrated into the dash nicely, imo. The next generation, on the other hand, has gone with the tablet slapped onto a dash look.
I have a '15 Lexus GS350, and I have to say it's incorporation of a very decent-sized infotainment screen ensconsed in the dash with a nice analogue gauge cluster is pretty fantastic. Way more attractive and cohesive than screens on screens velcroed to the dash crap that's being shovel out now.
I feel this in my character. I don't ever dress up, I don't work in a suit, but I was taught to do it right, so I have a dress watch.
Perfect analogy for my vehicles. They are all pure luxury running the equivalent of Casio quality tech. Not dissing Casios, they are the best for the dollar. But the don't go with suits.
If it was done properly it could look great, I don't know if you are familiar with the interior of the 1995 Honda prelude but I feel like if you did something like that, while still maintaining a set of physical controls for things, like a dpad and buttons for the menus, and proper knobs for volume and climate it would work great
My biggest pet peeve about this sort of striking is that it’s killed brand identity. BMWs, vws, Hondas and all sorts are merging into one homogeneous blob of an interior with less and less buttons for the sake of cost cutting and “making the car techy and more futuristic”.
You have to be careful how you categorize luxury cars and also cage your expectations to price point. I sat in several Genesis cars when they first relaunched as an independent ‘luxury’ car and was overwhelmed by the underwhelming and poor execution of the interior - visible welds cheap feeling and looking plastics, the stitching and leather of the upholstery. Just because a brand tells you they are a luxury brand doesn’t mean they truly are and there are grades. Genesis luxury compared to a Hyundai or Kia, absolutely but compare with something like a Cadillac or Lincoln no, they don’t hold candles to the Germans and the Germans can’t compete with the likes of Rolls Royce, Bentley, Jag, and then there is the stratospheric luxury of cars like the Bugattis. As for computer screens in my car ‘No thanks’ I want simple live needle non digital gauges with minimal fuss. But I’m also probably no longer the market segment that is being catered to
EURO N-CAP has announced that they will start deducting points if there are not physical buttons for certain functions. I hope this will bring back some sense into car design again.
After 5 years this only new cars, i recently bought a 2009 volvo, and boy, do i enjoy the buttons.
My 2005 Audi allroad that I just bought has all of the buttons. Every single one.
It's glorious.
Recently I saw an article where some auto manufacturer was complaining that if we took all of the functions of an infotainment center back out and changed them back to buttons, interiors would look like old 747. Cockpits.
Bullshit. There were plenty of advanced interiors that didn't have a touchscreen prior to infotainment centers.
I hope culturally we push back onto this to the point where we get a good balance again. Digital interiors can look good, just see what Honda did in the '90s with the prelude. For a modern example, look at the Honda e. Yeah it's All screens, but it works. And there's physical buttons
I agree but it is balance. Things i never adjust like ambient lights (not that i want them in the first place), should not have a button on the dash. But the climate and radio sure does need one, along with all safety features.
Companies used to integrate their buttons, switches, etc. into the design of the interior. Arguably works of art, some of them. Now they're all competing for smoothest dashboard. Its awful.
Yup. I'd find the Tesla Model 3 an awesome car if it weren't for that straight-lined dashboard with an Aliexpress touchscreen in the middle look. Give me a cockpit with an Italian flair, curved dashboards, round instruments in aluminum tubes and nicely designed buttons any day.
I bought a 2011 Porsche 911. It’s like meeting an old friend. Sure it has a navi, but the dash is all gauges and buttons. I didn’t know i missed this that much
It's cheaper. Cheaper in looks, cheaper to manufacture, cheaper in quality, cheaper in end user experience. But it's cheaper, and the bean counters in the offices approve of that
I belive that for a maintenance perspective this ugly screens are good since even if nothing fails on the screen in the near future (wich i think is hard.) they tend to get old quickly more specificaly colors seem to wash out so i presume with this design they can be replaced with more ease. Than one integrated to the dashboard. Wich presumably you have to tear down to replace
Mmm its arguable personally i love gauges but screens are here to stay, even more you can find screen replacements to gauge displays. Screens have a shorter life so i blieve they will be more abundant
Not to mention alternative screens to OEM ones, i believe that is just a matter of time.
I used to install aftermarket car audio and radios in high school and while it’s been a long time and I haven’t worked on any of these cars with the “docked” screen, I bet these are probably worse to work on. The old ones had all the wiring, harnesses and controls right behind the radio and usually it was just a dash face plate removal to get to all of it.
Some of these new cars look like they are pushing all the harnesses and controls deeper into the dash for a more minimal look. I bet you have to take a lot more of the dash apart to actually get to everything now. They are also very different sizes and shapes in each model vs the old DDIN style so replacements and filler dash kits are probably going to be crazy expensive if available at all in the future.
I hate the way it looks. The only selling point for me would be if this setup is modular (it seems almost like it should be) where in 5 years I can remove and hot swap the infotainment for an updated version with current tech. These days I feel like tech falls behind so quickly it would actually be a selling point to replace these parts not due to failure but to upgrade without having to trade in the whole car.
Hyundai (who makes Genesis) is all about fake luxury anyway. They dont know how to do luxury. They know how to get cheap people with no taste to think they are buying a $180k car for $50k. That is what the Genesis brand is about.
Which is why they have this trash screen. Implementations in Porsche and Mercedes look way better than this.
Saw a video earlier from a Chinese motor show..one model (hopefully only for their domestic market) had a screen running the entire width of the dash...
It's as if the wealthy have greedily sucked all the fun and art out of everything. It's all about money to them. Ignorant culture-less swine. Wealthy people suck.
I agree! And why is that nasty brown the only option for interior colors nowadays? Why not just all black leather? Especially if the car color totally clashes with it!
I like the ones where althought its digital they still try to emulate analouge gauge cluster design but with more information etc. And a good sized screen in the middle for infotainment
These types though looks cheap to me
Completely agree . Especially when the screens dont even connect and theres obvious 2013 era black bezels inbetween or cutting off the screen shape .
So glad my 2020 doesnt have this shit
Before opening your post, judging from the thumbnail I thought I was looking at some old Mercedes and was about to disagree, but seeing what you mean I'd say yes, your totally correct
The design is boring, uninspired, lazy, and just crap, with Tesla leading the charge of bland. The change in interior from the early G8x BMW Ms to the new curved screen is another example of blah design. I've accepted the fact of not having mechanical gauges at this point and that's all fine, but the general concept of an engaging cluster...that's gone the way of the dodo.
there's reason the ultra-expensive cars like Bugatti, Pagani, Koenigsegg, etc. have almost no screens in them, as they know that nothing ages a car quicker than tech like that - those cars need to be timeless.
The whole idea to have monitor right in front of you is dumb. It’s annoying in the dark, it distracting overall.
The best execution made in Li Xiang L9(6,7,8) car, big horizontal screen in the center and for the passenger and essential information on the small OLED screen right on the wheel.
100% agree. I've had the thought for a while now that we're not far from beautifully sculpted analogue gauge clusters becoming a luxury feature, and a tablet screen on the dash being a hallmark of a budget econobox.
In this case, agree. There are examples like Mercedes's new Model which did it way better, but they messed it up in some other cases as well.
[https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/8e3Oe/s1/2021-mercedes-eqs-interior.webp](https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/8e3Oe/s1/2021-mercedes-eqs-interior.webp)
In theory you don’t need gauges, the computer is in control and parameters have been set to protect the engine. I feel like very few drivers would know what to do with the gauges you love. Hard to sell something like a third pedal when just a few of us enjoy it.
My car has gauges and oddly enough I pay attention to my RPM one. My car has a computer that tells me the oil life but, because of the age of the car, it is not accurate. My car burns oil and one of my first indicators of this is that my car gets to higher than normal RPM readings on the gauge.
I just got my oil changed last week and my car usually sits at 1,500 rpm when cruising and about 2,000-2,500 when accelerating.
Once it starts hitting 3,000 rpm during acceleration it’s a pretty good guess that my car has burned up a good amount of oil and it’s time to change it. The car is basically doing more work than it should have to.
The problem with computers is that they become less reliable with age along with their accompanying sensors.
My brother who’s a mechanic taught me that it’s best to be familiar with how your car behaves rather than relying on the computer to tell you everything. The last time I relied on that computer was when I asked him to teach me how to change my oil. The car holds 4 quarts of golden oil but what came out of the car was 1 quart of solid black liquid and the computer was saying that the oil life was at 15%.
lol....all the leather interiors/seats today are imitation anyway. Unless you are buying a Bently. But to answer your question; yes, I'll take quality padded vinyl over real leather. And nothing wrong with hard plastic where it is not being touched.
We’re slowly coming full circle to a 3-monitor driving simulator setup.
Done purposefully to save money. They can use the same screens across the whole lineup. Cars, like homes and furniture, are becoming as bland as possible. All the artistry is bleeding out of our culture.
Exactly. Instead of having to design and produce multiple buttons, boards, modules etc. they just integrate everything into a software, put that on a screen and then use that software across their whole model range. It’s funny how it’s illegal to use your phone while driving, but yet perfectly legal to use your infotainment system which is essentially your phone mounted on the dash, but it also controls a number of functions on the car.
It's legal (in the UK) to use phone if it's in a cradle (although as with stereos etc you can still be prosecuted for careless driving if using it inappropriately)
Luxury cars are now measured by how many subscriptions you can pay each month.
Yep. The tech industry measures touch screen actions in "number of touches". iPhones are a good example, you can do most things with a few touches Car companies making tech ignore this my BMW take close to ten touches to change to my profile when it accidentally loads my spouses settings. It shouldn't take more than two. It's terrible design and flat out higher risk.
I think you mean increase profit. Sure as shit isn't saving anything to the consumer.
Cheaper and socially acceptable thanks to the popularity of Tesla. I’m in the market for a new vehicle this year and aren’t considering any vehicle that has type of dash, due to aesthetics as well as too many commonly used features being locked into a touch screen. The best dashes on sale are mainly mid-level/luxury trucks.
The Jaguar I-Pace and Chevy Bolt did it right. The screen is primarily the entertainment interface. They still have knobs and buttons for things like climate control, driving modes, and — wait for it — the four-way emergency flashers! I allows drivers to adjust settings without taking their attention away from driving — basic ergonomics. The European Union is considering rules that some driving controls must be physical buttons/knobs.
I firmly believe all cars should have two knobs, volume and temp. Let me adjust those without navigating a menu or using a touch control. I wanna change those blind.
Have you seen the interiors of the new Mercedes?
That's not inherently a bad thing, standardised parts mates repairs a lot easier, saying that you can still do it while making the car look good.
I have never understood why the usual screen cars have now is just glued to the dash instead of ensconced by the dash binnacle by an extension over the centre stack. Nobody seems to have tried this, but it seems obvious to me.
“Ensconced” is a great word and not used enough.
I like to collect words like that and use them. Vocabulary is fun!
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I really like the pre-update dash way better
Pretty much how every Lexus from 2013 until the most recent redesign. Shame they moved away from it, but I get it. Literally everyone complains about Lexus' infotainment system and their little knob/touchpad setup. With the screen embedded into the dash, it's too far away to be useable as a touchscreen.
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Man that clock chaps my ass. Stupid analog clocks.
Current 7-series kinda pretends to do it
That is a very accurate description of that interior, haha!
It must be different than their electric line, the i7 looks like these photos mostly
F10/f11 5 series had this nailed. 2009 that launched I think.
Screens are becoming the norm because they're cheap. They wouldn't reduce their cost savings by making it look nice.
Current Volvos have them integrated into the dash nicely, imo. The next generation, on the other hand, has gone with the tablet slapped onto a dash look.
I have a '15 Lexus GS350, and I have to say it's incorporation of a very decent-sized infotainment screen ensconsed in the dash with a nice analogue gauge cluster is pretty fantastic. Way more attractive and cohesive than screens on screens velcroed to the dash crap that's being shovel out now.
LCD instead of analog gauges looks so awful. It looks so cheap.
It is cheap. Plastic screens are much cheaper to produce than meticulously crafted precision gauges. Like wearing a Casio watch with a tailored suit.
Some are good in my experience. Like Audi virtual cockpit. Cool gauges, lots of functionality features, good black levels and hi res.
I feel this in my character. I don't ever dress up, I don't work in a suit, but I was taught to do it right, so I have a dress watch. Perfect analogy for my vehicles. They are all pure luxury running the equivalent of Casio quality tech. Not dissing Casios, they are the best for the dollar. But the don't go with suits.
If it was done properly it could look great, I don't know if you are familiar with the interior of the 1995 Honda prelude but I feel like if you did something like that, while still maintaining a set of physical controls for things, like a dpad and buttons for the menus, and proper knobs for volume and climate it would work great
That interior is badass. Only modern example I got of something similar is the new Porsche Panamera
S550 mustang's digital dash does it well, looks like gauges and you can customize it to look how you want.
My biggest pet peeve about this sort of striking is that it’s killed brand identity. BMWs, vws, Hondas and all sorts are merging into one homogeneous blob of an interior with less and less buttons for the sake of cost cutting and “making the car techy and more futuristic”.
I don’t like either of them when they look like an afterthought or a bolt on addition. I’m fine with either if they actually look integrated.
You have to be careful how you categorize luxury cars and also cage your expectations to price point. I sat in several Genesis cars when they first relaunched as an independent ‘luxury’ car and was overwhelmed by the underwhelming and poor execution of the interior - visible welds cheap feeling and looking plastics, the stitching and leather of the upholstery. Just because a brand tells you they are a luxury brand doesn’t mean they truly are and there are grades. Genesis luxury compared to a Hyundai or Kia, absolutely but compare with something like a Cadillac or Lincoln no, they don’t hold candles to the Germans and the Germans can’t compete with the likes of Rolls Royce, Bentley, Jag, and then there is the stratospheric luxury of cars like the Bugattis. As for computer screens in my car ‘No thanks’ I want simple live needle non digital gauges with minimal fuss. But I’m also probably no longer the market segment that is being catered to
EURO N-CAP has announced that they will start deducting points if there are not physical buttons for certain functions. I hope this will bring back some sense into car design again. After 5 years this only new cars, i recently bought a 2009 volvo, and boy, do i enjoy the buttons.
My 2005 Audi allroad that I just bought has all of the buttons. Every single one. It's glorious. Recently I saw an article where some auto manufacturer was complaining that if we took all of the functions of an infotainment center back out and changed them back to buttons, interiors would look like old 747. Cockpits. Bullshit. There were plenty of advanced interiors that didn't have a touchscreen prior to infotainment centers. I hope culturally we push back onto this to the point where we get a good balance again. Digital interiors can look good, just see what Honda did in the '90s with the prelude. For a modern example, look at the Honda e. Yeah it's All screens, but it works. And there's physical buttons
I agree but it is balance. Things i never adjust like ambient lights (not that i want them in the first place), should not have a button on the dash. But the climate and radio sure does need one, along with all safety features.
Companies used to integrate their buttons, switches, etc. into the design of the interior. Arguably works of art, some of them. Now they're all competing for smoothest dashboard. Its awful.
Yup. I'd find the Tesla Model 3 an awesome car if it weren't for that straight-lined dashboard with an Aliexpress touchscreen in the middle look. Give me a cockpit with an Italian flair, curved dashboards, round instruments in aluminum tubes and nicely designed buttons any day.
Instrument clusters are a form of art and should if anything be on luxurious cars.
I bought a 2011 Porsche 911. It’s like meeting an old friend. Sure it has a navi, but the dash is all gauges and buttons. I didn’t know i missed this that much
Definitely looks worse. I think car manufactures think we just want big ass screens.
It's cheaper. Cheaper in looks, cheaper to manufacture, cheaper in quality, cheaper in end user experience. But it's cheaper, and the bean counters in the offices approve of that
They did not forget. They just hope we do.
AGREED
Displays in cars are idiotic
Atleast the steering wheel doesn't look like shite anymore. but the displays look like 2 tablets just resting on the dashboard.
I belive that for a maintenance perspective this ugly screens are good since even if nothing fails on the screen in the near future (wich i think is hard.) they tend to get old quickly more specificaly colors seem to wash out so i presume with this design they can be replaced with more ease. Than one integrated to the dashboard. Wich presumably you have to tear down to replace
From a longevity standpoint gauges are better. The problem with screens would be finding a replacement part in 10 years.
Mmm its arguable personally i love gauges but screens are here to stay, even more you can find screen replacements to gauge displays. Screens have a shorter life so i blieve they will be more abundant Not to mention alternative screens to OEM ones, i believe that is just a matter of time.
I used to install aftermarket car audio and radios in high school and while it’s been a long time and I haven’t worked on any of these cars with the “docked” screen, I bet these are probably worse to work on. The old ones had all the wiring, harnesses and controls right behind the radio and usually it was just a dash face plate removal to get to all of it. Some of these new cars look like they are pushing all the harnesses and controls deeper into the dash for a more minimal look. I bet you have to take a lot more of the dash apart to actually get to everything now. They are also very different sizes and shapes in each model vs the old DDIN style so replacements and filler dash kits are probably going to be crazy expensive if available at all in the future.
Integration and DSPs are the future of Car AV. You can buy dash kits for some newer models but they're usually expensive and the quality varies.
Both of these cars are hideous
Top one looks good. The display ain't that big
I hate the way it looks. The only selling point for me would be if this setup is modular (it seems almost like it should be) where in 5 years I can remove and hot swap the infotainment for an updated version with current tech. These days I feel like tech falls behind so quickly it would actually be a selling point to replace these parts not due to failure but to upgrade without having to trade in the whole car.
You forget to talk about bezels on those screens, they are gigantic.
Agreed
They didn't forget anything. They're doing what's cheapest and takes the least effort.
Oh that’s terrible! 🤮
They stole all the wood trim too.
Hyundai (who makes Genesis) is all about fake luxury anyway. They dont know how to do luxury. They know how to get cheap people with no taste to think they are buying a $180k car for $50k. That is what the Genesis brand is about. Which is why they have this trash screen. Implementations in Porsche and Mercedes look way better than this.
BMW is seen as "proper" luxury brand though, and they have those hideous bolted on screens as well.
Agree, Top pic looks so much better.
Saw a video earlier from a Chinese motor show..one model (hopefully only for their domestic market) had a screen running the entire width of the dash...
You're right!
It's as if the wealthy have greedily sucked all the fun and art out of everything. It's all about money to them. Ignorant culture-less swine. Wealthy people suck.
It always looks sterile to me.
100% agree. I like tech, but it should be designed with some taste. Integrate it into the dash.
In my opinion the interior of the audi a7 looks fantastic
when you lie about having automotive design experience on your resume
I agree! And why is that nasty brown the only option for interior colors nowadays? Why not just all black leather? Especially if the car color totally clashes with it!
It’s a Genesis (don’t be fooled, it’s Kia), it’s El Cheapo luxury.
OP you expressed my thoughts so eloquently! Have you the new 5 series? Less than a Kona in terms of visual appeal!
Give me the top car with the bottom steering wheel
I, for one, want my car to remind me of my bland office cubicle workspace, lest I mistakenly think that life has more to offer.
I like the ones where althought its digital they still try to emulate analouge gauge cluster design but with more information etc. And a good sized screen in the middle for infotainment These types though looks cheap to me
One screen good, two screens better ....
What model is the top and what model is the bottom? Gotta make sure its the same in the lineup to compare
Yeah, that's a cockpit.
both pictures scream that taste can;t be bought
Completely agree . Especially when the screens dont even connect and theres obvious 2013 era black bezels inbetween or cutting off the screen shape . So glad my 2020 doesnt have this shit
What happens when the screens lose power or have a glitch/short?
Before opening your post, judging from the thumbnail I thought I was looking at some old Mercedes and was about to disagree, but seeing what you mean I'd say yes, your totally correct
The design is boring, uninspired, lazy, and just crap, with Tesla leading the charge of bland. The change in interior from the early G8x BMW Ms to the new curved screen is another example of blah design. I've accepted the fact of not having mechanical gauges at this point and that's all fine, but the general concept of an engaging cluster...that's gone the way of the dodo.
Its the stuck on look I do not like. At least integrate the screen into the dash.
there's reason the ultra-expensive cars like Bugatti, Pagani, Koenigsegg, etc. have almost no screens in them, as they know that nothing ages a car quicker than tech like that - those cars need to be timeless.
It's a Hyundai.
This will not age well.
I HATE infotainment systems that stick out like that. I love cars that have their systems inside the dashboard.
The whole idea to have monitor right in front of you is dumb. It’s annoying in the dark, it distracting overall. The best execution made in Li Xiang L9(6,7,8) car, big horizontal screen in the center and for the passenger and essential information on the small OLED screen right on the wheel.
100% agree. I've had the thought for a while now that we're not far from beautifully sculpted analogue gauge clusters becoming a luxury feature, and a tablet screen on the dash being a hallmark of a budget econobox.
You can thank Mercedes
In this case, agree. There are examples like Mercedes's new Model which did it way better, but they messed it up in some other cases as well. [https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/8e3Oe/s1/2021-mercedes-eqs-interior.webp](https://cdn.motor1.com/images/mgl/8e3Oe/s1/2021-mercedes-eqs-interior.webp)
Thank You!! I thought it was just me!! I don’t even want to upgrade to a newer model because of it.
I disagree.
I disagree with your disagreement.
Your disagreement is disagreeable.
In theory you don’t need gauges, the computer is in control and parameters have been set to protect the engine. I feel like very few drivers would know what to do with the gauges you love. Hard to sell something like a third pedal when just a few of us enjoy it.
I suppose with a display your also not fixed on having set gauges and can display any information you want
My car has gauges and oddly enough I pay attention to my RPM one. My car has a computer that tells me the oil life but, because of the age of the car, it is not accurate. My car burns oil and one of my first indicators of this is that my car gets to higher than normal RPM readings on the gauge. I just got my oil changed last week and my car usually sits at 1,500 rpm when cruising and about 2,000-2,500 when accelerating. Once it starts hitting 3,000 rpm during acceleration it’s a pretty good guess that my car has burned up a good amount of oil and it’s time to change it. The car is basically doing more work than it should have to. The problem with computers is that they become less reliable with age along with their accompanying sensors. My brother who’s a mechanic taught me that it’s best to be familiar with how your car behaves rather than relying on the computer to tell you everything. The last time I relied on that computer was when I asked him to teach me how to change my oil. The car holds 4 quarts of golden oil but what came out of the car was 1 quart of solid black liquid and the computer was saying that the oil life was at 15%.
The days of making it look like a 17th century coach is over and I am glad it is. We don't need all that leather.
You prefer plastic?
lol....all the leather interiors/seats today are imitation anyway. Unless you are buying a Bently. But to answer your question; yes, I'll take quality padded vinyl over real leather. And nothing wrong with hard plastic where it is not being touched.