Not a fan of giant screens in cars

Warning: ‘old man yells at cloud’ rant coming up.

It seems I’m the only person who is not wild about the latest trend of ginormous LCD screens permeating into modern automotive interiors. I’m not referring to the regular display for navigation and the sound system, but rather the giant screens automakers are utilizing to do absolutely everything, looking like an iPad glued to the dashboard.

I reckon the genesis of it started in the Tesla Model S, with a 17-inch center screen serving as proxy to perform even the most basic of functions, such as adjusting the fan speed. Admittedly it was quite the party piece for Tesla, especially when contrasted to the traditional buttons and knobs of its contemporaries. Unfortunately, novelty have begotten standardization, and as the Tesla brand proliferated and gotten more popular, other automakers are seeing fit to copy the big screen implementation. Because customers want ‘cool’.

And the trend have thoroughly trickled down to the masses: the new Subaru Legacy can be optioned with a nearly 12-inch infotainment screen, absolutely dominating the entire center dash like a Tesla car. In a way it makes sense: smartphones are giants touchscreens, so presumably the transition to having them in cars to control functions is a natural extension of something we use every single day.

However, it gets worse. LCD screen in cars have encroached into the instrument binnacle as well, with manufacturers seemingly in a competition to replace as many items of the interior with touchscreens as possible. The latest Audi and Land Rover products are already there - Audi wants to replace the wing mirrors with screens, too - and Mercedes will soon join them if spy shots of the next generation S-Class are good indication.

An interior that is entirely screens: that is a future I don’t particularly want. I shall cling to the mechanical dials and physical buttons of my GT3 as long as I can.

Why are automakers so massively embracing these screens? For sure part of it is to emulate the same wow-factor of a Tesla Model S , but I surmise the base reason, as with any capitalistic endeavor, is to save on costs. In a world full of laptops and smartphones, LCD screen technology comes relatively cheap; all automakers have to do then is develop the software. Modern cars are full of computers anyways so integration is likely not difficult. I’m sure it’s far less complicated and expensive than engineering individual physical buttons and dials, with relays and switches for each single item.

If car manufacturers save on cost, does the customer as well? I’m going to guess no. A broken interior button is a cheap fix, but an entire screen module? That sounds painfully expensive. In using our computers and phones daily, we know all too well that screens aren’t the most durable of things. And there’s another problem: those devices also have tendency to periodically freeze up, necessitating a hard reset. I can’t wait for automaker’s customer support to have to ask this question: “Have you tried turning off and turning the car back on?”.

I have serious reservations about the longevity of these all-screen car interiors, but who am I kidding: you’re all leasing, right?

Stacks on stacks on stacks.

Apple CarPlay is a must-have

As a proper enthusiast of on the car variety, a vehicle’s infotainment is near the bottom of my concerns. How much power a car has got and how it handles into a corner is the primary interest. It’s the oily bits that counts; a car could have the crappiest stereo system in the world and I wouldn’t have cared less. Who needs amazing music when the song from the engine is ever so melodious.

That was then; as I’ve grown older I’ve come to appreciate a nicely done car stereo. When leasing the Hyundai Tucson for my family a few months ago I elected to get the trim with the upgraded stereo, and every time I’m in the car I marvel at how awesome the sound is. Of course, an SUV isn’t the type of car to offer any driving enjoyment, therefore the quality of the interior is further up on the importance scale. Nevertheless I got spoiled; in my next car(s) I definitely will tick the better sound system option.

Along with that there’s one killer app that is an absolute must-have: Apple CarPlay. I’ve been an iPhone user since the 4 came out on Verizon, and having used CarPlay in various cars of not my owning, it’s simply amazing. CarPlay the most easiest and best possible way to integrate the data from an iPhone to car: music, maps, contacts; all it takes is a singular USB cable. Honestly all automakers have to do is provide a quality touchscreen screen in an appropriate size.

And they have: thanks to Tesla outfitting the Model S with a 17-inch display on center console to control just about everything, established manufacturers have hurried to copy. The latest Audi cars is almost entirely screen: the instrument cluster is a screen, the infotainment is a screen, and the climate controls are on a screen. Thanks to Tesla, physical buttons appears to be a thing of the past in new luxury cars. Even most mainstream cars have at least a 7-inch touch display at the center.

What automakers haven’t been so good at is actually offering Apply CarPlay, and I’m primarily talking to you, Toyota and Mazda. (And somewhat you too, BMW: charging a subscription to use CarPlay? Get the F out of here.) I would be bombing the backwoods in a Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro for years now had Toyota simply implemented CarPlay in the venerable SUV. It’s only this year that Toyota and Mazda have started implementing the function in their respective new cars.

A word to automakers: I’m not buying a car from you if it hasn’t got Apply CarPlay ability. Full stop.

All screen everything

Touch your cars

Due to the hazardous smog from the wildfires, I wasn’t able to go outside much during the Thanksgiving week break. Despite threat to lungs however I did make it out to the annual San Francisco auto show at the Moscone Center. It thankfully rained on that Wednesday so the air quality wasn’t too awful, but it rendered the manufacturer test drives a bit moot. A Jaguar F-Type is nice and all, but being stuck in downtown traffic in the wet isn’t the best representation of a driving a proper sports car.

Shame; I really wanted to try the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.

Nevertheless it’s been a few years since I’ve last gone to show, and combined with the fact I’ve been car-less since May, I was decidedly eager to be around automobiles again. New car smell may be poisonous but it’s intoxicating all the same.

I was most looking forward to touching the surfaces: the various contours on the outside, and the materials on the inside. The 10 years ago me would’ve been aghast at the thought of laying a finger on any part of a car that doesn’t involve actual operation; can’t risk scratching the paint or leaving oil marks on interior panels. I was obsessively compulsive like that, though that has changed. These days I highly encourage the tactile pleasure from interacting with the materials of a car: the smoothness of the paint, the industrial cold of metal trim, or the soft warmth of leather.

Because why rob myself of that experience simply because I want to preserve that last bit of perfection, which itself is a Sisyphean task short of placing a car in a hermetically sealed, climate-controlled box. Cars are meant to be driven and used, and the patina that comes from wear is to be honored and displayed proudly.

So I attacked all the surfaces presented to me at the auto show, and I came away with a one big realization: I can’t buy a car that isn’t from a premium or luxury brand any longer. The interior experience offered by brands like Audi or Mercedes Benz is leagues above mainstream marques like Ford or Toyota. The difference in quality of materials and how it feels to the hand is stark. You are pampered in a Range Rover, compared to merely functional inside a Honda Pilot.

Of course one would pay dearly for that privilege, but I think it’s well worth the price premium. The inside of a car is the part you interact with the most (as you sit for hours in traffic) so why not make that time spent as best as possible. Pay up for that open-pore wood trim, the Alcantara headliner, and the sound system with too many speakers.

Willing to pay for superfluous and vain extras in car? I am indeed getting old.

Except for you; you can touch me.