"Audi For Life" (audiforlife)
05/28/2014 at 17:55 • Filed to: Murica
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"Audi For Life" (audiforlife)
05/28/2014 at 17:55 • Filed to: Murica | 0
| 15 |
Per !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! :
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A case in point: Starting with the redesigned 2015 Golf, all Volkswagens sold worldwide eventually will have the cruise-control switches located on the steering wheel, similar to the location selected by other automakers.
Buyers in Germany have been happy with the traditional location of the switches, which are found on a separate stalk behind the steering wheel. But Americans said, "no way" because they couldn't see the control, Trahan said.
Thanks, Murica!
Crest
> Audi For Life
05/28/2014 at 17:57 |
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It just bores down to the fact that steering wheels with lots of controls look cooler, more modern, more gadgety and more nonsensical
Garrett Davis
> Audi For Life
05/28/2014 at 17:59 |
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I think it comes down to people being used to the controls being on the steering wheel. When that's all they've ever known and then they get into a new car only to see no cruise control buttons, of course they aren't going to be familiar with it.
Its like getting into a car with a foot pedal horn for the first time. Of course you're not going to know where the hell the horn is.
ddavidn
> Audi For Life
05/28/2014 at 17:59 |
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Stupid Americans. I like my stalk cruise control.
RazoE
> Audi For Life
05/28/2014 at 18:04 |
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Next they can move the headlight switch to the stalk as well. I hate driving German/American cars when it's a switch on the dash. The Japanese got it right.
Cé hé sin
> Audi For Life
05/28/2014 at 18:16 |
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Mr Piech can do whatever he feels he needs to do to adapt his cars to American tastes so long as he doesn't feel that said tastes then should be foisted on everyone else.
What's wrong with cruise control on a stalk or whatever anyway? The last few hire cars I had, none being VWs but none being American cars either, had it on various kinds of stalk behind the wheel and I got on with it.
Oh, except on a Renault Clio. The on/off switch was down on the floor behind the gearlever and I had to resort to the handbook, which was interesting as I had hired the car in Sweden and my Swedish extends to about four words, none being either "cruise" or "control".
Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
> Audi For Life
05/28/2014 at 18:20 |
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Wait, aren't they already? My dad's 2005 Passat has the control on the left side of the steering wheel.
lonestranger
> Audi For Life
05/28/2014 at 18:21 |
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Wha? The two largest auto manufacturers, GM and Toyota, have them on column-mounted stalks. I much prefer Toyota's & VW's types. I must be European, because these American preferences are baffling:
For Volkswagens sold in Europe, "when you set the dial at an equivalent of 72 degrees, which would be 21 degrees Celsius, the actual air coming out of the vent, that is pretty much it," Trahan said. "The customer in Germany is happy with the air temperature.
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"But in the U.S. if we do that, the customer will complain it is too warm. They want cooler air and they want more airflow. So in the U.S. the setting is 72 but the actual air temperature coming out is like 67, 68 degrees. That is purposely done because that is what the customer wants. We have the data that shows that."
If I set it to 21, I'd expect 21. If it wasn't cold enough, I'd lower it.
"Americans want a lot of engine power in the first 10-20 percent of throttle (accelerator pedal) movement," Trahan said. "Europeans want a linear throttle. Americans don't."
Again, if I wanted more power than the first 10-20% of pedal travel provided, I'd apply more pressure.
Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy
> Audi For Life
05/28/2014 at 18:40 |
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Wha? I was just getting used to the stalk.
webmonkees
> Audi For Life
05/28/2014 at 18:43 |
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About 3 buttons in a wheel (already wired with the airbag horn, radio controls, optional paddles.. it's just a matter of multiplexing at that point. )
versus an actual switch mechanism.
I'd say "American demands" were the motivator.
On the bright side, all you got to do is get the buttons to tell the ECU about your 'optional' equipment. Paddle shift option? Wait a bit. It'll show up on ebay.
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Audi For Life
> Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
05/28/2014 at 18:59 |
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I think they are talking about removing the stalk and adding buttons/switches to the steering wheel. I personally prefer the stalk and keep the steering wheel minimal as possible.
Basically, I don't want to ever see something like this again:
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Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
> Audi For Life
05/28/2014 at 19:01 |
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...but the Passat doesn't have a cruise control stalk. My mom's PT Cruiser has one, but my Buick and the VW both have them on the steering wheel as buttons along with volume/channel/autofellatio controls.
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Audi For Life
> Garrett Davis
05/28/2014 at 19:03 |
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I understand where you are coming from and a lot of people don't know jack about their car (much less know what a car jack is or how to use one to replace a tire). On the other hand, they are operating a several thousand pound piece of machinery with their brains on empty.
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Audi For Life
> Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
05/28/2014 at 19:06 |
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I guess the Passat's that I've driven or seen have them as a stalk and not as buttons on the steering wheel. I went from a 1999 Taurus SHO with cruise control buttons on the steering wheel to an Audi A4 with it on a stalk. Basically traded cruise control buttons for media control buttons. That said, I took to the stalk immediately.
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Garrett Davis
> Audi For Life
05/28/2014 at 19:10 |
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That's the difference between owning the vehicle and just initial impressions, though. I don't think anyone would say anything after they were shown or found the controls on e their own. Just like when I first got into my BMW, and had to search around for a second to find the window controls on the center console, or in my ST to find the door lock button way up on the dash (for some reason). Once I see where it is, I'm fine and get used to it, but from a manufacturers prospective that is a user experience disruption that they see when people from a large market are used to things being a little different.
Honestly I wouldn't have thought that this would make a big enough difference for them to want to change it across their fleet, but hey. I'm sure they'll save money by doing so.
wiffleballtony
> Audi For Life
05/28/2014 at 20:22 |
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I have one car with stalk mounted controls and one with it on the wheel. I prefer it on the wheel in all honesty. N