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Last weekend, whilst we were in Melbourne, I was driving around in a new Holden Commodore. We hired it from Avis and put around 250 kms on it over the few days we were there. It was interesting from a couple of perspectives.
Whilst it was only the V6, this is basically the car that will come over to the states as the Pontiac G8 in the near future. I think you Yanks will find it OK. It’s got plenty of room, is reasonably well appointed and is capable of putting some decent power down when required. There’s nothing for me to rave about, but it’s a good, solid, rear-wheel driver.
One thing I did really like was the steering wheel mounted audio controls. I find these to be really important as they’re a frequent use item and if a company gets them wrong then it’s a real sore point for me.
In my Viggen (above), I have controls mounted inside the ‘holes’ between the wheel rim and the centerpiece. These are soft touch, are logically grouped and work really well. They’re the first steering mounted controls I’ve had and created a very positive impression for me.
The Subaru WRX that I’ve been driving for the last week (reports still to come) also has controls for the audio system on the steering wheel, but for me they’re functionally useless. Firstly, I find that you’ve really got to concentrate on getting the right button under-thumb, and then you’ve got to press quite firmly to get it to do anything. When you’ve managed to press it, you have to hold it for what seems like an eternity as the increments on the volume control are miniscule.
This is all too distracting as far as I’m concerned, and negates the convenience that these controls are supposed to bring to the table. I’ve reverted to using the big dial on the dashboard to adjust the volume.
The Commodore that we had on the weekend had a volume controller that I’d actually love to see implemented on future Saabs.
It was on the spoke of the wheel, the one heading out to 3 o’clock, and it used a roller to control the volume rather than having separate up and down buttons. The increments were appropriate and I found that one flick of my thumb was all I needed for adjusting the radio from “enjoying the music” to “background music” levels.
The Commodore had a number of features that I recognised as being sourced from Saab, but this is one that I’d like to see come back the other way.
The materials could have been better on the Commodore wheel, but the idea was great. I don’t know if it would cause more wear and tear – spinning rather than just rocking back and forth like Saab’s current control – but I sure hope they look at it.
This tactile stuff is pretty important in creating an impression of the car. I came away feeling more positive about the Commodore then I otherwise would have, and all because of that one little control.
13 responses so far ↓
1 Ben W
// Apr 7, 2008 at 3:48 pm
I know Audi and Jaguar use such controls now. Like scroll wheels on your computer’s mouse, they’ll become standard fare over the next few years.
2 Mag-X
// Apr 7, 2008 at 4:01 pm
It sure would be nice to have this in the 99. I really hate having to bend half way to the floor to hit buttons on the radio that has been stuck to the bottom side of the dash as a kind of half-assed after thought.
The C900, on the other hand, has the radio so close to the steering wheel already that this setup would be a bit redundant, I think.
3 David Wishart
// Apr 7, 2008 at 4:56 pm
I’d prefer a plain leather-wrapped wheel with no buttons or controls, just a horn in the center.
4 jwlanky
// Apr 7, 2008 at 5:52 pm
The commodore controls are found on the Opel/Vauxhall. They do have a nice feel, but it would be better if they were a full jog/scroll wheel rather than up or down.
5 Mark_Belfast
// Apr 7, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Yes, I had those same controls on the terrific little Vauxhall Astra Sri I surrendered to take on my 9-3SW. The jog wheel is brilliant and allowed you to toggle back and forth between that last tow sources (bit like a ’swap’ button on your TV remote).
By contrast Swade, my MY06 9-3 shares the tiny steps volume control issue as well as agonising gaps when you change ’source’ between CD/radio/MP3. Also the traffic programming is hopelessly retarded – even if listening to the same station where the traffic announcement is being broadcast, the radio will be cut off as though you are going to another source before coming back to hear the last remaining seconds of the announcement you have now largely missed! I haven’t tried the MYH07 onwards versions but gather the ents/comms are much improved?
6 Markac
// Apr 7, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I guess we’ll see a variant of the Commodore controls in the new 9-5? They should appear in the 9-4x and the 9-1 too, but perhaps we’ll never see that one?
7 Jimmey
// Apr 7, 2008 at 8:47 pm
If you look closely on the interior pictures of the 9-4x concept, you’ll the scroll/jog controls on the steering wheel.
So lets hope they’ll make it to the production car.
8 trogg
// Apr 8, 2008 at 12:10 am
I’d like to see the buttons programmble myself. driver controls on one side and cabin controls on the other. each cluster performs two basic tasks: select and modify. You could have single button. click right and left for incremental cycling through a list, click and hold right or left to scroll. click up or down incremental or click and hold up and down to scroll modify a value. Like a joystick without the stick. It would be a simple button with a back lit border. Doesn’t need to be complicated.
so for example if you had driver controls on the left you could have
driving lights
wipers
cruise control
SID displays mph,mpg, etc
and on the right you could have cabin climate controls, audio, phone, and navigation.
Of course you could flip the drive/cabin groups from right to left depending on your preference.
The display could be in the dash or as part of a bilevel cluster. Ultimately it could be projected on the inside of the wind screen/shield.
I know that Subaru disables control of the navigation unit while the car is in motion. I think this is needed although its a requirement that can be overcome with voice controls.
“SAAB my back window is foggy”
“SAAB play Iggy Pop Bulldozer”
“SAAB find route to nearest Shell station”
They have Trolltech right over in Norway to work on the user interface, and the hardware is available off the shelf.
These are cars that cost 10’s of thousand of dollars people expect more that gift shop egg timer that says “Hello Jan Erikson, prepare for take off.”
9 joemama
// Apr 8, 2008 at 4:54 am
David – I’m sure you could find a car that has a crank-start too!
It would be nice to see voice integration as well, something along the lines of the ford Sync.
The scroll wheel is a nice start, but Saab can do better than that.
10 Edonis
// Apr 8, 2008 at 7:01 am
I’m not entirely convinced by most voice-controls I’ve tried. A friend of mine recently purchased an 08 C200K, and the Command-system can’t always recognize what the driver is saying, so it is mostly used just to prank around. “Call nine-five-nine-zero-five-four-one-one”.. and the system dials an entirely different number. “Navigation” and the system turns on the radio.
11 Ken H
// Apr 8, 2008 at 7:08 am
What exactly is wrong with a ‘mute’ button, Saab? Push once to hear the missus, push one more time when you heard enough and want some music. Effing simple, you ask me.
12 Steven
// Apr 8, 2008 at 7:24 am
@jomamam: So how often do you plug a Ford in to get Microsoft Security Vulnerability updates?
13 joemama
// Apr 8, 2008 at 7:59 am
steven – Hey I never said it was good. It’s a start though, and it’s getting a lot of people to look at Ford models.
Too bad GM can’t partner with Apple for some sort of “Sync” technology.