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Faceless Clock posted:Just FYI, only interiors of cars that are new or have been substantially redesigned are eligible and the award is based on a lot of factors besides how it looks. like what, number of cupholders?
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Apr 19, 2012 18:12
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Cream_Filling posted:We have a winner! I can't even begin to imagine how floppy that chassis is once the roof is cut off. I bet it pops off interior panels when you go over potholes. ASC added front and rear strut tower braces to stiffen the car, which makes Cavalier convertibles a fairly sought-after junkyard treasure for people trying to upgrade their Z24. Oddly, the convertible has a better side impact safety rating than the hardtop did. I have no idea why.
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Apr 19, 2012 18:21
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Preoptopus posted:I like thick center consoles. Makes me feel like I'm in a lazy boy. I draw the line when the corners start bumping my knees when I sit. Also, I wanted to like the new Ford Focus, but that dash is so bulky it's like it's got its own dashboard on top. Faceless Clock posted:Just FYI, only interiors of cars that are new or have been substantially redesigned are eligible and the award is based on a lot of factors besides how it looks. Apparently the criteria are: design, fit and finish, comfort, ergonomics, safety, material selection, overall value, aesthetics, and human-machine interface and communication. http://wardsauto.com/vehicles-amp-technology/editors-name-2012-ward-s-10-best-interiors Sounds like just sort of giving out numbers. Or, dunno, it might be like Consumer Reports where they pick out specific features and for each one you have, you get a "safety" point or something, too.
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Apr 19, 2012 18:56
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Seat Safety Switch posted:My hard-top Cavalier cracked the dashboard once taking a hard uphill corner in -20. Maybe it just flexes so much that it bounces off of side impacts like a rubber ball. Sort of like how they say drunks and babies survive crashes better because they're all relaxed and stuff. I've driven a Cavalier before, too, and "drunk baby" is definitely a decent description of its handling. Or else maybe the b pillars like to fold in on themselves and punch people right in the head. It was designed was before side-impact safety became a thing, right?
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Apr 19, 2012 19:00
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Cream_Filling posted:I draw the line when the corners start bumping my knees when I sit. Also, I wanted to like the new Ford Focus, but that dash is so bulky it's like it's got its own dashboard on top. The new Ford Focus interior gave me the same issue. It's amazing to look at and has great touch points, but somehow Ford managed to make the car wider and longer without making it less cramped inside. It should be noted that the Focus won a 2011 best interior award, though...
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Apr 19, 2012 19:21
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The Focus interior is great looking and high quality for the segment but it also protrudes outrageously in to the cabin in an effort to make all the buttons and mytouchscreens or whatever accessible. Ugh.
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Apr 19, 2012 20:01
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I'm not sure I'm completely sold on the new Panda's interior. The engines are obviously neat (I really want a turbo twinair) and from what I've heard, the ride is better and more refined, but the design is sort of odd. Old:  Functional and straight-forward, I really like the center console. New:  Squircles everywhere! Body-color accents! I dunno, it just looks odd to me.
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Apr 19, 2012 20:14
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Hey, I like body colored accents.
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Apr 19, 2012 20:24
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Body colored accents are cool. Not too sure about those squircles though.
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Apr 19, 2012 20:32
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The new steering wheel looks nice, and it looks higher quality, but the design is kind of horrible.
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Apr 19, 2012 20:35
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Bet James May hates it.
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Apr 19, 2012 20:36
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I like it a lot. Just too bad we won't get a Panda Cross in the States. Though maybe we'll see this in the new Yugo.
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Apr 19, 2012 20:57
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Wasn't the new baby Jeep going to be a modified Panda like the Dart is the Guiletta?
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Apr 19, 2012 21:22
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:The Focus interior is great looking and high quality for the segment but it also protrudes outrageously in to the cabin in an effort to make all the buttons and mytouchscreens or whatever accessible. Ugh. Oh is that why? I assumed it was some sort of packaging constraint and there was actual mechanical stuff behind that dash. All I could think of when I first got in was the forehead of that one giant boxer who looks like a caveman. It's literally intrusive, like a really fat dude sitting in front of you on one of those british style train seats where you share legroom. Just sitting there not saying anything with his leathery skin getting into your personal space and brushing your kneecaps. Also, death to all touchscreens everywhere. I'll make an exception for when it's used solely in navigating rarely used little settings menus for interior light colors or something and never intended to control a function to be used while the car is moving. And even then only because the alternative is having a dedicated bunch of little navigation buttons for those setting menus, which gets a little silly after a while and also because you know the designers will force you to use it to control basic things like HVAC or the radio. Strangely, I was OK with them getting rid of individual door lock controls entirely. It's actually a fairly elegant solution that reduces the number of controls once you get used to it.
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Apr 19, 2012 21:25
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I'm not sure actually but I figured there was no way in hell there were significant mechanical bits of that shape.
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Apr 19, 2012 22:03
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Maybe tubing for the hvac vents? But even then, the most annoying parts are stuff like the edges of the center console which rub against your legs which are purely there as part of the styling. I guess that soft-touch stuff might add some volume too or something. Dunno, I've never cared about how squishy the dash is because I never touch the dash.
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Apr 19, 2012 22:47
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Trust me there isn't. A shell body without interior is like a warehouse There'll be a reinforce beam under there, but nowhere near constraining the shape of the dash.
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Apr 19, 2012 22:48
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So other than positioning the airbag in the right place, what's the point of enormous dashes, then? Intentionally making your compact car feel even smaller?
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Apr 19, 2012 22:51
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This is a Panda interior:
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Apr 19, 2012 22:54
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Perfect. That is the car I want.
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Apr 19, 2012 23:43
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InitialDave posted:This is a Panda interior: That dash actually looks soft  I do like how it is pretty simple, minimal, and overall that car has to be lightweight. Today we may have all the tech/safety stuff, but drat did it make everything heavy as hell.
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Apr 19, 2012 23:55
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Cream_Filling posted:What are you talking about? The VW and the Mazda have the cleanest interiors there. I sat in a new New Beetle recently, and the interior really was pretty darn good. Did you touch any of the side door panels? Like they're literally paper thing plastic that bends about half an inch with a touch. The Tourag has an awesome interior and VW really did that one right, but the Bug is lovely poo poo poo poo. The exterior looks nice though.
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Apr 20, 2012 00:00
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InitialDave posted:This is a Panda interior: What kind of luxury Panda is that? Where are the hammock seats? 
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Apr 20, 2012 09:57
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Cream_Filling posted:So other than positioning the airbag in the right place, what's the point of enormous dashes, then? Intentionally making your compact car feel even smaller? Intrusion zones and such too for crashes.
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Apr 20, 2012 13:38
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Morphix posted:Did you touch any of the side door panels? Like they're literally paper thing plastic that bends about half an inch with a touch. The Tourag has an awesome interior and VW really did that one right, but the Bug is lovely poo poo poo poo. The exterior looks nice though. The touareg has an awesome interior because it starts at over twice what the beetle starts at.
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Apr 20, 2012 13:39
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KozmoNaut posted:What kind of luxury Panda is that? Where are the hammock seats? I sodding love Pandas, they're fantastic designs for the use of material and space - as well as that huge, open glovebox, they had tons of little details like not being able to accidentally lock your keys inside, or leave the lights on unless you specifically intend to, have warm air blowing on your feet while the face vents blow cold and so on. They're very much in the same mould as the original Mini, 500, 2CV and so on - simple, cheap cars, but if you judge them by what they're intended to be, they're completely honest about it and do precisely what they're meant to exceptionally well. EdEddnEddy posted:I do like how it is pretty simple, minimal, and overall that car has to be lightweight. Today we may have all the tech/safety stuff, but drat did it make everything heavy as hell.
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Apr 20, 2012 13:59
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Preoptopus posted:Ward's Automotive Names the 10 Best Car Interiors in the 2012 Class That list is worthless. How in the world are any of those better than this:  e: Here's the old interior, maybe it wasn't "substantial" enough: 
Mr.Peabody fucked around with this message at 15:06 on Apr 20, 2012 |
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Apr 20, 2012 14:52
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The A7 probably has the best-designed and executed interior of any vehicle I've sat in, including the Bentley Continental.
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Apr 20, 2012 15:18
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:The A7 probably has the best-designed and executed interior of any vehicle I've sat in, including the Bentley Continental. Does that LCD screen flip up or is it permanently affixed floating above the dash line? I also counted 17 buttons and 2 dials on the center console around the gear selector.. besides the dash buttons hidden behind the gear selector.. maybe I just need to sit in it but from the pictures I'm not even remotely impressed. If I have to look at the floor to find a button it's in the wrong place. Mr.Peabody fucked around with this message at 15:55 on Apr 20, 2012 |
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Apr 20, 2012 15:49
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Mr.Peabody posted:Does that LCD screen flip up or is it permanently affixed floating above the dash line? It flips up when you start the car, and goes back down when you shut it off. I don't get it. They started this in the A8. Either find a place for it or don't, but why move it all the time?
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Apr 20, 2012 15:54
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Motronic posted:It flips up when you start the car, and goes back down when you shut it off. Yeah, my biggest complaint about my Merc is the flip up LCD screen. They only put it in for the first 3 years of the new C class before they integrated it into the dash and it looks so much nicer that way.
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Apr 20, 2012 15:57
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Mr.Peabody posted:Does that LCD screen flip up or is it permanently affixed floating above the dash line? I also counted 17 buttons and 2 dials on the center console around the gear selector.. besides the dash buttons hidden behind the gear selector.. maybe I just need to sit in it but from the pictures I'm not even remotely impressed. If I have to look at the floor to find a button it's in the wrong place. Yeah it's flip up, which is kind of annoying and the only real issue. Showing it at night doesn't do any favors, in my opinion. Buttons behind the selector are kind of a non-issue. They're redundant to the MMI and are pretty easy to reach and use from the front seats. One thing I don't get is the little touch keypad, could never figure out how to use it to do anything other than change preselected radio stations. I personally hate MB's system of putting every loving thing in a redundant control in the dash though so if you like that I can see why you wouldn't like the A7.
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Apr 20, 2012 16:03
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Not that I am one to get excited about Lincolns, but the design language of the new MKZ (and the split wing grill specifically) really look great to me:
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Apr 20, 2012 16:03
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Motronic posted:It flips up when you start the car, and goes back down when you shut it off. So people don't smash your windows to steal your nav?
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Apr 20, 2012 16:09
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KKKLIP ART posted:Not that I am one to get excited about Lincolns, but the design language of the new MKZ (and the split wing grill specifically) really look great to me: It might be just me but I just can't get into Lincoln design. It's miles better than the old MKZ but where's the distinction? If you're going to drop that much on an upscale Ford Fusion, at least give it some really distinctive styling. I'd reckon the new Fusion design is better looking than the new MKZ. You know an Audi the moment you see it. Same with Cadillac, Mercedes, and BMW (and possibly the new Lexus design). Lincoln and Buick (and Acura to a lesser extent) all suffer from very safe and blah designs.
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Apr 20, 2012 16:12
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DEUCE SLUICE posted:So people don't smash your windows to steal your nav? If it's integrated in to the dash are they really going to steal it
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Apr 20, 2012 16:15
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Thwomp posted:Lincoln and Buick (and Acura to a lesser extent) all suffer from very safe and blah designs. yo what, have you looked at an Acura lately?
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Apr 20, 2012 16:19
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:If it's integrated in to the dash are they really going to steal it Crackheads
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Apr 20, 2012 16:20
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:yo what, have you looked at an Acura lately? The beak/chrome on the grill is the only real distinguishing feature of an Acura. Other than that, it's just a Cadillac-lite design language.
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Apr 20, 2012 16:22
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Yeah it's flip up, which is kind of annoying and the only real issue. Showing it at night doesn't do any favors, in my opinion. It's not the redundant buttons that annoys me, the difference is Audi putting it on the center console instead of Mercedes placement on the dash faceplate. Maybe it's because of flying, but if I can't look forward while scanning I get annoyed and uncomfortable. Having to toward the center of the car takes the road out of your peripheral, so you either have to fumble or look away from the direction you actually want the vehicle to travel. e: As far as the number pad, it's useful for dialing a bluetooth connected phone that's in your pocket, but other than that yeah, radio stations. Mr.Peabody fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Apr 20, 2012 |
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Apr 20, 2012 16:35
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