Consumer Reports 10 vehicles to avoid

[akirby]

In full auto mode you should be getting heat from the floor vents anyway by default. You can use the right hand display to adjust the climate control temperature. Sounds like you're trying to use the climate control in manual mode instead of auto mode and just changing the temperature like you do on your home hvac system.

 

I never have to use the touch screen while driving. I can do everything from the steering wheel controls except changing the entertainment source and that can be done with voice commands or one button press from the entertainment screen.

[TheWizard]

That does not change the fact that if you don't want to use auto mode (I switch it off occasionally myself), you have to use the touch screen as described. Sometimes one may not want the Ford computerized nanny to make all the decisions such as when it selects an inappropriate fan speed (fairly common). Sometimes one's wife may find her feet getting cold and want to direct heat to the floor when the auto setting would do something else. Sure, if you set everything once and don't change it often then using the touch screen is not much of an issue but for those of us who change settings more often, the touch system is inefficient and distracting.

[akirby]

If the fan speed is too fast or too slow you change the temperature. I do it all the time.

 

I think too many people resort to manual mode when all they really need to do is change the temperature. e.g. In the summer when you get in and it's 95 degrees and the climate control is set to 73 the A/C comes on full blast.

If you raise the temp to 80 or 84 the fan slows way down (but is still blowing cold air). Then you lower the temp as it cools down. That's a lot easier than manually changing the fan speed, etc.

 

I can see rare cases where you want hot air from the vents or cold air in the floor, etc. but I think those are rare.

 

I do think regular buttons are much better than the capacitive touch buttons and I'm glad Ford changed that going forward.

[omar302]

That does not change the fact that if you don't want to use auto mode (I switch it off occasionally myself), you have to use the touch screen as described. Sometimes one may not want the Ford computerized nanny to make all the decisions such as when it selects an inappropriate fan speed (fairly common). Sometimes one's wife may find her feet getting cold and want to direct heat to the floor when the auto setting would do something else. Sure, if you set everything once and don't change it often then using the touch screen is not much of an issue but for those of us who change settings more often, the touch system is inefficient and distracting.

You can use voice commands to change air flow to the floor. Sync button > climate > Floor on. Edited October 7, 2014 by omar302

[roadkill401]

Am I missing something here.

 

I have driven in many cars, and for some reason, I have yet to see one that has every single control sitting on the steering wheel of the car so that you can do everything without taking your eyes off the road. So to single out one vehicle because it's a touch screen seems rather odd, when I will have to say with my old Ford Escape, it had a dial that you needed to take your eyes off the road to find on the dash, and then turn with you eyes looking at it to get the right temp you wanted. And if you wanted to change radio stations, then you took your eyes off the road and found the radio and pushed the corresponding presets.

 

My edge SEL, if I turn on the radio, I can with a simple thumb flick switch between my pre-set radio stations and not need to look. +1 for the edge.

Likewise, i can with a quick peek make sure that my menu is on climate on the front console, then up and down the temp without needing to look.

 

My father has a Toyota Prius, and Consumer Reports just loves that car to bits. But for him to change temp and turn on/off the AC, he needs to go to his touch screen so it's just as bad if not worse than the edge for quite a bit of things. But it's a Toyota Hybrid so nobody touch the sacred cow.

 

If anyone is going to get bent out of shape with the MFT and think it causes too much distraction, then you should drive along at rush hour along the 403 and see the distracted drivers in all the other cars. I have seen people reading newspapers, many women with the rear view mirror twisted around putting on makeup. I've seen someone curling their hair while driving. The number of people I've followed who spent more time looking at the passenger beside them than at that actual road. The 30 seconds to use the MFT is nothing. God gave people a brain between their two ears, and heaven forbid they actually use it.. maybe even think and see what is going on around you before taking your eyes off the road, and if there is lots going on around you, then keep your attention on what you are doing. But common sense seems to be no so common these days.

 

Matt

[akirby]

Bingo.

[omar302]

Seems like Ford's MyTouch is not the most distracting per AAA:

http://m.autoblog.com/2014/10/07/aaa-voice-recognition-distracted-driving-study/

[WWWPerfA_ZN0W]

So they are saying MFT sucks compared to Siri At least we can say "MFT is superior technology that allows drivers to concentrate on the road ahead".

[TheWizard]

Wow! It's amazing to me that the best praise anyone has given is that MFT doesn't suck as much as some other touch screen systems. Or that you don't really need to use it because you can set things to auto mode. Nobody has yet said that MFT/SYNC or any touch screen in general is an improvement over normal switches and buttons. I find that significant. Yes, you can say that it works okay or that you can work around its shortcomings but personally I prefer functionality over glitz. And one of the things I've learned in over 35 years in the technology business is that technology for its own sake is not a good thing - if a new technology does not provide an improvement over the existing practice, don't buy it (like "cloud computing").

[akirby]

The improvement for touch screens is not from a usability perspective. The improvement is that you no longer need to build dedicated push buttons. You can change the options, screen layout, number of buttons, etc. with a simple software change. That gives the engineers ultimate flexibility to add new features or make improvements.

 

The funny thing is touch screens have been around for over a decade. My 2003 Aviator had a touch screen navigation and radio interface. Nobody was complaining about them back then.

[PaulSchott]

I remember my brother-in-law's blazer with a digital readout dash. You needed to stare and read the speedometer instead of just glancing at the needle position. The early 90's Buick Reatta had a green CRT display that controlled the heating functions and radio. It was a disaster. The electronics have improved but the functionality still sucks. Why go through a menu when I can just turn a knob on my manual air-conditioning. I don't need to set the exact temperature of 72 degrees when I can set the knob to a known position that feels comfortable. I like gadgets and pretty shiny things that make my life easier and let me concentrate on driving and not playing video games. Let me know when speech recognition gets to the point that it actually understands English and calls the person that I told it to. Wow Now I Feel Better

[akirby]

Mine works fine. I prefer to set things and forget about them. Auto temp. Auto wipers. Auto high beams. Keyless entry. Love it.

 

You just have to be willing to do things the way the vehicle wants you to do them.

 

I do appreciate simple things so I understand that, too.

[roadkill401]

- if a new technology does not provide an improvement over the existing practice, don't buy it (like "cloud computing").

 

But the MFT does offer many improvements over past technology.

 

On the radio, I now have my radio pre-sets channel number infront of me, so I know what button means what.

But I also now gain a screen that tells me what is playing on my media device (ipod) when plugged in. Far better than that hooking up through a radio station input that I had to use on my Explorer.

 

But most of all, think of all the functions that the MFT does. Now try and put ALL of these into an individual dedicated device and fit it into the same space on the dash. You may never use the Nav system, but I sure do. I may not need to set the temp all the time, but when I need to change the temp's or manual over-ride where it's coming from, then there are a whole bunch of buttons that would be needed. Then you put the radio there. Give yourself all that function. Oh. What about the reverse sensors and a screen for that. BTW, your cell phone. Can't use that while driving, so unless you tie that into a fixed interface on the car, guess you can't use it at all.

 

I think it does a far better job when you look at it in a total package. Yes I could get a better sound system, but would I want to give up the rest just to get it.

[TheWizard]

No, you're missing my point. I'm not referring to functions that by their very nature require a screen (navigation, backup camera, etc.). And I'm not referring to functions that aren't used all the time such pairing your bluetooth phone and similar things. I'm talking about basic functions that we use regularly such as selecting an audio source, tuning a radio station, or changing temperature/fan speed/air flow direction.

 

By comparison, here is my Mustang (SYNC and navigation but no MFT):

 

Notice how I can select radio or media, change volume, select a preset station, tune a radio station, turn heated seats on/off, adjust left/right temperature, set fan speed, and control the front and rear defroster with real buttons that provide tactile feedback and in many cases don't require taking my eyes off the road at all or at most for just a second. (BTW, the new 2015 Mustang due out soon has even more real switches than mine)

 

As far as the radio display, any current $100 aftermarket single DIN head unit can display title and artist these days - that is not the domain of MFT by any means. And my cell phone has nothing to do with the touch screen - once it's been paired, I can answer and hang up with the steering wheel buttons. Oh, and I have real gauges that I can see all the time without switching screens.

 

My last car had a nice Kenwood double DIN navigation head unit with bluetooth and all the other goodies but it wasn't necessary to control the car's functions. I'm merely pointing out that in terms of actual functionality, MFT is more about impressing people in the showroom than actually getting the job of daily driving done. I have yet to see anybody here who has ever said that they use it regularly (not just set and forget) and still like it better than real switches.

[akirby]

Some buttons are better for frequently used items that aren't easily accessed from the steering wheel. Ford is changing this now.

 

If you have auto climate control but insist on controlling it manually then you won't like MFT. It's not designed to work that way. It's only designed for occasional use of detailed climate control functions.

 

If you try to browse music or phone numbers manually instead of using voice commands - you won't like it.

 

If you use it the way Ford intended it to be used - it works great.

[roadkill401]

If you understand the function of the human eye, you would not be so quick to say that the mustang console you pictured can be used without taking your eyes off the road. You really have only a very small band of actual visual perception, and your brain works really fast to scan all sorts of directions to see the total area that your field of view perceives. But to say that you can simply reach your hand down to the side of you and click on the PreSet#2 button without even glancing down, you must be spending quite a bit of time changing ratio stations to spatially memorize where that is. I would think more than not, if you were doing this without looking, you'd be turning on the front defrosters or just doing a blind stab at some station, or more likely, feeling around to get your orientation where you mind now is not on driving but on figuring out where your hand really is as your forcing your eyes to stay looking at the road even though you are not really seeing what you are looking at.

 

You would be correct to say that you can do a quick dart look to see what you are pushing and back to the road, and having an easy menu will make it quite quick. But I can with a simple flick of my thumb on the search button on the stearing wheel, scroll though the top 6 picks that I have programmed on the radio as the controls are right there on the edge steering wheel. Like the volume control is too. So why I need a redundant set of buttons on the console is beyond me. But the sony version I thought does have them.

 

I will give you the side that having a better set of climate controls would have been nice, but to be quite honest, I have only ever needed to adjust them a few times as the auto settings do the job quite well. I do sometimes reach down to toggle the A/C mode as I find having it on too much for me induces a migraine headache so I can toggle that if needed, but I have not had the vehicle long enough to take the long summer drive up to cottage country and get the full effect of the auto climate to see if it was as brutal on my head as my manual controls on the escape.

 

Perhaps I am a different person who doesn't do long haul driving where I would want to change media multiple times while driving over a long period. Each their own. But I do stand to say that the MFT does offer far more versatility in a single package that could not be offered if every component was separate. I personally like having all the function in one spot without the clutter.

[TheWizard]

Really, Doctor? I have my most common two radio stations on buttons 1 and 5 which are right next to the volume knob which I can certainly reach without looking. Radio vs. USB media are the two buttons immediately to the left of the volume knob so I can switch between those two without looking. The left temp is a concave rocker so it is easy to recognize by touch. The heated seat is directly above my radar detector (or next to the temp rocker). Seek and volume are on the steering wheel (real buttons) although I still use the volume knob almost exclusively rather than the steering wheel button because it gives more granular control.

 

Granted, less used functions require a quick glance (fan speed, defrost, etc.) but one glance and pressing a button is still less distracting than a glance at a menu or touch screen, then again to see the selection you made, then possibly again if you need to go deeper in the menus. Unless you memorize that you have to press left once, up twice, right once (or whatever)... you are looking at the menu screen. And even if you did memorize those selections, they only work if you always start at the same screen.

[roadkill401]

Well wizard, you obviously like driving your mustang that much as have all your buttons in any easy to reach place, then why don't you just sell your Edge as you make it sound like in your mind it's just a piece of crap to you as it doens't have buttons where you want them. With your sale windfall you can go and buy yourself a second mustang as it's just a better car for you. Problem solved.

 

For the rest of us in the real world, we can just go about actually driving and enjoying our edge. As I can't speak for the rest of the people here, but I generally get into my car as I am going some place, and having a radio or usb music is there as a pleasant bonus, not the reason for being there.. If it takes that 3-4 seconds more to change channel then so be it. It won't make or break my day either way.

[akirby]

Some people just don't like touchscreens. I'd be willing to bet in the real world even the people who say they don't take their eyes off the road actually do a quick glance and maybe don't even realize it.

 

If you had to use the touchscreen menus while driving I would agree - but you don't.

 

Having buttons for climate control gives you the best of both worlds.

[TheWizard]

Well wizard, you obviously like driving your mustang that much as have all your buttons in any easy to reach place, then why don't you just sell your Edge as you make it sound like in your mind it's just a piece of crap to you as it doens't have buttons where you want them. With your sale windfall you can go and buy yourself a second mustang as it's just a better car for you. Problem solved.

 

For the rest of us in the real world, we can just go about actually driving and enjoying our edge. As I can't speak for the rest of the people here, but I generally get into my car as I am going some place, and having a radio or usb music is there as a pleasant bonus, not the reason for being there.. If it takes that 3-4 seconds more to change channel then so be it. It won't make or break my day either way.

 

Wow... that's quite a leap. Just because I don't like everything in the Edge doesn't mean I want to get rid of it. Yes, I enjoy driving my Mustang. I drive the Edge because it is practical and comfortable (and my wife likes it), but certainly not for the fun of driving it. It's a people mover not a sports or performance vehicle... it gets you from one place to another - in many ways better than most of its competition but it's not perfect and it's not what I would call entertaining by any stretch of the imagination.

 

My point is that the touch screen is not the best way to handle common controls and that other vehicles from the same manufacturer are better designed ergonomically. I am not alone in this - Ford has announced that it is redesigning new models due to customer complaints about MFT. MFT is not enough to make us want to ditch the Edge although it is enough to make us think twice about buying another one if Ford doesn't improve the driver interface. And although music is obviously not the primary reason for being in the Edge, I would not be driving any purely practical vehicle without music.

 

I have nothing against touch screens per se (my phone and tablet are both touch screen) and it is very useful for things like navigation and setting vehicle options. It's just not appropriate for everyday function control.

[akirby]

It's just not appropriate for everyday function control.

 

It's also not really necessary for everyday function control while driving as I tried to point out.

[TheWizard]

 

It's also not really necessary for everyday function control while driving as I tried to point out.

 

That's true to a certain extent. If voice commands worked properly and consistently, I would use them more often. As it is, I have only been able to get it to respond consistently to perhaps a half dozen voice commands. Sometimes it seems to be programmed for planned disobedience and I half expect one day I will say "call home" and it will respond "deploying airbags". I have discovered that someone at Microsoft had a sense of humor because dropping an f-bomb works the same as saying "cancel". (I'm sure you will recognize how I discovered that)

 

Seriously though, voice commands have one big disadvantage even when they work - if I have people in the car, I don't want to have to tell them to shut up just so that I can say a command to SYNC.

[akirby]

I don't like using voice commands with others in the car, either. But that's only really necessary to place a call or play a specific artist, track or playlist. Everything else can be done via steering wheel or a simple button press.

[PaulSchott]

Just a quick question. Does MFT interface with IPhone menu control for music control? I just have an aux input on my 2007 and was curious to see if Microsoft was willing to make life easier on Apple stuff users instead of more difficult as in the past. I bet if you could buy a Zune it would interface.

[akirby]

Not sure what you're asking. If you're asking whether MFT controls music playback on iphones - yes. But it's all done through MFT not the iphone and it's not specific to iphones. You get access to songs by album, genre, title and artist and playlists including album art, stop and start and info displayed on the mft screen.