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Test Drove a Bronco Sport
- Thread starter lwilliams34
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- #17
...in a world where web sites and phone interfaces change at the drop of a hat.
I get it, but if you can't figure out a simple set-it-and-forget-it auto trans dial interface as opposed to a lever interface, it's pretty certain you shouldn't be piloting 7000 pounds of metal at 70mph in traffic with other people.
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- #18
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- #19
I agree, I don't use the paddles on my GTI. If I want manual mode, I will move the lever over and then up and down for upshift and downshift.
Let me see now, that's been all of...three times in the last 7 years I've owned it.
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I work in IT and yeah there are loads of good and not so good software interfaces and implementations. They are not all equal regardless if they do the same thing on the backend, you got to wonder what some software front end guys are thinking.
People can figure out how to use the dial, yet they still might prefer and find the lever more intuitive. Like I said earlier, we will see what the market decides.
Currently some of the more funky shifting interfaces are causing issues with older drivers, and that's something that should have been caught in design and UAT by the auto makers, particularly those with a larger aging customer base.
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- #21
Honestly.. it's not about whether it works.. it just not "right" and it's not cool....
Can you imagine the opening scene of Max Max Fury Road where Furiosa gets in the WAR truck and turns a dial to put it in gear? LOL
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- #22
And don't think I don't understand where you're coming from. I've had Samsung phones for years, I'm older, and at this point I don't WANT to get a different phone and poke around and find new things and/or old things in new places. I did that in my twenties; I don't care anymore. Samsung has my business to the end of time, as far as I'm concerned, as long as I can move my cheese from the old phone to the new phone and it's all there in the same place and it all works.
(And I say that as a Mac guy from 1988, who never ever not once considered jumping into the i-world...)
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- #23
Oh, there's no disputing that.
But in the scheme of things, changing the "set it one time, forget it until you put it back into park" auto trans interface is the absolute least of their concerns. It's the damned screens they should be pulling back on if they're concerned about the aging customer base.
And frankly, from a UI standpoint (I have somewhat of a background in psychology), screens suck for cars. But people don't understand nuance. "Screen good for phone, must be good for everything!!" We treat things as all-or-nothing, and more-is-better. No, only better is better, and "better" depends on the context...
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- #24
The remake will have exactly that. Or else she'll pull out her phone and pull up an app.
Mark my words. Pander to your audience.
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Faux-Steelies are IMO the best wheel option on the Sport....
To really get the full feature set including the larger engine you would have to scale up to the top end Badlands trim which gets you in full Bronco territory price wise.
...
The pricing is wonky to me. As you alluded to that the sticker of a Badlands Sport gets you into a nicely optioned Bronco.
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The shift lever in the full size bronco is.
I’d much rather have that than a dumb dial that makes it ridiculously hard to get into/stay into neutral if you need it to.
No “off-road” inspired vehicle should have the full electronic cable-less shift dial.
The worse part is my Lexus uses a knob in the same location as my Sport does for shift mechanism. Fortunately, I haven’t tried to change the radio station that way in the Sport. I do try pushing in the clutch when I hit the start button though!The lever is "superior" in the sense that it's a commonly used interface understood and familiar to many people. Doesn't matter if same thing happens under the hood, the interfaces are different, and interfaces absolutely matter in terms of human interaction.
Ford could put a joystick in place of a steering wheel for turning control, hey it's all fly by wire turning the vehicle so what does it matter?We will see over time how the dials and other new shifting interfaces pan out in actual usage.
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- #29
About 7 years ago my wife's ankle screwed up and she could no longer drive manuals. So to get a fun car we could both enjoy, I got the GTI with the DSG. Prior to that, we had manuals.
I can't tell you how long it took for me NOT to slam my left foot against the floor when starting the car...
And now her fun car--by her choice--is a Bronco. Life changes, roll with it.
Luckily we have choices in life. I purchased a 2021 Bronco Sport Big Bend as an interim vehicle until my ordered full size Bronco came in, which I thought would be 2 years. It worked well for me, I liked it and thought it was fun to drive. My full size order came in about 9 months later, at least a whole year earlier than I expected. I wanted to keep both, but at that time I couldn't afford it, so actually traded the Sport in for my full size. It served it's purpose and bridged a gap. Actually hated to see it go.
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