Collected my car today

[kithmo]

2 hours ago, Ten Ninety said:

Oh for the days of a physical slider that did as it was told, stayed where you put it and didn't need electronic customisation!

 +1. When I traded my manually heated Mk1 Mondeo for a 2001 Mk3 with climate control I thought the thing was broken. It kept blowing too cold then too hot the control was all over the place, I had it reprogrammed under warranty, which improved things very little. The only thing better about it was AC, which the Mk1 didn't have. I had a later 2005 Mk3 which was a lot better, but still not as controllable as the Manually heated Mk1.

[Joseph D]

One thing to remember about the Climate Control, is that you get best effect when all vents are open.

You should also ensure that all vents are not directed toward the driver or passenger.

I make sure my centre vents are directed upwards and straight ahead (through the gap between the seats) and the side ones upwards and directed to the gap between the seat and the pillar.

I then just use the temperature control on the steering wheel to make adjustments. I generally aim for a setting between 18ºC and 22ºC If it is getting too warm, 0.5ºC down, if it is too cool, 0.5ºC up. I very seldom have to be adjusting it. I also only use the the temperature as a reference point, in that if it is 22º I don't expect that the car will actually be 22º, but rather somewhere in that vicinity.

When using the Climate Control, A/C is always on, Recirc on (except for clearing the windscreen on cold mornings – not often here), and AUTO on. Never have problems with it and never have to fuss with it. I control it solely using the On/Off and Temp Up/Temp Down buttons on the steering wheel. I get (on average) 61 MPG (UK) or 4.6 L/100 km, so doesn't affect FE.

[PeteB]

15 hours ago, Ten Ninety said:

...Oh for the days of a physical slider that did as it was told, stayed where you put it and didn't need electronic customisation!

and rotary knobs for the infotainment!

The Gen 3 had these, and they were great.  Right one for push audio on/off, rotate for volume.  Left one for changing channel, track, or moving up/down lists.  Quick and easy, find them without looking.  If a music track starts and is much louder than the last one, easy to fix quickly.

The Gen 4 has up/down and left/right symbols built into the sides of the centre MFD.  They are invisible when the car is off, lit blue when on or in accessory mode.  They are completely flush with the surround, so you can't feel them at all.  They need multiple taps or continuous touch to make more than a tiny change, and you have to look down to locate them.  Trying to take your eyes back to the traffic while moving and then going over a bump can dislodge the finger.

There's an awful lot I love about the myriad of improvements to the Gen 4, but this one is not progress.

[kithmo]

9 hours ago, PeteB said:

and rotary knobs for the infotainment!

The Gen 3 had these, and they were great.  Right one for push audio on/off, rotate for volume.  Left one for changing channel, track, or moving up/down lists.  Quick and easy, find them without looking.  If a music track starts and is much louder than the last one, easy to fix quickly.

The Gen 4 has up/down and left/right symbols built into the sides of the centre MFD.  They are invisible when the car is off, lit blue when on or in accessory mode.  They are completely flush with the surround, so you can't feel them at all.  They need multiple taps or continuous touch to make more than a tiny change, and you have to look down to locate them.  Trying to take your eyes back to the traffic while moving and then going over a bump can dislodge the finger.

There's an awful lot I love about the myriad of improvements to the Gen 4, but this one is not progress.

The up, down, left and right arrows are duplicated on the steering wheel.

[PeteB]

2 minutes ago, kithmo said:

The up, down, left and right arrows are duplicated on the steering wheel.

They are, but you can have to hold them for some time for larger changes, and if stopped in a queue on a bend they can be upside down or some odd angle.

I just think that for the controls on the console, I've seen nothing works better than the physical rotary knobs.

[RelaxedDrive]

Doesn't the American version of the 4th gen prius have two rotary knobs instead of touch controls?  I wonder why they think only certain parts of the world prefer knobs!

In my gen2 I use both steering wheel controls and the rotary knobs, as the latter are much quicker in certain circumstances.

[kithmo]

Personally I think there are too many knobs in cars already 

 

[PeteB]

4 hours ago, RelaxedDrive said:

Doesn't the American version of the 4th gen prius have two rotary knobs instead of touch controls?  I wonder why they think only certain parts of the world prefer knobs!...

I've never understood the logic to what Toyota supply in some countries and not others!

For example, by the mid 1980s, I was certain I'd never have to drive a car again that didn't have heated mirrors.  I was wrong!  Gen 1, 2 and pre face-lift 3 Prius (and many other Toyotas) didn't have them until 6-8 years ago.  I sorely missed them when my mirrors fogged up (as they frequently did on the M1 early morning from October to March).  On my Gen 1s all I could do was to put the rear-screen heater on and wait a long time for that to clear outside mist as the original Prius was a saloon with no rear wiper.

Prius sold in Portugal, among other places, did have heated mirrors but I understand they were almost never, ever used!

On the Gen 4, I notice that interior pictures of US models that I've seen have only one heater temperature control for both sides, whereas we get a separate control for passenger and driver, something I sometimes appreciate when a passenger likes more heat than I do.

[PeteB]

4 hours ago, kithmo said:

Personally I think there are too many knobs in cars already 

and some have too many dipsticks!  

[Heidfirst]

2 hours ago, PeteB said:

I've never understood the logic to what Toyota supply in some countries and not others!

For example, by the mid 1980s, I was certain I'd never have to drive a car again that didn't have heated mirrors.  I was wrong!  Gen 1, 2 and pre face-lift 3 Prius (and many other Toyotas) didn't have them until 6-8 years ago.  I sorely missed them when my mirrors fogged up (as they frequently did on the M1 early morning from October to March).  On my Gen 1s all I could do was to put the rear-screen heater on and wait a long time for that to clear outside mist as the original Prius was a saloon with no rear wiper.

Prius sold in Portugal, among other places, did have heated mirrors but I understand they were almost never, ever used!

On the Gen 4, I notice that interior pictures of US models that I've seen have only one heater temperature control for both sides, whereas we get a separate control for passenger and driver, something I sometimes appreciate when a passenger likes more heat than I do.

The specs are usually set by the local subsidiary/importing company & is usually led by marketing dept. (often to try to get you to upgrade a trim level to get 1 feature).

re. knobs -  on US & European Toyotas have very different head units for infotainment presumably due to differences in local broadcasting systems (US have Entune, we have Touch). Having said that my Avensis has knobs for both heating & vol./tuning (& I agree that for some things you can't improve on them imo).

[kithmo]

The one thing I miss most going from Ford to Toyota in 2010 is the heated front screen. Frosted windscreen was clear in 30 seconds on the Mondeo, now on the Prius with the front demister it takes at least 10 minutes when the screen is frozen, first to clear the frost, then to demist. I don't understand why Toyota don't fit a heated screen, Ford's patent on it ran out about 10 years ago.

[PeteB]

48 minutes ago, kithmo said:

The one thing I miss most going from Ford to Toyota in 2010 is the heated front screen...

Yes, it's certainly something I'd love to have.  To be fair, very few manufacturers fit them (even as extras) other than Ford.  I think I read somewhere that it was a particular design they used to have a patent for.  Some Land Rover cars have them, apparently some Minis and VWs.

I had a longish rental of a Ford Orion many years ago which had it, and it was the only thing I liked about the car.

I also thought that once the patent expired there would be a rush from other makes to offer them, but not so.

[danowat]

Volvo have them, i had a mondeo with one, and tbh i found the slight shimmering effect a bit distracting. 

[Heidfirst]

2 hours ago, danowat said:

Volvo have them, i had a mondeo with one, and tbh i found the slight shimmering effect a bit distracting. 

probably as a legacy of when they were owned by Ford (same for Jaguar/Land Rover)?

I had one on a Mondeo & yes it was very good in Winter but you could definitely see it under certain conditions.

[kithmo]

13 hours ago, danowat said:

Volvo have them, i had a mondeo with one, and tbh i found the slight shimmering effect a bit distracting. 

I could also see the elements in the screen with the Mk3 Mondeo until I got my eyes tested and got some long sight (for driving) glasses, then the focus of the glasses was outside the screen and I couldn't see the elements (when had a Mk4 I didn't notice them with or without glasses).