Needing to feel nipples? Tactile cues.

[Nick72]

Click bait post I'm sorry.

Seriously though, the buttons for heated steering wheel, auto high beam assist, pan camera and the fuel filler cap etc are out of visual line of light. This is human factors 101 stuff Toyota has got wrong, particularly for functions you may want to use whilst driving like the pan view monitor, auto high beam, heated steering wheel etc.  Depending on what widgets your car comes with of course. 

Anyways, in usual fashion as I find myself during most minutes of every single day, I'm fixing the poor engineering issues myself with some stick on clear nipples of different shapes and sizes. No need to look, just feel the nipples. 

So I've stuck these on to all that is out of sight. Lower risk, straight to the switch in question. Muscle memory develops.

 

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Maybe I've gone too far!? Anyways, it's working for me. No need to take eyes off the road **** down to see hidden switches. Now, these would actually be useful hey Toyota voice commands!

Take the hints Toyota! It's not rocket science. 

[Nick72]

No idea why it turned whatever that word was into ****. FFS. 

[Kos_ta]

Positioning of said buttons is obviously crap, but how often do you need to use them while driving? You switch on steering wheel and wipers heaters first thing after starting the car in cold weather, right? Auto main beam can be always on (I keep it switched on all the time), doesn't do any harm. You won't be able to open the boot door whilst driving anyway, that's another one out. And camera button only needed while you parking the car or going through tight spaces, in both cases your speed would be extremely low. 

And fuel flap doesn't need to be opened whilst driving at all 😂. 

So it's not that big of trouble IMO 😉. 

[ColinB]

I agree with Nick, the position of the switches to the right of the steering wheel is rubbish. I don't like keeping the heated steering wheel on for more than a few minutes, so turn it off. I also switch the 360 cam in when turning into a right space, at the moment I'm building up my muscle memory. 

[Cyker]

It's the form-over-function disease that's infected the whole auto-industry. I'm just glad they haven't yet gotten to the point they're wasting money on soft-touch plastics and contrast stitching while putting in cheap crappy bolts and hoses instead of high quality ones.

It's one of the things I much prefer about my Mk1 Yaris - While I'm very grateful the Mk4 *has* physical controls, they are nowhere near as tactile and easy to use as the ones in the Mk1 - Most of the HVAC controls are small and identical buttons that require a glance.

The Mk1 had big chunky buttons and dials and things like rockers often had a bump for up/increase and a dimple for down/reduce which made them much easier to use 'blind'.

A lot of this is the fault of automotive reviewers, who brand that sort of thing 'Very 80's/old fashioned' as if that's a bad thing, while extolling how pretty the useless touchscreen and aesthetically pleasing row of tiny identical buttons are.

I want to shout "Well Go Drive a ***ing Art Gallery then!" at a lot of them.  

 

It's partly why there's such an anti-Toyota bias in the automotive press, as they still put in the quality components at the expense of the 'useless' surface stuff, but the reviewers never take that into account.

It's very easy to make a car look and feel nice to impress the vacuous reviewers, but much harder to do that and keep cost parity while also using high-quality components.

That's why on the surface Toyotas seem expensive for what you get on paper, because most of the budget went into the bits that do all the work that nobody thinks about.

[Rhymes with Paris]

Aye, it's good for me to have things either on or off, like the MK1 does.

No slidey finger thing on a smeared screen.

[Nick72]

1 hour ago, Kos_ta said:

Positioning of said buttons is obviously crap, but how often do you need to use them while driving? You switch on steering wheel and wipers heaters first thing after starting the car in cold weather, right? Auto main beam can be always on (I keep it switched on all the time), doesn't do any harm. You won't be able to open the boot door whilst driving anyway, that's another one out. And camera button only needed while you parking the car or going through tight spaces, in both cases your speed would be extremely low. 

And fuel flap doesn't need to be opened whilst driving at all 😂. 

So it's not that big of trouble IMO 😉. 

Depends on use case. And if you remember to do things like put the heated steering on. As for pan camera when I'm up in the mountains and around narrow lake roads the need to press the pan camera button is high for me. 

[PeteChat]

My Design doesn’t have all those posh bits, but the cruise control/speed limiter controls are really confusing! Why can’t they just put simple buttons on the steering wheel instead of making you scroll through options on the screen? More than once I have put the limiter function on while trying to engage cruise control, which makes the car rapidly decelerate. Very dangerous and once I almost got rear ended by the shocked following car 😡 You also cannot alter the set speed without engaging cruise, so if it was last set at 70 and you are in a 50 you have to be sharp with the button.

[ernieb]

Agree some of the key switches on the steering wheel are a pain especially with  even thin gloves on (not having a heated steering wheel). Set cruise control/reset/cruise control on-off etc. I hate the fact that I have to look away from the road to find some of the switches. Yes, there is muscle memory but they are small and not easy to differentiate.

[GBgraham]

11 hours ago, ColinB said:

I agree with Nick, the position of the switches to the right of the steering wheel is rubbish. I don't like keeping the heated steering wheel on for more than a few minutes, so turn it off. I also switch the 360 cam in when turning into a right space, at the moment I'm building up my muscle memory. 

Believe me the positioning on the left hand side of the wheel isn't any better 

[philip42h]

You 4.5 drivers don't know that you are born - on the 4.4, Toyota hid switches under a lip on the dash so that they could even be seen! 😄

• My heated steering wheel goes on some time in November and off again at the end of winter. The heating is thermostatically controlled so switches itself on and off as needed. (I agree, it seems to get a bit warm before it switches off but just leave it for another minute or two ...)
• I pretty much only ever switch PVM on when stationary so a downward glance isn't an issue.
• I probably still prefer the "cruise control on stalk" implementation, but the steering wheel control switches are fine - and they are clearly visible on the steering wheel, so a quick downward glance is all that is required - and you never need to get to them in an emergency (your right foot deals with that by hitting the accelerator or brake).

Yes, the layout could be better, but Toyota has to give us something to complain about! 😉 

[WJM78]

Not sure if helpful, but when using the 360cam, in the settings there is an option to make it always show when slowing down below say 5mph, so on any dodgy turns, you should be able to see this everytime without the need to keep pressing the button. (Next time you use the button, in the right hand side, there should be an icon in roughly the middle, that kinda looks like a wing mirror - click it to automate at slow speeds).

[Nick72]

3 hours ago, WJM78 said:

Not sure if helpful, but when using the 360cam, in the settings there is an option to make it always show when slowing down below say 5mph, so on any dodgy turns, you should be able to see this everytime without the need to keep pressing the button. (Next time you use the button, in the right hand side, there should be an icon in roughly the middle, that kinda looks like a wing mirror - click it to automate at slow speeds).

Thanks. Yes done that and it's useful but I also find it problematic like slowing to a junction or roundabout whilst navigating since I can now no longer see nor recall where it wanted me to go. I've got it on the driver's display in terms of next turn but that isn't quite as good as Waze or Gmaps. I'd therefore like to turn it on exactly when I want it on but without ducking down to find the right button. If I quickly can feel for the bobble I've got it. 🙂

[Nick72]

Added nipples. Which incidentally, Toyota have already done on some switches like the lock all doors button. 

With hindsight I should have put the stick on nipple on the unused switch in the middle.🤷

[Nick72]

Ok it works well. Finger straight toot no looking necessary.

[Primus1]

They should have dimples in braille on all the switches for the blind drivers….they do on Audi,s…

[Paul john]

1 minute ago, Primus1 said:

They should have dimples in braille on all the switches for the blind drivers….they do on Audi,s…

Why would someone who is blind be driving?
Surely that would scare the bejesus out of their dog…

[Primus1]

Just now, Paul john said:

Why would someone who is blind be driving?
Surely that would scare the bejesus out of their dog…

No, the dogs are trained to bark directions to the driver..

[Nick72]

I do think there's a cross over in techniques used for the visually impaired. I prefer visual tactile cues on kit including cars. If the function on a button is completely different then make the button or switch completely different and put dimples, nipples, etc on it and give it a different colour. Occasionally I do still get the cruise controls and audio controls mixed up on the steering wheel.