Physical Buttons Make Comeback on Mazda Steering Wheels as Company Adopts First Touchscreen (thedrive.com) 50
Mazda is redesigning the steering wheel controls in its new CX-5 to address potential safety concerns from its shift to touchscreen-based infotainment systems. The Japanese automaker developed what it calls "an all new steering wheel layout with physical buttons" that allow drivers to control critical vehicle functions without taking their hands off the wheel. Stefan Meisterfeld, Mazda's U.S. VP of operations, said the new steering wheel design goes beyond simple redundant shortcuts.
The company is pairing the enhanced steering wheel controls with Google Assistant voice commands and a 15.6-inch central touchscreen that now houses audio and climate controls previously operated by physical dashboard buttons. Mazda had been the sole mainstream holdout against touchscreen infotainment systems, relying instead on a console-mounted dial. The steering wheel redesign represents the company's attempt to maintain its "hands on the wheel, eyes on the road" safety philosophy while adopting touchscreen technology that customer research indicated buyers wanted.
The company is pairing the enhanced steering wheel controls with Google Assistant voice commands and a 15.6-inch central touchscreen that now houses audio and climate controls previously operated by physical dashboard buttons. Mazda had been the sole mainstream holdout against touchscreen infotainment systems, relying instead on a console-mounted dial. The steering wheel redesign represents the company's attempt to maintain its "hands on the wheel, eyes on the road" safety philosophy while adopting touchscreen technology that customer research indicated buyers wanted.
Sounds great except the touch screen (Score:2)
I didn't know Mazda didn't yet have any touch screens before. Had I known I probably would have looked at some of their vehicles.
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Re: Sounds great except the touch screen (Score:2)
Apple CarPlay and Google auto are atrocious on Mazda screens. Try to zoom in and zoom out, your eyes are down on the screen instead of out on the road. At least with touch screen I can blindly stab until I see the zoom changing in my periphery.
Within the last 2-3 years they changed the Menu functionality, prior to that you had to use that silly knob to back out and get to another menu. Very very very difficult to change radio stations and then get back to the map for instance. They made it slightly better
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I want physical controls...the ones on the central console of the old days worked great, I could do most everything by feel or if I had to look...1-2 second glance.....
I don't want a fucking ipad to control everything when I'm driving a car, especially at higher speeds...
Who wants that... (Score:2)
touchscreen technology that customer research indicated buyers wanted.
Who are the people wanting this? Maybe I am strange here, but hoping that Slate's upcoming offering that doesn't even have an infotainment system [slate.auto] just a holder for a tablet and then physical climate controls works out.
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They want a touch screen because you need at least some touch screen to do Apple CarPlay or Android Auto or other similar ecosystem applications.
For example, a touchscreen is nearly a requirement for decent GPS UI. There are applications where the multitouch gestures are hard to beat for the UI.
Problem is the industry struggles with the concept of "touch screen for *some* things, but not everything". So you get things like "here's the touchscreen you wanted, *including* replacing those HVAC hard controls
Re: Who wants that... (Score:2)
I am very fond of BMWs interface. It is very smooth and intuitive. I very much like the gesture pads on audi and Mercedes. It is very nice to just write what you want and it figures it out. Benz has the best cursive handwriting detection I have ever seen in a car.
That said, we are in the future. We shouldnâ(TM)t be interacting with screens anymore. We should be telling the car what we want and it figures it out.
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At least as of the 2022 model, that was still alive, just concurrent with the touch interface.
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https://www.roadandtrack.com/n... [roadandtrack.com]
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That said, we are in the future. We shouldnâ(TM)t be interacting with screens anymore. We should be telling the car what we want and it figures it out.
I'm not so sure about this, this has been one area where the 'natural language' interfaces sometimes lose a lot. For example, if you are trying to review a map on your display, just nothing beats being able to fling it around, twist it, and zoom it with your fingers. For a lot of adjustments, it's nice having the full range so you can zip it straight to where you want without having to audibly describe where you want. And of course hard controls for adjustments and instant reactions, like 'shut the music
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Even with Natural Language (we are not there IMO) interactions it's still easier, faster, and arguably less distracting to turn a knob 2 clicks and make the AC blow harder. Basic interaction works best with basic (physical) controls you can manipulate by feel and never look away from the road.
Semi-complex interaction, like asking GPS for a gas station along your route in the next 20 miles is a decent use case. A human would probably pick a better option, but this falls under 'close enough' and can be fast
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My car has a 15 inch touchscreen that can just be a projection of my phone's interface fixed in a supremely convenient location and nice and huge.
I'm with you on leaning too much on the built-in hardware which will age like milk compared to the expected lifetime of the car, which is why things like Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are so useful to get the interface benefits of the built in, but with the core software and hardware capable of being modular.
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...you need at least some touch screen to do Apple CarPlay or Android Auto...
If so, then they must be very uncommonly used functions (at least in Apple CarPlay).
My wife and I have a 2025 Mazda CX-5. It has physical buttons on the steering wheel, physical HVAC controls, a physical volume knob, no touch screen, and a large knob that I use to control CarPlay with no apparent loss of functionality. It all works really well, though the HVAC buttons are sometimes a little too small, uniform, and down low on the console to use confidently at a glance.
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I have one of those knob controls for the phone interface and it's good for most things, but if you want to generally peruse the broader map around your route touching is nicer since you can zoo easily rotate, scroll, and zoom. I frequently do that when I'm setting out, request a route, then fiddle with it a bit to understand the route before actually starting the drive, having it zoom out to show me the big route and then I pinch to zoom in on any interesting looking turns so I know what's coming/decide i
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The manufacturers want it. Multiple physical buttons are (apparently) expensive in the context of all the added wiring, etc. vs a single touch-screen that can 'do it all'.
BUT with all the focus on distracted driving the last decade or two, it seems awfully counter-productive to make people look at a screen to find the buttons to adjust climate control. In many ways, it's easier to hold your phone up and thumb thru things (so the road is still in center-view instead of hiding it in your lap like people do
Google Assistant (Score:2)
No touch screen, no purchase (Score:2, Interesting)
Mazda was at the top of our list when we were buying a car in 2023.
Lack of touch screen for use with Apple CarPlay was why we bought a Honda instead.
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Yeah. I had been hot to buy a Mazda for years. Unfortunately, no useful Apple Car Play, no sale for me.
Glad you found what you were looking for.
TFA says they phasing it out (Score:3)
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So does the 2025 Ariya I just bought. Although the HVAC controls are capacitive- they have fixed positions, molded icons, backlit with color change for function, and with haptic feedback (although that lags a bit). Same with the drive mode, camera selection, and several other things- none are exclusively on the touchscreen. Although you can get to most ON the touchscreen as well.
Seats, position memory, wheel position, mirrors, lights, turn, wipers, cruise, locks, windows, liftgate, moonroof, roof shade,
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Touch screens have their place, e.g. for navigation where you wouldn't want a full QWERTY keyboard on your dashboard. The issue is, as you say, putting commonly used stuff that you want to adjust while driving on there.
One interesting half way option is to have a knob that can control stuff on the screen, allowing you to do some actions with haptic feedback and something to rest your hand on. A couple of the German manufacturers have those, and I thought Mazda did but maybe it was someone else.
Also touch bu
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Touch screens have their place,
Absolutely. I am not against touch screens in general, I am against them for any function that I need to do while driving.
Also touch buttons on steering wheels are incredibly stupid, which is probably why Tesla did them.
I would never buy Tesla because of controls (and the fact that it cannot be easily disconnected).
Fuck no! (Score:1)
FTA:
“[It] will be powered by Google built-in technology. So we have Google Maps natively integrated, we have access to the Google Play Store. The Google Assistant will enhance the voice control."
If that shit can't be disabled out of the gate, then this is a hard "NO". Totally aside from the spying aspect of this - and the potential advertising problem as well - I will never buy a car that requires an internet connection for basic functionality.
Sadly, millions of (mostly unwitting) traitors to humani
It's a start, but ... (Score:3)
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Don't forget spark advance and a hand crank.
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and a hand crank
Got it [youtube.com].
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Dumbass. It isn't about clinging on to old technology. It is about usability. Having a choke knob reduces usability as those matters can be handled invisibly without your intervention. The climate control can not be handled invisibly. My car has "automatic" climate control and it is pretty damned good; however, it is also nowhere near perfect. I still need to fiddle with it from time to time... and, I have actual knobs and dials to do it with, so the lack of perfection is not so annoying.
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A choke knob is an excellent anti-theft measure.
Touch screens are dumb. (Score:4, Interesting)
They save the company a ton of money - one touch screen can duplicate 10, 20 30 or more gauges.
But when the touch screen breaks, you lose everything rather than just the rpm.
They distract drivers, and create a ton of safety concerns, hence the 'return' to physical buttons.
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>"They save the company a ton of money - one touch screen can duplicate 10, 20 30 or more gauges."
None of that should be on a touchscreen. It should be on a dashboard screen in front of the driver. The touchscreen should be in the center.
>"But when the touch screen breaks, you lose everything rather than just the rpm."
Not when you also have a proper dashboard display (looking at your, Tesla- what a horrible idea). However, yes, if that dashboard display dies, you are kinda S out of luck! :) But, e
Touchscreens are the worst option (Score:2)
the dial (was) awesome (Score:2)
Mazda's legacy button layouts plus the dial are really great. I have a 3rd Gen Mazda3 and it's nearly perfect. There is a touch screen but it's never used. The dial turns and also pushes for select, and there are some other buttons around it for getting back out of menus and a home button, and some shortcuts for various things. All within comfortable reach just between the gear selector and parking brake (real mechanical parking brake handle!) without having to raise your arm and glance away from the r
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I hope they will eventually be considered a quirky novelty relegated to the dustbin of history, while more traditional button interfaces make a comeback.
Hardly, considering that the act of driving itself will soon be considered a quirky novelty.
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Hardly, considering that the act of driving itself will soon be considered a quirky novelty.
I fire up the willing engine
Responding with a roar
Tires spitting gravel
I commit my weekly crime
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TFS contradicts TFA? (Score:5, Informative)
I will add this blurb: "But it’s not just the navigation and other digital features that are moving behind the touchscreen interface with this generation; Mazda swept the dashboard of most of its knobs and switches, including the controls for the audio and climate control systems. Both are now found in the central, 15.6-inch screen."
TFS should have been entitled "Physical buttons disappearing from Mazda cars".
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Mazda is kinda floundering. They have failed to develop EV technology and are stuck with hybrids, which will be banned within a decade in some places.
Unfortunately a lot of Japanese manufacturers are in the same boat. Honda had a really great EV, one of the best cars ever made, and then just gave up and rebadged a Chinese model for the follow up. Toyota wasted a lot of time with hydrogen, and seem to be waiting until their solid state battery tech pans out before going all-in. Suzuki are nowhere at all.
Controls should give tactile feedback (Score:2)
Controls should give tactile feedback because every moment the driver is distracted from the road is a safety risk.
The sole reason for zero-tactile feedback controls is lower manufacturing costs. That's also why automobiles do not use MFDs (Multi-Function Displays) like those on aircraft. Though they divert the eye they permit the user to place a finger over a screen-labeled button then press without looking at that button longer than necessary.
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Not just tactile feedback, but ability to feel. If they just vibrated the screen a bit, it's an improvement, but doesn't help with navigation.
There was this one car I was in some time ago that did have hard controls, but it was mostly a fairly large sea of nondescript square buttons. Almost as bad as a touch screen.
Having a control surface you can feel with obvious knobs and such with distinct feels for at least the most prominent functions..
Physical button stores the new "no-CGI" (Score:2)
Just like movie studies are gaslighting everyone pretending their films have no-CGI while being shot entirely on a bluescreen (Tom Cruise looking at you), the car companies seem to be gaslighting consumers saying that "Buttons are coming to steering wheels". Bullshit the previous Mazda CX-5 had buttons all over its steering wheel too. Not much has changed there. This is standard in all cars, including previous Mazdas.
It's also a nice middle ground. I have zero interest in buttons on my dashboard when I can