too many buttons on steering wheel

I really have to take my eyes of the road to look which button(s) to touch.

I would really like to move the volume up/down buttons to lower right on the back of the steering wheel.
Maybe 2 buttons (accel/coast) of the cruise control on the left (again on the back).

This is positively meant feedback from a _happy_ customer (first week 500 miles)

fromport said:

I really have to take my eyes of the road to look which button(s) to touch.

I would really like to move the volume up/down buttons to lower right on the back of the steering wheel.
Maybe 2 buttons (accel/coast) of the cruise control on the left (again on the back).

This is positively meant feedback from a _happy_ customer (first week 500 miles)

Click to expand...

Just picked up my LEAF today. I was also overwhelmed with the number of buttons on the steering wheel. I didn't see so much when I took the test drive of the demo car.

I am sure with time I will get used to it. No complaints

I ignore most of them. I never use my cell phone when driving (well, OK, it doesn't even have bluetooth, but I still wouldn't if it did), I never use the navigation system, and my copilot usually handles the audio. The only thing I'm left with is the cruise control stuff. But I do have a complaint there.

I can't seem to find the cruise on/off button by feel, and at night I can't even see it. If I search around blindly for it with my thumb I seem to have a 50:50 chance of honking the horn. Frankly, I can't see what the purpose of that button is, anyway. Let's say I were to always turn it on as soon as I power up the car, but usually not use it. Is some horrific power-eating process gobbling kilowatt hours while the cruise control sits there waiting to be engaged? If so, why can't it be powered up automatically the first time I use it? If not, why not have it on automatically (not engaged) all the time? Or at a minimum, why can't the car remember at power down time whether it was on or off, and restore that state on the next power up?

The other two controls are no problem. I can feel the little round button with my finger tip, and of course a tap on the brake pedal does the same thing, anyway(*). The toggle is easy to find and easy to understand.

Ray

* Actually, I do often use the little round button, because I drive in ECO mode all the time, and when I disengage cruise control I may want to have my foot on the accelerator to moderate the regen, or emulate coasting.

Really? you are only overwhelmed by the buttons on the steering wheel? How about the left console (with spaces for a whole new series of buttons! imagine what 2012 and 2013 hold for us), horrifically complicated climate control system, and lets not even get started about the navigation screen. Its over a month later, and I am still finding new menus on the thing.

I actually felt less overwhelmed sitting in a 737 cockpit for the first time and flying the plane compared to taking this freaking car home. I would have rather had it flat bedded to my house so I could spend a few hours getting to know the controls/menus/etc in the comfort of my own home.

I still do not have a good grasp on the climate control. Someone please just give me fan settings, a hot/cold blend thingy, and vent position setting that actually stays put regardless if the climate control is on/off/etc.

But back to the steering wheel, I actually like it compared to the other controls. I wish the (^) blue circle button was more of a function key rather than a range indicator.

I guess you haven't flown a modern 737 with a full FMS... Dozens and dozens of buttons... :lol:

rainnw said:

I actually felt less overwhelmed sitting in a 737 cockpit for the first time and flying the plane compared to taking this freaking car home.

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planet4ever said:

I can't seem to find the cruise on/off button by feel, and at night I can't even see it.

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I just locate the 'set/resume' raised lever and the on/off is just below that. At night, you may not have your dash lights (red) bright enough. You can adjust those with another little button (bottom right) left of the dash (group of 4 buttons). All of my other cars left the cruise on when I turned off the car so I didn't have to keep turning it on all the time. I've forgotten several times while driving, but now I'm just going to turn the damn thing on right after I turn the car on.

the buttons are fine with me. after a month, if you use them, you will know where they are and use it intuitively (almost).
The only remaining confusion for me is whether up or down volume is on the right or left of those two buttons.

rainnw said:

I actually felt less overwhelmed sitting in a 737 cockpit for the first time and flying the plane compared to taking this freaking car home.

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You were less overwhelmed by this:



than this?



You've got to be kidding!

I am not a pilot, but I did grow up with a father who was one, and was involved in sport aviation for much of my youth. Nevertheless, when I was invited by a friend to try out the latest Boeing 777 simulator at the Delta Airlines headquarters on a visit to Atlanta a few months ago, I was flabbergasted by the complexity of the instrumentation and controls in the cockpit. OK, with his help and guidance I was able to takeoff, fly and land the plane without crashing in the hour or so session we had in the simulator, and it was the best dang video game I have ever experienced, what with the high-tech 3-D screens displaying everything down to the detailed livery of the other planes on the ground, realistic 3-axis G-forces tugging at your guts simulated by computer-controlled servos triggering hydraulic arms which suspended the cockpit capsule 20 ft. off the ground, not to mention the perfectly coordinated engine sounds, etc., but there was NO WAY I would have been able to "spend a few hours getting to know the controls/menus/etc in the comfort of my own home" and become familiar with the full cockpit array!

The Leaf controls are a piece of cake in comparison. I dare say you are exaggerating for effect. :roll:
TT

Many years back I got to fly a 727 Level C simulator for a couple of hours and had a blast! Buzzing the tower at LAX with the airspeed up against the barber pole and then doing a maximum performance pull up and climb at the end of the airfield was particularly fun. The epitome though was getting to fly the Shuttle simulator at Rockwell for an hour! What a kick! And LOTS of buttons!

ttweed said:

I was invited by a friend to try out the latest Boeing 777 simulator at the Delta Airlines headquarters on a visit to Atlanta a few months ago, I was flabbergasted by the complexity of the instrumentation and controls in the cockpit.

Click to expand...

ttweed said:

rainnw said:

The Leaf controls are a piece of cake in comparison. I dare say you are exaggerating for effect. :roll:
TT

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

It was a joke, and I find it very entertaining that so much effort was spent to ACTUALLY compare the two.

rainnw said:

It was a joke

Click to expand...

Emoticons are very useful in conveying humor and other subtle inflections of meaning. Try them.

TT

ttweed said:

rainnw said:

It was a joke

Click to expand...

Emoticons are very useful in conveying humor and other subtle inflections of meaning. Try them.

TT

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Right, to determine posts from those who really think flying a 737 is easier?
:lol:

Actually, if you have the thing in auto land, its easier It even does the flare out for you.

I'm sorry that I can't contribute to the Leaf-737 sub-thread (though I did crash and burn in a C5 simulator as a kid), but what bugs me about the cruise control buttons is the Cancel. I have to think about which button it is for too many fractions of a second and extend my thumb too far. The acceleration/deccel button should have been a push in to cancel like the audio source button is.

Bill