[ChiragM]

According to a media report, future Audi cars will lose all kinds of buttons and knobs, including the volume knob, from the interior.



At present, the Audi Q8 comes with a digital instrument cluster and two touchscreens on the centre console. The next-generation systems will show augmented reality on the head up display, thus resulting in lesser information on the instrument cluster, which will be smaller. The two touchscreens on the centre console could be combined into one large screen.

For those who dont like touch controls, there will be some sort of an alternative for volume control, but it may not be a knob. It is likely to be a steering mounted volume rocker.

Link to Team-BHP News

Source

[BZ25]

They did the same thing with the new VW Golf, where almost all knobs and buttons have been replaced by touch sensitive icons for each function. While this is an interesting proposal, how realiable will these be in comparison to physical buttons?

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

According to a media report, future Audi cars will lose all kinds of buttons and knobs, including the volume knob, from the interior.

Thats more things that can fail and unnecessary complications. Now, every time the driver wants to adjust the AC or change radio stations, or adjust the volume, he will have to park the car on the side of the road and then do it.

Why fix what isn't broken Audi.... Unless this is an elaborate plan to get people accustomed to voice-recognition based systems.

[nishsingh]

Sad day for me.

• I like the look and feel of clunky rotating knobs and dials.
• I love the soft glow around these knobs at night.
• I even often go around rotating the dials and knobs of the newer washing machines at electronics stores because I love the tactile feel of each incremental rotation.

I was hoping these tactile feel knobs would trickle down to the newer cars, but it seems that the industry is going the other way. Unless we are down to some form of autonomous driving in the near future, I think this is one of the useless trends of integrating everything into the touchscreen rather than some smart thinking.

[Durango Dude]

Now Audi can say in it's ad "KNOBS ARE FOR NOOBS" Already touchscreen makes it very distracting while driving, this would mean even more distraction unless you have something like Siri or Alexa and you're constantly chatting with them.

[AYP]

Many cars have already lost the volume knob which has been replaced by either touch or capacitive buttons. Most people use the steering mounted controls for adjusting the volume.

It is actually the HVAC knob controls which are slowly disappearing. Now one solution to this is to continue having physical knobs. However, practically speaking, the chance of this happening is looking more and more grim.

An alternate would be having a master switch on the steering itself, i.e., upon pressing the master switch, the mode of operation can change and the buttons for adjusting the volume can serve as buttons for adjusting the AC temperature. The same concept may be used for some other vital operations so that the driver may not get distracted while adjusting these parameters.

[saisailendra]

Why ? Just why ? Going forwards should mean making things simpler to operate. We can adjust the Volume / AC, or change audio tracks while driving without taking our eyes off the road, once we're accustomed to the knobs. But with complete digital display, no matter how much we're used to it, we just don't feel confident to perform the same functions without looking at the screen.

Oh and the voice assistants. I don't even talk to my passenger a lot when I'm driving because it's distracting. But if I were a kind of person who'd involve in a nice conversation, I wouldn't halt the conversation with a human being, just to speak to the AI.

It might look neat and appealing to the eyes at first. But after a drive, I'm sure it'll be a fingerprint magnet, making things even worse to look at.

These companies should instead spend more money on making the infotainment system's User Interface smoother, comparable to the current day's SmartPhones.

[bigron]

An unnecessary and dumb move IMO.

Screens and gestures are all good when you are using a phone or a laptop. Out when I am driving, I like the reassuring and tactile feel of buttons.

Just press a button, get the desired result and move on. I dont want to be waving my hand and fingers in the air or looking for a screen to press for a simple task as increasing the air flow from the AC.

Replacing everything with screens is not necessarily progression, Audi.

[pganapathy]

Stupidity knows no bounds. There are only three options. One is a complete touchscreen. Two is buttons/controls on your steering wheel. Three is something like the iDrive on BMW's where one switch/knob/dial can control everything. All of these leave something to be desired.

If Audi is aiming to go the way of voice activated controls, then god bless us all. Currently, most voice activation doesn't recognize multiple accents. And unless the AI learns correctly, it can get even worse if it learns something wrong and doesn't correct that error.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by nishsingh

I was hoping these tactile feel knobs would trickle down to the newer cars, but it seems that the industry is going the other way. Unless we are down to some form of autonomous driving in the near future, I think this is one of the useless trends of integrating everything into the touchscreen rather than some smart thinking.

You nailed the point, if Audi does one thing well, and its usually outstanding compared to its peers, it is the tactile feel, and no VW or Skoda aren't remotely in the ballpark even if they are sisters.

Every thing, from the button press, to the knob turn, to the paddle shift, to the Tiptronic mechanism are all about feedback and luxurious damping. This is Audi's forte.

Sad that a soulless, touch mechanism is taking its place, you simply cant get used to it ever, without staring at the mechanism. Phones, laptops and now soulless cars. Button press, may it never go away.

Next would be steer-by-wire with a helicopter type control lever, you might as well buy an autonomous car by then.

[GTO]

That truly sucks because 83% of BHPians (myself included) prefer to use knobs & switches over touch interfaces - link to thread (Touchscreen / Feather Touch Controls: Boon or Bane?). Touch interfaces are dangerous on the move. It was damn tricky to even change the climate control settings of this Audi E-Tron:

[StarrySky]

When I think of it, in summer time, I rarely have to use any buttons on the dashboard while driving:
*AC/Infotainment - touch it once when starting (ON), and touch it once at destination (OFF)
*AC temperature control - always set to 22 in summer, 20 in winter. Can't remember the last time I changed the temperature during a drive.
*Volume control - through steering wheel
*Make/take calls - through steering wheel
*Change tracks - through steering wheel

So, I guess in summer I can live with zero buttons on the dashboard.

Winter is different, as I have to switch on/off seat heating, steering wheel heating, front and rear windscreen heating through buttons on the dashboard and/or touchscreen. From experience, turning the steering wheel heating on/off through the touchscreen is something that's not easy on the move. Would I be happy with voice-activated controls? If they work well, then why not? I think manufacturers should provide capability to program some short-cut voice controls - for eg "ON/OFF 1" should switch on/off seat heating, "ON/OFF 2" should switch on/off steering wheel heating etc. That would also limit some of the problems in understanding accents etc.

[iamahunter]

Dumb Move.

Knobs and switches give out a which help use them while driving without taking off your eyes from the road.
Though the touchscreen gives options to be used in multiple ways, it cannot replace the convenience factor while driving.
For example, one can change change the fan speed, audio volume, change the sound track etc.. all while driving and without taking off his eyes from the road. Same cannot be done with touch screens. One HAS to look at the screen to change anything.
Especially if one is trying to change some setting on the touchscreen and the car encounters a bump/pothole, something else is bound to change for sure.
Then one has to fix that and then make the change which he originally intended to make. For that one would prefer to stop and do it.
Time wasted.

Now a days when a Photoshop artists are moving and preferring physical devices such as one shown below, this move comes as a surprise from Audi.

[Jeroen]

Call me old fashioned, but the dashboard is one of the true differentiators between cars. Slapping in some LED panel won’t do it for me.

Look at some of these, buttons, levers a plenty:

https://www.classicandsportscar.com/...CpFpJ7V2Ljqnt8

Mind you, check out the Audi dashboard, even that looks pretty high tech compared to the others.

Jeroen

[V12Doc]

With Driving assist features the touch screens appeal to today's buyer as they look more high end and the graphics on these systems gives it a sleek and more modern looks. Tesla does not have a single knob on the dashboard. Its all touch screen and the driving assist features are a big reason for their success