Featured The steering "wheel" is disappearing..

horrifying

 

Maybe that's why we haven't looked for a replacement car in the past ½ decade? Fear of change? Steering wheel Boogeyman?

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Top-of-wheel (or the 10-and-2 grips I was taught when I took driver ed) have been discouraged since the advent of airbags. In a collision, no one wants the airbag driving their wrist through their face.

 

Won't happen.

The clunky large console shifter with the large shifter knob returned to the Gen 5 Prius even when the Gen 2 introduced the mini shifter.

The micro column shifter has however returned with Mercedes, Tesla and most other EV's.

 

Interesting trend OP points out.
This trend could very well be because of airbag safety.
I am sure we all will adapt, yet those 3-point parking/ turn around maneuvers may be more "uncomfortable" with this trend.

 

I've long speculated about to how to remove the steering shaft spear aimed at our chest. We should steer with foot pedals with a hand operated, combined accelerator and brake:

• we walk controlling direction with our feet
• never again could braking and acceleration pedals get confused

Best of all, this centers the display in front of the driver with nothing obscured.

Bob Wilson

 

That works only properly with steer by wire - so you dont have to let go of your position even when going tight corners.

Additionally its kinda dangerous for more advanced level 2/3 autonomous driving. I saw a video of someone trying to intervene while using FSD Beta + a yoke after the tesla suddenly went into the wrong direction. He had seemingly trouble to grap it at first given the yoke has a big part of moving nothingness.

I guess though the first Tesla yokes are just another cool idea that went wrong - at least they have by wire now and introduce a wheel thats better to grip.

 

gone are the days ......




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Many reviewers love the Toyota yoke.

 

The same that like the controls for important safety functions on a screen? The same who don't miss the stalks on the steering wheel.

As I was driving in the intermittent rain near dusk the other day and needing to adjust defrost and wiper speed and lights at 67 MPH, I though how easy traditional controls are and how instinctively they are used without a multi level (I want to change this, where is that control) thinking of where that control is and most often even no need to take your eyes off the road (even when you are using driving assisted steering and distance control).

My Toyotas have controls for audio, cruise control, assisted driving, phone and display option selection all on that steering wheel right in front of you. And the lights and turn signals and wiper and washer controls are on stalks again right in front with no need to bend out of the seet belt to reach them. Less important or less used things are in buttons off to the left and right. My only criticism of their placement is the seek button on the radio that I need while driving out of the local radio station coverage area is a long reach and I am needing that one when at speed.

 

The ones that were impressed in how well it worked, and how intuitive it was.. Wayne Gerdes was one, and I don't think he falls in the group you are calling out here.

 

That is completely a matter of what an individual is accustomed to. Change to a car with a different layout and it won’t be as ‘instinctive’ (which I don’t think is the right term in your comment) until an hour/day/week/month when it is.

The Tesla layout requires much less conscious thought for me than a Prius. That would reverse if I drove a Prius more often than a Tesla.

 

reviewers like a lot of things they would never buy themselves, like the gen 5 prius

 

Gerdes bought one. Others may not have found one without mark up nor were willing wait.

The point from the reviews on the yoke is that Toyota did it right and it works. Toyota likely delayed its release to do so. From the dash designs, the original plan was likely have it out with the bZ4X and Prius.

 

Gerdes is not a normal consumer, and is in no way a representative sample of car buyers

 

What of the people here? Some posters here with a gen 5 seem to be new to the Prius. With the slow roll out, we can't say people aren't buying Prius because of supply or demand yet.

 

A regular consumer can care less about the yoke style steering wheel. Anyone driving for a few years have developed "muscle memory" and expect a steering wheel to perform as expected especially in an emergency. In that case, it might hinder the driver in a dangerous situation. I'll pass.

 

To be fair, reviewers are not normal consumers. Your earlier criticism was that reviewers don’t buy the cars.

 

True, demand is yet to be determined. Even so, there's that egress/ingress/low slung roof line going on. We wanted the Prius V when it came out - but upon testing, it had that same roofline dynamic. Those bigger heavier people might be why SUV & pickups are so popular. Having something to do with much more overweight & taller peeps than great grand parents were in their day.
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