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After 60 years or more of legacy car manufacturers presenting radical concepts ie Ford Wrist Twist, but never daring to actually launch them. Or prototypes at car shows where the wacky unconventional steering wheel is a given it'll never make it to the production model.
It takes the new kid to actually have the balls to just do it. I expect it'll garner polar opinions, think Cybertruck, removing pinnacle display (model 3), removing all knobs and buttons. Also, all stalks are now removed.
This is on their website to order now, no option.
Left button for cannons, right for machine guns?
It's on upside down. It makes more sense to have a partial wheel with the upper portion. But then that would block the display. That looks like style over function.
Left button for cannons, right for machine guns?
Maybe more appropriate on the Messerschmitt kr200
that would make the classic 10 to 2 hand position kinda difficult
Touchscreens for the driver are useless and dangerous in cars. I know its not just Tesla but they have taken it to the extreme. Reliable voice control or gesture control might work though.
Is netflix and drive the new netflix and chill?
Anyone see a koala in the bottom pic of the OP?
that would make the classic 10 to 2 position kinda difficult
Doesn't matter, I don't drive until my lunchtime Rioja wears off.
Anyone see a koala in the bottom pic of the OP?
yes
Still prefer this
The Netflix screen says everything about the expected attention the driver will have towards other road users.
I imagine the steering is possibly not directly connected to the wheels. Then you don't need to fully rotate
Maybe more appropriate on the Messerschmitt kr200
I'd be interested to know of any other unconventional steering wheels that have made it to production?
Is netflix and drive the new netflix and chill?
https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/9039159/couple-sex-tape-driverless-tesla-motorway/
I’d be interested to know of any other unconventional steering wheels that have made it to production?
Austin Allegro
I’d be interested to know of any other unconventional steering wheels that have made it to production?
A few here (although some are concept cars):
https://www.autocar.co.uk/slideshow/wildest-steering-wheels-ever-made-0
Where do you put the spinny knob that allows rapid turning like truck drivers?
The only knob in that car is the one holding the steering device.
Any idea how to do indicators? Or have they taken a leaf from BMW's book and made them optional.
The Tesla is not a car.
Its a design dreamed up by someone that spent their childhood playing video games and their teens online.
Cars should be designed by people that actually drive - not push buttons, people that know how to do a handbrake turn in a snowy car park, people that know what oversteer/understeer actually feels like, people that get excited about actually controlling a car, people that know how an engine works etc.
Bloody touchscreens in cars a dangerous, what's wrong with fiddling with a knob when you want to adjust the volume 🙂
That will be miserable to use, can see a few people changing their minds. Indicators on buttons has been done before.
I've got a Tesla, after a few weeks you forget how odd it all is inside and just get on with driving it. Just lately an update has move the speed display around on the screen which is mildly irritating. It's still just a glance away and you don't really take your eyes off the road.
I presume it's known that you can't have any of the in car 'entertainment' on whilst your driving.
He could of committed 100% & fitted some Jones Loop bars! Miles off the pace....I'm out :o)
Bloody touchscreens in cars a dangerous, what’s wrong with fiddling with a knob when you want to adjust the volume 🙂
Volume is on the steering wheel.
You're right though, SOME buttons & dials would be nice...
i thought there was a rule that stated that steering wheels had to have a continous place to hold, those without were not road legal - or did i dream that somewhere??
Whatever Homer wants… Homer gets…
I can't help think that musk and his design team are a bit stuck in the 80's.
That steering device looks horrible to use
It takes the new kid to actually have the balls to just do it.
Citroen want a word.
I’d be interested to know of any other unconventional steering wheels that have made it to production?
Citroen DS was sure to be a good one
Anyone see a koala in the bottom pic of the OP?
Not immediately, now I can't unsee it!
Wasn't the introduction of tactile controls with a different shape / feel a key invention that reduced aircraft crashes? Avoiding things like raising the flaps instead of lowering the undercarriage just before landing. Aside from being confident you're adjusting the control you think you are it also allows for increased concentration on the job at hand (flying / driving) rather than looking at the controls.
Touch screens in cars seem to go exactly against that. You can't knock the climate control up a degree by touch along when you have to look at a flat, featureless screen with no tactile feedback.
i thought there was a rule that stated that steering wheels had to have a continous place to hold, those without were not road legal – or did i dream that somewhere??
I wouldn't be surprised in the EU, but it's on the GB website order form now and I couldn't spot any alternative. So would seem a bit missleading if it's not legal. HeyHo I'm sure they'll easily complete the circle with demand or where vehicle type approval requires.
Wasn’t the introduction of tactile controls with a different shape / feel a key invention that reduced aircraft crashes?
Absolutely, every thing Tesla do to the interior of their cars appears to make them less safe. I can use pretty much all the controls in our VW by feel. The touch screen radio was a big step backward (our old one still had station present buttons and physical play/pause). touch screens are disaster in car - I'm really surprised that no-one has done some (what would be simple simulator research) studies to show how dangerous it is.
Rectangle steering wheels make a lot of sense in an F1 car where they don’t do full rotation from lock to lock. They make little sense even in Hypercars, but in a normal road car they are utterly pointless. Sure the wheels are probably drive by wire and not mechanically connected to the steering wheel but still how would that work. How would you select full lock on that wheel, without some annoying hand movement required.
Idiots! Just doing stuff for the sake of “cool”! Can you imagine if a Volvo designer/engineer went over to work for Tesla? They’d blow a gasket within 5 mins into the job! 😄
“Mr Musk our market lead is falling now we’re not unique in selling EVs, should we produce better quality cars?”
”No, go whacky release project 242X”
”But Mr Musk that was just a silly concept to get journalists attention it was never meant to bel launched”
“Don’t make me drop you in the shark tank, I said go whacky!”
Still prefer this
My first thought before I even opened the thread.
Austin Allegro
... for about five minutes. The notorious squircle steering wheel that everyone thinks they remember was only ever used for like the first year of production.
I’d be interested to know of any other unconventional steering wheels that have made it to production?
Not a car, but motorbike.
It's hard to see in this picture, but rather than a classic handlebar it's more like a plane's control with the grips 'up/down'. Reduces width.
I've ridden this bike and doesn't take long for it to work AND make sense.
The Tesla steering wheel looks like a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
The Tesla is a solution that pretends to solve a real problem.
What would be better is a big sign on your house showing how much fossil fuel electriciy you are using - sort of like a green/red pie chart.
Then peer pressure will get everyone thinking about the impact they are having.
i thought there was a rule that stated that steering wheels had to have a continous place to hold, those without were not road legal – or did i dream that somewhere??
I wouldn’t be surprised in the EU, but it’s on the GB website order form now and I couldn’t spot any alternative. So would seem a bit missleading if it’s not legal. HeyHo I’m sure they’ll easily complete the circle with demand or where vehicle type approval requires.
think i may be confused with motorsport regualtiosn, MSA states a continuous rim, ciruclar or D shape being allowed - but that Tesla doesn't look like it fulfills that criteria..
That Citroen DS interior is fantastic. You can keep your Teslas, I want a DS (original one, obvs).
I'm liking the performance figures, though.
THe Plaid+ does 0-60 in <1.99s!
I've got a Tesla too. Whilst I agree in principle with the view that a touch screen control is less safe than something you can clearly feel, I have found the practical disadvantage to be pretty modest. I pretty much never touch the AC, for example, and volume's on the steering wheel. And I suspect the person who constantly twiddles with AC/radio knobs is a fair bit less safe than the one who doesn't, whether those knobs are a touchscreen or a little switch an arm's length away. There are so many examples of differences between one car and another where one way of doing it is slightly more or less safe that this is hardly unique, but rarely do these points come up.
I guess for some proof one should look at frequency of accidents. Tesla likes to point out that such figures for their cars are very low, although I haven't seen anything recently on that.
Dunno how you do indicators without stalks though? I'm interested to see how that works. Ditto the regular occurrences of a quick windscreen wipe, light dip (Tesla's auto wipers and auto dipping are poor, frankly), some aspects of cruise control etc. I like the gear stalk mine has too, I find it very intuitive in parking, 3 point turns and whatnot. And I quite like an actual steering wheel. So my gut feel is they've gone way beyond doing what's really advantageous to the driver here, but I'd like to have a go and wouldn't be surprised if doing so proved me wrong.
Dunno how you do indicators without stalks though?
With a knob, about the fifth pic in the series:
Earlier Austins with semaphor arms had even more basic switches.
accidents. Tesla likes to point out that such figures for their cars are very low
How many of their cars are on the road? Ford/GM/VW group probably have the most accidents. Does that mean they are unsafe or there are more about?
You usually measure fatal accidents per billion miles.
Teslas are very low because they can't go very far 🙂
I'm sure a Playstation controller will be the best way for many to drive a car in the near future but don't forget they'll be driving themselves soon
I'm not sure it'd work well for me but nice to see something different and would be interesting to try. I'm sure I could adjust if there are benefits to it...
Apparently if you dig deep into the website source code, they will have a conventional option, so it may just be hype to create some initial interest before they add it in.
Left button for cannons, right for machine guns?
Well.. if they've stuck to the original RoadBlasters design ...
That’s the happiest steering wheel I’ve ever seen!
Reminds me a bit of this guy.
That’s uncanny you can hardly tell them apart except looking nothing like each other.
Dunno how you do indicators without stalks though?
Citroen CX did it
I had one as a lad - mad thing.
THe Plaid+ does 0-60 in <1.99s!
and what is it 130k squidies and 200mph now whats a Veyron supersport cost 🙂
That’s uncanny you can hardly tell them apart except looking nothing like each other.
Don’t be bringing your fun sponge in here. What about him?
It’s not a case of the sponge more there is absolutely no resemblance. That link hasn’t worked so no idea what that is.
Anyway apparently that huge tablet is also now a gaming system too.
It’s not a case of the sponge more there is absolutely no resemblance.
Tis in the eye of the beholder and it reminds me of that fella so there!
Not quite as daft as it first looked - they have touch buttons on the wheel for all the functions with haptic feedback
Whilst I agree in principle with the view that a touch screen control is less safe than something you can clearly feel, I have found the practical disadvantage to be pretty modest. I pretty much never touch the AC, for example, and volume’s on the steering wheel. And I suspect the person who constantly twiddles with AC/radio knobs is a fair bit less safe than the one who doesn’t
Surely it's got voice control?
You can keep your Teslas, I want a DS (original one, obvs)
The environmental benefits would be huge as it'd be broken most of the time and you'd never be able to drive it anywhere.
As above - Austin Allegro "Quartic" steering wheel:
You wouldn't be able to pass a driving test in the Tesla because you can't feed the wheel as required.
Surely it’s got voice control?
Voice control or not touch screen in a car is absolute garbage. Have you ever tried to use one thats mounted on the dash whilst leaning forwards? You end up like a nodding donkey prodding every damn "button" bar the one you want.
That's before you consider some folk have "silly" accents or disabilities that would prevent the voice control being effective.
Control layout they're working on for the 2022 model Teslas -
the most interesting thing about it in my opinion is that they've also done away with the gear selector. Apparently the car just 'knows' which way you want to travel (based on sensors front + rear plus gps about your route) and goes in that direction. To change it you have to use the touchscreen..
My car had a touch screen in 2006
That’s before you consider some folk have “silly” accents or disabilities that would prevent the voice control being effective.
Voice recognition is much better than it used to be.
I agree that it's a slightly daft concept to get attention, and there'll probably be a lot of markets that won't allow it anyway.
How would you select full lock on that wheel, without some annoying hand movement required.
I reckon a more extreme version of the adaptive ratio steering systems that are already used by Ford, BMW and the like. They slow the steering rate right down at high speed for stability but increase it for slow speed (car parks, maneouvering, etc) so you do less wheel-twirling.
They've already bought lock-to-lock down to under 2 turns at slow speed. You can do a bit over 1 turn without moving your hands on a yoke-style wheel.
Citroen CX did it
And my Dad's BX that I learned to drive in.
Citroen really knew how to do different back then.
we had a GSA Special, buttons and rocker switches on barrels and 3 position suspension ride height adjusters
https://topworldauto.com/cars/citroen/citroen-gsa/photos.html#gp/3
also: https://topworldauto.com/cars/citroen/citroen-gsa/photos.html#gp/11
handbrake in the dash and tape player in the centre console.
the most interesting thing about it in my opinion is that they’ve also done away with the gear selector. Apparently the car just ‘knows’ which way you want to travel (based on sensors front + rear plus gps about your route) and goes in that direction. To change it you have to use the touchscreen..
🤔 Well I am not convinced that isn't a solution looking for a problem.
Surely it’s got voice control?
It does. But:
Voice recognition is much better than it used to be.
Not necessarily with Tesla. Following an update at some point in its history the voice control on mine became somewhat worse than it used to be. Not that it was that great in the first place. It struggles a bit with even my very middle of the road english accent. Google on my phone pretty much never makes a mistake, so this seems a poor implementation, although even knowing google's works I still never got into the habit of using it.
On stalks, I struggle to see why one would want to design the indicators or gear selector into buttons rather than stalks. Stalks work so nicely with hand position and turn of the wheel.
But I'm happy enough with Tesla's touchscreens. I like that my dashboard doesn't look like an Aiwa stereo from 1992.
Anyway, I know what I'd like to see from the refreshed car and it's none of this stuff. It's better headlights, better auto wipers and an improvement to all the camera gubbins to make it work in the dark or wet.