Literally tried to reinvent the wheel and is now paying the consequences.
Yeah but I'm glad they are trying new things. If it isn't better, then revert.
[dead]
Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X
41–50 of 135 posts
Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
It really depends on your height and preferred wheel height setting. I'm tall and in some cars the wheel obscures a good portion of the insturments.
There are significant and effective federal regulations around this. If you are telling the truth, your steering wheel is way too high, and you need to lower it
Not who you are responding to, but I have a tall sitting height and I suspect that the steering wheel is too low. Consider this diagram of a properly adjusted steering wheel (instrumentation is where the "II" is):
/----\
/ II \
|------|
\ /
\----/
/-II-\
/ \
|------|
\ /
\----/
If you are suggesting:
II
/----\
/ \
|------|
\ /
\----/
Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
How do you like the Y coming from the S? We had a 3 and added a Y and now we barely drive the 3. Strictly a commuter.
Not OP but I own an S and a Y. The S has a generous air suspension while the Y feels like driving a deuce and a half; very rough suspension (although I’ve heard new Ys since a few months ago are getting something more fancy now). Higher ride height is also nice. Pros and cons. Still love the S even though she’s a chonk and rides low. Interior in both is spartan. Towing with the Y is a treat for trailers within its ra…
If you have to pick,
There's literally no one that is forced to choose from $50,000+ electric cars.
Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X
#44As Fred mentions the main problem with the steering wheel is that the car doesn't change the steering ratio depending on the speed.
WHAT? Facepalm.
Everytime I read something new about the yoke, I m amazed how incompetent the people are, that put that in a car.
Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X
#45The yoke was just gratuitous. In addition to being a stupid and atypical design even for a yoke--where the grip is under the center of rotation and (as mentioned) it has a constant ratio (making low-speed turns ridiculous)--the mechanism was never designed for use in cars where you need to make complex parking maneuvers: the concept comes from racecars.
When I saw they were going in that direction, I nearly considered not wanting to even try a Tesla, as "worse case" I'd actually like the car and then one day I'd need a new one and I wouldn't be able to get one anymore without a yoke. I finally decided they were probably going to cave, and "lo and behold" they did ;P.
One thing I did was watched a ton of videos of Tesla fanbois defending it on YouTube with videos claiming "if you don't like the yoke you clearly don't know how to drive, let me show you how easy it is to use" and then confidently driving around a parking lot while constantly fumbling with the wheel which they clearly weren't good at using and they were so self-absorbed into their narrative that they somehow failed to even realize their video was proving the opposite of what they wanted to anyone who actually cares about driving feeling natural rather than being something you have to concentrate hard to pull off.
But like, if you try to analyze the wheel just from a business perspective, it feels like an unforced error: I can't imagine many people at all--possibly not even anyone--were making the decision to buy a Tesla because of the yoke steering wheel. They aren't on the fence about this car that is already so unlike every other car on the market and then suddenly they see the wheel and think "wow... that's it: that's the detail that is selling me on it".
Here's the scenario which feels much more likely: people are already trying to decide whether a Tesla is right for them, trying to get over the "range anxiety" that plagues electric vehicles and having to be convinced that they were going to be able to find convenient opportunities to charge (in my case, I rent an apartment, like a lot of people, and virtually everyone I know; I thereby simply can't charge at home) and then they do a test drive and now realize they have another problem: they need to decide if they can tolerate the yoke steering wheel.
And, maybe they can! But now the sales person is having to defend multiple things at once, and this one is frankly a doozy as you are dealing with someone who has been driving a car so far their entire life and has potentially decades of motor memory--many tens of thousands of hours--working with round steering wheels and are suddenly feeling a bit relieved that these electric cars are some kind of joke because of the yoke.
Even if the yoke were a good thing (and I'm pretty confident it isn't) in the long term, it seems absolutely daft to try to introduce it in a car that is already--by its very nature--having to be extremely different from every other car on the market on another critical axis unless it is a clear and obvious win where almost everyone who tries it thinks "omg I didn't even realize I was missing this until I tried it and now I can't go back" (which, btw, I'd claim Tesla actually pulls off surprisingly often): if the feature is even slightly controversial it is almost certainly going to cost you too many idiosyncrasy credits.
Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X
#46Absolutely horrible design was the yoke. Almost crashed into neighbours' car due to it. Had to dump the car itself since I hated the steering so much. Who came up with such a dumb idea. This is as dumb as the touchbar on the mac pros.
It was probably a cost-saving measure, just like the touchpad in lieu of a physical console.
On Model 3 it's needed to have cost saving measures, on Model S it isn't.
Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X
#47It wasn't the shape of the wheel that was the problem. It was the unasked-for capacitive-touch turn signal buttons located on the left side of the wheel, instead of a turn-signal lever. The round wheel keeps those useless buttons, so is not a solution to the problem. You still have to use your left thumb to pick between these two buttons. They don't push in, have no feedback and they are often unresponsive, especiall…
Mercedes put a bunch of these in the $100k plus EQS. Car companies: we are begging you, please stop with controls without pressure sensitivity and haptic feedback. Copy apple if you need to, just cut it out!
Apparently, VW are going to bring back buttons after lots of feedback like yours:
https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/volkswagen-relents-and-brin...
Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X
#48Thank God! Maybe this means they'll offer a round wheel (as an option or whatever) on the CyberTruck!!!!!!!! I despise the yolk with a fiery passion, but have zero problems with other people having one. Just give us the option! I won't even consider a car with a yolk (maybe if there is an easy modification).
Blocking the dash screen is a non-argument. Never had a problem in many cars with seeing the display through the wheel. With a yolk, you are forced to hold it in a certain way. In an emergency, grabbing the yolk is less certain than grabbing a wheel. It's easier to put way too much torque in the yolk causing more steering than desired. The capacitive buttons are dumb (yolk or not).
The stalk for PRND and a separate stalk for signals is better, and put back the wiper controls while you're at it!
Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
You should be able to see the entire dash board with any steering wheel
It really depends on your height and preferred wheel height setting. I'm tall and in some cars the wheel obscures a good portion of the insturments.
There are better solutions than chopping off half the wheel though. For example, Volkswagen ditched the binnacle and put the gauge cluster screen on the steering column instead of on the dashboard. This is so that it can move up and down with the steering wheel to whatever height it's set at. Unfortunately VW also used capacitive buttons, but apparently they will go back to real buttons in the future.
Re: Tesla finally breaks and offers round steering wheel on Model S/X
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not OP but I own an S and a Y. The S has a generous air suspension while the Y feels like driving a deuce and a half; very rough suspension (although I’ve heard new Ys since a few months ago are getting something more fancy now). Higher ride height is also nice. Pros and cons. Still love the S even though she’s a chonk and rides low. Interior in both is spartan. Towing with the Y is a treat for trailers within its ra…
If you have to pick, There's literally no one that is forced to choose from $50,000+ electric cars.
If one has chosen to buy a Tesla, one must choose which to purchase...? It’s pretty clearly an expensive luxury good with robust demand, sooooo what’s the argument? Don’t buy one if you’re not of the means to afford one. If you’ve decided to buy a Tesla, I’m sharing which you’ll get the most value out of.
Average price of a new car is $45k-48k btw. 17 million new auto sales per year in the US. $50k-$60k isn’t egregious considering total cost of ownership savings. One could buy an equally expensive combustion vehicle I suppose. Prices for a new Toyota Highlander currently range from $37k to $67k, for example.