Dashboard controls and road safety

[guest1521]

Last night, dark, 3 hours in quite heavy rain up the A1 reminded me again how well the GE (2008-2013) Jazz's controls fall to hand without taking eyes off the road.

Radio volume, radio station, air con settings, fan - each so conveniently to hand without having to glance at them. Easily adjusted by feel, too. 

I'd call that truly great design for ergonomic functionality and road safety! And while some motoring journalists say it doesn't look the best... it's surely not bad on the eye.

The upcoming 2014 Jazz has a visually 'clean' dashboard layout it seems. Looks great in pictures, for sure. I have read that it uses 'touchscreen' technology to advantage. So modern...

Well, I'll be very interested to see how much I have to take my eyes off the road to adjust those controls!

[culzean]

The upcoming 2014 Jazz has a visually 'clean' dashboard layout it seems. Looks great in pictures, for sure. I have read that it uses 'touchscreen' technology to advantage. So modern...

Well, I'll be very interested to see how much I have to take my eyes off the road to adjust those controls!

I know from using (or sometimes trying to use) large touchscreen SatNav on the move (at low speed) that using a touchscreen can't be done without looking at it,  and being quite accurate with your finger - and that is using my right hand - would be hopeless with left hand (New Jazz touchscreen would have to be to the LH side of steering wheel.

I love the existing Honda Jazz and Civic ergonomics and agree that you can use them without really looking - but everyone thinks cars are 'old-fashioned' if they don't have touchscreens,  I guess progress isn't always for the better.

[guest4448]

Hi,

We too enjoy the ergonomics of the Honda Jazz.

We test drove the Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4 last week and were on one hand surprised (the Diesel engine can't hardly be heard inside), but were greatly desapointed on the other side :
- hybrid works well beyond 50 kmph, but there seems to be no or very few electric assistance while driving above that speed !
- the basics of ergonomics were forgotten :
  - the turn signal lever is too narrow to the cruise control lever, and
  - that all is well hidden behind the downshifting paddle.
It's then a matter of luck if "what you do is what you want"... 
It's indeed like you wrote : "progress isn't always for the better".

By the way, we test drove also the Lexus RX 450h : that was OK, but by far too noisy inside !
Even our Jazz hybrid runs quite a lot silently than the Lexus 

We were also surprised the RX450h shows up with only about 100 liter more luggage space than the Jazz, that's a shame.
We really didn't expect to get such an amount of satisfaction and pleasure out of that small piece of "Jazzy-car".

Regards
Rolandius