Seems to be the current vogue in road tests (all types of media, so this isn't anti-HJ) to comment on the inclusion of "soft touch" plastics.
I'm trying to recall any occasions in the last 40+ years that I've actually touched a dashboard apart from infrequent cleaning. Whilst steering wheel, gearstick, handbrake need a decent feel (I'm reminded of this with the plastics on the steering wheel of the Hyundai Getz hire car I'm usng currently), I think the remaining areas are of little concern. Presumably these soft touch plastics cost extra, which is passed on.
Is it the marketing men at work?
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Agreed, as long as it does n't rattle and it looks OK, then the feel is largely irrevelant.
I touch the switches most of all, and the feel of these are more important.
In fact soft touch platics can get gouged by objects you carry in the car with more than hard plastics. THe only possible benefit for them is that maybe you get hurt less in minor accidents when the airbag doesn't deploy. ...and that is a big maybe.
A antistatic dash that repelled all dust would be far more useful.
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A antistatic dash that repelled all dust would be far more useful.
I find that a covering of dust helps to reduce reflections.
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They really dont count for much at all other than their asthetic value.
I actually get a little angry with the motoring press in general as how often do the cars that win the road tests actually appear near the top of satifaction surveys? What the majority wants is what car makers should be aiming for, so that a larger amount of people get what they want.
These days, if you drive your car at the handling capabilities even a family hatch is capable of, you risk your license, which makes such a capability irrelevant, but read many publications and you would think it was all that mattered.
There is rarely any mention of ownership experience which surely, you would think was a large part of the buying decision.
Id quite like to read what engineering advances and reliability improvements have been made on a new car to counter any previous issues, its certainly relevant with any new to teh market model.
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What's so new about soft touch plastic? All the Escort mk1s had a foam/plastic covering over the metal dashboard, except the basic fleet special - I'm not sure that the Escort was a pioneer in that respect.
We seem to have two very different car markets - the fleet market, obsessed about residual value and press road tests - and - the private buyer with a more down to earth approach about everything - the only common link being that the fleet market HAS to sell on to private buyers.
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If the "soft touch" is so important to some, then maybe sting-backed driving gloves are the answer, and a flat cap to give that "soft touch" should they hit their heads on the dash board.
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.... read many publications and you would think it was all that mattered.There is rarely any mention of ownership experience which surely you would think was a large part of the buying decision. Id quite like to read what engineering advances and reliability improvements have been made on a new car
Not read it for a few months but WhatCar magazine had every group test written full of the more essential details that you mention. Indeed I stopped subscribing because it all became a little too dull. However, I agree that pages of write ups on soft-touch plastics, damped glovebox lids, blue/red dial backlighting etc plus the inevitable guff about lift-off oversteer, balancing the throttle and clipping apexes goes way beyond the call of what most day to day drivers require. Having said that I do like the rubberised dash and damped glovebox lid on my Astra!
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Id quite like to read what engineering advances ..........
I'd quite like to read what the torque is at the driving wheels rather than what it is at the engine, so as to quieten all the deluded diesel-freaks.
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Time to duck inside your shell, escargot!
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I think a lot of people would like to know how more reliable they have made the electrics! Or simplified the car for reliability, rather than what new engineering and other gizmos have been added.
I think there is a large (very large) demand for a simpler car and the 1st to latch on to it will have a big market. (Cue china?). I know there will always be a demand for a car with everything on it; but that should be at the top end; not, imo, tried to be reproduced right down to average runabout, family car etc.
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My eight-year-old VW Bora has soft touch plastic on the doors and dashboard - apart from clearly being superior quality to my best mate's 2004 Mondeo Ghia's hard plastics (some of the new Mondeo models are the same), they also look far better than the coarse hard plastics equivalents.
No doubt the hard surface plastics represent a substantial cost saving.
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"No doubt the hard surface plastics represent a substantial cost saving."
Definately
Aygo cheap as chips hard plastic dash - as used in Chinese toys, but the car only cost £7k so what do you expect. It gathers dust, reflects in the windscreen, scratches easily and creaks in cold weather.
Audi with rubber "soft touch" dash - very little dust (hard plastic steering column shroud gets covered, rubber dash binnacle next to it doesn't) no creaks, no reflection, no scratches, but you pay the price.
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£15k car with "cheap" interior plastics
£15k car with "soft touch" interior plastics.
Unless the profit margin on the first is higher than that of the second, logic dictates the second car must be cheaper under the skin.
Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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If the dust is attracted to the plastic fittings, doesn't that mean that there's less of it floating around in the air, getting in your eyes and up your nose?
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Its more down to fashion and regional tastes than anything else. There are several types of 'soft touch' finish - e.g. on door handles and such a 2-shot process is used with a hard substrate and 'soft touch' elastomeric facing layer. These are not costly to produce (you can buy fairly cheap ball point pens with a body made using the same process). The snag is that its not very hard wearing and the elastomeric layer, when used on surfaces subject to hard use, can start to seperate. This is a common problem on VAG cars and they won't cover this sort of 'wear and tear' under their 3 year warranty.
A more refined version uses three layers - a cushioning foam is used between the substrate and the facing layer - used on dash etc. There is a European preference for this. Most Japanese and US cars use a 'skinned foam' finish.
TBH I don't fuss too much about these things. When driving, I'm not looking at the dash. I like a nice clear instrument pack, but the finish on the dash plastic is not important.
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I think I'm in a minority on this.....
I LOVE a really nice cabin in a car and can't stand cheap and nasty finish. I had a Fiesta lone car recently and although it drove well and had a nice, pokey engine, I couldn't stand the low-rent cabin.
Mind you, given how close a Focus or Mondeo (say) now is to an Audi (say) in terms of driving etc. it's increasingly only the cabin (and the image) etc. that can justify the price difference.
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Soft touch plastics?-Waste of money!
I had a 1925 Bullnose Morris for 9 years.
The dashboard was a plank of wood-still looked good after 80 years, and came up beautifully with the occasional wipe with teak oil and a duster.
Didn't creak or rattle either-at least you couldn't hear anything above the howl of the engine,gearbox, and the wind round your ears.
How long will the dashboards on modern cars last?
We are getting too soft.
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I fairly often give the old girl a pat on the dash, especially for example if she's made it up a hil or started in the freezing cold.
Don't care if her plastic is soft or not.
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>>The snag is that its not very hard wearing and the elastomeric layer, when used on surfaces subject to hard use, can start to seperate>>
Not sure if it's the same type of plastics, but my Bora's interior surfaces look as good as the day I acquired it.
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Time to duck inside your shell escargot!
No way.
I just wish people (including most motoring journalists) would learn that acceleration is proportional to torque at the driving wheels (together with the rolling radius of course) and that this torque depends on the overall gearing. Because diesels are higher geared than petrols torque at the driving wheels of a diesel is a lower proportion of engine torque than it is with petrols. Looking at engine torque on it's own is meaningless.
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L\'escargot.
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>>No way.>>
Anything to do with "soft" plastics? ...:-)
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Anything to do with "soft" plastics? ...:-)
Absolutely nothing. Aren't I naughty?
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L\'escargot.
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Torque is cheap...:-)
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