That’s a newer model. My dashboard looks like this (not my car, but same model).
http://vandermeerautos.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_0944-1.jpg
Note how the center console ends almost immediately. It’s great!
OMG, that center console has room for only one drink!
You laugh, but Car & Driver’s in-depth reviews have an “Interior” section that, among other things, always shows how many cupholders and where they are. Big deal for some folks I suppose. Me, I neither eat nor drink in my car.
I usually take one coffee and one water with me to work.
There’s another holder behind the manual brake. So if you were ever planning to buy a cheap rebranded Volkswagen, you’re all set. :P
There are two types of people in this world. Those with guns, and those who dig…wait, I mean to say, those that see cars as transportation and those that are in love with cars. Seeing that picture of the interior of MarinusWA’s car makes me sad, in a deeply philosophical even existential way. It’s like a Sartrean hell where the torment is not by devils but through the sheer banality of the environment.
Now, here’s what I call an interior!
or this:
Or even this (my car, well, not the exact one I drive, but the same model):
Ok, I’m only partially serious–there is true wisdom in a minimalist approach to things that are, in the end, just hunks of metal and plastic. Sadly, I am not a good enough human being to embrace that excellent philosophy. I’m a wretched, hedonistic materialist.
It’s nice to be in a good interior. Considering how much time I spend in a vehicle every day.
I recently was given a compact SUV, the Fiat 500-X while my Subaru was in the shop, and it was a nice change to be in a very pleasing interior.
The round silver dials and pleasing shiny red and chrome was all very pleasing.
Well, considering the top statement, where on earth is he going to fit his legs in your Merc & Audi examples? Thats a lot of wasted built up space. That centre console thing is a lot wider than it functionally needs to be. The rest of the controls and gadgets are nice additions, but if its uncomfortable to sit in, that stuff is wasted.
The top two touch displays look like someone slapped a tablet in as an afterthought. That was one of my main interior complaints about the Mazda sedans when I was looking last fall (that was before the test drive where it felt like I was riding in the windshield - hard pass).
The interior of my Ford Escape (not my photo, but exactly like my own car). Nothing over the top, but very pleasant to be in for long hours, which I am for 3-4 days a week. As Locker points out, I like that the touch display is integrated into the dashboard and doesn’t look like someone glued on a tablet.
Man, dashboards are so…busy…these days compared to the old days.
And that Galaxie looks awesome!
I certainly don’t love cars, but I do like the look of those interiors.
The “tablet glued on the dash” thing is polarizing, for sure. I don’t mind it, when it’s done reasonably well (the Germans, generally) but when it’s done poorly (Kia Stinger, for instance) it’s pretty bad. I do prefer the integration of it into the dash, though.
My wife’s Escape is pretty much the same; it’s a pleasant cabin, and much less extreme than some of Ford’s interiors. Miles better IMO than most of GM’s dash designs, though of course that is totally a personal preference.
Clearly there’s been a recent advance I’m not familiar with. Where the heck are the handbrakes on those things?
Huh. So how will I do all those flashy handbrake turns that I’ve never actually tried?
Well, that is the drawback, I guess! I was skeptical at first, but the e-brake really does work well for what it is supposed to do, and it is a lot less obtrusive in the cabin.
It didn’t really handle that well (as you might imagine), but straight off the line, that thing would eat a Corvette (of the same time period anyway). You could just sit and smoke the tires as long as you wanted, or if you wanted to actually launch it, you could do that too. That long throw from first to second was a momentum-killer though (I’m talking like a two-foot throw here). And the throw from second to third wasn’t much more graceful. Really gave my arm a good workout during a race. And probably looked quite comical. Fast car though. Back when emissions and mpg weren’t a thing.
There may be a few here who don’t remember three-on-the-tree. Here’s a helpful video, complete with diagram.