The New Volvo Dashboard System
Dear Volvo,
I have just taken delivery of a new fully loaded XC60 in Sweden and have driven it home to Germany. 3000km is 6 days (Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, France and back to Germany).
I have some questions and observations about the new control system.
1. You have moved the RTI system down into the central consol which is a significant reduction in car safety. The older system was much higher and just below the horizon. The new system means that you have to look down and I have noticed that it simply takes longer to focus on it and I have my eyes off the road for longer. The high position of the navigation display was a major selling point for the V70 and XC70 that I still own.
2. The RTI controls have gone from behind the steering wheel. This is a major feature reduction. It now takes longer to step through the menu functions and in some instances (like activating the RTI in the first place) means taking your hand of the steering wheel. Again a reduction in car safety. Please could you put the controls back behind the steering wheel in future models.
3. Presumably as a cost cutting exercise you have removed the secondary dashboard display. The RTI display now has to double up with the same functions. The problem is that when you have the RTI running (which is most of the time of course) you do not have the visual queue that was there in the form of the dashboard display. This means more stabbing at keys to get what you need and then get back the RTI again. This means taking your hands off the steering wheel more often and makes the whole experience feel cheap and less convenient. Please could you bring back the second display in future models.
4. The whole dash-board control system runs slower the longer you leave it on. There is a bug in the software that causes the system to run slower after a while and I have had to stop the car to reset the system a couple of times. It seems the various control components have not been fully de-bugged yet. Not something I would expect from Volvo or for such an expensive car. Periodically some functions seem to stop working or only react after you step back through the menu system - this suggests a software bug and not hardware.
5. There is a menu item missing... There is no way to store a location other than using the numeric keyboard and then panning across Europe to try to find the location you want to store. I can see no technical reason why this function is missing from menu system. A very irritating bug.
6. There is a significant bug in the new speech control system. I was driving through southern Sweden and I wanted to activate the guidance to take me to Hamburg. The system would only take me to locations in England! The only way I could get the speech system to take me to Hamburg was to change the whole system language to German. I then drove to Switzerland and had to change the system language to French to be able to navigate to a town just inside the French boarder. As the system works when you change the system language it is clear that there is no technical or software reason why it needs to be programmed to work like this. When giving instructions for a new destination the "country" filed has been deactivated and this can only be a bug.
7. The ipod control interface is a complete mess. To step back trough the library you sometimes have to use the scroll wheel, sometimes the exit button etc etc. Needs a serious review.
8. It is now necessary to press a button (Green) on the dashboard to answer the phone. This was not the case with the previous models. Again a safety issue.
9. The navigation system talks very very slowly, which may be ok for the US market, but could you then please then pause the iPod and CD playback. My V70 has a pretty fast RTI message system while the XC70 introduced the very very slow messages (not to mention endless repetitions!). I was quietly hoping that this was going to be speeded up again in the new models... but no. This can only mean that the typical Volvo customer likes it this way. When the listening to a Podcast or a spoken book there seems to be no way to rewind back a little to before the very slow spoken messages.
10. Why did you remove the 6 CD storage capability on the Premium Sound system... aghh. Now have have to go back to juggle a pack of CDs in the car.
Overall the new minimalistic controls on the new models are a step backwards. The system is confusing and poorly implemented. The buttons are too small and there are simply too few of them. It makes the whole experience feel cheap and the slow responsiveness of the various screens and functions has made the overall experience less satisfying.
Please could you at least take care of some of the bugs and bring back the second dashboard display and some of the missing buttons.
Beste Antwort im Thema
Dear Volvo,
I have just taken delivery of a new fully loaded XC60 in Sweden and have driven it home to Germany. 3000km is 6 days (Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, France and back to Germany).
I have some questions and observations about the new control system.
1. You have moved the RTI system down into the central consol which is a significant reduction in car safety. The older system was much higher and just below the horizon. The new system means that you have to look down and I have noticed that it simply takes longer to focus on it and I have my eyes off the road for longer. The high position of the navigation display was a major selling point for the V70 and XC70 that I still own.
2. The RTI controls have gone from behind the steering wheel. This is a major feature reduction. It now takes longer to step through the menu functions and in some instances (like activating the RTI in the first place) means taking your hand of the steering wheel. Again a reduction in car safety. Please could you put the controls back behind the steering wheel in future models.
3. Presumably as a cost cutting exercise you have removed the secondary dashboard display. The RTI display now has to double up with the same functions. The problem is that when you have the RTI running (which is most of the time of course) you do not have the visual queue that was there in the form of the dashboard display. This means more stabbing at keys to get what you need and then get back the RTI again. This means taking your hands off the steering wheel more often and makes the whole experience feel cheap and less convenient. Please could you bring back the second display in future models.
4. The whole dash-board control system runs slower the longer you leave it on. There is a bug in the software that causes the system to run slower after a while and I have had to stop the car to reset the system a couple of times. It seems the various control components have not been fully de-bugged yet. Not something I would expect from Volvo or for such an expensive car. Periodically some functions seem to stop working or only react after you step back through the menu system - this suggests a software bug and not hardware.
5. There is a menu item missing... There is no way to store a location other than using the numeric keyboard and then panning across Europe to try to find the location you want to store. I can see no technical reason why this function is missing from menu system. A very irritating bug.
6. There is a significant bug in the new speech control system. I was driving through southern Sweden and I wanted to activate the guidance to take me to Hamburg. The system would only take me to locations in England! The only way I could get the speech system to take me to Hamburg was to change the whole system language to German. I then drove to Switzerland and had to change the system language to French to be able to navigate to a town just inside the French boarder. As the system works when you change the system language it is clear that there is no technical or software reason why it needs to be programmed to work like this. When giving instructions for a new destination the "country" filed has been deactivated and this can only be a bug.
7. The ipod control interface is a complete mess. To step back trough the library you sometimes have to use the scroll wheel, sometimes the exit button etc etc. Needs a serious review.
8. It is now necessary to press a button (Green) on the dashboard to answer the phone. This was not the case with the previous models. Again a safety issue.
9. The navigation system talks very very slowly, which may be ok for the US market, but could you then please then pause the iPod and CD playback. My V70 has a pretty fast RTI message system while the XC70 introduced the very very slow messages (not to mention endless repetitions!). I was quietly hoping that this was going to be speeded up again in the new models... but no. This can only mean that the typical Volvo customer likes it this way. When the listening to a Podcast or a spoken book there seems to be no way to rewind back a little to before the very slow spoken messages.
10. Why did you remove the 6 CD storage capability on the Premium Sound system... aghh. Now have have to go back to juggle a pack of CDs in the car.
Overall the new minimalistic controls on the new models are a step backwards. The system is confusing and poorly implemented. The buttons are too small and there are simply too few of them. It makes the whole experience feel cheap and the slow responsiveness of the various screens and functions has made the overall experience less satisfying.
Please could you at least take care of some of the bugs and bring back the second dashboard display and some of the missing buttons.
5 Antworten
Zuersteinmal sei die Frage erlaubt, warum hier die englische Sprache bemüht wird? Auf Deutsch wäre es doch bestimmt auch möglich gewesen, aber egal, schauen wir mal, was sich so ergibt.
zu1)
Die Position des Monnitors mag etwas tiefer sein als beim V70/XC70, befindet sich jedoch absolut auf Wettbewerbsniveau.
Wer mal VW gefahren ist, weiß wie tief ein NAvi sitzen kann (zur Ehrenrettung sei gesagt, es gibt ein zweites Display mit den wichtigsten Infos im Tacho)
zu 2)
Wozu die kuriose und für nicht volvogewöhnte Fahrer absolut unbrauchbare Steuerung hinter dem Lenkrad beweinen, wenn es eine Spracheingabe gibt. Auch die Steuerung über die Tastatur in der MIttelkonsole ist problemlos möglich, wenn auch etwas umständlich
zu 3)
das zweite display ist mMn nicht notwendig. Alle wichtigen Infos lassen sich auf dem großzügigen Monitor darstellen.
zu 4)
Die im Monitor angezeigten INformationen sind doch alle klar angezeigt. einzigstes Manko ist der Radiosender, welcher bei aktivierter Navigation der Routenführung weicht. Ansonsten hast Du alle sim Blick was wichtig ist. Wenn man den platz für die Anzeige der Klimaeinstellung dem Radiosender "opfert", dann wäre es nahezu perfekt. Wer mehr "Karte" sehen möchte, der muß natürlich auf die INfos verzichten und erreicht dies durch einen zweiten Druck auf "NAVI". Nochmalige Betätigung der Taste bringt die Infos zurück.
zu 5)
ich denke mich erinnern zu können, dass man Zielpunkte speichern kann und sogar als Sprachziel eingeben kann. Weiterhin ist es sogar möglich, eigene POI's einzulesen. Es gibt dazu auch einen sehr detailierten Beitrag hier. Ansonten bleibt ir nur der Hinweis auf "RTFM"
zu 6)
Ich war noch nicht im Ausland, aber in der Sprachsteuerung gibt es einige Bugs. Mitunter hängt man in einer Schleif und kommt nicht raus. Hier besteht wirklich dringender Nachbesserungsbedarf.
zu 7)
ich besitze keinen Ei-Pott und nutze erfolgreich einen USB-Stick
zu 8)
Telefonanrufe werden auch nach dem zweiten Klingeln automatisch angenommen, wenn man dies im Menu einstellt, allerdings geschieht dies auch bei einem "Anklopfer" wenn man nich bewußt ablehnt.
Außerdem gehts auch über die OK-Walze auf dem rechten Tastenfeld des Lenkrads
zu 9)
kann ich nicht nachvollziehen. Die Sprachausgabe ist sehr gut und detailiert. Auf Wunsch werden auch Straßennamen mit ausgegeben bzw. unterdrückt. Alles eine Frage der Einstellung. Weiterhin kann man die Überblendlautsärke festlegen, so daß auch die Musik weiterhin genossen werden kann
zu 10)
mMn ist ein Ei-Pott oder USB Stick einer CD Sammlung im Auto an Haltbarkeit, Qualität und Flexibiltät überlegen. Ich vermisse meine CD's nicht im Auto
Tastengröße ist gerade ausreichend, die Anordnung jedoch etwas unlogisch und somit gewöhnungsbedürftig, hier könnte man wirklich nochmal drüber nachdenken.
BUGS gibts genügend, es werden aber immer weniger. Glück hat, wer den Letzten aus der Modellreihe bekommt. Der hat dann "das perfekte Auto"
Wünsche Dir aber trotzdem viel Spaß mit Deinem neuen Auto
Did you got any instructions at the Volvo dealer, how to use SENSUS?
Zitat:
1. You have moved the RTI system down into the central consol which is a significant reduction in car safety. The older system was much higher and just below the horizon. The new system means that you have to look down and I have noticed that it simply takes longer to focus on it and I have my eyes off the road for longer. The high position of the navigation display was a major selling point for the V70 and XC70 that I still own.
It is further down right, but on clear sunny days much better to read, there are no more reflections
Zitat:
2. The RTI controls have gone from behind the steering wheel. This is a major feature reduction. It now takes longer to step through the menu functions and in some instances (like activating the RTI in the first place) means taking your hand of the steering wheel. Again a reduction in car safety. Please could you put the controls back behind the steering wheel in future models.
Press the EXIT button on the steering wheel, and you will access the main menu, without taking your hand from the steering wheel
Zitat:
3. Presumably as a cost cutting exercise you have removed the secondary dashboard display. The RTI display now has to double up with the same functions. The problem is that when you have the RTI running (which is most of the time of course) you do not have the visual queue that was there in the form of the dashboard display. This means more stabbing at keys to get what you need and then get back the RTI again. This means taking your hands off the steering wheel more often and makes the whole experience feel cheap and less convenient. Please could you bring back the second display in future models.
Press the NAV Button twice, now the main Informations of Radio, Phone, AC will be there again🙂
Zitat:
4. The whole dash-board control system runs slower the longer you leave it on. There is a bug in the software that causes the system to run slower after a while and I have had to stop the car to reset the system a couple of times. It seems the various control components have not been fully de-bugged yet. Not something I would expect from Volvo or for such an expensive car. Periodically some functions seem to stop working or only react after you step back through the menu system - this suggests a software bug and not hardware.
Maybe you didn't got the last SW release? 09F5 is the out now
Zitat:
5. There is a menu item missing... There is no way to store a location other than using the numeric keyboard and then panning across Europe to try to find the location you want to store. I can see no technical reason why this function is missing from menu system. A very irritating bug.
By setting a destination, you'll find a option to save this destination
Zitat:
6. There is a significant bug in the new speech control system. I was driving through southern Sweden and I wanted to activate the guidance to take me to Hamburg. The system would only take me to locations in England! The only way I could get the speech system to take me to Hamburg was to change the whole system language to German. I then drove to Switzerland and had to change the system language to French to be able to navigate to a town just inside the French boarder. As the system works when you change the system language it is clear that there is no technical or software reason why it needs to be programmed to work like this. When giving instructions for a new destination the "country" filed has been deactivated and this can only be a bug.
Speech control on NAV is limited, still no function in Switzerland, seems to be a map problem (Navtec)
Zitat:
7. The ipod control interface is a complete mess. To step back trough the library you sometimes have to use the scroll wheel, sometimes the exit button etc etc. Needs a serious review.
Long press on EXIT, even on Steering Wheel = main directory
Zitat:
8. It is now necessary to press a button (Green) on the dashboard to answer the phone. This was not the case with the previous models. Again a safety issue.
Just press the right Thumbwheel on your Steering Wheel
Zitat:
9. The navigation system talks very very slowly, which may be ok for the US market, but could you then please then pause the iPod and CD playback. My V70 has a pretty fast RTI message system while the XC70 introduced the very very slow messages (not to mention endless repetitions!). I was quietly hoping that this was going to be speeded up again in the new models... but no. This can only mean that the typical Volvo customer likes it this way. When the listening to a Podcast or a spoken book there seems to be no way to rewind back a little to before the very slow spoken messages.
VW or others are "very slow" as well, same as Volvo. Think good understanding is most important. To rewind just long press the Rewind Button on your Steering Wheel
Zitat:
10. Why did you remove the 6 CD storage capability on the Premium Sound system... aghh. Now have have to go back to juggle a pack of CDs in the car.
Why don't you use the iPhone, iPod or USB stick?
Zitat:
Overall the new minimalistic controls on the new models are a step backwards. The system is confusing and poorly implemented. The buttons are too small and there are simply too few of them. It makes the whole experience feel cheap and the slow responsiveness of the various screens and functions has made the overall experience less satisfying.
Please could you at least take care of some of the bugs and bring back the second dashboard display and some of the missing buttons.
Compared to the old System in V70/XC70 you have to get used to it, like in a car of a other manufacturer. Maybe two APP's can help you:
http://itunes.apple.com/ch/app/s60-manual/id418113494?mt=8http://itunes.apple.com/us/app//id482565193?mt=8Hope this will help you, to understand your new Volvo better🙄
Guys,
Thank you for our comments and ideas. Some of my issues with the new system are clearly resolved now with your ideas. Thanks!
I just took my XC70 out for a long drive and still conclude that the the user experience is simply better with two displays. I know the XC60 has some new features such as speech control etc. but I cannot agree about the reduced number of buttons and missing second display. The whole experience is now no better than a VW (maybe they are using VW components...?). I rent a lot of cars and have tried most.
I guess it is all about cost saving. Shame really. Maybe I'll save some money and buy a VW next time.
The high RTI display does not suffer from glare as it is angled down a little. Maybe I am taller than most and therefore do not have this problem. Still prefer it. Looks like I am the only one.
BTW: I never needed to read a manual with the XC70 - everything was so logical - the XC60 cannot be used without spending quite some time with the manual. They even felt the need to release iPhone Apps to help users navigate the system. I think this makes my point entirely.
Still, the car drives very well and I like it overall.
Thomas
ps. my written German is worse than your understanding of English (I promise you).. Sorry.. ;-)
You are right. The system is not perfect yet. Nobody ist perfect. But in my opinion it is much better than the old system.
And I don't think, that you will have the chance to buy a fully equiped navi system like Volvo's with a new VW for less than 2000 €.
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Kauf einen VW und gut ist es. Wenn Du meinst dort sei alles besser, einfacher und vor allem besser bedienbar.
Bashing und Polemik bringt keinem etwas.
Nachtraegliche Ergänzung: jl1 hat sehr gut auf Deine Anfragen geantwortet. Mehr gibt es letztlich dazu nicht zu sagen. und, eine private Meinung zum Cd-Wechsler: das war der groesste Mist, den es gab und ist dank USB und mp3-Spieler vollkommen ersetzbar.
Und: bitte stell Dein Auto vor, bleib in Deutsch (lieber schlechtes Deutsch als englisch) und alles wird gut.
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