Tacoma & 4 Runner sharing same interior

Shame 4Runner has always had a super build to the Tacoma now they all have cheap as possible low quality builds even the Land Cruiser prado j250 felt like shitty cheap Chinese plastic at least the Lexus gx still feels like quality

 

i don't mind the placement of the giant screen, but i fucking hate that it takes like 7 touches to get from android auto to just choose a regular FM Station. just give me a dedicated FM button!

and before anyone suggests it, scrolling using "mode" isn't any better - it's still 3-4 presses, but the timing is more inconsistent because of the loading time for apple music and Amazon music, 2 things i will never ever use in my life but Toyota's focus groups somehow thinks are essential to remain in the way. and it often jumps back to amazon music after its already started playing FM if i scroll through them too fast.

i love nearly everything else about my truck (fuel tank size being the sole mechanical exception), but i've grown to hate pretty much everything about its infotainment system.

 

Not for quality, but it bothers me that they are all shared and prices just keep climbing even though logistics and design are simplified.

Rich get richer.

 

I'm a fan of manual transmissions, but not in suv's.

 

It's good to see Toyota kept the steering wheel round, or mostly round I thought the bottom was a little flat like the Tundra.

Maybe it's not bad when you are driving it but that squircle Ford has going on don't make sense to me. Is it to save space?

 

Ok well congrats, you have your automatic option. I would also like to have an option that I can enjoy.

 

Potentially, but that would be reflected in Toyota making higher per-unit profits. It remains to be seen if that's going to happen with these.

 

Manufacturers are really enjoying the cost benefits of LCD cluster. They're much cheaper to acquire than the old analog clusters. It's simply a commodity LCD screen that you throw software at to make it look a certain way.
The electromechanical analog clusters are design and manufacturing intensive. You gotta be certain about the design before it goes to mass production. The needles need light pipes to illuminate, the servos need to position the needles accurately. The graphics need to light up a certain way.
As someone who understands manufacturing, I see the LCD cluster as just being cheaper, and it's frustrating that buyers think it's an upgrade that should imply higher cost. Manufacturers take advantage of this perception.

I disagree about the infotainment though. I'm becoming more far-sighted as I get older, I like the bigger infotainment, IF it can display larger characters. I also like the way it's on the dash. My wife bought one of the first Toyota models to begin using the "iPad" style infotainment, and I remember everyone saying it's going to block the view. Nope, and it gives me a place to rest my hand when I need to accurately touch an icon on the touchscreen. That's really useful

 

interesting take. i like the big screen, but miss dedicated buttons. there's definitely a happy medium that they missed.

 

You need a non-reflective white dial recessed into some type of tunnel. I find that instrument design has completely fallen by the way side, I’m guessing people don’t even bother looking at them anymore. The Germans have nonreflective white dials figured out pretty well.

Unfortunately until they went to glass surfaces with no feedback, they loved their microscopic switches and dials.

My 2013 Trail 4runner had large big dials that could be operated with clumsy hands and gloves and a great deal of feedback. The instruments were black, but recessed into a deep tunnel to prevent glare and always illuminated which mitigated that.

That’s the biggest gripe with touchscreen, there is no tactile feedback.

Also you shouldn’t have to be navigating menus to do things like climate control.

 

There’s a lot more to interface design than just the dial color. When you’re asking to present a large array of information in a readable format, lots of different color and design choices make sense. there’s not just one best solution (trust me, I have a graduate degree in it and my thesis advisor was one of GM’s top human factors designers).


The move to computer displays is cheaper, true, but also generally more reliable than multiple independent gauges. And with modern matte and anti reflective displays, they’re perfectly readable in all lighting conditions.

 

Why can't simple controls be utilized in passenger vehicles?

I'd like to see more modular commercial components used in light trucks HVAC controls, radios, exterior lighting, gauge cluster. Off the shelf truck parts that will most likely always be a replacement available made by more than one manufacturer. Need a 6" round headlight, you buy a replacement 6" round headlight. I guess it's not cost effective for the OEM, or that's how trucks would still be built today

 

I remember buying 12.99 replacement headlights for my 1983 Land Cruiser.

 

The Chevy Colorado has the headlight controls in the big center screen. No knob.

 

It blows me away what people whine about.

 

Y'all know there are physical HVAC controls and radio control buttons? You can even see them in the pictures.

 

The people complaining don’t own a 4g, so probably not

 

OBTW, the visual feed back for the PHYSICAL HVAC buttons are not on the big screen. They are just above the PHYSICAL buttons.

 

OBTW, this would be so apparent to anybody who actually test drive these vehicles.

 

Yeah. I know that. I’ve test driven the LC250, GX, and 4G Taco.

I don’t want the big iPad screen.

I want big physical controls and a small screen for phone, radio, and backup camera with no other car functions on it.