Top Gear applaud the Panda
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Top Gear applaud the Panda
I saw this but while I agree with the sentiment to an extent..
It's mainly most of the progress since about 2016 in cars has been in making cars more annoying and less useful. As a result you could replace the Panda with literally any older car and make the same argument..
It's mainly most of the progress since about 2016 in cars has been in making cars more annoying and less useful. As a result you could replace the Panda with literally any older car and make the same argument..
I am not sure that simplicity is equal to luxury....
I am pretty sure a Bentley Bentyaga is more luxurious than a panda.
Just because one BMW is complicated to use, doesn't mean that all cars are complicated. there are many more cars that fit the bill of "luxury" over and above the panda and are still simple and easy to use.
I believe this sort of opinion piece is what they call "Rage bait", to get people so worked up they have to engage and rant against the opinion in the article which drives engagement and makes advertisers happy.
I am pretty sure a Bentley Bentyaga is more luxurious than a panda.
Just because one BMW is complicated to use, doesn't mean that all cars are complicated. there are many more cars that fit the bill of "luxury" over and above the panda and are still simple and easy to use.
I believe this sort of opinion piece is what they call "Rage bait", to get people so worked up they have to engage and rant against the opinion in the article which drives engagement and makes advertisers happy.
I suppose the point is does all the tech they load into expensive cars now equal Luxury either?
Largely it's a moot point given the large market is China and they love it. But for Europe can't help but wonder if a just really nicely put together car with quality switches and materials with around the tech level of year 2000 S class would be well recieved.
It's a fairly widely documented fact that a huge amount of modern tech is never used by owners which largely means you're adding cost and complexity for no benefit except spec list bingo.
Materials go a long way to giving a car a luxury feel however different countries have different ideas of luxury ie the Toyota Century having wool rather than leather seats.
That being said no one it lining up for the hard plastic wheelie bin finish of the circa 2004 panda dash.
Soft touch plastics, different materials such as suede, alcantara, leather, wood, metal etc. a prime example might be the magnesium alloy indicator stalk they fitted to the Bugatti veyron.
Luxury is a lot more than just “gadgets”
I suppose the point they could be driving at is the tech is so terrible that driving a Panda is a luxury.
It may be a comment on the BMW more than luxury cars in general although given how many luxury cars are heading for one massive screen for the driver than another for the passenger he may have a point.
The German big 3 seem to think luxury is as many screens as will physically fit into the interior as possible, lit with what looks like someone spent a million pounds on temu.
Being constantly in a battle of wits with your mode of transport isn't luxurious unless that mode of transport has 1 horsepower and answers to dobbin.
Non article is filling space that could usefully be taken by something more insightful.
Harshly yours etc
Harshly yours etc
The article would have made more sense had they not tried to compare ‘luxury’ with ‘simple’, but rather made the argument of how the Panda is incredibly well designed with everything that it was built with and to do… and maybe that in getting lost in complexity, boundary pushing and trying to stand out too much in a harsh market of other OTT German luxury cars, BMW and pals often come out with some really stupidly hard to use and/or pointless features which you’d never find on the likes of a Panda and similar cars from the class.
On a personal note… one problem also with the German car makers is they slap their badges on everything from a Polo (Audi A3) up to actual high end cars and think that the brand names carry the same cachet that they would have in the 80s. No, you’re not doing well for yourself because you drive an Audi… Audi started making run of the mill tier cars. Same with BMW and Mercedes too. The part sharing that is the core of those companies success will sometimes mean sharing a lousy part that’s too expensive to redesign for one model. Didn’t BMW release Rolls Royces with nasty plastic steering columns and cheap plastics which before their reign would never be seen dead in such a top tier car?! From an existing 7 series or something. It’s bound to happen. Most people don’t notice / care.
The Top Gear editor wants to go test drive an MG and see what plastic, crappy non functional stuff is really all about from the masters
On a personal note… one problem also with the German car makers is they slap their badges on everything from a Polo (Audi A3) up to actual high end cars and think that the brand names carry the same cachet that they would have in the 80s. No, you’re not doing well for yourself because you drive an Audi… Audi started making run of the mill tier cars. Same with BMW and Mercedes too. The part sharing that is the core of those companies success will sometimes mean sharing a lousy part that’s too expensive to redesign for one model. Didn’t BMW release Rolls Royces with nasty plastic steering columns and cheap plastics which before their reign would never be seen dead in such a top tier car?! From an existing 7 series or something. It’s bound to happen. Most people don’t notice / care.
The Top Gear editor wants to go test drive an MG and see what plastic, crappy non functional stuff is really all about from the masters
There's an element of basic cars now generally have everything you could ever need.
As a result most of the 'luxury' features are fulfilling needs that don't exist.
Electric self opening and closing boot? Erm what's that adding? Except a grand bill if your boot struts go..
Then "improvements" like this.
Reversing camera set up on the C4...this is very important on that car as because it's a modern electric car so a back wiper for some reason is not needed apparently.
If you read the spec sheet this is progress over a C3 with it's drone view and bigger screen.
If you actually use it, it's worse because the screen is split into 4 so none of the elements are very large..so you can see less than the older camera that just fills the screen.
Compared to an older car..note the climate control is not occupying any screen real estate...
That and while the newer screen is technically bigger it's not due to the being wide-screen.
As a result most of the 'luxury' features are fulfilling needs that don't exist.
Electric self opening and closing boot? Erm what's that adding? Except a grand bill if your boot struts go..
Then "improvements" like this.
Reversing camera set up on the C4...this is very important on that car as because it's a modern electric car so a back wiper for some reason is not needed apparently.
If you read the spec sheet this is progress over a C3 with it's drone view and bigger screen.
If you actually use it, it's worse because the screen is split into 4 so none of the elements are very large..so you can see less than the older camera that just fills the screen.
Compared to an older car..note the climate control is not occupying any screen real estate...
That and while the newer screen is technically bigger it's not due to the being wide-screen.
You only have to go back 20-25 years and the model range was fairly linear
Take Ford you would get a very basic model that was just “fiesta” or whatever.
Then L. LX GLX Ghia (sporty models might be something SI or just more simply “sport”) top of the tree would be the Ghia X
If you wanted certain features such as leather seats you would have to at least buy a Ghia, anything below a Ghia wouldn’t have 4x electric windows. So there were clear features to each model level.
Now cars tend to be more customised where by you could buy a basic model but throw leather seats in there. Or a top end model and remove features for no cost.
This also means that cars don’t tend to have a defined model designation.
Our mini countryman is a “cooper d” but that says nothing about the features or equipment it has, so when ordering the dealership had to get a spec list (it was a pre-built in stock car) from the factory to know what had been installed.
One of the features it had that a lot didn’t have is the electronically opening boot… wave your foot under the bumper and the boot opens (as long as you have your key in your pocket) it’s 8 years old and hasn’t gone wrong yet so I’d say got most owners they wouldn’t worry too much about the reliability of the system if they swap their car in ever 3-4 years
There's still a model range in most cases...but I think the point is.
If you want a car with cruise control, climate control, heated seats, automatic lights and wipers, 4 x electric windows in the 90s/early 00s you were talking something fancy likely an executive car or the highest spec of a mainstream manufacturer in their most expensive model.
Now that's half the spec list of a city car so to justify the extra money they apply a lot of things...but these things are of questionable merit in a lot of cases.
Then you get it to all being in a touch screen that's designed by someone who is unaware of how the human mind works so unless you go looking for it you'll never be able to switch your starlight head liner for white to purple...
Then there's the joy of keyless entry. I've had two keyless cars in the past but both needed you to press a button on the door to unlock. Not anymore...nope if you've got the key in your pocket then walking to the front room window is enough to unlock your car...woe betide you if you leave the keys in the door to the house. It's absolutely insecure compared to just having a damn key.
If you want a car with cruise control, climate control, heated seats, automatic lights and wipers, 4 x electric windows in the 90s/early 00s you were talking something fancy likely an executive car or the highest spec of a mainstream manufacturer in their most expensive model.
Now that's half the spec list of a city car so to justify the extra money they apply a lot of things...but these things are of questionable merit in a lot of cases.
Then you get it to all being in a touch screen that's designed by someone who is unaware of how the human mind works so unless you go looking for it you'll never be able to switch your starlight head liner for white to purple...
Then there's the joy of keyless entry. I've had two keyless cars in the past but both needed you to press a button on the door to unlock. Not anymore...nope if you've got the key in your pocket then walking to the front room window is enough to unlock your car...woe betide you if you leave the keys in the door to the house. It's absolutely insecure compared to just having a damn key.
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