The Buttons Are Back on Ford’s Most Popular Model

Image: Ford Motor Company

Ford has taken the wraps off the 2013 F-Series pickup and there’s something familiar inside: buttons and knobs. Rather than outfit the new (and optional) MyFord Touch-equipped center stack with the same capacitive controls fitted to the Edge and Explorer, Ford opted for standard switchgear.

But why?

According to a Ford spokesman speaking with Wired, “Our truck customers want physical controls,” noting that many F-Series buyers wear gloves while in their pickups. The capacitive controls fitted to recent Fords don’t play nice with work gloves, so unless the Blue Oval wants to include a pair of touchsceen-friendly mittens with each F150 it sells, it had to retain standard switchgear.

But there’s likely more to it than construction workers and their choice of hand coverings.

In 2011, Ford sold 584,917 F-Series pickups. That’s 1,603 every day, 67 every hour or just over one truck every minute. Which is why it’s not just the best-selling vehicle in the United States for 30 years running, it’s one of the highest-selling vehicles on the planet.

Image: Ford Motor Company

Partner that kind of popularity with the constant oneupmanship that Chevrolet, Ford and Ram (formerly Dodge) perpetually engage in to prove that their truck is the king of the hill when it comes to power, towing capacity and interior amenities, and the reason physical buttons were included becomes clearer.

Ford can’t risk the same bad press and mixed customer feedback that its capacitive controls have endured on its most important vehicle.

While MyFord Touch is an option on the new F-Series, the capacitive switchgear isn’t. Those are the same controls one 2011 Ford Edge owner, interviewed by J.D. Power and Associates, called, “difficult [and] unsafe to use while driving.” According to a Ford spokesman, customer feedback on the capacitive controls of the Edge/Explorer have been split around “50/50,” with half of polled consumers favoring the knobless controls and the other half not being particularly enamored with the setup.

So Ford played it safe and smart, and stuck with familiar, easy to operate controls.

In the cutthroat horserace that is big truck marketeering, any chink in the armor of the competition will be quickly exploited. And in the case of the F-Series, Ford’s rivals are constantly looking to find that lone issue that could sway buyers into another dealership. Ford has done their homework when it comes to the F-150. They know their customer, they know their individual needs, and they know that not optimizing the controls for the average use case would be disastrous when battling it out for big truck supremacy. But whether or not this portends a shift away from capacitive controls in Ford products going forward remains to be seen.

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Audi Goes Digital With New Rearview Mirror Replacement

Image: Audi Sport

Year after year, show season after show season, automakers debut one high-style concept car after another, most of which have something in common: the lack of side mirrors.

Desperate to throw off the shackles of production car baubles and legislative requirements, automotive designers all seem intent on nixing “wing” mirrors in favor of minuscule cameras that stream video of the surroundings to a central display. It’s been a staple of show cars for years, but now, the technology has finally come to something that actually drives.

Too bad it’s a race car. For now….

When the three Audi R18 LMP1 racers take to the Circuit de la Sarthe in France for the 80th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, each will be equipped with an AMOLED display mounted directly above the driver. A small camera sits behind the antennas on the roof, providing a live stream of what’s left in the R18′s wake as it tackles the 8.5-mile circuit.

As always, innovation is bred out of necessity, and with the R18′s mid-engine layout, there was no way for a traditional interior mirror to be fitted.

Image: Audi Sport

“In the past, our drivers had to strictly rely on the outside mirrors when looking rearward,” says head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Yet the rear end and the rear wings plus the vibrations that occur at high speeds significantly limit the field of vision of these mirrors.”

The ultra-low seating position of the drivers — meant to keep weight close to the ground — was also a contributing factor to the adoption of the new display. And then there’s the weather.

“The operation of the mirror is weather-neutral.” Ullrich explains. “By contrast, when using outside mirrors, heavy water spray severely impairs the driver’s field of vision when it rains. For the new digital mirror, we worked out various day and night driving modes. Even when a rival approaches from the rear with high-beam headlights the image is superb and not just a glaring light spot.”

The tight pixel density of the AMOLED display also makes spotting and analyzing information from behind easier and less fatiguing — a serious concern when traveling 300 feet a second.

“Even at 330 km/h we’re achieving a totally fluid image flow in real-time transmission,” says Ullrich.

But what about real-world applications?

According to Audi, its motorsport and production arms are working hand-in-hand on the technology, originally fitting an early prototype to their R8 supercar.

“The intensity of the demands in motorsport, such as at the Le Mans 24 Hours, will cause such a system to mature at an accelerated pace,” according to Ullrich. “I’m sure that we’ll be able to return valuable findings to our colleagues in [Germany].”

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Privacy Group Voices Concerns Over Google-Backed Autonomous Vehicle Legislation

Photo: Google

The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog is raising concerns about Google’s altruistic motives when it comes to autonomous vehicles. The group sees The Big G’s efforts less as a way to reduce crashes and save lives, and more as a ploy to mine and monetize even more personal data. And it wants to block a bill that would clear the way for Google’s self-driving cars to legally cruise California roads unless privacy protections are in place.

In a letter to Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, Consumer Watchdog president Jamie Court and the nonprofit group’s Privacy Project director John M. Simpson wrote: “Without appropriate regulations, Google’s vehicles will be able to gather unprecedented amounts of information about the use of those vehicles. How will it be used? Just as Google tracks us around the Information Superhighway, it will now be looking over our shoulders on every highway and byway.”

“Google gathers so much data in so many ways,” Simpson told Wired. “How will they use the data? The law itself is generic about autonomous vehicles. We drafted amendments that are also generic but solve the problem. We were prompted to call for the need for amendments became [the law] is so far down the road, and because of the nature of what Google does,” Simpson adds, saying that it’s not just about Google’s cars and lobbying efforts. “The amendments would cover data collection by any autonomous vehicle,” he says.

The California Senate unanimously passed SB 1298, and it’s now under consideration by the Assembly. Google has been instrumental in lobbying for the bill, which was introduced by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) and sets guidelines for the testing and operation of autonomous vehicles on California roads. Padilla has argued that giving Google’s autonomous vehicles the green light is crucial to keeping transportation and technology advances within the borders of the Golden State — perhaps as a reaction to Nevada being the first state to make autonomous cars legal.

Like Google, Padilla also cites safety and environmental reasons for promoting autonomous-car legislation. “Human error is the cause of almost every accident on the road today,” the California Senator said after the bill passed in his chamber. “If autonomous technology can reduce the number of accidents, then we also reduce the number of injuries and fatalities on California’s roads. For me this is a matter of safety.” He also pointed to the promise of autonomous vehicles to save fuel, reduce emissions and improve traffic flow.

But Consumer Watchdog isn’t buying it. And the group is drawing parallels to the nascent internet, urging lawmakers to be proactive about data-gathering self-driving cars and more circumspect about what it sees as profit-making motives for Google.

Continue Reading “Privacy Group Voices Concerns Over Google-Backed Autonomous Vehicle Legislation” »

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The World’s Largest Boeing Takes Flight

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Lufthansa 747-8I Take off Images K65636-05
  • Lufthansa 747-8I Take off Images K65636-05
  • Cockpit
  • Power Levers
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  • Economy Seating
  • Economy Seating Screens
  • Legroom
  • Bottle Opener
  • Stairway to Heaven
  • Business Class
  • Nap Time Biz Style
  • First Class
  • The Lap of Airborne Luxury
  • Fit for a King(maker)
  • Meet Joe Sutter

Boeing's largest airplane began passenger service today as Lufthansa enlisted the service of the new 747-8 Intercontinental on a flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to Washington, D.C. The newest 747 is a bigger, quieter and more efficient version of the iconic jumbo jet that first flew passengers under the Pan Am banner back in 1970. The 747-8I uses much of the same technology found on the 787 Dreamliner, along with an all-new wing and engines.

One of the first changes airplane aficionados will notice about this newest 747 is the iconic hump and its stretched profile. The fuselage has been stretched around 18 feet compared to the 747-400 that preceded the 747-8. The extra length allowed Boeing to add about 50 more seats for a total of 467 in the standard layout.

Lufthansa opted for a much more spacious seating setup for its configuration, utilizing just 362 seats in total. One of the main reasons for the reduced seating capacity is the increased use of new lay-down business class seats filling the top deck on the 747. And for passengers who want a positively plush experience, Lufthansa offers just eight first class seats in a closed-off section at the nose, with luxuries usually reserved for private jets.

Additionally, Boeing made improvements for the pilots. The flight deck is a familiar place for any Boeing jumbo jet pilot and the transition for an existing 747 pilot requires only three days. The latest avionics are displayed on multiple glass panel displays in the cockpit and a partial fly-by-wire flight control system means the airplane that first flew more than 40 years ago is no Luddite.

For those operating the new 747-8, the most important improvements may be the engines and aerodynamics. The new wing and four engines suspended beneath it mean much better efficiency. Boeing says the new jet uses 15 percent less fuel than its predecessor and uses 11 percent less fuel per passenger than the Airbus A380.

For most passengers the important things are on the inside. And we recently had a chance to walk through Lufthansa's new baby before it left Boeing's home airport next to its production center in Everett, Washington. We had a look throughout the plane, but being aero-geeks, we wanted to start up in the cockpit.


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Photos: Jason Paur/Wired

 
          

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Review: Test Driving the 2012 McLaren MP4-12C

Photo: Basem Wasef/Wired

Supercars should look like sex. This is what the voice inside my head has been insisting since I was 14 years old, when the very same (if slightly less mature) spirit guide led me to hang a Lamborghini Countach poster above my bed and doodle Ferrari Testarossas all over my Pee Chee folders.

But somehow, to my eye, the McLaren MP4-12C doesn’t quite strike a nerve the way old school überexotics once did. Eye-popping curves and salacious silhouettes are time-honored ingredients of the exotic car formula. Like Vegas strip clubs or the pool bar at the Delano in South Beach, the meek need not apply — and if they do, they better damn well have a good reason for loitering in that rarified company.

And so the McLaren MP4-12C, while comely and sleek, isn’t the most visually charismatic player in this pumped up, pornographically endowed slice of the automotive stratosphere. Waist-high and swoopy, the McLaren may not be a shrinking violet in the topiary of supercars, but neither is it as sensuously enticing as the Monica Belucci-in-a-negligee Ferrari 458 Italia, or as intimidating as the oh-shit-the-mothership-has-landed Lamborghini Aventador. Even its alphanumeric moniker has more in common with C-3PO than any vehicle ought to.

Car geeks unite: Your steed is here, and only you will get the four-wheeled joke.

Continue reading Basem’s review of the McLaren MP4-12C on Wired Product Reviews.

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