How about they bring over some of their more interesting vehicles (Golf R, GTD, Scirocco) instead of worrying about a couple degrees of temperature in the HVAC?
The temperature setting should be the air temperature of the cabin, not the temperature of the air coming out of the vents. Sorry, Germany. And throttle mapping should be linear, despite what anybody else says. Sorry, America.
I remember when I first bought my 2007 A3 I commented in a product survey that I didn't like having the cruise control on a stalk hidden behind the wheel. In 2007, a group of Audi factory people called me to talk about it .... so it took VAG 7 years to decided to change this. Actually, in the end I grew to prefer the cruise control stalk versus having 50 zillion buttons on the wheel, like on my current Focus.
And greenpony, you are correct that it is completely stupid to calibrate the HVAC such that the temperature coming out the registers matches the control settings. As an analogy, check out the temp coming out your home's registers the next time your furnace is running.
Sure, now they change all those things! I complained about all of those things on the VW I sold. Here's 2 more- a separate clock with dedicated buttons, and ability to run on low octane regular gas. OOOH, and a lever to recline the seat- not a dial! Thanks.
I'm not really sure if this is good news or bad news.
On the one hand, it is quite understandable that VW wants to "know" their customer, and in this regards, it is encouraging to see them make adjustments in order to popularize their product ...
...however, the danger with such a strategy is that it risks alienating their existing customer base, particuarly those who were attracted to the Marquee for the very reason that it _differs_ from these Americanocentric preferences.
So this is a very slippery slope, because changing too much to cater to the American mainstream also means that the Marquee is sacrificing its cache and differentation: it is choosing to become a simple transportation commodity product which erodes their ability to charge more (which ultimately reduces Corporate profit margins).
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Anecdotally, I've found that BMW is following a similar strategy of changing themselves to appeal to more American customers.
While shopping, I did a test drive in a 3er and found the very same "too much too early" nonlinear throttle mapping to be present. When I returned from my test drive, I overhead some other perspective customers gushing about how 'peppy' the car was, but when the BMW Rep asked me how much I liked it, I told him that I didn't. I specifically and literally said: "The Throttle Mapping is Wrong."
Ultimately, these are the sorts of design philsophy attributes which we typically consider to be "intangibles" yet which exist and motivate us to be repeat customers of a particular marquee for the longer term.
Comments
On the one hand, it is quite understandable that VW wants to "know" their customer, and in this regards, it is encouraging to see them make adjustments in order to popularize their product ...
...however, the danger with such a strategy is that it risks alienating their existing customer base, particuarly those who were attracted to the Marquee for the very reason that it _differs_ from these Americanocentric preferences.
So this is a very slippery slope, because changing too much to cater to the American mainstream also means that the Marquee is sacrificing its cache and differentation: it is choosing to become a simple transportation commodity product which erodes their ability to charge more (which ultimately reduces Corporate profit margins).
--------------------------
Anecdotally, I've found that BMW is following a similar strategy of changing themselves to appeal to more American customers.
While shopping, I did a test drive in a 3er and found the very same "too much too early" nonlinear throttle mapping to be present. When I returned from my test drive, I overhead some other perspective customers gushing about how 'peppy' the car was, but when the BMW Rep asked me how much I liked it, I told him that I didn't. I specifically and literally said: "The Throttle Mapping is Wrong."
Ultimately, these are the sorts of design philsophy attributes which we typically consider to be "intangibles" yet which exist and motivate us to be repeat customers of a particular marquee for the longer term.
BMW lost that sale....
-hh