Persistent Heated Seats, Steering Wheel - 2015 Volvo S60 Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Persistent Heated Seats, Steering Wheel - 2015 Volvo S60 Long-Term Road Test

This long-term update to Edmunds 2015 Volvo S60 details the car's heated seats and steering wheel which remain on through key cycles.

Read the full story here

gslippy

In my 12 Leaf, the heated steering wheel remains on, but only for so many start-stop cycles (seems to last about 2 weeks). After that, it's off until the dashboard momentary switch is touched again. The heated seat is a simple toggle switch which remains on per the switch setting.

I like the Leaf's way of doing this, but it would be annoying if the controls were in a GUI instead of hardware.

zimtheinvader

gslippy said:

..... it would be annoying if the controls were in a GUI instead of hardware.

I agree, these are both features that should be controlled by real buttons that show in a glance if they are on and to what level. And can be changed with one button push without really having to take your eyes away from the road.

We had a rental Chrysler for a week and all the heat and A/C and heated/ventilated seat controls were through the touch screen and I really missed having the regular buttons and knobs that my car has for those. I should be able to tell at a tenth of a second glance what all those things are set at and not have to look at a screen to hit the right spot and go through multiple screens to change the settings.
On that car you had to select the section for the heated seats, then select the heated seats then select the level for the heated seats. Three pushes in three different places on three different touch screen displays.

It has been said before on here that touch screens are fantastic for controlling some things and not good for others. If manufactures would simply use them only for the things they excel at then it would make everything better.

saulster

Six of one, half dozen the other. I believe this comes down to personal taste ( the controls staying on through key cycles ). IMHO, when weather is consistently cold, it's nice not to have to press the seat and steering wheel heat buttons every time you start the car. If just chilly in the AM and not needed by lunch hour, this might be more annoying. Or, just personal preference.

I have lots of arguements with some of the Volvo electronics in this car ( navigation in particular, just got back from another trip and frustrations but that's another post ) but this is an OK coin flip decision for me and I am fine with how Volvo did it.

Saulster

mlin32

Mazda does this on their newer vehicles as well. All the features and settings are left where you left them before the car was turned off......not really ideal. Probably should just be a timer like BMW, where there's memory for short periods (15min) and then it's all reset to default for longer stops.

mrvtecski

I recently sampled a TLX with its (crazy) dual screen touchscreen layout. I miss the tactile, click of my heated seat switch on my TSX. If this is the future of cars, then I am concerned as iPhones are bad enough to distract us. We put the phone down when driving, only to be distracted by our center stacks...