Volkswagen will restore physical buttons to the dashboard in its latest compact car, part of a wider move away from touchscreens.

In a particularly retro touch, the new ID Polo will even have a volume dial.

For a decade or so, automakers rushed to replace knobs and switches with screens, Autoblog noted in October, but users largely disliked them: Controlling the air conditioning, for example, required delving through submenus while driving, which was both difficult and dangerous. Research found that using touchscreens took longer and distracted drivers.

Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and VW have all announced plans to return to more tactile controls, and US and EU regulators announced last year that cars with touchscreen controls could get worse safety ratings.

    • Quadhammer@lemmy.world
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      24 days ago

      Instead of studs that come out of the hub and a lug nut bolts down on the other side of the wheel, you have a threaded lugnut as one piece that bolts from the outside of the wheel into the hub. Less diy friendly imo and seems far less secure

      • Schmuppes@lemmy.today
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        23 days ago

        It is maybe less DIY friendly because the wheel will not stay on the hub without at least one bolt inserted. Once you realize that’s the case, you put the wheel on and one of the bottom lug bolts maybe 2-3 turns in to prevent the wheel from falling off. I don’t see how they would be any less safe than studs and nuts. You tighten them to the appropriate torque spec and will never lose a wheel. The only other disadvantage I see is that you’re not gonna be able to easily fix badly damaged threads, but when and how would that happen?

        • Quadhammer@lemmy.world
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          23 days ago

          Yes. Well with regular studs you can hang the wheel off the studs and it’s easy to line up. Also yes with studs you just replace the stud, with wheel bolts you’re tapping the hub to repair it or replacing the hub. It’s just enshitification to sell parts and laboris what I’m getting at

      • EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com
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        23 days ago

        I had a vehicle with the lug bolts, but it was more like an Allen key with the hex in the middle. Caused me all sorts of trouble when the head cracked while I was trying to change a tire.

        • Schmuppes@lemmy.today
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          23 days ago

          Sounds like one of those anti-theft sets where one lug bolt requires a special key. The rest (or on my old Golf: all of them) are standard 17, 19 or 21 mm heads.

      • Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca
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        23 days ago

        Yes, it’s called a wheel bolt. And they are much better than studs in every way. It’s why all the German brands use them.

        • Quadhammer@lemmy.world
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          23 days ago

          Edit:

          much better in every way

          Yeah, no, eat a dick. Wrong

          that’s why Germans use them

          Ah yes the genius engineers that brought you the easy to maintain and repair: audi, vw and Mercedes. Germans do a lot of things right but cars are not one of them