Halfway through reading this comment I was thinking “Yup that’s why I like my Mazda3.”
Fingers crossed that they can keep it up with an EV transition. In the MX-30 they did an HVAC touchscreen, but perhaps the years long gap between that and their next EV will be an opportunity to reflect on how stupid that was. (Ignoring Chinese joint ventures that just use someone else’s platform)
I would love to have both. The scroll wheel is convenient when I’m driving, but the touchscreen would make entering a new address much easier, as it’s very annoying to do now by scrolling, and voice dictation doesn’t work well in my language.
I do agree with that, and the newer Mazdas let the screen act as a touch screen when stationary for just that reason.
When I have trouble with voice input I just use my phone to enter the directions instead of doing it in CarPlay. Typing by scrolling through the alphabet with the wheel is not good.
Fingers crossed that they can keep it up with an EV transition. In the MX-30 they did an HVAC touchscreen, but perhaps the years long gap between that and their next EV will be an opportunity to reflect on how stupid that was. (Ignoring Chinese joint ventures that just use someone else’s platform)