Goodbye F430, bought a P.....

[swnyradar]

The concept photos look nice but the last shot from the back could've been anything. As I read the page from the bottom (latest post) upwards I actually thought it was a BMW at first glance, due to that thing near the rear window. I too can't stand the iPad dash and wouldn't buy a car with one. Ferrari need to stop that asap as it looks absolutely stupid.

Imagine it with ferrari round taillights, perhaps the ones off of the SF90 (which is otherwise an absolute dogs dinner of a design) and in my world it would be petrol only.

Any touchscreen controls in cars should be binned, awful to use and IMO very dangerous forcing the driver to take eyes completely off the road to use. Can't beat mechanical dials & buttons for all controls. How many accidents have the touch screens contributed to? See here some pretty important people of the same opinion:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-49319450

Mike (good to "see" you and hope you guys are all well?)

I agree, with the above. I think the F8 looks better than the 488, but I just cant get excited by the interior and all this ipdad dash stuff. The Battista was up at one of the local petrol head haunt last year; and whilst I never saw it in the flesh there were a fair few pics only, and whilst I couldn't care less about anything electric (other than my Makita drill!) the styling looked stunning. They all seem to be saturating the market place with models and specials, which at the end of the day will pop the market; especially now I would think.

If I could (and I certainly cant) the only one of the current line up I'd like is the 812 GTS. I have asked my local dealer to make sure somebody buys one in blue, with crema interior and Daytona seats, willing to sell in 5-10 years time

All good here thanks. Yes of course all electric cars should also be banned Even better, imagine the SF90 looked like the Battista, but with the V12 from the 812..

[Nosevi]

It’s a difficult one with the driver interface because what SHOULD be driving the new car market is largely the advances in the human / machine interface. We have just done a concept car that takes this up another notch with the drivers emotions in ‘race’ mode being projected into the ambient lighting of the car along with human ‘systems’ tracking. Think fighter pilots G-suit type connection for track work. Of course those familiar with the aerospace world know that we have had ‘fully glass cockpits’ for decades. The idea in fighter aircraft was primarily designed to reduce pilot workload and focus on the many task(s) in hand and in many ways the automotive sector has not quite followed suit. For sports / supercars I have been continually underwhelmed by the lack of progress in this area. I think the right electronics could dramatically enhance the driving experience but a lack of imagination and Luddite attitude by many OEM’s has failed to give the enthusiast driver features they would want.

To be fair, what they do in the Aerospace industry has moved on considerable from fully glass cockpits. The snag is tech comes at a price and the automotive industry has to have at least half an eye on cost. To give it perspective, the F35 helmet alone costs more than a Ferrari 488 Pista Spider or 812 Superfast, I'm talking per helmet. The numbers as far as cost goes between the automotive and aerospace industry aren't even comparable any more.

I was with Joint Force Harrier for most of my time in the RAF and a few of the younger guys from there have moved onto the F35. They quite like the new tech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3aimm04SWU

[A348W]

[QUOTE=swnyradar;841779]

Any touchscreen controls in cars should be binned, awful to use and IMO very dangerous forcing the driver to take eyes completely off the road to use. Can't beat mechanical dials & buttons for all controls. How many accidents have the touch screens contributed to? See here some pretty important people of the same opinion:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-49319450

...ahhh my day job that; but on our fleet! Typical swiss cheese accident model! For those interested in this sort of thing, the report into both Fitzgerald and McCain is at the bottom of this link. https://gcaptain.com/u-s-navy-releas...ain-collisions.

There was also an article somewhere that Honda are rowing back on the touch screen use, limiting the functions that are accessed for exactly the reasons you say. Absolute classic case of not apply robust safety assessment integrated with human factors analysis. Blatantly obvious issue to anybody with 2 cents between their ears; but undoubtedly lead and driven by stylists and marketing people. (And don't even get me started on the lunacy of semi and "autonomous" cars!)

Besides; you can't beat twiddling a knob now can you?

[Kyodo]

It’s a difficult one with the driver interface because what SHOULD be driving the new car market is largely the advances in the human / machine interface....

I agree. There's so much more that could be done, the current approach is just lazy.

My issue with the trend of glueing what appears to be a tablet onto a random bit of the dash is that it looks so half-hearted. There appears to be rarely any thought going into it and I think the manufacturers are simply assuming this is what makes a vehicle appealing to us all.

My first experience was borrowing a Mercedes a few years ago and spending some time trying to figure out how to remove the 'iPad' from the centre of the dash because it was getting on my nerves, simply by being in my vision whilst sat in the driver's seat. Imagine my surprise when I realised it was actually part of the car and not an added accessory (kind of glad I didn't manage to pull it off after all). I see Ferrari have dropped a tablet from a great height that appears to have got stuck between the driver and passenger of the Roma. What a shame.

[swnyradar]

A few from my collection

[sssdu01]

From my own experience of flying, creating an "I pad generation" glass screens just doesn't work . Some early attempts replaced dials with a number in a box. This is just so dangerous as when you fly its a case of a glance at a set of instruments (old fashioned dials) for reference - easy to do- vs - the I pad style of looking at a load of numbers, which mean nothing at a glance.

The more modern and successful glass cockpits now have a picture of the old fashioned dial, and a few "number style" readouts that have an alarm built in to flash any values outside limits. (These normally relate to oily bits to advise when they are over/underheating). This actually work quiet well.

The more expensive stuff and extreme aircraft stuff has a head up display unit projecting what you need onto the screen. This takes a few hours to get used to but is very good as you dont have to look inside much. This is available in some cars now and takes some getting used to, as it can be distracting first time you use it.

The stuff built into military helmets now just takes it to a new level, with weapon systems tracking/following whatever you are looking at, along with head up display units built into the helmet. Not sure if this would work on a road car unless you have a built in rocket launcher to take out caravans and speed cameras

[Modificato]

To be fair, what they do in the Aerospace industry has moved on considerable from fully glass cockpits. The snag is tech comes at a price and the automotive industry has to have at least half an eye on cost. To give it perspective, the F35 helmet alone costs more than a Ferrari 488 Pista Spider or 812 Superfast, I'm talking per helmet. The numbers as far as cost goes between the automotive and aerospace industry aren't even comparable any more.

I was with Joint Force Harrier for most of my time in the RAF and a few of the younger guys from there have moved onto the F35. They quite like the new tech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3aimm04SWU

Our paths will have crossed.

I built Harrier wings as an aircraft fitter... Ended up on the carriers with them some years later.

Was very familiar with the FIST program and how that led into Naval Air Ops and RAF Changes.

Still do quite a bit of work in the sector

[Nosevi]

Our paths will have crossed.

I built Harrier wings as an aircraft fitter... Ended up on the carriers with them some years later.

Was very familiar with the FIST program and how that led into Naval Air Ops and RAF Changes.

Still do quite a bit of work in the sector

[swnyradar]

Ford vs Ferrari last weekend and the same bend 3 years ago some will remember

[swnyradar]

The best car weekend of a dissapointing year!

A shot from the meet with the CS gang at the Classic Motor hub Bibury, and being as the car was still filthy from yesterday, a quick local loop this evening