dutchie01

There are several reasons for manufacturers to go for screens. 1. Screens sell cars in the showroom. The wow effect, open the door and Wow! i want that!. Mercedes is propably leading this now with the NEW C class. They spent more in cabin design than on drivertrain and chassis which is a worked over previous generation. 2. It opens the route to subscriptions. Again mercedes where you can have all functions and all screens but it will cost you a monthly fee. This will be the standard in the industry soon. 3. Cheaper in manufacturing. 1 screen can replace 40 buttons. Look at Porsche cabins. Panamera and Taycan. Safety seems largely forgotten in this process as manufacturers are not forced by legislation or consumer pressure, they go for the profit. All this seems to have by-passed toyota/lexus like they do not think of it as important. They are currently launching a new system but so far i have not seen a "premium"design at all. Anyway, just my thoughts.

And here is another moan. The increased use of screens in car design. Traditional buttons disappear in favour of touch screens that are getting bigger by the minute. Heated seats? Old; feel button keeping eyes on the road switch on. New; look at screen click menu to go to heated seat menu, click to switch on then 2 more clicks to reach the correct level then eyes back on the road just in time to avoid the oncoming bulk carrier. Mobile phone use is illegal and correctly so but what about those screens?? My beloved IS250 had a screen that could only be operated when standing still.

There has been a serious debate with several meetings about genderneutral toilets in Amsterdam town hall. They even designed a logo for it like they have nothing else to do. Digging back in my memory first job at ICI visiting the Paris headoffice in the eighties i was stunned the toilets were to be used by both genders ( sorry if that is offensive i have no clue if there are more genders) ( apologies if that is offending people as i am not on their level maybe we need a name for ignorent people like me). Am i the only one that sees a big difference between young highly educated city folk and normal people in the rest of the country?

Sounds like an interesting engineering project for internal use at Yamaha. For the short and medium term ( 5 - 10 yrs) this will be dead in the water for the reasons Kreifels mentioned.

Nice one at Louwman Groningen. 85k km and 34k euro stunning.

any car that gives you a happy feeling in your pants is a good car !

Once such a system is workable it will be a tool the powers that be can use in every way they want. For instance an ISF 8 pot could be charged 10 times the price of an electric UX. And if info streams one way it can go the other as well... 30 mile zone and all of a sudden your car will not go faster. Main hurdle will be privacy but then again your iphone already gives your location away now so..

Another moan. Todays studies/education. In my time the choices were relatively simple, Economy, Law, Medicine etc. If i now ask a youngster what they study i get answers i did not know existed; Immigration and Management, Tourism and Recreation, Sports and Leisure, Lifestyle Informatics and hang on the best one.. European Union Studies. Must be an age thing i guess..

That exactly is how roadpricing was launched as an idea more than a decade ago, to avoid trafficjams. Idea beeing to make it more expensive in rush hour or certain roads so people will drive outside of peak hours. Idea of course totally crashed as people in most cases have no choice or simply avoid highways and drive from village to village with all consequenses attached.

I found it guys! You have to see it to see it! Its a big Chinese invester working with a famous American company owner ( cannot mention names as you will understand this goes way beyond Government circles). They are working on a great reset of the global sock and slipper industry and will soon introduce new versions based on nano tech so the new elite will be able to follow us 24/24. Ill log off now someone knocking at the door!

Fully agree. Overhere it is more likely they will go for roadpricing. Meaning the moment you start driving the taximeters starts running. Seems pretty complicated to me let alone the privacy aspect of it but hey, its all about money.

Jensen i drove an IS300H ( same engine as RC) for over 150k km and not even a lightbulb went wrong. These cars are rock solid so dont worry. Like Linas said have it serviced by a dealer and enter the 10yr scheme and before any buy do a battery check at a dealer. I also drove a 320i touring for 2 yrs had four (4)! recalls in that time and also needed a new battery. Buildquality of that car was below the Lexus by miles. Different plastics in the cabin made a wonderful cracking/creaking sound in winter when the cabin heated up. Roadholding was better as was steering feel. Choices choices..

Have a testdrive with both, not comparable really. Then park the BM in front of your house and look at it. Repeat the next day with the RC. If you still like the BMW please visit the optician.

Socks, and slippers even from 3 different companies all of a sudden going downhill. Hmmm a bit suspicious to me dont trust it, who is behind this and why i wonder?? Wait ill do my own research on the internet back soon.

1 x 40'container China Uk jan 2021 was USD 1000. 12 months later this is 18,000 USD. Good luck with poundland.

Vasileios is that an issue for you? How do you like your Nissan Leaf and how does it compare to the CT 200H? Not talking about finance but the car itself?

The initial push to stimulate BEV s was surely coming from the various governments. Most countries have their fiscal stimulation packs pushing company car buyers into electric vehicles and at thesame time rolling out the charging infrastructure. Norway is clearly leading the pack followed by the other scandinavian countries and the netherlands where i live. The fiscal stimulation here started some 6 years ago and has been reduced every year since. This year 2022 it is neglectable and the fiscal cost is basically thesame as a fossil car. 25% of new cars in 2021 were BEV in holland and in lots of cases it were people getting their second or third EV companycar. Without Fiscal aid the number of BEVs still keeps growing. The charging network is great, i even could own one without homecharging. Charging stations in every petrolstation, hotel, office and they are currently upgraded to 350kw chargers. No Problem. The EV is here to stay and people like the silence, instant torque and overall clean experience of driving one. On battery performance/driving efficiency Tesla is still miles ahead and most drivers love their car. Not all as the first years the buildquality was questionable creating many unhappy owners but those days seem behind them. Throughout the year there will be an explosion of new models hitting the market and all of them will find happy owners sometimes even as second familycar. Toyota has finally woken up and Lexus will also participate

The 2021 salesfigures from NORWAY are just in and they blew my mind. of total cars sold in Norway.. BEV 65% Plug In 20.8% Hybrid 5.5% Petrol 4.2% Diesel 4.0%

I dont think the range is the issue, its the charging. My old school fossil car outside shows 140km range and i just dont care as i know i can fill it up literally everywhere.

Sure i do. the IS250 V6 is a truly wonderful engine, buttery smooth and sings to the redline. Utterly reliable as well. Good fuel consumption it does not have so a hybrid could be a better option?

I moan about many things on a daily basis; my neighbours, their dog, the weather, my wife, my daily struggle with anything electric/mechanical, the supermarket ran out of nutella, the bread is 3 days old, petrolprices, trafficjams And So On. I do know however that all this is completely trivial, not important and just useless dribble. I think i have now reached the age of wisdom and realize like many of us that it is all about health and family. No sickness in the family a roof over your head and some food in the fridge. Rest is pure luxury really. Sometimes you have to live through darkness to recognize the importance of things. A new completely unimportant moan. Only 1 bottle of red left ( John, Malbec) and after opening you discover it is off, cork!! Nooooo..

Sell it while you still can or swap for a hybrid.

There is James, the moment they announce the winner everybody switches off and goes to sleep.

Today i am complaining about people that accelerate when you overtake them And in thesame moan people that overtake you then come to your lane drive in front of you and then slow down so you have to overtake them Why oh why Happy new year to all!