Finally had a chance to do it! I had noted a whole list of things I wanted to check out, both driving and with the Display Audio system. I got through most of them...
Here are a few impressions:
- This car has excellent acceleration! I could really feel the turbo kick in. I could even accelerate from 70 to 80 MPH in 6th gear pretty quickly.
- Some people complained that their right leg or knee would hit against the center console. I'm 6'1" and did not have any problem with sitting comfortably.
- No more Lane Watch camera! I was somewhat disappointed about that. I don't use it a whole lot -- it's no substitute for looking over your shoulder, after all -- but I found it handy in traffic to keep an eye on my right side when I wanted to make a lane change, so I could see if there was an opening without constantly having to turn and look, or rely on my side mirror.
- The mirrors aren't quite rectangular, like they were on the older models. I kinda like having a larger mirror surface. But I can get used to the non-rectangular shape.
- The major Bluetooth issues I had with my 2016 (the ones that were so bad, I sold it and bought a 2014) have been resolved in the new Display Audio system.
- I played around a little with USB audio as well. In my 2014, pressing the track forward/back buttons move to the next and previous track, naturally; turning the knob in the middle would advance forward or backward one whole folder. In the 2018, the knob had the same effect as the buttons, which seemed kind of redundant. Maybe it's an option you can set; I didn't look.
- I was disappointed that the NFC Pairing option wasn't there. Apparently, it's only available on Touring models.
- While they brought physical buttons back to the Display Audio screen, I miss having physical buttons for the radio presets and for phone speed dials. It was pretty sweet to just be able to hit "Phone, 1" to dial home. But there are "Favorites" in this one, so it shouldn't be difficult. And, of course, there's always voice command!
- Like others have said, I was a bit surprised by the rather high clutch engagement point. It's a lot lower on the 9th gen. It took some getting used to, and I kept engaging jerkily into 2nd gear because I was used to letting off the pedal faster as it went higher. I had to remember to let it off more slowly.
I definitely want one of these now!
Here are a few impressions:
- This car has excellent acceleration! I could really feel the turbo kick in. I could even accelerate from 70 to 80 MPH in 6th gear pretty quickly.
- Some people complained that their right leg or knee would hit against the center console. I'm 6'1" and did not have any problem with sitting comfortably.
- No more Lane Watch camera! I was somewhat disappointed about that. I don't use it a whole lot -- it's no substitute for looking over your shoulder, after all -- but I found it handy in traffic to keep an eye on my right side when I wanted to make a lane change, so I could see if there was an opening without constantly having to turn and look, or rely on my side mirror.
- The mirrors aren't quite rectangular, like they were on the older models. I kinda like having a larger mirror surface. But I can get used to the non-rectangular shape.
- The major Bluetooth issues I had with my 2016 (the ones that were so bad, I sold it and bought a 2014) have been resolved in the new Display Audio system.
- I played around a little with USB audio as well. In my 2014, pressing the track forward/back buttons move to the next and previous track, naturally; turning the knob in the middle would advance forward or backward one whole folder. In the 2018, the knob had the same effect as the buttons, which seemed kind of redundant. Maybe it's an option you can set; I didn't look.
- I was disappointed that the NFC Pairing option wasn't there. Apparently, it's only available on Touring models.
- While they brought physical buttons back to the Display Audio screen, I miss having physical buttons for the radio presets and for phone speed dials. It was pretty sweet to just be able to hit "Phone, 1" to dial home. But there are "Favorites" in this one, so it shouldn't be difficult. And, of course, there's always voice command!
- Like others have said, I was a bit surprised by the rather high clutch engagement point. It's a lot lower on the 9th gen. It took some getting used to, and I kept engaging jerkily into 2nd gear because I was used to letting off the pedal faster as it went higher. I had to remember to let it off more slowly.
I definitely want one of these now!
