‘Best’ in terms of design/style, or in terms of fit and finish?
I love the Jaguar XF for understated elegant design, and quality of finish, and the ‘drama’ of the rotating vents and rising gear shift when you start it. And unlikely a lot of cars, they didn’t feel the need to festoon the dash with buttons for everything.
Whilst it’s not my cup of tea, my Mum has a Nissan Juke and that’s pretty funky. She had an RX-8 when they first came out and I remember that being pretty cool as well.
I was once told that ‘all people that wear glasses are idiots’ and I took mine off and asked him if I was no longer an idiot, or indeed was it him that was one all along.
Have owned quite a few Audis many years ago. I am indeed also probably an idiot. I bought an Audi. They were by and large shite to drive. And these were the ‘S’ models. Interiors were nice though.
Ha ha. If you want to stir up the hornets nest on STW, just declare that ‘AUDI DRIVERS ARE ****’. 😆
There’s this one, the most ergonomically perfect I’ve ever used.
Then there’s this. Surprisingly well bolted together, quality materials and a little latin charm. Note, no electric window switches in the roof and a driving position designed for the average Northern European human. Plus, it’s gorgeous
Then there’s this.
Designed ten years after the MK2 Golf’s shown above. Note that the steering wheel is offset in relation to the seat and pedals, guaranteeing back ache. In addition, the seats are made of sweaty velour, the steering wheel has all the tactile quality of a lavatory seat and the ventilation is asthmatic.
Never been a fan of VAG interiors very dull. BMW’s are better but the dash still looks like something from the 90’s.
French cars tend to have nice interiors and good places to spend a lot of time but not so good materials unfortunately.
Mercedes seem to have the best balance of design, comfort and build quality.
Of the more modern cars, the Alfa 159 is my favourite – just seemed a bit more interesting than the big slab of black plastic in my 3 series.
I’m not a fan of digital the dashes that seem to be increasingly common on new cars – much prefer analogue dials. Lots of new cars also no longer seem to even have a temperature gauge – guess that’s testimony to how reliable modern cars are. I used to be really envious of my mate’s Clio 16v that had an oil pressure and temperature gauges!
All subjective of course, but my favourite was my Saab 95. Big buttons (for use with gloves), fantastically tactile vents, dark panel button for night driving and the key where it should be – between the seats. Foldy out cupholder was awesome as well.
Edit: Just remembered that the speedometer wasn’t linear. Was linear up to 80mph or so (which was all you would ever use), and then compressed up to 140 or whatever – made it easier to read.
My BMW is a nice place to be, but the build quality isn’t as good as expected. My previous Scirocco was put together better. Moving to a Golf next month, so hope that’s as solid as the Scirocco. I’ve always felt that VW; Audi and BMW all know how to lay out an interior brilliantly.
That Saab – yes please. Just so nicely put together, and like the old Golf, amazingly well laid out ergonomically, all in reach and simple to understand.